EDU 125 - BLOG C

Ellwood Cubberley
Ellwood Cuberley was born in 1868 in Indiana during the days of Reconstruction. As a young boy he worked at his father's pharmacy where he was turned toward the interest of science. He entered Indiana University where he majored in physics and carried a lot of course work in mathematics, chemistry, and biology. During his senior year he was a stereoptician assistant for Dr. Jordan on weekend trips. His first experience as a teacher was in a one-room school in 1888-89 but after graduation he was appointed Professor of Science in Vincennes University. He was later made president of the institution and he revised the university curriculum and reorganized its finances. Cubberley became superintendent of schools for San Diego, California and later on was invited to be Assistant Professor of Education at Stanford University. Ellwood Cubberley developed courses in new fields, taught thousands of students, gave innumerable public addresses, served on important educational commissions edited a great textbook series, ad wrote twenty volumes covering almost every phase of school administration and the history of education. His material has influenced the writing and thinking of historians. Cubberley saw education as a great force shaping the course of civilizations. His idea as the applying of industrial management theory to school leadership. Ellwood designed an administrative system for schools, led by a professional class of superintendents and principals. He placed his emphasis on efficiency and bureaucracy to solve educational problems.

www.pbs.org/
http://histsoc.stanford.edu/
http://findarticles.com/
Cremin, Lawrence. The Wonderful World of Ellwood Cubberley. Teachers College Pr., 1965.

Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori was born in Ancona, Italy in 1870. She studied medicine and went on to become the first female doctor of Italy. In her medical practices, her clinical observations led her to analyze how children learn, and she concluded that "they build themselves from what they find in their environment," (NAMTA 1). In 1901 she studied psychology and philosophy. Through her desire to help children she gave up school and her medical practice and founded the "Children's House" where her Montessori method of teaching developed. Her method was developed on what she observed children doing naturally by themselves without adult assistance. She believed that children teach themselves. She was dedicated to the idea of furthering the self-creating process of the child. Because she lived in the time when children should be seen and not heard, her methods were criticized for being too detached and harsh for children. The most famous quote, spoken by Montessori was, "I studied my children, and they taught me to teach them." Maria was the first in education to have child-sized tables and chairs made for her students. She believed that the learning environment was just as important as the actual learning was. Her schools were very peaceful and orderly places that valued their space for concentration and the process of learning. Maria Montessori died in 1952 but her work lives on through the AMI an organization she founded to carry on her work.

www.webster.edu/
www.montessori-namta.org/
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/
Standing, E.M.. Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work. subsequent edition. Plume, 1998.