Johann Friedrich Herbart
1776 – 1841 German philosopher, educator, psychologist
German philosopher who tried to put teaching on a scientific footing rooted in psychology and ethics.
- Religion
- Protestant.
- Affiliations
- Professor at Konigsberg and Gottingen; founded scientific pedagogy.
Herbart argued that education should be grounded in a systematic psychology and directed toward moral character. He developed a theory of instruction based on building new ideas onto existing ones, later formalized by followers into structured teaching steps. His work made pedagogy a formal field of study and shaped teacher training in Europe and the United States.
Connections
- influenced Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi — Herbart visited and studied Pestalozzi's institute.
- influenced Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi — Studied Pestalozzi's methods early in his career.