Helen Parkhurst: the first female reformer in the field of organization of education

Abstract

Introduction. The problem of improving the level of teaching in the field of general and vocational education is one of the most significant in modern pedagogy. In this regard, modern didactics carefully study the legacy of their outstanding predecessors, – teachers of the past. Among such scientists who have left a unique mark in pedagogical science and practice is the American teacher Helen Parkhurst (1886-1973). Materials and methods. Research methods, – analysis of historical and pedagogical, methodological and fiction literature on the research topic, biographical, historical and comparative methods, axiological (value) approach to the study of methodological innovations by H. Parkhurst. Results. American teacher-innovator Helen Parkhurst, alongside with Maria Montessori, violated the monopoly of men on the right to be considered a major scientist in the field of pedagogy. Her pedagogical activity included the desire for constant professional self-improvement, the search for new ways to solve the pedagogical problems that confronted her. Her main methodological achievement was the development of the Dalton plan, according to which she successfully rebuilt the work in one of the American schools. The methodological innovation of Parkhurst was approved first by teachers in the USA, and then everywhere in the world. In the USSR in the 1920s and 1930s, this method was also actively used, although without much success. The application of the Dalton plan in the Soviet school was reflected in a number of works of fiction (M. G. Rozanov, N. I. Kochin). Conclusion. Helen Parkhurst's methodological ideas are in great demand today and are actively used in modern educational practice in many countries of the world, including Russia. At the same time, their positive potential has not yet been fully explored and mastered, so the legacy of H. Parkhurst deserves further careful study by didactics and historians of pedagogy.