How did the "Active Child" come into Educational Theory?

The term "active child" has been coined during the era of progressive education at the beginning of the 20th century. John Dewey spoke of the "Copernican revolution" in education that took place when education turned to the child. However the object of this term is much older. The child as an active learner is shown in Dutch paintings of the 17th century, and the didactic concept of active learning goes back to the English Enlightenment. One outstanding example is the book on practical learning that was published by Richard and Maria Edgeworth in 1798. Already here can be found the concept of "learning-by-doing" that is usually attributed to American pragmatism a hundred years later. Even religious hymns referred to children that should learn in active way. American sources, on the other hand, show that the vision of active children became part of the popular culture before Pragmatism started. One of these sources were journals for children and youngsters that were widely read in the 19th century. The cover pictures of these journals developed continually the image of the active child that discovers the world outside school. The same is true for novels and narrations. So as matters stand the "active child" was not invented by progressive education. On the contrary, progressive education would not have been possible without the cultural image of discovery and active learning. This image did not exist a hundred years earlier. The image is the background of almost every theory of modern education.訳: 樋口 聡・鈴木 由美