Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (January 12, 1746—February 17, 1827) was a Swiss

pedagogue and education reformer who believed that every individual had the ability to
learn and the right to an education. He was also a strong believer in personal liberty and
an advocate for the poor. Many of the principles of modern pedagogy have their roots in
Pestalozzi’s philosophy and practice, including the ideas of student-centered, inquiry-
based learning; a focus on the child’s interests and needs; cooperation and
communication between the teacher and the parents; and active, rather than passive,
learning.

As a boy, Pestalozzi traveled the countryside with his grandfather, who was a
clergyman. On these travels, he witnessed the intense poverty suffered by the peasants
and the consequences of putting children to work in the factories, as well as the
ineffectiveness of the local Catechism schools. These experiences influenced the
development of his future educational theories. Philosophically, Pestalozzi was most
influenced by Rousseau, who was imprisoned by the Swiss as a subversive during
Pestalozzi’s lifetime. Pestalozzi, himself, was imprisoned for a short time for his
supposed role in the prison escape of a colleague, a charge that was no doubt
influenced by his support for Rousseau and militant causes.

Pestalozzi tried his hand in politics and farming before turning to education. He
attempted to create a school for the poor in the 1770s, known as Neuhof, where
peasants would be liberated from their poverty by learning to weave and by selling their
products. He believed that he could prevent children’s alienation from the educational
process by financing their own education through work. However, Neuhof ended in
financial ruin for him and his family. The experience forced him to reconsider many of
his assumptions, like the Romantic notion that work comes naturally to man—an idea
that was dashed when he overheard his students reminiscing about the days when they
were free to wander the countryside.

Pestalozzi with the orphans in Stans (1879, by Konrad Grob (1828 - 1904){{PD-US}}

In 1798 the French army invaded the town of Stans, leaving many children without
parents or homes and Pestalozzi was asked by the Swiss government to create on
orphanage for the children. Here, with little support from the Swiss government, he
became headmaster, teacher and nurse to the children.

Pestalozzi’s early pedagogy emphasized the combination of learning and industry.

Initially, he believed his students could build things and sell them to help support the
school. However, by the time of his involvement with the Stans orphanage, he believed
crafts and work were much more valuable for their ability to develop students’ dexterity,
attention, observation, memory and social interactions. Unfortunately, the French retook
Stans in 1799 and commandeered the building in which his orphanage was housed.

Pestalozzi’s believed that rather than dealing with words, children should learn by doing
and they should be free to pursue their own interests and draw their own conclusions.
This was in marked contrast to the typical pedagogy of the day, in which the children
learned entirely from books, lecture and rote repetition and memorization, often without
understanding what they were repeating. Furthermore, most teachers in those days
were not even trained as teachers. Pestalozzi eschewed the notion that teachers were
there to give children answers. Thus, he felt it was imperative for the teacher to cultivate
children’s power of observation and reasoning.

One of his early inventions was the use of cut out letters the students could use to
construct words. He also etched letters into transparent horn-leaves, which the students
could superimpose over their own letters to see if they wrote them correctly. Pestalozzi
had so much success with his innovations that a school inspector in Burgdorf wrote that
his children learned as much in half a year as the other teachers’ students were learning
in three years.

By 1804, Pestalozzi’s fame had spread to and people began to study and emulate his
methods in Germany, France, Italy, England, Russia and the U.S. He even received a
job offer from the Czar of Russia. He refused, and later told the Czar he should abolish
serfdom and open schools for the peasants.

Pestalozzi’s pedagogy was also based on respect for his students’ individual
personalities and their personal dignity, as well as a deep sense in social justice and
personal liberty. He encouraged classroom visits and participation by parents and
believed strongly in regular communication with them about their children’s progress.
Yet he opposed the concept of report cards, saying “No child is to compare himself with
others.” He accepted children from all backgrounds, including those with emotional
problems, and even opened a school for hearing impaired children. These ideas
became the basis for the pedagogies of Friedrich Froebel (inventor of kindergarten and
Froebel Gifts), Francisco Ferrer (founder of the first Modern Schools) and many of the
libertarian educators that followed.

