This page lists just a few of the important progressive educators who have influenced education around the world, and have continuing relevance today. I make no claim that the list is comprehensive. It is instead selective, along the following criteria:
- The people identified here promote a view of learning, indeed of humanity, which seeks to prepare students for active participation in a democratic society, fosters the development of a critical, socially-engaged intelligence, nurtures students’ natural desire to learn, values diverse people and perspectives, and perhaps above all, exhibits a trust in people.
- In the US, some of these educators were associated with the Progressive Education Association or the contemporary Progressive Education Network, but the goal here is to define a broader scope encompassing those in other countries and even those who are not usually classified as educators.
- The emphasis is on those who enacted their ideas, not only in schools, but also in informal learning, political movements, and daily life.
- All of those included thus far are deceased. I may make a larger, or separate, list for living educators later.
What follows is an ad hoc list in alphabetical order. I welcome suggestions regarding the comments and additions.
|Leonard Covello (1887-1982). Drew from his own immigrant experiences to develop an innovative community-centered schooling approach in East Harlem, first working with Italian youth and then Puerto Rican and Black youth.|
|Célestin Freinet. Merged the political and the pedagogical with practical ideas for empowered teachers.|
|Louise Michel. A courageous leader who combined efforts on behalf of oppressed people, including Parisians in the Paris Commune and Kanak people in New Caledonia, with innovative teaching.|
|Ida B. Wells.|
|Ella Flagg Young. The first woman in the US to head a large city school system (Chicago) and the first woman president of the National Education Association. Her work was the basis for John Dewey’s The School and Society.|