Life Data
Johann Friedrich Herbart was born in 1776 in Oldenburg, Germany. As a result of an accident during infancy, Herbart did not attend school but was taught by his mother until the age of 12. He was impressed by Kant’s philosophy early on, and consequently he focused on Kantian philosophy when began to study at the University of Jena at the age of 18. However, after 3 years in Jena he accepted a position as private teacher in Switzerland, where he met the popular Swiss educational reformer Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746–1927), who was deeply influenced by Rousseau’s philosophy. These years in Switzerland and his contact with Pestalozzi were likely the reasons for Herbart’s lifelong interest in education.
At the age of 23, Herbart moved to Bremen, where he studied philosophy and education for 3 years. In 1802, he moved to the University of Göttingen, where he received the doctorate in 1809. In the same year, Herbart was offered the position previously held by Kant at the...
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Further Reading
Herbart, J. F. (1824–1925). Psychology as science, newly based upon experience, metaphysics, and mathematics (Vol. 1 and 2). Königsberg: Unzer.
Herbart, J. F. (1812/1888). Über die dunkle Seite der Pädagogik. In K. Kehrback & O. Flügel (Eds.), Joh. Fr. Herbarts sämtliche Werke in chronologischer Reihenfolge (Vol. 3, pp. 147–154). Langensalza: Herrmann Beyer [On the dark side of pedagogy]
Müßener, G. (1986). J.F. Herbarts “Pädagogik der Mitte”. Sieben Analysen zu Inhalt und Form. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
Wolman, B. B. (1968). The historical role of Johann Friedrich Herbart. In B. B. Wolman (Ed.), Historical roots of contemporary psychology (pp. 29–46). New York: Harper & Row.
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Seel, N.M. (2012). Herbart, Johann Friedrich (1776–1841). In: Seel, N.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_1443
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