Helen Parkhurst
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
educator, author, lecturer, the originator of the Dalton Plan
Dalton Plan
The Dalton Plan is an educational concept created by Helen Parkhurst.Inspired by the intellectual ferment at the turn of the 19th century, educational thinkers such as Maria Montessori and John Dewey began to cast a bold vision of a new progressive approach to education...
and the founder of The Dalton School
The Dalton School
The Dalton School, originally called the Children's University School, is a private university-preparatory school on New York City's Upper East Side and a member of both the New York Interschooland the Ivy Preparatory School League...
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Born at Durand, Wisconsin
Durand, Wisconsin
Durand is a city in Pepin County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,968 at the 2000 census. The city is located within the Town of Durand and is also the county seat....
, she graduated from Wisconsin State Teachers College in 1907, studied at the universities of Rome and Munich as well as with Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator, a noted humanitarian and devout Catholic best known for the philosophy of education which bears her name...
and was awarded her M.A.
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in 1943 from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
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- "I am of the opinion that the influence of a teacher's conversation with an individual child on any ordinary academic subject is much more potent than what is said in a class lesson. Those of us who are older often hear sermons or lectures which inspire us, and if we are privileged to talk over points with the preacher or lecturer afterwards, the effect is much more emphatic and permanent. But how many class lessons have children to listen to which are boring and useless, and others where they are not sufficiently interested to ask a question? If we use class teaching and individual work in their proper places the best results will follow."
She died in New Milford, Connecticut
New Milford, Connecticut
New Milford is a town in southern Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States north of Danbury, on the Housatonic River. It is the largest town in the state in terms of land area at nearly . The population was 28,671 according to the Census Bureau's 2006 estimates...
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