Burke, Frederick

Frederic Lister Burk ( Eng. Frederic Lister Burk , September 1, 1862, Blenim, Ontario, Canada - June 12, 1924, Kentfield, California, USA) is an American teacher of Canadian descent, theorist and reformer of education.

He came to California in his youth. In 1883 he graduated from the University of California, after which he began working as a journalist and became interested in psychology, especially children's. In 1889, he moved away from psychology and began teaching at California schools. Two years later, in 1891, he entered Russian University at Clark to study psychology, where Stanley Hall was its leader, and in 1892 received a master's degree in philosophy ( MA in philosophy) from Stanford University ^[1] . Since 1892 he was president of normal schools in Santa Rosa, since 1896 - in Santa Barbara. After defending his Ph.D. in phychology dissertation at Clark University in 1898, a year later he took over as president of the San Francisco State Normal School ^[2] , holding the post for the rest of his life. He was a member of the State Council, for thirteen years - a member of the California Board of Education, and for some time also served as president of the California Teachers Association. In 1921, he represented the United States at the Pacific Congress on Education in Honolulu.

Burke was an active supporter and promoter of the individualization of learning, starting with elementary school and individual instruction as such, as a result of which he created his own self-education system and a large number of textbooks in various subjects for independent mastering. According to Burke, the material in each subject should have been assimilated by each student at the pace that is most suitable for him, and the transition from class to class should also be carried out individually and as you progress through the curriculum. In his pedagogical theory, Burke paid much attention to recording the individual results of each student and the detailed control of their performance, but he categorically opposed answers at the blackboard and homework, as well as sought to minimize teacher assistance to students. He wrote a number of essays on pedagogy.

The Burke system gained fame, being introduced into practice in schools in a number of American states and even foreign countries, and had a certain impact on the theory and practice of pedagogy in the USA: in particular, it was used by E. Parkhurst in the development of the Dalton Plan and C. Washburn in the development Winnette plan . In some sources, Burke is called the founder of the idea of ​​distance education ^[3] .