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Karl G. Maeser: The Mormon Pestalozzian, Renae Myers

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Karl G. Maeser, the founder of Brigham Young Academy (now Brigham Young University), was able to bring progressive education to a pioneer society largely due to his educational and spiritual preparation. He was trained in the pedagogical methods of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi who believed that children learned best inductively, mainly through observation. Pestalozzi also believed that children were worthy of love and respect. Maeser was able to emulate Pestalozzi’s methods in an unprecedented way not only because the doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ aligned so well with Pestalozzi’s methods, but because Maeser strove to have the Spirit of …