A Pestalozzian Object Lesson

Elizabeth Mayo

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746–1827) was a Swiss educational reformer who emphasized the use of the senses and object teaching in education. His ideas attracted disciples in many countries. In England, Charles and Elizabeth Mayo founded a school that taught future teachers how to use the Pestalozzian method. The following excerpt from Elizabeth Mayo's 1835 text presents a model of the object lesson for a class of children aged six to eight. It should be noted that texts of this sort tended to formalize Pestalozzi's method, making it more rigid than Pestalozzi himself might have desired.

Glass has been selected as the first substance to be presented to the children, because the qualities which characterize it are quite obvious to the senses. The pupils should be arranged before a black board or slate, upon which the result of their observations should be written....

The glass should be passed round the party to be examined by each individual.

Teacher. What is this which I hold in my hand?

Children. A piece of glass.

Teacher. Can you spell the word glass? (The teacher then writes the word "glass" upon the slate, which is thus presented to the whole class as the subject of the lesson.) You have all examined this glass; what do you observe? What can you say that it is?

Children. It is bright.

Teacher. (Teacher having written the word "qualities," writes under it—It is bright.) Take it in your hand and feel it.

Children. It is cold. (Written on the board under the former quality.)

Teacher. Feel it again, and compare it with the piece of sponge that is tied to your slate, and then tell me what you perceive in the glass.

Children. It is smooth—it is hard.

Teacher. What other glass is there in the room?

Children. The windows.

Teacher. Look out at the window and tell me what you see.

Children. We see the garden.

Teacher. (Closes the shutter). Look out again, and tell what you observe.

Children. We cannot see anything.

Teacher. Why cannot you see anything?

Children. We cannot see through the shutters.

Teacher. What difference do you observe between the shutters and the glass?

Children. We cannot see through the shutters, but we can see through the glass.

Teacher. Can you tell me any word that will express this quality which you observe in the glass?

Children. No.

Teacher. I will tell you then; pay attention, that you may recollect it. It is transparent. What shall you now understand when I tell you that a substance is transparent?

Children. That you can see through it.

Teacher. You are right. Try and recollect something that is transparent.

Children. Water.

Questions

1. How was the Pestalozzian object lesson an improvement over the conventional teaching practices of the early nineteenth century?
2. How did Elizabeth Mayo's object lesson anticipate modern "hands-on" methods of teaching?
3. What are the strengths and weaknesses of object teaching?
4. Do you find any evidence of Pestalozzian object teaching in today's schools?

Source: Elizabeth Mayo, Lessons on Objects, as Given to Children Between the Ages of Six and Eight, in a Pestalozzian School, at Cheam, Surrey, 5th ed. (London, 1835), pp. 5–8. Cover from E. A. Sheldon, Lessons on Objects, Graduated Series; Designed for Children Between the Ages of Six and Fourteen Years: Containing, Also, Information on Common Objects (New York: Charles Scribner, 1866).