Wilhelm August Lay (30 July 1862, Botzingen - 9 May 1926, Karlsruhe) was a German educator and psychologist who is considered one of the founders of experimental pedagogy. [1] He is best known for his work on developing a scientific approach to education, based on empirical research and observation. [2]
Lay attended primary school, after which, respecting his father's wish that Lay should eventually take over the family farm, he enrolled in an agricultural school. However, he discontinued his education after a year because agriculture went against his own desires. Additionally, due to his advanced age, he was discouraged from attending a gymnasium. Consequently, he decided to become a primary school teacher. Lay completed the preparatory school in Gengenbach, the teacher training seminar in Karlsruhe, and from April 1883, he served as a junior teacher in Schriesheim.
In the fall of 1883, he took a leave of absence to prepare for the examination as a secondary school teacher at the Polytechnic in Karlsruhe and, in the last semester, at the University of Freiburg. In 1885, he passed the examination as a secondary school teacher with a focus on mathematics and natural sciences. Lay then spent a year studying at the University of Freiburg and Halle, where he showed interest in both natural and human sciences. He particularly emphasized his studies in the chemical laboratory and participation in scientific excursions. However, due to a severe lung disease, he did not complete his studies.
In 1886, he became a teacher in Freiburg, and in 1892, he became the head teacher at the Freiburg Girls' School. From 1893 until his retirement, he was a secondary school teacher at Teacher Seminar II in Karlsruhe, teaching natural sciences and agriculture. In the spring of 1903, he earned his doctorate under Alois Riehl at Friedrich University in Halle on the topic of "Experimental Didactics." Throughout his life, Lay remained a seminar teacher without administrative duties. However, in 1914, he became a senior secondary school teacher, and in 1920, at his insistence, he was appointed a professor. Despite this title, his professional responsibilities did not change. In 1924, due to the poor financial situation of the states, he was prematurely retired against his will. [3]
In 1895 founded the journal "Zeitschrift für pädagogische Psychologie und experimentelle Pädagogik" (Journal of Educational Psychology and Experimental Pedagogy). This journal was one of the first to publish research on the psychology of education. Lay developed a scientific approach to education, believing that it should be based on empirical research and observation, rather than tradition or personal opinion. He also emphasized the importance of active learning, expressing the view that students should be encouraged to explore and discover their own knowledge, rather than simply being passive recipients of information. Lay also took care to ensure that teaching and education are based on the natural development of the child: he believed that teachers should use methods tailored to the individual needs of each student. [4]
Lay believed that education should be based on the natural development of the child, and that teachers should use methods that are tailored to the individual needs of each student. He also emphasized the importance of active learning, and believed that students should be encouraged to explore and discover their own knowledge. Lay's work had a significant impact on the development of education in Germany and beyond. His ideas are still relevant today, and his contributions to the field of education continue to be studied and admired. [5]
Lay's work has been criticized for being too focused on individual differences and for neglecting the importance of social and cultural factors in education. However, his contributions to the field of education are undeniable, and his ideas continue to be relevant today. [6]
Johann Peter Hebel was a German short story writer, dialectal poet, Lutheran theologian and pedagogue, most famous for a collection of Alemannic lyric poems and one of German tales.
Jean-Pol Martin studied teacher education for foreign language teachers in Germany, and developed a teaching method called learning by teaching. He spent most of his career at Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and was a Professor there when he retired in 2008.
Alexander Carl Heinrich Braun was a German botanist from Regensburg, Bavaria. His research centered on the morphology of plants and was a very influential teacher who worked as a professor of botany at the universities of Freiburg, Giessen, and Berlin at various times. He was also the director of the Berlin Botanical Garden.
Johann Gottfried Vierling was a German organist and composer.
Lorenz Kellner was a German educator.
Otto Friedrich Bollnow was a German philosopher and teacher.
Friedrich Adolph Wilhelm Diesterweg was a German educator, thinker, and progressive liberal politician, who campaigned for the secularization of schools. He is said to be precursory to the reform of pedagogy. Diesterweg is considered as "a teacher of teachers".
Erna Barschak was a German teacher of vocational education studies and a psychologist. One of her important works is an autobiography about her emigration from Nazi Germany to the US.
Willy Moog was a German philosopher and educator.
Friedrich Dittes was a German-Austrian educator, known for his reform efforts within the Austrian school system.
Rankenheim is a mansion on Zemminsee in Groß Köris, Brandenburg, approx. 50 kilometres south of Berlin. In Nazi Germany it was used as a camp for educating teachers. After 1945 it became a temporary hospital and eventually a place for "maladjusted children" during the GDR regime - it is now a youth village. The surrounding district of Groß Köris is called Rankenheim.
Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm Meumann was a German educator, pedagogist and psychologist, the co-founder of experimental pedagogy.
Salomo Friedlaender was a German-Jewish philosopher, poet, satirist and author of grotesque and fantastic literature. He published his literary work under the pseudonym Mynona, which is the German word for "anonymous" spelled backward. He is known for his philosophical ideas on dualism drawing on Immanuel Kant, and his avant garde poetry and fiction. Almost none of his work has been translated into English.
Ludwig August Seeber was a German mathematician and physicist.
Hans-Georg Herrlitz is a German educator.
Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Wander was a German pedagogue and Germanist. He published the largest existing collection of German-language proverbs.
Günter Kleinen is a German musicologist and professor of musicology with a focus on music education and systematic musicology as well as music psychology.
Theodor Litt was a German culture and social philosopher as well as a pedagogue.
Wilfried Gruhn is a German violinist, musicologist, music educator, and professor emeritus at universities in Germany and abroad. His focus is the music education of small children. He founded and directed the Gordon Institute of early childhood music learning in Freiburg in 2003. He is engaged in several international organisations such as International Society for Music Education (ISME) and the Internationale Leo Kestenberg Gesellschaft which published Leo Kestenberg's complete writings in six volumes.
Psychologie und Schule is a German book published in 1920 by the German author Otto Lipmann. It was published by the Julius Beltz publishing company and is book 47 of the series Aktuelle Fragen aus der Pädagogik der Gegenwart, issued by Max Reiniger. The book discusses the field of use of psychology in the school environment. By writing it Lipmann wanted to teach the readers about the development of modern psychology in 1920 and its relation to pedagogy. It incorporates topics with regard to education that are also dealt with in the 21st century and gives insights into the progress made in the 20th century.