Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827) (better known as Enrique Pestalozzi) was a renowned Swiss pedagogue, educator, and reformer during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He is recognized for his conviction that many of the main problems of society should be solved through work in basic education.
From their perspective, teachers must be prepared to develop their students beyond the provision of specific knowledge. In addition, they should focus on a comprehensive education that covers all possible aspects of the lives of their students..
This is conceptualized in the definition of the "moral man" who does good and loves, who is based on faith and leaves selfishness aside. Pestalozzi was the founder of numerous educational institutions in Germany and Switzerland, practically managing to eradicate illiteracy from the region during the 18th century..
He oriented his work towards popular education and is recognized for his motto: "Learning through the head, the hand and the heart." Specifically summarizes his work as a reformer of traditional pedagogy.
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Pestalozzi was born in Zurich, Switzerland, on January 23, 1796 in a family exiled for their religious convictions (of Protestant faith). His father, a doctor by profession, passed away when Johann was 6 years old..
Pestalozzi developed a particular interest in the poverty of peasant countries through some trips he made with his clergyman grandfather. Soon it was especially affected by the illiteracy, ignorance and suffering of children who were employed for factory jobs from an early age.
He was not a very diligent boy in his schooling. He was considered disobedient and could not adapt to educational institutions.
Despite being educated to be a clergyman, Jean-Jacques Rousseau's specific influence directed his desire towards work in a broader sphere of activity in order to promote well-being to people. Since then he has devoted himself to the study of law and political justice..
Following several complaints against the State, he was imprisoned for 3 days and professionally isolated. This led to his early retirement from his profession and his conversion to agriculture..
For some years he supported the production of several farming farms and even ventured into wool spinning with his wife Anna Schulthess, with whom he had only one son named Jean-Jacques Pestalozzi.
Having failed and impoverished as a farmer, he began the process of turning the farm into an industrial school. He had the prospect of teaching orphaned children who normally found themselves in physically demanding jobs and poor nutrition. In 1779 he had to close the school due to lack of financial resources.
During the last decades of the 18th century he produced an extensive amount of writing. He described life in the country and criticized the methods of institutional education. These texts were not widely accepted at the time, but in 1789 the Swiss government hired Pestalozzi as director of a new orphanage..
Here began the most fruitful stage in Enrique Pestalozzi's career as educator, writer and founder of educational institutions..
In the following years, the college was remarkably successful, attracting the interest of the entire educational spectrum of the region. In addition, his publications from the beginning of the 19th century received great attention and he was soon invited to collaborate in different educational publications..
The method that best defines Pestalozzi's pedagogy is conceptualized as global intuition. It is about encompassing the student's life process and guiding him to learning the contents inside and outside of school. It is defined as a logical method, of analytical and systematic conception.
For the study of form, it was insisted on teaching to distinguish the physical properties of objects (dimensions and proportions) through observation, measurement, drawing and writing..
It is based on the simple explanation of objects to enrich memory and internalize their perceptions. In addition, he argued that through drawing the properties of the object could be perceived and writing skills were also developed.
In this case, Pestalozzi considered teaching as a unit, dissociating the whole through relationships with other elements. For example, he used a letter board for children to collect in groups. Through this exercise, the numbers and letters were recognized at the same time.
For the study of the name, Pestalozzi tried to familiarize them from an early age with the identity of objects, in order to quickly recognize their shapes and the ways of expressing them.
Pestalozzi's work shaped a revolution in 19th century pedagogy. Through his studies on child labor in the region's peasantry and its effects on socialization, the education of the time began to relate to culture and nature..
Thanks to his work, the idea of comprehensive training with cooperation among students began to be incorporated into institutional education. The idea arises that students also learn from their peers.
Pestalozzi's work first influenced the European continent and, as time passed, the entire West had to adapt its pedagogy to the new ideas of the educator. Even in Latin America you can find some schools founded in honor of Juan Enrique Pestalozzi..
Other important contributions of Pestalozzi are the following:
- The practice of the game and the experience in educational processes.
- The emphasis on crafts and drawing.
- Language development through simple conversations.
- The importance of affectivity.
- The exercise of corporality and singing.
- The importance of the formation of institutions aimed at children with basic needs.
- Spontaneity and unfolding.
- The importance of socialization in the first family instances.
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