Francis Neef (1770–1854)[1] was an educational reformer and pedagogue, who founded the first Pestalozzian school in the United States[citation needed] and published the first book in English on the teaching method there.
[1] While recovering from wounds received in 1796, Neef read the works of Swiss educationist Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi.
Pestalozzi's ideals of achieving equality and liberty through educational reform appealed to Neef, who was inspired to become a teacher.
[1] In 1800, Pestalozzi opened a school in Burgdorf, Switzerland, which broke with European and American traditions of rote learning and recitation, focusing instead on allowing children to pursue their curiosity.
[1] In the same year, he published Sketch of a Plan and Method of Education...Suitable for the Offspring of a Free People, and for All Rational Beings (1808).