Progressive education began in the late 19th century as a protest against standardized textbooks and rote learning methods. It advocated for a more child-centered approach where students could discuss ideas and work on hands-on projects tailored to their interests. Progressive teachers acted as facilitators rather than authorities, emphasizing democratic and cooperative learning over strict memorization. This movement spread in Canada in the early-to-mid 20th century and aimed to make education more relevant to the needs of students and the workforce through experiential learning opportunities.

1. Progressive Education in Canada
Susan Muir Visual Artifact #5
Progressive education is a pedagogical movement that began during the late 19th
century.
It came about as a result of a protest against simple pedagogy using standardized textbooks and
teaching by ‘filling the vessel’ (child) with knowledge. A new way of thinking about the child
occurred, as well as a democratic education including equality towards the individual. It was a
time of renewed hope and change.
Figure 1.Progressive education in the 1940’s. This video from the 1940’s shows the practical
value of teachings during the progressive movement. Progressive education taught the children
through projects, studying multi-subjects through hands on, child-centred projects. This was a
teaching philosophy that modeled the philosophy of progressive thinkers such as John Dewey.
http://youtu.be/opXKmwg8VQM . Public Domain.
Figure 2 Peddiwell (1939) wrote a satiric fictional story in “The Saber-Tooth Curriculum” about
few radicals called progressive educators who saw traditional education not delivering the
needed skills for the changing world. Peddiwell, A. A. (1939). The saber-tooth curriculum. New
York. Personal Photo.
If we teach today as we taught
yesterday, we rob our children of
tomorrow…”
- John Dewey

2. Progressive Education in Canada
Susan Muir Visual Artifact #5
Figure 3. Progressive Education over the years. This video displays how education and the
classroom have developed over the years. http://youtu.be/_nvci3aMmQM Public Domain.
Traditional Teachers Progressive Teachers
Stern/Strict Facilitative
In-charge Allow student discussion
Authoritative Project oriented
Alone Co-operative
*note only a partial table was extracted for this assignment
Figure 4. Difference between progressive teachers and traditional teachers. This chart notes the
differences between traditional and progressive education A more child-centred approach to
education had the teacher become facilitator of learning.
http://www.wingraschool.org/who/progressive.htm Public Domain.
The term progressive came from a period of changing economic, political and social
reforms. Progressive educators addressed the needs such as a broader curriculum that matched
the needs of the workforce. Immigration from Europe brought children of diverse learning needs
and a need for a more democratic curriculum where children have a voice (Itin, 1999;Lewis &
Williams, 1994). During the 1930’s the ‘new’ education in Canada, often referred to as
progressive education, represented “learning by doing and building child-centred curricula out of
the interests of children” (Baldwin, 2008, p. 291). Post World War, education during the mid-
1950’s found provinces such as Alberta and Ontario experimented with experiential education
(Lemisko & Clausen, 2006; Axelrod, 2005). A more child-centred approach to education was
influenced by a revolt against traditional education and more towards freedom for each
individual as a learner. This movement had the teacher become facilitator of learning.
Central to the philosophy of the progressive movement are the actions of the teacher. Itin
(1999) and others shared the idea that the teacher “is responsible for presenting opportunities for
experiences, helping students utilize these experiences, establishing the learning environment,
placing boundaries on the learning objectives, sharing necessary information and facilitating
learning” (Itin, 1999, p.93). This comparison of traditional versus progressive teacher (Our
Future Schooling, ND) illustrated conflicting qualities of each movement. Translating the theory
into practice has been a challenge for Canadian teachers. Educators must come to realize that
curriculum and instruction are not based on a textbook, but more importantly on the outcomes
students must achieve through differentiated instruction.