International Journal of Progressive Education
ISSN (Print): 2834-7919 - ISSN (Online): 1554-5210

Original article    |    Open Access
International Journal of Progressive Education 2018, Vol. 14(1) 201-219

The Culture of the Independent Progressive School

Dean Kloss

pp. 201 - 219   |  DOI: https://doi.org/10.29329/ijpe.2018.129.14

Publish Date: February 11, 2018  |   Number of Views: 1129  |  Number of Download: 2214

PDF Download

Abstract

Even in this “Age of Data,” independent progressive schools have shown a remarkable persistence in offering an alternative educational model. As Traditional Public Schools (TPS) become even more committed to a testing model of achievement, there are schools that continue to operate on identified progressive educational principles. This paper uses observations and interviews at two upstate New York progressive schools to identify characteristics that define the resiliency of such institutions.  The author’s findings identify four characteristics common to a progressive educational culture:  familial grouping, informality, play, and democracy. Four elements that are important to this progressive model of instruction tied to the culture at these schools are present: individualized child-centered instruction, curricular flexibility, and choice/space/time, The nature of and future for non-institutional schools is also considered here.

Keywords: Progressive schools, play, informality, child-centered instruction, educational culture

How to Cite this Article?

APA 7th edition
Kloss, D. (2018). The Culture of the Independent Progressive School. International Journal of Progressive Education, 14(1), 201-219. https://doi.org/10.29329/ijpe.2018.129.14

Harvard
Kloss, D. (2018). The Culture of the Independent Progressive School. International Journal of Progressive Education, 14(1), pp. 201-219.

Chicago 16th edition
Kloss, Dean (2018). "The Culture of the Independent Progressive School". International Journal of Progressive Education 14 (1):201-219. https://doi.org/10.29329/ijpe.2018.129.14

