Joseph Neef Pestalozzianism

Author : W. S. Monroe
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781331106968
Total Pages : 20 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (69 download)

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Download or read book Joseph Neef and Pestalozzianism in America (Classic Reprint) written by W. S. Monroe and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-10 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Joseph Neef and Pestalozzianism in America Francis Joseph Nicholas Neef was born at Soultz, Alsace, on the 6th of December, 1770. His father was a miller and destined his son for the priesthood; but when about twenty-one years old, young Neef gave up the idea of taking orders, and entered the French army under Napoleon. At the famous battle of Arcole, Italy, in 1796, he was severely wounded and forced to retire from the military service. It was then that he turned his attention to education. When he joined Pestalozzi, is nowhere positively stated. In the Plan of Education he says: "About a year after Pestalozzi's school was established I became acquainted with him." The school at Burgdorf was opened in 1799, so that Neef must have joined Pestalozzi in 1800. The character of his teaching at Burgdorf is best given by Ramsaner who was a pupil of the school at the time. He says: "Buss had the scholars to sing whilst marching in time two and two, holding each other by the hand, in the large corridors of the castle. This was our chief pleasure; but our joy reached its climax when our gymnastic master Neef, with his peculiar charm, took part in it. This Neef was an old soldier who had fought in all parts of the world. He was a giant with a great beard, a crabbed face, a severe air, a rude exterior, but he was kindness itself. When he marched with the air of a trooper at the head of sixty or eighty children, his great voice thundering a Swiss air, then he enchanted the whole house. I should say that Neef, in spite of the rudeness of his exterior, was the pupils' favorite, and for this reason he always lived with them and felt happiest when amongst them. He played, exercised, walked, bathed, climbed, threw stones with the scholars all in a childish spirit: this is how he had such unlimited authority over them. Meanwhile, he was not a pedagogue, he only had the heart of one." Pestalozzi, having been chosen a member of the Helvetic consulta in 1802, was frequently called to Paris to settle disputes and look after interests involving Helvetia. A philanthropic society in Paris, learning of his method of instruction, induced him to send one of his teachers among them. Neef, because of his familiarity with the French and German languages, was chosen to conduct the Paris school. This school, a sort of orphanage, and not unlike the one that Pestalozzi was at the time conducting at Burgdorf, attracted general attention, and was visited by numerous distinguished educators and philanthropists, not a few of whom were Americans. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.