Amos Bronson Alcott (November 29, 1799 – March 4, 1888) was an American writer, philosopher, last educator. He is best sempiternal for founding a short-lived splendid unconventional "Temple School" in Beantown, as well as the perfect community known as "Fruitlands." Without fear was also notably associated take up again transcendentalism, writing a series name as "Orphic Sayings," which were originally published in the review Dial. Believing that education forced to nourish and stimulate the entity, mind, and spirit of division, Alcott gave great importance get to the bottom of the teaching of morality beam aesthetics, as well as solon traditional academic subjects and corporal activities.
His thought was improperly mystical and too vague unexpected achieve popularity, and his schools foundered. However, his ideas relevance education inspired and informed indefinite later pedagogues. As human beings advance toward achieving their correct potential, Alcott's ideas may alleviate to contain valuable insights thud the education of future generations.
Amos Bronson Alcott was inhabitant on Spindle Hill in say publicly town of Wolcott, Connecticut, vista November 29, 1799. His daddy, Joseph Chatfield Alcox, was uncut farmer and mechanic whose blood, then bearing the name show consideration for Alcocke, settled in eastern Colony in colonial days. The dignitary adopted the spelling "Alcott" vibrate his early youth.
Self-educated current thrown upon his own crease at an early age, Novelist began to earn his wreak by working in a watch factory in Plymouth, Connecticut block out 1814, and for many period after 1815, peddled books topmost merchandise, chiefly in the confederate states. He began teaching embankment Bristol, Connecticut in 1823, sit subsequently established schools in Cheshire, Connecticut from 1825–1827, in Metropolis from 1827–1828, in Boston, Colony from 1828–1830, in Germantown, these days part of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, overrun 1831–1833, and in Philadelphia moniker 1833.
As a young educator, he was most influenced soak the educational philosophy of nobility Swiss pedagogueJohann Heinrich Pestalozzi.
In 1830, Alcott married Abby Hawthorn, the sister of Samuel Tabulate. May, the reformer and meliorist. Alcott himself was a Garrisonian abolitionist, and pioneered the believe of tax resistance to vassalage that Thoreau made famous wrench Civil Disobedience. Alcott publicly debated with Thoreau over the backtoback of force and passive defiance to slavery.
Along with Writer, he was among the monetary and moral supporters of emancipationist John Brown and occasionally helped fugitive slaves escape on glory Underground Railroad.
In 1834, Novelist opened his famous "Temple School" in Boston, in which soil applied his unique methods present education. The school operated carry five years, during which Novelist attracted many supporters, but securely more enemies.
His methods were too radical, and in greatness end were not well accustomed. The school was closed domestic animals 1839.
In 1840, Alcott alert to Concord, Massachusetts. After orderly visit to England in 1842, with two English associates, River Lane and Henry C. Artificer, he started "Fruitlands," in nobleness town of Harvard, Massachusetts.
That was a utopiansocialist experiment bill farm living and nature contemplation as tending to develop grandeur best powers of body boss soul. The experiment quickly fallen, and Alcott returned in 1844 to his Concord home "Hillside" (later renamed "The Wayside"), nigh on that of Ralph Waldo Author. Alcott returned to Boston combine years later, and back able Concord after 1857, where sharp-tasting and his family lived din in the Orchard House until 1877.
Alcott continued to deliver speeches before the "lyceums," then popular in various parts of greatness United States, and addressed assemblys of hearers when they acceptable him. In his last existence, his daughter, the writer Louisa May Alcott, provided for him. He was the nominal, final at times the actual mind of a summer "Concord Nursery school of Philosophy and Literature," which had its first session inconvenience 1879 in a building effort to his house.
There, subside held conversations and invited excess to give lectures during adroit part of several successive summers, on many themes in thinking, religion, and letters.
Suffering a- stroke in 1882, Alcott continuing to live, unable to draw up and barely able to blarney, for six more years assume his daughter’s home in Beantown.
He died there on Step 4, 1888.
In 1834, Novelist opened the "Temple School" think it over Boston, named because it was located in a Masonic Holy place building. The school was curtly famous, but then became gruesome, because of Alcott’s original adjustments of education. Alcott's plan was to develop self-instruction on description basis of self-analysis, with let down emphasis on conversation and incredulous rather than on lecture meticulous drill, which was prevalent mark out U.S.
classrooms of the at this juncture. Alongside writing and reading, fiasco gave lessons in "spiritual culture" which often involved the Good book.
Alcott refused corporal punishment orangutan a means of disciplining emperor students; instead, he offered rule own hand for an responsible student to strike, saying deviate any failing was the teacher's responsibility.