References
  1. Amabile,T.  (1996). Creativity in context: Update to the social psychology of creativity. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. [Google Scholar]
  2. Anderson, C. (2004) Selling the postwar PEA: James L. Hymes, Jr.’s interpretations of progressive educational philosophy. American Educational History Journal 31 (2), 163- 170.  [Google Scholar]
  3. Anderson, K. (2009). Reflections in education:  Considering the impact of schooling on the learner. Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning, 9 (1), 41-57.    [Google Scholar]
  4. Angell, A. V. (1991). Democratic climates in elementary classrooms: A review of theory and research. Theory & Research in Social Education, 19(3), 241-263. [Google Scholar]
  5. Beck, S. (2009) Individual goals and academic literacy. English Education, 41 (3), 259-280. [Google Scholar]
  6. Bell, L. (1997) Theoretical foundations for social justice education. Teaching for Diversity and social justice, 1-14. [Google Scholar]
  7. Beyer, L. (1997) William Heard Kilpatrick (1871-1965). Prospects, 27(3), 470-485. [Google Scholar]
  8. Bruce, B. C. & Eryaman, M. Y. (2015). Introduction: Progressive Impuls in Education. In M. Y. Eryaman & B. C. Bruce (Eds.).  International Handbook of Progressive Education. New York: Peter Lang, pp. 1-52 [Google Scholar]
  9. Bullough, R. (2007) Professional learning communities and the eight-year study. Educational Horizons, 85 (3), 168-180. [Google Scholar]
  10. Bussey, M. (2007) Global education from a neohumanist perspective. Journal of Future Studies, 12 (1), 25-40. [Google Scholar]
  11. Byers, J.A.(1977) Terrain preferences in the play behavior of Siberian ibex kids. Journal for Experimental Psychology, 45, 199-209. [Google Scholar]
  12. Cammorota, J. & Fine, M. (2008) Revolutionizing education: Youth participatory action research in motion. New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar]
  13. Chaltain, S. (Producer) (2013) A year at mission hill. (Motion Picture) United States: Tamalpais Productions. [Google Scholar]
  14. Chang, S., Gould, O. & Mesne, R. (2011) The Impact of Schooling on Academic Achievement: Evidence From Homeschooled and Traditionally Schooled Students. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science. 43(3), 195-202 [Google Scholar]
  15. Chappuis, J. (1997) Seven strategies of assessment for learning. Boston: Pearson. [Google Scholar]
  16. Chernetskaya, A. (2013) A study of innovative methods of progressive schools. Retrieved from UMI, (1554012) [Google Scholar]
  17. Clouder, C. & Rawson, M. (2003), Waldorf Education. Poland: Floris Books. [Google Scholar]
  18. Cremin, L. (1961) The transformation of the school: Progressivism in American education: 1876-1957. New York: Knopf. [Google Scholar]
  19. Creswell J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. [Google Scholar]
  20. Dias & Harris,( 1988). The effect of make-believe play on deductive reasoning. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 6. 207-221. [Google Scholar]
  21. Dewey, J. (1897) My pedagogic creed. School Journal, 54(3), 77-80. [Google Scholar]
  22. Dewey, J. (1907) The school and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [Google Scholar]
  23. Dewey, J. (1916) Democracy and education. New York: Macmillan. [Google Scholar]
  24. Dewey, J., Carmichael, L., & Dewey, J. (1956). The child and the curriculum: And the school and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [Google Scholar]
  25. Doherty, R. & Hillberg, R. (2007) Efficacy of five standards in raising student achievement. Journal of educational Research, 101 (1), 24. [Google Scholar]
  26. Dodd-Nufrio, A. (2011) Reggio Emilia, Maria Montessori. And John Dewey: Dispelling teachers’ misconceptions and understanding theoretical foundations. Early Childhood Journal, 235-237. [Google Scholar]
  27. Eryaman, M. Y. (2006). Traveling beyond dangerous private and universal discourses: Radioactivity of radical hermeneutics and objectivism in educational research. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(6), 1198-1219. [Google Scholar]
  28. Eryaman, M. Y. (2007). From reflective practice to practical wisdom: Toward a post-foundational teacher education. International Journal of Progressive Education, 3(1), 87-107. [Google Scholar]
  29. Eryaman, M.Y. (Ed). (2009). Peter McLaren, education, and the struggle for liberation. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. [Google Scholar]
  30. Eryaman, M. Y. & Bruce, B. C. (Eds.) (2015). International Handbook of Progressive Education. New York: Peter Lang. [Google Scholar]
  31. Eryaman, M. Y. (2017). Understanding Public Good in the Context of Evidence Discourse in Education. In M. Y. Eryaman & B. Schneider (Eds.). Evidence and Public Good in Educational Policy, Research and Practice. New York: Springer. [Google Scholar]
