By Amber Strong Makaiau
Established in 1919, the Progressive Education Association was a networked group of individuals who were dedicated to the spread of progressive education in American public schools up until 1955. This included expanding the reach of progressive education philosophy and pedagogy and engaging members in critical discussions about the social and political issues of the day. Eugene Randolph Smith was the first PEA president, and he helped to put into writing the overall objectives of the Association.
Outlined in Graham's (1967) historical account of the Progressive Education Association, the aims of the PEA were:
To propagate the principles of progressive education by means of:
A. a periodical publication to serve as the official organ of the Association, issued free to all members;
B. newspaper and magazine articles;
C. lectures.
To influence public education toward progressivism by educating the public to demand it.
To be of service to layman and educators through:
A. an exchange bureau;
B. Counseling and cooperating with parents in solving their educational problems;
C. Encouraging the training of teachers in the principles and methods of progressive education;
D. Giving field aid to those who are organizing or developing progressive schools (p. 28).
In addition, “Seven Principles of Progressive Education” were penned to further describe the Association's interests and coalesce the movement. Recorded by Graham (1967) they were:
The aim of Progressive Education is the freest and fullest development of the individual, based upon the scientific study of his physical, mental, spiritual, and social characteristics and needs. Progressive Education as thus understood implies the following conditions, old in theory but rare in application:
I. Freedom to Develop Naturally.
II. Interest, the Motive of All Work.
III. The Teacher a Guide, Not a Task-Master.
IV. Scientific Study of Pupil Development.
V. Greater Attention to All that Affects the Child’s Physical Development.
VI. Co-operation Between School and Home to Meet the Needs of Child-Life.
Vii. The Progressive School a Leader in Educational Movements (pp. 28 - 29).
Both the aims and principles composed at the establishment of the PEA helped to guide the Association as it worked to advance progressive education as a “movement..from local to national recognition” (pp. 39- 59), rather than a passing educational fad or momentary reform effort in a small number of schools.
Over the years, as a part of my quest to learn as much as I can about progressive education, I’ve come across bits and pieces of information mentioning the PEA. For example, the Progressive Education Network (2024) shares on its website that the modern network of progressive educators are rooted in the PEA. Tom Little (2015) was at the forefront of this revival when he and a committed group of educators formed a committee to revive the Network of Progressive Educators in 2005. In 2009, they collectively launched the Progressive Education Network (PEN), and in 2009 incorporated it as a 501 (c) 3 charitable, non-profit organization. Additionally, more close to home, in an unpublished manuscript written in 1926 by Sophie Judd Cooke (the founder of Hanahau‘oli School), she mentions a visit to Washington DC where she “enjoyed meeting Gertrude Hartman of the Progressive Education Association.” However, up until now, I hadn’t dug deep into the inner workings and major projects of the association.
Motivated by a current research project, I recently committed myself to gaining a better understanding of the PEA. To support my investigation, I made a trip to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hamilton Library to check out Patricia Albjerg Graham’s Progressive Education: From Arcady to Academe – A History of the Progressive Education Association (1967), a seminal book about the association. With the call number in hand, I searched through the stacks and finally found the book. As I pulled the book from the shelves I noticed an additional set of small books placed next to Graham's text. I pulled one off and read the cover – PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION BOOKLET of the PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION.
The shelf contained close to ten of the booklets. Inside each issue there were similar notes from the publisher (except for different cities and dates):
The speeches contained in this booklet were taken down in stenotype as delivered by the speakers at the National Conference of the Progressive Education Association in St. Louis, February 25-27, 1937. They were edited and submitted to the speakers for their approval before publication. In the effort to place this report of the meeting in the hands of subscribers as soon as possible, only those changes necessary to make clear the meaning of the speakers were made. This fact will account for any apparent imperfections of style that may appear in the printed form of the speeches.
I couldn’t believe it, I had found a number of the original published proceedings of the PEA!
I checked out each of the booklets and now have them carefully stored in my home office. Over the next year, I’m dedicated to giving time to read through publications (mostly from the late 1930’s) to learn more about the organization at the height of its influence. For now, I want to leave you with a short piece that caught my eye as I originally leafed through the pamphlets. It is written by Chester L. Persing and is titled, “The Happy Teacher.” Enjoy.
The Happy Teacher
Chester L. Persing
I. Blessed is the teacher who considers his relationship to his pupils as that of a guide, a counselor, a friend.
II. Blessed is the teacher who thinketh of himself not as the monarch of all subject matter or the oracle from whose lips flow the answers for all the puzzling questions of the classroom, but who exalteth himself in the minds of his pupils by helping them to discover for themselves the meaning of new experiences.
III. Blessed is the teacher who gains prestige in the minds of his pupils by becoming a fellow-learner, a person who is capable of learning from his poorest student as well as teaching him the meaning of common experience.
IV. Blessed is the teacher who is more interested in the change that takes place in the experience of his pupils than he is in the manner of that change.
V. Twice blessed is the teacher who thinks that it is his duty to provide instruction for his pupils in terms of their abilities to receive such instruction.
VI. Twice blessed is the teacher who attempts to meet his pupils at the point of their greatest need.
VII. Twice blessed is the teacher who considers success in his pupils in terms of pupils’ experience with problems and not in terms of class standard alone.
VIII. Twice blessed is the teacher who uses a measuring stick for purposes of diagnosing personal problems and not as bases for achievement alone.
IX. Thrice blessed is the teacher who inspires confidence in his students by his own enthusiasm for his work.
X. Many times blessed is the teacher who fills every day with honest effort and who retires every night without worry about the unsolved problems of that day but with the assurance that each new day will bring its problems and their solutions.
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*These Beatitudes were given by Mr. Persing as the ideals to which a progressive teacher should aspire.
Works Cited:
Graham, P. (1967). Progressive education: From arcady to academe: A history of the progressive education association, 1919–1955. New York: Teachers College Press.
Little, T. & Ellison, K. (2015). Loving learning: How progressive education can save America’s schools. W. W. Norton & Company.
What Schools are Doing. Progressive Education Booklet No. 2. Proceedings of the 1937 National Conference of THE PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION. United States Section of the New Education Fellowship. AMERICAN EDUCATION PRESS, Inc. 400 South Front Street, Columbus, Ohio.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Amber Strong Makaiau is a Specialist at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Director of Curriculum and Research at the Uehiro Academy for Philosophy and Ethics in Education, Director of the Hanahau‘oli School Professional Development Center, and Co-Director of the Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy MEd Interdisciplinary Education, Curriculum Studies program. A former Hawai‘i State Department of Education high school social studies teacher, her work in education is focused around promoting a more just and equitable democracy for today’s children. Dr. Makaiau lives in Honolulu where she enjoys spending time in the ocean with her husband and two children.
