The Quincy Method, also known as the Quincy Plan, or the Quincy system of learning, was a child-centred, progressive approach to education developed by Francis W. Parker, then superintendent

Superintendent (education)

In education in the United States, a superintendent is an individual who has executive oversight and administration rights, usually within an educational entity or organization....

 of schools in Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...

 in 1875.

Parker, a pioneer of the progressive school movement

Educational progressivism

Progressive education is a pedagogical movement that began in the late nineteenth century and has persisted in various forms to the present. More recently, it has been viewed as an alternative to the test-oriented instruction legislated by the No Child Left Behind educational funding act...

, rejected the traditional rigid school routine, exemplified by rote learning

Rote learning

Rote learning is a learning technique which focuses on memorization. The major practice involved in rote learning is learning by repetition by which students commit information to memory in a highly structured way. The idea is that one will be able to quickly recall the meaning of the material the...

 and the spelling-book method, and even stated that the spelling book should be burned, although he did favour oral spelling. Emphasis was instead placed on social skills and self-expression through cultural activities and physical training, as well as teacher-prepared materials, experience-based learning and children’s own writing.

A survey by the Massachusetts State Board of Education published four years later showed that Quincy students excelled at reading, writing, and spelling, and ranked fourth in their county in math.

When in 1883 Parker became principal of the Cook County Normal School in Chicago, he developed the Method further, introducing teacher training based on modern educational methods.

See also

• Constructionist learning
  Constructionist learning
  Constructionist learning is inspired by the constructivist theory that individual learners construct mental models to understand the world around them. However, constructionism holds that learning can happen most effectively when people are also active in making tangible objects in the real world...
  
  
• Experiential education
  Experiential education
  Experiential education is a philosophy of education that describes the process that occurs between a teacher and student that infuses direct experience with the learning environment and content. The term is mistakenly used interchangeably with experiential learning...
  
  
• Educational philosophies
• Education reform
  Education reform
  Education reform is the process of improving public education. Small improvements in education theoretically have large social returns, in health, wealth and well-being. Historically, reforms have taken different forms because the motivations of reformers have differed.A continuing motivation has...
  
  
• Humanistic education
• Laboratory school
  Laboratory school
  A laboratory school or demonstration school is an elementary or secondary school operated in association with a university, college, or other teacher education institution and used for the training of future teachers, educational experimentation, educational research, and professional...