1592-1670 John Amos Comenius is sometimes referred to as the “Father of Modern Education” and also known as Jan Amos Komensky . He was a Moravian (now the Czech Republic) philosopher, theologian, and pedagogue who wrote over 200 books putting forth his visionary lifelong learning ideas as a means to create harmony throughout humankind. He developed “a philosophy, called Pansophism, which emphasized political unity, religious reconciliation, and cooperation in education. This philosophy of Pansophism related education to everyday life and called for a systematic relationship to be developed for all knowledge.” ( http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/comenius) He believed life should be a quest to learn all one can about humanity, nature, and God. And he believed in the inherent Godliness of children. His work supported a type of experiential education, where children learn through play and doing at their own natural pace, and skills are developed through a natural progression from basic to more complex. He believed society would improve through the education of all, regardless of social class, or gender. This was a radical idea at the time. He also believed in educating people through their daily language instead of the then-standard Latin. He is credited with publishing the first widely used children’s book called “the world of pictures” in 1658, which was a standard textbook throughout Europe for 200 years.
1632-1704 John Locke was a medically trained English philosopher and political theorist who speculated that humans are born as a “clean slate”, neither bad nor good, and are developed through their experiences. This is the concept of “tabula rasa”. He believed that “knowledge was…the accumulation of ‘facts’ derived from sensory experience. To discover truths beyond the realm of basic experience, Locke