Educational specimen box, 1850. England. Via V&A
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, on whose theories this box is based, was advocating a holistic and child-centred approach to the education of the young as early as the 1790s. He used a radically different approach at a time when most teachers had methods which depended upon the written word and the ‘correct’ answer, and relied on punishment to make their pupils comply. Read more: V&A