Lucy Sprague Mitchell influenced America's education system greatly. She created the Bank Street College and her work led to the development of America's head start programs we have today.
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2. Born July 2, 1878 in Chicago, Illinois
Died October 15, 1967 – she was 89 years old
3. Family Background
Her family had high expectations that eventually made
her feel like she could never please them and was not
good enough
Her feelings of inadequacy led to her theories about
children’s literature and education
She was not very close with her father but she was
influenced by his interest in the education reform
4. Education
Self educated until 16
Attended Radcliffe as an undergraduate and graduated
magna cum laude with honors in Philosophy in 1900
It was rare for women in this time to seek this level of
education
5. Interesting facts
She suffered from uncontrollable nervous ticks until 16
She was appointed the 1st dean of women at the
University of California, Berkeley in 1906
Married Wesley Clair Mitchell in 1912 and had 2 children
of their own and adopted 2 more
Published in 1921, a collection of short stories called the
“Here and Now Storybook” which set a precedent for
realistic children's literature
She created a writers workshop in 1937 established to
help authors better understand child development,
interests, and to promote rhythm and rhymes in
language
6. Interesting Facts continued…
Also published “Know Your Children in School” in 1954, it
highlighted child development and outside factors that
influence a child’s school life
She was awarded the Graduate Chapter medal for
pioneer work in education by the Alumnae Association of
Radcliffe College – 1956
7. In her time children were taken care of but silenced.
They were looked upon as inferior and given strict
scheduled lifestyles, she didn’t understand how anyone
could expect to teach children when they do not
understand the way children learn and what they are
interested in learning
She wanted children to interact and learn through
experiences
Her theories focused on relationships
8. Whole Children
She promoted raising what she called the WHOLE
CHILD- this meant children were developmentally
healthy and emotionally secure.
She believed that if people raise the whole child that
society would progressively improve, this focused on
fulfilling all of children’s needs not just their basic
physical needs
9. Whole Teachers
In the 1930’s she trained teachers to become WHOLE
TEACHERS to be able to teach and guide children to
become WHOLE CHILDREN
Then, in 1931, she opened the Co-operative School for
Student Teachers, later known as the Co-operative
School for Teachers (CST)
10. Bureau of Educational
Experiments
She started the Bureau of Educational Experiments in New York
The school served as a model for early education programs that were
considered Developmentally Appropriate
The Bureau of Educational Experiments coordinated and sponsored
experimental schools around the country and maintained its own nursery
school.
The purpose of the Bureau of Educational Experiments was to teach students
and conduct research- they focused on child development rather than a
learning specific curriculum, they observed how development is stimulated by
experiences and activities, they focused on scientific stages of development
and establishing norms
She believed children learn best in an environment that is appropriate for their
age and stage of development
She taught teachers that not all children develop at the same rate.
The curriculum was child-centered, promoting the growth of the whole child by
focusing on each child’s mental, physical, emotional, and social needs.
During her observations of children she found that language development is
more important that they thought before
11. Bank Street College of Education
In 1950 the Bureau of Educational Experiments became
certified as the Bank Street College of Education
12. Influences
Based her theory off the idea that children had the want
and desire to learn.
Influence by John Dewey and Jane Addams
Lucy came to view Dewey's theories of stimulating the
creativity of children and encouraging each child's
individuality as the key to effective education
13. How have her theories impacted
education
•
•
Her school programs were seen as loony and radical in
the 1910’s but by the 1950’s her schools were
considered developmentally appropriate and became
traditional nursery schools
Her work led to the development of head start programs
16. Lucy Sprague Mitchell
“We hope to imbue students with an
experimental, critical, ardent approach
to their work and to the social problems
of the world. If we can do this, we are
ready to leave the future to them.” Lucy
Sprague Mitchell (1878-1967)
