St. John Baptist De La Salle's contribution to education, with special reference to the work of the Brothers of De La Salle in Malta

Abstract

De la Salle has long been hailed as a great educational reformer and the founder of modern primary education. He based his methods on the results of study, experiment and observation. He swept away the cumbrous and archaic system that required children to learn Latin before learning their mother-tongue. He graded children according to capacity and attainment and had them taught in homogeneous groups. He interested the children ion their own education by his system of class official and monitors. Above all he realised that any system of education is worth just what its teachers are worth and insisted on the necessity of teacher training.