Froebe;
Throughout educational history, world philosophers have wrestled
with understanding the myriad of questions and problems
surrounding the education of society’s children. Historically, many
early childhood educators supported the idea that children should be
trained as soon as possible to become productive members of the
larger society so that the cultural heritage of the society could be
preserved from generation to generation; this cultural imposition
theory has been prevalent throughout the educational history of the
world (Staff, 1998). Several educational reformers opposed the
cultural imposition theory through their beliefs that childhood is an
important period of human growth and development, and that
adults should not impose their views and ways upon young children;
instead, these reformers defined educational appropriateness as
what is necessary to each child's level of development and
readiness, not what is expected by society (Staff, 1998). The
German educator, Friedrich Froebel, was one of these pioneers of
early childhood educational reform. As an idealist, he believed that
every child possessed, at birth, his full educational potential, and
that an appropriate educational environment was necessary to
encourage the child to grow and develop in an optimal manner
(Staff, 1998). According to Watson (1997b), Froebel's vision was to
stimulate an appreciation and love for children and to provide a new
but small world--a world that became known as the Kindergarten--
where children could play with others of their own age group and
experience their first gentle taste of independence. Watson further
adds that this early educational vision laid the foundation for the
framework of Froebel's philosophy of education which is
encompassed by the four basic components of (a) free self-activity,
(b) creativity, (c) social participation, and (d) motor expression.

As an educator, Froebel believed that stimulating voluntary self-

activity in the young child was the necessary form of pre-school
education (Watson, 1997a). Self-activity is defined as the
development of qualities and skills that make it possible to take an
invisible idea and make it a reality; self-activity involves formulating
a purpose, planning out that purpose, and then acting on that plan
until the purpose is realized (Corbett, 1998a). Corbett suggests that
one of Froebel's significant contributions to early childhood
education was his theory of introducing play as a means of engaging
children in self-activity for the purpose of externalizing their inner
natures. As described by Dewey (1990), Froebel's interpretation of
play is characterized by free play which enlists all of the child's
imaginative powers, thoughts, and physical movements by
embodying in a satisfying form his own images and educational
interests. Dewey continued his description by indicating that play
designates a child's mental attitude and should not be identified
with anything performed externally; therefore, the child should be
given complete emancipation from the necessity of following any
given or prescribed system of activities while he is engaged in
playful self-activity. In summarizing Froebel's beliefs regarding play,
Dewey concluded that through stimulating play that produces self-
activity, the supreme goal of the child is the fullness of growth
which brings about the realization of his budding powers and
continually carries him from one plane of educational growth to
another.

To assist children in their development of moving from one plane of

educational growth to another, Froebel provided the children with
many stimulating activities to enhance their creative powers and
abilities. Froebel designed a series of instructional materials that he
called "gifts and occupations", which demonstrated certain
relationships and led children in comparison, testing, and creative
exploration activities (Watson, 1997b). A gift was an object
provided for a child to play with--such as a sphere, cube, or
cylinder--which helped the child to understand and internalize the
concepts of shape, dimension, size, and their relationships (Staff,
1998). The occupations were items such as paints and clay which
the children could use to make what they wished; through the
occupations, children externalized the concepts existing within their
creative minds (Staff, 1998). Therefore, through the child’s own
self-activity and creative imaginative play, the child would begin to
understand both the inner and outer properties of things as he
moves through the developmental stages of the educational
process.

A third component of Froebel’s educational plan involved working

closely with the family unit. Froebel believed that parents provided
the first as well as the most consistent educational influence in a
child’s life. Since a child’s first educational experiences occur within
the family unit, he is already familiar with the home environment as
well as with the occupations carried on within this setting. Naturally,
through creative self-activity, a child will imitate those things that
are in a direct and real relationship to him-things learned through
observations of daily family life (Dewey, 1990). Froebel believed
that providing a family setting within the school environment would
provide children with opportunities for interacting socially within
familiar territory in a non-threatening manner. Focusing on the
home environment occupations as the foundation for beginning
subject-matter content allowed the child to develop social
interaction skills that would prepare him for higher level subject-
matter contnt in later educational developmental stages (Dewey,
1990).

Over one hundred and fifty years ago, Froebel (1907) urged
educators to respect the sanctity of child development through this
statement:

We grant space and time to young plants and animals

because we know that, in accordance with the laws that live
in them, they will develop properly and grow well. Young
animals and plants are given rest, and arbitrary interference
with their growth is avoided,/because it is known that the
opposite practice would disturb their pure unfolding and
sound development; but, the young human being is looked
upon as a piece of wax or a lump of clay which man can mold
into what he pleases (p. 8).

