New School Pedagogy: Dewey, Decroly & Core Principles

Posted on May 8, 2025 in Social sciences

Pedagogical Foundations of the New School Movement

The New School movement emphasized several core ideas:

  • Dynamic Institution: The school itself must be a dynamic institution. Life evolves with society, and the school should teach how to solve everyday problems.
  • Child-Centered Approach (Paidocentrism): The school must revolve around the child’s interests. The child is not a miniature adult; therefore, their interests must be adapted to motivate them and allow them to act autonomously.
  • Active Learning: The school must be active and promote the child’s psychomotor activity. Students should be permitted freedom for spontaneity, autonomy, and self-activity.
  • Vital Community: The school environment should be an authentic, vital community that enhances solidarity, camaraderie, cooperation, and teamwork.
  • Professional Teacher Role: It is necessary to reassess the teacher’s work, which has to be more professional to ensure the union between theory and practice.

Key Methods and Techniques

The New School employed several methods and techniques:

  1. Individualization
  2. Socialization
  3. Globalization
  4. Self-development

The New School in the USA: Progressive Education

In the United States, the New School movement, known as Progressive Education, had distinct characteristics and was disseminated through universities and associations. It can be summarized in seven key points:

  1. Freedom for natural development.
  2. Focus on the child’s interests.
  3. The teacher as a guide.
  4. Scientific study of child development.
  5. Greater attention to all factors affecting children’s development.
  6. Cooperation between school and home.
  7. The “school of movement” or active school.

John Dewey: Pioneer of Progressive Education

John Dewey stands out as the most representative leader of the progressive movement. He established the renowned laboratory school. In his influential works, such as “School and Society” and “Democracy and Education,” Dewey criticized the traditional school system for being passive, undemocratic, overly verbal, and reliant on rote memorization. He advocated for experimentalism and teaching through action (“learning by doing”). This approach aimed to foster the child’s freedom and initiative, instill democratic values, and bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application.

Ovide Decroly: Education Through Centers of Interest

Ovide Decroly, a Belgian physician specializing in mental illness, developed a social laboratory school. His approach emphasized educating children in an environment that encouraged direct contact with nature, moving away from traditional, dogmatic, and purely theoretical methods. In 1901, he founded a school for children with disabilities and developmental delays, where he first applied his method known as “Centers of Interest.” Following its success, in 1907, he established L’École de l’Ermitage for typically developing children, achieving excellent results. Decroly later became a professor of psychology at the university and was an active participant in the New School movement.

Decroly’s Core Pedagogical Principles

Decroly advocated for several pedagogical principles:

  • Educational methods must adapt and evolve in tandem with society.
  • The school must be tailored to the child’s individual needs and nature.
  • The child is an active and creative participant in their own learning process.
  • The school should foster the child’s social tendencies within the context of real life and nature, avoiding artificial disciplinary silos.
  • Educational goals and objectives must be adapted to the mental and physical capabilities of each child.

The Principle of Globalization

Decroly is credited with the educational principle of globalization. This concept aligns with the holistic way children perceive and understand the world—synthetically rather than analytically. To implement globalization, learning is organized around a center of interest that stems from the child’s natural needs and curiosities.

Four Fundamental Needs as Centers of Interest

According to Decroly, children’s needs can be grouped into four primary centers of interest:

  1. The need for nourishment (to eat).
  2. The need for protection against inclement weather.
  3. The need to defend oneself against dangers and enemies.
  4. The need to work in the company of others and have fun.

Developing a Center of Interest: Key Steps

The process of developing a center of interest involves three main steps:

  1. Observation: Direct and indirect observation related to the subject or center of interest.
  2. Association: Connecting ideas, experiences, and knowledge related to the observed phenomena.
  3. Expression: Articulating and demonstrating the acquired knowledge and understanding through various forms.