William Heard Kilpatrick

William Heard Kilpatrick (November 20, 1871 – February 13, 1965) was an American pedagogue and a pupil, a colleague and a successor of John Dewey.

Kilpatrick decided to make philosophy of education his specialty and attended all courses given by Dewey at Teachers College, Columbia University.

He again studied at Johns Hopkins University, summer 1895, then taught seventh grade and was principal at Anderson Elementary School, Savannah, GA, 1896–97.

He was at Mercer University, 1897–1906, taught mathematics, was vice-president, 1900, and acting president, 1904–06, but resigned when the trustees were concerned about his doubting the virgin birth of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.

In 1907-1909 Kilpatrick was a student in Teachers College at Columbia University (New York City), where he took courses in history of education under Paul Monroe[2] (1869-1947), philosophy of education under John Angus MacVannel[3] (1871-1915), psychology under Edward Lee Thorndike[4](1874-1949), and philosophy under Frederick James Eugene Woodbridge[5] (1867-1940) and John Dewey.

His trips abroad included school visits, lectures, and meetings with prominent educators in Italy, Switzerland, and France, May–June 1912; Europe and Asia, August 1926-June 1927; and round the world, August–December 1929.

[7] Proponents of Progressive Education and the Project Method reject traditional schooling that focuses on memorization, rote learning, strictly organized classrooms (desks in rows; students always seated), and typical forms of assessment.

Kilpatrick was a democratic socialist and served on the board of directors of the League for Industrial Democracy.