I agree on the impact of some of Comenius' ideas on present-day education. I would like to point out that one of the pivotal EU lifelong learning programmes is most appropriately named after him: http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-programme/doc84_en.htm

Jaime

----- Mensaje original -----
De: Bill Templer <bill_templer@...>
Fecha: Jueves, Junio 25, 2009 19:04
Asunto: [ExtensiveReading] ER history
A: ExtensiveReading@yahoogroups.com

>     Writing in the 1640s-60s, the pioneer Czech educator John
> Comenius advocated graded reading, learner-centred pedagogy. One
> of his core pedagogical principles was omnia gradatim. He wrote
> several books on new approaches to teaching Latin. He spent last
> decade of his life in Holland.
>     The British writer/biographer Lucy Aikin did versions of
> Robinson Crusoe, Swiss Family Robinson, Aesop's Fables and other
> classics 'In Words of One Syllable' --  writing in the
> 1850s/60s, graded for young readers. I suppose this is bound up
> with the development of children's lit. in English. Here her
> Swiss Family Robinson:  http://tinyurl.com/n8mfjf   The
> simultaneous McGuffey Readers in the states (from 1836) were
> certainly graded, esp. Books 3 and 4. Perrault's tales for kids
> in French appeared in 1697, the beginning of simplified fairy
> tales for younger readers. Maybe Comenius inspired some
> simplified readers in a series, I don't know. His  impact was
> huge, much admired by Piaget, for ex.  --Bill
>
>