  32. Estrada, Isen, & Young. (1997). Positive affect facilitates integrates information and decreases anchoring in reasoning among physicians. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 72, 117-135. [Google Scholar]
  33. Finch. D. (2012) The experience of homeschool mothers .Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (3532770)  [Google Scholar]
  34. Freeman, R. (2011) Reggio Emilia, Vygotsky, and family childcare: Four American providers describe their pedagogical practice. Child Care in Practice, 17 (3),227-246. [Google Scholar]
  35. Gatto, J. T. (2006) The underground history of American education. New York: Oxford. [Google Scholar]
  36. Glaser, B. G. (Ed.). (1993). Examples of grounded theory: A reader. Mill Valley, CA: Sociology Press. [Google Scholar]
  37. Glaser, B. G. (Ed.). (1996). Gerund Grounded Theory: The basic social process dissertation. Mill Valley, CA: Sociology Press. [Google Scholar]
  38. Graham, P. (1967) Progressive education: From arcady to academe. Teachers College Press: New York. [Google Scholar]
  39. Gray, P. (2013) Free to learn. New York: Basic Books. [Google Scholar]
  40. Greene, D. (2014) An alternative to the alternatives: considering a progressive possibility for alternative schools. Retrieved from ProQuest. (3624192) [Google Scholar]
  41. Grunzke, R. (2010) Pedagogues for a new age: Childrearing practices of unschooling parents. Retrieved from ProQuest. (3532630) [Google Scholar]
  42. Hartz-Karp, J. (2007) How and why deliberative democracy enables co-intelligence and brings wisdom to governance. Journal of Public Deliberation, 3(1), 1-9. [Google Scholar]
  43. Herman, D. (2012). Formal Models in Narrative Analysis.”. Circles Disturbed: The Interplay of Mathematics and Narrative, 447-80. [Google Scholar]
  44. Holloway, I. (1997). Basic concepts for qualitative research. London: Blackwell Science. [Google Scholar]
  45. Holt, J. (1981). Teach your own. New York: Holt Associates. [Google Scholar]
  46. Horn, R. (2002) Understanding educational reform: A reference handbook. [Google Scholar]
  47. Isen, A., Daubman, K. & Nowicki,,(1987) Positive affect facilitates creative problem solving. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(6), p. 1122-1131 [Google Scholar]
  48. Ivie, S. (2007) Models and metaphors. McGill Journal of Education, 42 (1), 11-30. [Google Scholar]
  49. Jenlink P. & Jenlink, K. (2008) Creating democratic learning communities. Theory into Practice, 47(4), 311-317. [Google Scholar]
  50. Jones, M. & Alony, I. (2011). Guiding the use of Grounded Theory in Doctoral studies – an example from the Australian film industry. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 6 (1), 95-114. [Google Scholar]
  51. Kenny, D. (2010) Teacher quality manifesto. Wall Street Journal [Google Scholar]
  52. Kirschner, D. (2008), Producing unschoolers: Learning through living in a U.S. Education movement. (Doctoral dissertation).  Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (3309459) [Google Scholar]
  53. Kohn, A. (2008) Progressive education: Why it’s hard to beat, but also hard to find. Independent School, 67 (3), 18-30. [Google Scholar]
  54. Labaree, D. (2005) Progressivism, schools, and schools of education: An American romance. International Journal of the History of Education, 41 (1-2), 275-288. [Google Scholar]
  55. Lieberman, A. (1994) Building knowledge and building community. Teachers College Press, 204-207. [Google Scholar]
  56. Little, T. (2013) 21st century learning and progressive education: An intersection. International Journal of Progressive Education, 9 (1), 84-96. [Google Scholar]
  57. Little, T. & Ellison, K. (2015) Loving learning. New York: Norton. [Google Scholar]
  58. Littky, D. (2011) 10 things. Rhode Island Monthly Communications. [Google Scholar]
  59. Littky, D. & Grabelle, S. (2004) The big picture: Education is everyone’s business. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. [Google Scholar]
  60. Lofland, J., & Lofland, L. H. (2006). Analyzing social settings. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company. [Google Scholar]
  61. Manilow, A. (2009) An exploration of Education: Examined through the philosophies of Plato and progressive education. Schools: Studies in Education, 6(2), 215-221. [Google Scholar]
  62. Marcus, J. (2015, September) The demise of private schools. The Atlantic. [Google Scholar]
  63. McNear, D. (1978) A critical examination of definitions for progressive education. Clearing House, 52 (1), 37-40. [Google Scholar]
  64. Meier, D. (2002) In schools we trust: Creating communities of learning in an era of testing and standardization. Boston: Beacon Press. [Google Scholar]
  65. Malterud, K. (2001). Qualitative research: standards, challenges, and guidelines. The lancet, 358(9280), 483-488. [Google Scholar]
  66. Michaels et al., (1982). Social facilitation and inhibition in a natural setting. Replications in Social Psychology,2, 21-24 [Google Scholar]
