Dalton Plan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Dalton Plan is an educational concept created by Helen Parkhurst.
Inspired by the intellectual ferment at the turn of the nineteenth century, educational thinkers such as Maria Montessori and John Dewey began to cast a bold vision of a new progressive American approach to education. Helen Parkhurst, the teacher who had actually taught the Gold medal winning glass-enclosed Montessori classroom at the San Francisco Exposition, after splitting with Montessori, caught the spirit of change and created the Dalton Plan, aiming to achieve a balance between each child's talents and the needs of the growing American community.
Specifically, she had these objectives: to tailor each student's program to his or her needs, interests and abilities; to promote both independence and dependability; to enhance the student's social skills and sense of responsibility toward others. Parkhurst developed a three-part plan that continues to be the structural foundation of a Dalton education—the House, the Assignment, and the Laboratory.
Today, The Dalton School educates students in accordance with some of the precepts of the Dalton Plan developed by Helen Parkhurst.
