Description:
<jats:p>The paper presents views of Adolphe Ferri?re, a Swiss educator and psychologist and a Professor at the "Jean-Jacques Rousseau" Institute, about active school - one of the "new school" movements that emerged in the first half of 20th century as a countermove to traditional school founded on Herbartian conception of education. Condemning old school?s intellectualism and verbalism, active school turns towards a child, his nature, needs and interests, and declares activity, "child?s self-work", the basic principle of education. The paper points out Ferri?re?s contributions to the transformation of "learning school" into "working and activity school". After presenting Ferri?re?s criticism of traditional school as well as a number of "new school" movements, the author provides in more detail essential features of active school. Ferri?re?s argumentation against attempts to identify active school with "handwork school" and against tendencies to make it equal with "active methods" is herein presented. Also, the author elaborates why Ferri?re turns down the objection that active school neglects intellectual education and why he does not accept pragmatic qualifications of active school. Consideration is given to the demands of active school for teacher education i.e. characteristics that a "new school" teacher should possess as required by Ferri?re.</jats:p>