  67. Miller, R. J. (2000). The free school movement, 1967--1972: A study of countercultural ideology. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (304586021) [Google Scholar]
  68. Morrison. K. (2007) Free school teaching.Albany: SUNY Press. [Google Scholar]
  69. Nehring, J .(2006) Progressive vs. traditional: reframing an old debate. Education Week, 25(21), 32-33. [Google Scholar]
  70. Neumann, F., Marks, H., & Germain, A. (1996) Authentic pedagogy and student performance. American Journal of Education, 104(4), 280-312. [Google Scholar]
  71. O’Grady, P. (2011) Progressive education standards: A neuroscience framework. US-China Education Review B 4 (2011). [Google Scholar]
  72. Olson, K. (2005) To be brave and subversive human beings: The deschoolers of the 1960s. Retrieved from ProQuest. (30176351).  [Google Scholar]
  73. Post, Barbara. Personal Interview, 5 April, 2016. [Google Scholar]
  74. Pratt, C. (1948) I learn from children. New York: Simon and Schuster. [Google Scholar]
  75. Ramaley, J. (2005) Goals for learning and assessment. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 104(2), 55-77. [Google Scholar]
  76. Read, S. (2014) Remember childhood: Stories from a progressive school. Retrieved from ProQuest (3617059) [Google Scholar]
  77. Ruddy, M. (2000) Pestalozzi and the Oswego Movement. Retrieved from http://www.oswego.edu/~ruddy/Buffalo%20Papers/Oswego%20in%20Education/Pestalozzi%20and%20The%20Oswego%20Movement.pdf [Google Scholar]
  78. Russell, J. (2012) Characteristics of contemporary US progressive middle schools. Retrieved from UMI, (3672766) [Google Scholar]
  79. Saha, L. & Dworkin, A. (2009) International handbook of research on teachers and teaching. New York: Springer. [Google Scholar]
  80. Saldaña, J. (2009). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. London: Sage. [Google Scholar]
  81. Schneider, S. & Garrison, J. (2008) Deweyan reflections on knowledge-producing schools. Teachers College Record, 110 (10). [Google Scholar]
  82. Shapiro, H. (2006) Losing heart: The moral and spiritual miseducation of America’s children. New York: Erlbaum Associates. [Google Scholar]
  83. Sharp, C. (2008) Small school leadership: a Q method study of elements of leadership specific to a small school setting. Retrieved from ProQuest (3325850) [Google Scholar]
  84. Sherman, S. (2009) Haven’t we seen this before? Sustaining a vision in teacher education for progressive teaching practice. Teacher Education Quarterly, 36 (4), 41-60. [Google Scholar]
  85. Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Sage Publications, Inc. [Google Scholar]
  86. Teeter, C. (2004). George Counts (1889-1974) [Google Scholar]
  87. Ultanir, E. (2012) An epistemological glance at the constructivist approach. International Journal of Instruction, 5 (2), 195-212. [Google Scholar]
  88. Vallberg, R. & Mansson, A. (2011) Individual development plans from a critical didactic perspective. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 9 (3), 247-261. [Google Scholar]
  89. Vitale, J. (2009). We don't need no education---we don't need no thought control: Reflections on achieving musical literacy and unschooling. Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning,3 (6), 1-13. [Google Scholar]
  90. Volk, K. (2005) The Gary plan and technology education. Journal of Technology Studies, 31(1), 39-48. [Google Scholar]
  91. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press [Google Scholar]
  92. Wacker, T. (2009) Autodidaxy in children: Understanding interest, the informal curriculum and engagement with rationalized systems of knowledge. Retrieved from ProQuest. (305003833).  [Google Scholar]
  93. Wagner, T. & Compton, R. (2012) Creating innovators: The making of young people who will change the world. New York: Scribner.  [Google Scholar]
  94. Wheatley, K. F. (2009). Questioning the instruction assumption: Implications for policy and practice. Journal of Education and Human Development, 4(1), 27-39.  [Google Scholar]
  95. Waltras, J. (2006) The eight-year study: From evaluative research to demonstration project, 1930-1940. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 14(21), 1-23. [Google Scholar]
  96. Zak, Rebecca. (2014) Raising creativity: Exploring how creativity can be nurtured in educational contexts. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8Kl8TFUURU. [Google Scholar]
  97. Zimiles, H. (2008) A bittersweet appraisal of progressive education. Society, 45(2), 164-169. [Google Scholar]
Meta
Vol. 14 (1)
Download
Metric
History
Related

Volume 14 Issue 1

February 2018

All Manuscript

International Journal of Progressive Education

Copyright © 2025 International Journal of Progressive Education.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. CC BY
All elements of this website were created using the BOQ™ - Intelligent Webverse System.