Motor expression, which refers to learning by doing as opposed to

following rote instructions, is a very important aspect of Froebel’s
educational principles. Froebel did not believe that the child should
be placed into society’s mold, but should be allowed to shape his
own mold and grow at his own pace through the developmental
stages of the educational process. Corbett (1998b) upholds
Froebel’s tenets that a child should never be rushed or hurried in his
development; he needs to be involved in all of the experiences each
stage requires and helped to see the relationships of things and
ideas to each other and to himself so that he can make sense out of
both his subjective and objective world. Corbett further agrees that
development is continuous, with one stage building upon another,
so that nothing should be missed through haste or for any other
reason as the child moves through the educational process.
Responsible educators should strive to recognize each child's
individual level of development so that essential materials and
activities to stimulate appropriate educational growth can be
provided. Froebel believed that imitation and suggestion would
inevitably occur, but should only be utilized by the teacher as
instruments for assisting students in formulating their own
instructional concepts (Dewey, 1990).

The Kindergarten idea was first introduced into the United States in
the late 1840’s (Watson, 1997b), and Froebel’s basic philosophic
principles of free self activity, creativity, social participation, and
motor expression are valuable components which exist functionally,
with some modifications, in most current early childhood education
programs. The education of society’s children is still a difficult and
fascinating issue studied by world philosophers. Educators of the
future will continue to look to philosophers of the past for assistance
in striving to attain the common goal of being jointly responsible for
nurturing, educating, and cultivating each child toward his or her
maximum potential through the educational process.

Rousseau's Aims and Methods of Education

Rousseau revolted against the entire conception of education which forcing the children to accept
model of adult. His novel Emile attacks the child's depravity theory and an extensively verbal and
literary education which is expected children to speak, think and act as miniature adult. The goal of
his education is to "create learning environment that allow the children to innate natural goodness
which rely on sensation and experience with the nature." (Course Reading Foundation of Education,
pp.134-137) He also believes that child must be free from society imprisoning institution, of which
the school was one of the most coercive. He said that teacher can train the man or the citizen; he
cannot train natural man. His natural man was the one whose natural virtues had not been
influenced by traditional and social institution. On the other hand their natural virtues were so
developed that they were able to adapt themselves to the changing environment. To Rousseau,
education was a process of guidance by teacher rather that instruction by him. "The role of teacher
was to assist the n nature rather than posting the convention to children". (Course Reading
Foundation of Education, pp.134-135). He was emphatic in saying that education was a process of
development into an enjoyable, rational, harmoniously balanced, useful and hence natural life.
Simple and direct methods were created by him. Laying a special emphasis on objects teaching re
remarked "Let the sense always be the guides, let there be no book but the world and no other
instructions than facts." (Taneja, V.R. 2010, p. 108). His advice was that, "in general, never
substitute the sign for the thing itself, save when it is impossible to show the tings for the sing absorb
the attention of the child and make him forget the thing represented." (Taneja, V.R. 2010, p. 109). All
these precepts of Rousseau are being increasingly recognized in modern education, which lays the
greatest stress on concrete teaching. Child, he believes, should be taught by experience not by
verbal lesson. Rousseau advocated that the play-way was the best method to make children
learning. Knowing childhood was his first concept. Ignorance of child nature is the root of educational
errors. The tutor should study the nature of his pupil. Each mind has a form of its own; but the traits
of child's mind can be learnt only by observation as they develop. Wise education proceeds by
observing the child and adopting its measures to his individual capacities and needs

