FRANCIS W. PARKER’S PEDOCENTRIC PEDAGOGY

The paper considers the development of pedocentric pedagogical ideas in works of Francis Wayland Parker who was a pioneer of the progressive school movement in the United States. The article reveals that Parker’s pedocentric views of education and the curriculum were determined by his knowledge of progressive education theory and practice as well as by his religious beliefs interwoven with the romantic ideology. The pedagogical views of F. W. Parker are the most valuable material not only from a purely historical point of view, but also in terms of fruitful topical pedagogical ideas that open up new horizons for pedagogical creativity and a view of the child. The present study aims to fill this gap. Involving broad cultural and social contexts, the author demonstrates that the spread of innovative teaching practices in the American education paradigm of the XIX century in general and particularly in Parker’s works was a response to the new view of the specialness of childhood. The specifics of the subject of the research made it advisable to use the following methods: source analysis, which involves the interpretation of historical sources, establishing the degree of completeness and reliability of their information and conclusions about the possibilities of using historical sources in historical research (in particular, the key works of F. W. Parker in the original), in order to identify the ideological and theoretical origins of F. W. Parker’s pedagogical views; a comparative method that allows comparing the pedagogical views of F. W. Parker with the views of his contemporaries.

Francis Wayland Parker, pedocentrism, progressive education, sociocultural image of childhood, Romantiсism, child, spontaneous activity, experience, school.

Rubtsova T. S. Francis W. Parker’s pedocentric pedagogy. Business. Education. Law, 2021, no. 3, pp. 488—493. DOI: 10.25683/VOLBI.2021.56.339.