o the study of education, and this itself dates back to the German philosopher Johann Friedrich Herbart, who called for the application of psychology to the art of teaching. Although his ideas seem very dated now, a core of what he argued for remains within our ideas of progressive education today. Herbart, born the first year of the American Revolution, emphasized moral education and designed a highly structured teaching technique. Maintaining that educationÆs primary goal is moral development, Herbart claimed good character rested on knowledge while misconduct resulted from an inadequate education. Knowledge, he said, should create an ôapperceptive massö û a network of ideas û in a personÆs mind to which new ideas can be added. He wanted to include history, geography, and literature in the school curriculum as well as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Based on his work, HerbartÆs followers designed a five-step teaching method: (1) prepare the pupils to be ready for the new lesson, (2) present the new lesson, (3) associate the new lesson with ideas stud
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