Rousseau's application principles of teaching

and learning in Emile
Since his principles require educators to study the child from the beginning, he divided his principles
into four factors: (1) the generic character of mankind refers to those characters which are variously
manifested in the dispositions or inclination. (2) different characteristics of sexes refer to his first
principle of natural education as Rousseau understands it that sex should be taken into account in
the upbringing of boys and girls. According to him, the nature of the two sexes is different from the
beginning. That makes necessary the corresponding the differences in their education. For this
reason, he would have the boy educated to be a complete human being with worldwide interest, and
the girl to be trained for the wifehood and motherhood.(3) difference in individuality refers to each
mind has a form of it own. It must be directed accordingly. Individuality he pointed out raises many
problems "one has to be flattered, another has to be repressed. One man is made to carry human
knowledge to its fathers point; another may find the ability to read a dangerous power" (4)
differences of ages: at this point, Rousseau identified five developmental stages infancy from birth to
five years old, the child make his first contact with objects in the environment and learn directly from
his senses. Childhood the age from five to twelve, the child constructs his personality as he
becomes aware that his actions cause either painful or pleasurable consequences. Motivated by
curiosity, he actively explores his environment, learning more about the world through his senses.
Rousseau called the eyes, ears, hands and feet the teacher considered the senses better and more
efficient than the schoolmaster, who teaches words the learners don't understand. Emile's tutor
deliberately refrained from introducing books at this stage to avoid substituting reading for the child's
direct interaction with nature. Boyhood from twelve to fifteen, at this stage the children can learn the
natural science by observing the circles of the growth of the plants and animals. By exploring this
surrounding, the children learn geography far more realistically than from studying maps. In Emile, it
is also learned a manual trade, carpentry, to make the connection between mental and physical
work. Adolescence from age fifteen to the time of marriage, around 25 years old at this stage
children become adults and they are now already to cope with the outside world and to learn about
society, government, economics, and business. Rousseau prefers natural to social and emphasize
human intrinsic as an initial mean to knowledge. He believes that school often interferes with
learning. Schooling teachers teach children to play the role that adults prefer rather than repress
their natural interact and impulse. Rousseau used the following key ideas to form his educational
philosophy (a) childhood is an important foundation of human development; (b) children's natural
interest and instincts are valuable beginnings of a more thorough exploration of the environment. (c)
human beings, in their infancy in their life cycles, go through necessary stages of development, (d)
adult coercion has a negative impact on children's development. (Taneja, V.R. 2010, pp.109-116 &
Course Reading Foundation of Education, pp.134-137)
Should Rousseau's methods of education be
applied in Cambodia school?
As every one have known already, Cambodia goes through many stages of the society: Pre French
colonial (before 1863), French colonial era (1963-1953), post-French colonial (1953-1970), political
turmoil of Lon Nol regime or the Khmer Republic (1970-1975), Genocidal regime of Khmer Rouge or
Pol Pot Regime (1975-1979), Heng Samrin regime (1979-1989) and the post general election period
(1993-present). In accordance with Chandler, 1988, Cambodian (Khmer) people were among the
first in Asia to adopt religious idea and political institution from India (Chandler, 1998; Encyclopedia
Britannica, 2001). Since the Khmer immersed themselves in Buddhism, the teaching of Buddhist
principles was institutionalized and "basic literacy" was needed for religious leaders to cultivate
religious concepts and to help lead civil society. The Buddhist temple schools were established and
opened for boys and young men where they could learn moral ethics, literacy and some Buddhist
advice about life. The curriculum consisted of the study of Pali of Buddhist doctrine, Khmer
language, Mathematics, Cambodian history, geography, science, hygiene, civics and agriculture. In
1985, the "objective of Cambodia's education was to reserve the revolutionary socialism of
Kampuchea and to form new and good, hard-working citizen with good health, technical awareness
and support for the revolutionary Kampuchea. Schools were to be organized as cultural centers
open to all and as a system of defense against enemy propaganda" (Yres, 2000, p. 452). The
teachers were volunteers Buddhist men (monks- sangha or achaj). (Sideth S. Dy, 2003). They
taught the students through teacher-center methods by lecturing and requiring student to recite the
lesson. From pre-colonial until 1990 the methods of teaching that the teachers used in their teaching
performance were similar. Late 1990, International organizations (IOs) and Non organizations
(NGOs) diversified their support programs and activities to facilitate and assist the least developed
nations. (Windham, 1992). Cambodia was among the countries under supporting from those
organizations, so fund and technical aids for developing education sector were also granted. Sine
that time, the methodologies used in Cambodia have been better gradually. For methodology, if the
curricula makers consider diverse methods, it will be useful for transferring the knowledge to the
student. For one example, Rousseau' method is very important to stimulate the student because the
young children can learn effectively by playing and experimenting with materials, they can learn best
by actively manipulating objects largely stem from the idea of the lesson or social life in the society.
The student can seek for deep understanding and unpack issues by themselves and they can reach
philosophers and psychologists. If Rousseau's method could be applied in Cambodia, the students
would probably acquire real knowledge, skills, in order to get the prosperous life, to help the heir own
family with better standard of living as well as the nation.

Conclusion
Rousseau was a great revolutionary. Led partly by personal feeling and partly by sympathy for the
common people he revolted against the social inequalities of his age. He propounded in place the
old law of reason, the new gospel of faith in nature. Although Rousseau possessed an unusual
power of embodying great idea in words, he had very slight ability to relate them in action. His great
contribution in field of education was his was his educational methods by showing the value of
motivation, creating the problems, and utilizing the senses and activities of the child. His concept of
freedom, growth, interests and activities were greatly needed at the time against authoritarianism
and absolutism in education. In the future, if Cambodia education factor can assimilate his
philosophy to make effective reforms in educational system through curriculum reform, manual
reform, teaching methodology reform, principles of assessment reform and basic instructional
material reform, It would be the best way to let the young generation know the ways how to
conceptualize through the new things so that they can improve their cognitive and motor skills.