Rousseau Institute (also known as the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Institute; ) is a private school in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It is considered the first institute of educational sciences founded in Europe when it opened and gained international influence as the originator of the scientific approach to education phenomena. It became part of the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

(Faculty of Psychology and School of Education).

History

In 1912,

Édouard Claparède Édouard Claparède (; 24 March 1873 – 29 September 1940) was a Swiss neurologist, child psychologist, and educator. Career Claparède studied science and medicine, receiving in 1897 an MD from the University of Geneva, and working 1897– ...

(1873–1940) created an institute to turn educational theory into a

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

. This new institution was given the name of

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...

, to whom Claparède attributed the "Copernican reversal" of putting the child, rather than the teacher, at the centre of the educational process (cf.

Thomas Kuhn Thomas Samuel Kuhn (; July 18, 1922 – June 17, 1996) was an American History and philosophy of science, historian and philosopher of science whose 1962 book ''The Structure of Scientific Revolutions'' was influential in both academic and ...

's notion of

paradigm shift A paradigm shift is a fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline. It is a concept in the philosophy of science that was introduced and brought into the common lexicon by the American physicist a ...

). The founder of the Institute appointed as director

Pierre Bovet Pierre Bovet (born on 5 June 1878 in Grandchamp, Boudry, Grandchamp (commune of Boudry); died in Boudry on 2 December 1965) was a Swiss psychologist and pedagogue. Bovet took up the translation of ''Scouting for Boys'' and other Scout books, t ...

(1878–1965), whom he considered to be both a philosophical and rigorously scientific person. Between 1921 and 1925,

Jean Piaget Jean William Fritz Piaget (, ; ; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called genetic epistemology. ...

(1896–1980) took over the reins, soon conferring on Genevan

experimental psychology Experimental psychology is the work done by those who apply Experiment, experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ Research participant, human participants and Animal testing, anim ...

its far-reaching renown. According to Piaget, he came to organize his research once he arrived at the Institute in such a way that he "gain objectively and inductively knowledge about the elementary structures of intelligence" and use it develop a psychological and biological epistemology. It was to Piaget's dismay, however, that his theoretical work was not as successful. He was the director of the Institute until he died in 1980. In his eulogy at Claparède's funeral, Bovet highlighted his friend's profound attachment for

and the broad international influence rapidly attained by the institute he had created; his capacity, in short, to be at the same time of a local land and of the greater world.

Connection with the International Bureau of Education (IBE)

Educational institutions established in 1912 1912 establishments in Switzerland Jean-Jacques Rousseau In 1925, the governing board of the Rousseau Institute voted to establish the

International Bureau of Education The International Bureau of Education (IBE-UNESCO) is a UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations ...

(IBE), which is now a category 1 institute of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. The governing board received a $5000 grant from the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

to found the IBE. Rousseau Institute director Pierre Bovet became the first director of the IBE, and fellow governing board members Adolphe Ferriere and Elisabeth Rotten were appointed as his deputies.

References

{{Geneva University of Geneva