| This thesis investigates progressive approaches to secondary education and show, through a historical lens, the philosophical foundations of the traditional approach to the design and practices of modern high schools. For the last century traditional secondary schools, which are heavily influenced by the industrial revolution and the behaviorist branch of psychology, have dominated the educational landscape. At the beginning of the 20th century Dewey proposed a new, child-centered approach to teaching and learning. This paper explores the reasoning behind progressive education by looking at Gardner's multiple intelligences, learning styles theory, and the history of several progressive schools that functioned in the early and middle parts of the 20th century. The paper then goes on to explore two modern schools of thought on progressive education: Johnson and Johnson's methods of Cooperative Learning and Sizer's Essential Schools model. The paper concludes with a proposal for adapting the Essential Schools approach to a small, alternative high school for at-risk students. |
