Marietta Johnson
Encyclopedia
Marietta Pierce Johnson (1864–1938), educational reformer, was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1864 and moved with her family to Fairhope, Alabama
in 1902. In 1907 she founded a progressive school called The School of Organic Education, (now The Marietta Johnson School of Organic Education).
Mrs. Johnson had been a teacher in the normal system in Minnesota
and had radical ideas on education reform. She felt that children should live natural lives, study the outdoors and not be forced to read at too young an age.
In her "organic" school, tests were not administered, homework was withheld until high school, and grades were unknown. She required hand craft
s and folk dancing along with the traditional academic curriculum. Her school was a magnet to young teachers and to artists, and was instrumental in building the reputation of Fairhope as an artists' colony. Encouraged and funded by friends in the small experimental community of Fairhope, Alabama, Mrs. Johnson began her revolutionary school on a ten-acre campus -- teaching, writing, training teachers in her method. Her little school attracted national attention, and she was one of the founders of the Progressive Education Association.
Mrs. Johnson was in great demand as a lecturer and, after John Dewey
's favorable review of her school in 1915, she achieved a worldwide recognition as a leader in the Progressive Education movement. She was responsible for the founding of many schools based upon her philosophy; however, her heart was in Fairhope, and her school there was the center of her activities. A speaker of great power, she was able to persuade audiences and educators of the validity of her philosophy, and her school attracted a number of intellectuals to Fairhope to enrol their children in The School of Organic Education. Mrs. Johnson believed in classes without final examinations, homework, or failure.
The school reached its zenith in the 1920s, in part because of John Dewey's book and its reference to Mrs. Johnson and her school. Through the great depression, two world wars and Mrs. Johnson's death in 1938, the Organic School has never closed its doors and is still operating in Fairhope.
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
in 1902. In 1907 she founded a progressive school called The School of Organic Education, (now The Marietta Johnson School of Organic Education).
Mrs. Johnson had been a teacher in the normal system in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
and had radical ideas on education reform. She felt that children should live natural lives, study the outdoors and not be forced to read at too young an age.
In her "organic" school, tests were not administered, homework was withheld until high school, and grades were unknown. She required hand craft
Craft
A craft is a branch of a profession that requires some particular kind of skilled work. In historical sense, particularly as pertinent to the Medieval history and earlier, the term is usually applied towards people occupied in small-scale production of goods.-Development from the past until...
s and folk dancing along with the traditional academic curriculum. Her school was a magnet to young teachers and to artists, and was instrumental in building the reputation of Fairhope as an artists' colony. Encouraged and funded by friends in the small experimental community of Fairhope, Alabama, Mrs. Johnson began her revolutionary school on a ten-acre campus -- teaching, writing, training teachers in her method. Her little school attracted national attention, and she was one of the founders of the Progressive Education Association.
Mrs. Johnson was in great demand as a lecturer and, after John Dewey
John Dewey
John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
's favorable review of her school in 1915, she achieved a worldwide recognition as a leader in the Progressive Education movement. She was responsible for the founding of many schools based upon her philosophy; however, her heart was in Fairhope, and her school there was the center of her activities. A speaker of great power, she was able to persuade audiences and educators of the validity of her philosophy, and her school attracted a number of intellectuals to Fairhope to enrol their children in The School of Organic Education. Mrs. Johnson believed in classes without final examinations, homework, or failure.
The school reached its zenith in the 1920s, in part because of John Dewey's book and its reference to Mrs. Johnson and her school. Through the great depression, two world wars and Mrs. Johnson's death in 1938, the Organic School has never closed its doors and is still operating in Fairhope.
External links
- http://www.mariettajohnson.org/
- http://www.fairhopeorganicschool.com/history.html