progressive education

American  

noun

1. any of various reformist educational philosophies and methodologies since the late 1800s, applied especially to elementary schools, that reject the rote recitation and strict discipline of traditional, single-classroom teaching, favoring instead more stimulation of the individual pupil as well as group discussion, more informality in the classroom, a broader curriculum, and use of laboratories, gymnasiums, kitchens, etc., in the school.

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progressive education Cultural  

1. A broad movement for educational reform in the twentieth century. Progressive education is principally associated with John Dewey, but it contains many different and often conflicting ideas. In general, progressive educators view existing schools as too rigid, formal, and detached from real life. They prefer informal classroom arrangements and informal relations between pupils and teachers. They also prefer that schools teach useful subjects (including occupations) and emphasize “learning by doing” rather than instruction purely from textbooks. Some place the developing personality of the child at the center of educational thinking and insist, “teach the child, not the subject.”

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Example Sentences

But it is true that, for progressive education, school begins with the child and her interests and developing faculties, not with the subject matter and its intrinsic nature.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

The Eagle schools embody elements of both traditional and progressive education models that Mr. Banks has sought to prove should not be contradictory.

From New York Times • Dec. 8, 2021

My visits to schools often reveal that despite Heinlein’s doubts, progressive education has deepened learning with projects and topics relevant to students’ lives.

From Washington Post • Nov. 19, 2020

Nixon, who is fifty-two, has been a progressive education activist for a decade, and she has never before allied herself with socialism.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 2, 2018

In the 1960s an opposing school emerged, inspired by academic linguistics and theories of progressive education.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker