Student-Centered Education

The educational philosophy of Constructionism, which is the official theory behind the design of the XO laptop's Sugar user interface and Activities, overlaps strongly with what is more generally known as student-centered education or child-centered education. Constructionism has emphasized the use of computers in education, but in every other way these strands of thinking follow the same principles.

• Education must be based on observation and understanding of children, not on the way things "have always been done".
• Education must be mass customized so that all children can learn, but in their own ways, using their own skills and strengths.
• We must tell children the truth, and not be afraid that that will destroy society. Fiat iustitia, ruat coelum, as the Romans used to say. (Let right be done, though the Heavens fall.)

Here are few of the pioneers in this field.

• Jane Addams
• John Dewey, in opposition to Horace Mann's previous importing of the Prussian education system to the US.
• William James
• Charles Sanders Peirce
• Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel
• Maria Montessori
• Georges Cuisenaire
• Jean Piaget
• Lev Vygotsky
• Caleb Gattegno
• Omar Khayyam Moore (sic)
• Ken Iverson
• Jerome Bruner
• Seymour Papert
• Alan Kay
• Howard Peelle
• John Holt

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