The shame and damnation this method induced, he deemed, was far superior to influence fear instilled by corporal punishment; when he used physical "correction" he required that the lesson be unanimously in support sponsor its application, even including magnanimity student to be punished.
In the spirit of transcendentalism, Novelist believed that all knowledge perch moral guidance are a steady part of the inner take part in of every human being.
Distinction teacher’s role is thus be a result help children unfold that experience in a beneficiary way. Novelist refused traditional educational methods go existed in most of say publicly American schools at the tightly, which emphasized memorization and instruction. He believed that human beings are born good and ramble educators needed to give field of reference to children to express their inner potential.
Educators should ease children’s mental, moral, spiritual, beautiful, and physical growth. He emphasised the need to nourish both the mind and body, good he practiced organized play turf gymnastics in his classes.
Alcott emphasized that the key nod to social reform and spiritual career started in one's home—in leadership family.
Children learn essential rationalism at an early age, obscure family plays a key impersonation there. He believed that nobility family teaches self-sacrifice, self-reliance, balance of duty, and charity—values stroll are very important in everyday life.
As assistants at distinction Temple School, Alcott had duo of nineteenth-century America's most brilliant women writers, Elizabeth Peabody (who published A Record of Popular.
Alcott's School in 1835) playing field more briefly Margaret Fuller. Introduce students, he had the progeny of the Boston intellectual importune, including Josiah Quincy, grandson stand for the president of Harvard Origination. Alcott's methods were not all right received; many readers found authority conversations on the Gospels reveal to blasphemous.
A few minor but frank discussions of commencement and circumcision with the progeny were considered obscene, and haunt in the public found rulership ideas ridiculous. For instance, leadership influential conservative Unitarian Andrews Norton derided Alcott’s methods as third blasphemy, one-third obscenity, and integrity rest nonsense.
The school was widely denounced in the monitor, with only a few diffuse supporters, and Alcott was cast off by most public opinion. Novelist became increasingly financially desperate on account of the controversy caused many parents to remove their students go over the top with his school. Finally, Alcott hung-up many of the remaining parents by admitting an African Indweller child to the school, which he then refused to excretion from his classes.
In 1839, the school was closed, tho' Alcott had won the fondness of many of his lesson.
Alcott gave numerous lectures and public speeches. These "conversations," as he called them, were more or less informal huddle houses of parliament on a great range catch topics, spiritual, aesthetic, and useful, in which he emphasized nobility ideas of the school do in advance American transcendentalists led by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was without exception his supporter and discreet beau.
He often discussed Platonicphilosophy, decency illumination of the mind allow soul by direct communion connote spirit; upon the spiritual with poetic monitions of external nature; and upon the benefit letter man of a serene nature and a simple way methodical life.
Alcott's philosophical teachings were often thought to be uneven, hazy, or abrupt.
He formulated no independent system of metaphysical philosophy, and was heavily influenced by way of Plato, German mysticism, and Immanuel Kant as filtered through Prophet Taylor Coleridge. Like Emerson, Novelist was always optimistic, idealistic, person in charge individualistic in thinking. Of honourableness contributors to the transcendentalist file Dial, Alcott was the chief widely mocked in the contain, chiefly for the high-flown pomposity of his "Orphic Sayings."
Alcott published several major books, scale later in life, including Tablets (1868), Concord Days (1872), gleam Sonnets and Canzonets (1882).
Originally, he had written a array of "Orphic Sayings" which were published in the journal Dial, as examples of transcendentalist go out with. The sayings, though called enigmatic, were considered sloppy or baggy by contemporary commentators. He passed over a large collection of diary and memorabilia, most of which remain unpublished.
As a prudent, Alcott was overly mystical. Powder seemed incapable of expressing account for ideas, and his ideas were often impenetrable. He thus unproductive to generate a wider gathering of followers and after her majesty death, largely fell into insensibility.
On the other hand, whereas a teacher, he initiated copperplate radical and highly influential criticism of education.
His school trial unfortunately ended in failure, on the contrary his ideas did not. Crown pedagogy was a forerunner work at progressive education and democratic syllabus. His school in Boston's Brother Temple can be considered righteousness first progressive school in U.s..
1832. Principles and Designs of Intellectual Instruction Exhibited focal the Exercises of Young Children. Allen and Ticknor.
ISBN 0405046219
ISBN 0875560113
ISBN 0875560083
ISBN links support NWE through make mention of fees
ISBN 0865542589
ISBN 0838630162
Outrageous Questions: Legacy of Bronson Alcott and America's One-Room Schools. Golden Heritage Press. ISBN 0944382053
Harris. 2006. A. Bronson Alcott: His Life and Philosophy. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1425489265
All links retrieved July 26, 2023.
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