New Schools among the New Education Movement: a Reaction against Urban and Traditional education (1920-1940)l

Author(s):

Beatrice Haenggeli-Jenni(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2011

Network:

17. Histories of Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

17 SES 01, Criticizing Urbanism

Paper Session

Time:

2011-09-13

13:15-14:45

Room:

JK 25/219,1 FL., 25

Chair:

Angelo Van Gorp

Contribution

At the end of the 19th century, the setting up of state education systems in Western nations is followed by a strong massification and urbanization of education. As leaders in the political and cultural development, the cities build a large number of schools in order to provide education to all children. According to some pedagogues, the conditions of learning in these schools are not good because they are located in industrial neighborhoods where open space is very small. Moreover, they say that their methods of teaching are old and inefficient because they are too encyclopedic. As a (in ?) reaction, these pedagogues – later considered as members of the New Education movement – open new types of schools in different parts Europe (and USA) called “New schools”, “Landerziehungsheim”, “Ecoles nouvelles (internats) à la campagne”. These schools are built in a natural environment where children live close to nature through the experiment of the rural life (activities, labor). The methods of teaching are based on a scientific knowledge of the child (pedology, “Child study”) and are suited to individual’s abilities and interests. Programs include “natural activities” such as nature observation, walks in the woods, outdoor classes, sun baths, in order to educate children to a new “hygienic” lifestyle.

This contribution aims at questioning the New Education movement on the “dialectic relation” between concepts such as country & city, nature & culture, innovation & tradition. What critiques do the reformers address to the “urban” and “traditional” schools? How do they use the concepts of “innovation” or “tradition” in their argumentation? What is the importance of “culture” and “nature” among their claims? Do all the reformers share the same definition of these concepts? What is the function of New Schools within the New Education movement? What is the evolution of these institutions during the interwar period?
This paper aims at presenting the results of our recent investigations which are part of a doctoral thesis studying relations between New Education and Educational Sciences at the beginning of the 20th century (Haenggeli-Jenni, in preparation). Our theoretical framework is composed of international studies on the history of New Education (Brehony, 2004; Hameline, 2002; Helmchen, 1999; Gutierrez, 2008; Ohayon, Ottavi & Savoye, 2004; etc.), on the history of New schools and Open air schools (Duval, 2009; Châtelet, Lerch, & Luc, 2003) and recent works studying New Education through its relation with knowledge and educational sciences (see all contributions in Hofstetter & Schneuwly, 2006, 2009).

Method

The source of our investigations is the international journal Pour l'Ere Nouvelle, published between 1922 and 1940. As the French journal of the New Education Fellowship, it is a perfect standpoint to analyse new educators’ discourses and positions regarding the dialectic relations between country & city, nature & culture, innovation & tradition. To answer our questions, we will proceed to two types of analyses: first, a detailed reading of articles – focusing on articles about New Schools – in order to analyse the authors’ argumentation and definitions of nature, culture, tradition, innovation; second, a cross analysis over the twenty years of publication of the journal in order to analyse the importance of New Schools within the movement and to study their evolution and their influence on public schools.

Expected Outcomes

Considered by historians as the origin of the movement, the New Schools can be seen also as a reaction to the urbanization of education that takes place at the turn of the 20th century. These schools embody the New educators’ claims who criticize the “anti-natural” way of teaching provided in “traditional” and “urban” schools. They function as models and “windows” of the movement and are used to show the success of the new pedagogy. They function as “laboratories” where teachers experiment the new methods supposed to be applied later in public schools. The “argumentation technique” used by some authors, especially the leaders of the New Education Fellowship, is based on the opposition of “old” and “new” principles; since the first ones are considered as “out of date” they are used to justify the need of reform. The detailed analysis of the discourses shows that authors do not all share the same conception of “tradition” and “innovation”, neither the same definition of “nature” and “culture”. These questions create debates among members of the New Education Fellowship where the cultural diversity and personal convictions influence the interpretation of some concepts leading to tensions or even disqualifications.

References

Brehony, K. J. (2004). A New Education for a New Era: The Contribution of the Conferences of the New Education Fellowship to the Disciplinary Field of Education 1921-1938. Paedagogica historica, 40 (5 & 6), 733-755. Châtelet, A.-M., Lerch, D. & Luc, J.-N. (Ed.). (2003). Ecoles de Plein Air. Open-Air Schools. An educational and Architectural Venture in Twentieth-Century Europe. Dijon : Focale Editions Recherches. Duval, N. (2009). L'École des Roches, une école nouvelle pour les élites. Paris : Belin. Gutierrez, L. (2008). L’Education nouvelle et l’enseignement catholique en France (1899-1939), Thèse de doctorat en Sciences de l’Education, Université Paris VIII-Saint-Denis. Haenggeli-Jenni, B. (in preparation). Education nouvelle et Sciences de l’éducation : face à face. Une appréhension francophone des enjeux éducatifs des années 1920-1940. Thèse de doctorat, Université de Genève. Hameline, D. (2002). L’Education dans le miroir du temps. Lausanne: LEP. Helmchen, J. (1999). Wieviele Geschichten der Reformpädagogik gibt es? In J. Oelkers & F. Osterwalder (Ed.), Die neue Erziehung. Beiträge zur Internationalität der Reformpädagogik. (pp. 69-98). Bern: Lang. Hofstetter, R. & Schneuwly, B. (Ed.) (2006). Passion, Fusion, Tension. New Education and Educational sciences (end 19th - middle 20th). Bern : Lang. Hofstetter, R. & Schneuwly, B. (Ed.). (2009). The New Education at the Heart of Knowledge Transformations. Paedagogica Historica. International Journal of the History of Education (special issue), 45 (4 &5). Ohayon, A., Ottavi, D., & Savoye, A. (Ed.). (2004). L'Education nouvelle, histoire, présence et devenir. Berne: Lang.

Author Information

Beatrice Haenggeli-Jenni (presenting / submitting)

University of Geneva (Switzerland)

Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences

Veigy-Foncenex

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