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Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
Rogers and Feedback
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Best known for his contribution to client-centered therapy, Rogers was one of the founders of humanistic psychology, which promotes a more person-to-person approach to the traditional therapist-patient relationship, and emphasizes the responsibility and intention in human behavior. Rogers also had much to say about education. His ability to link elements together - helps to put into context his later achievements. The concern with opening up to, and theorizing from experience, the concept of the human organism as a whole and the belief in the possibilities of human action have their parallels in the work of John Dewey. Carl Rogers was able to join these with therapeutic insights and the belief, borne out of his practice experience that the client usually knows better to how to proceed than the therapist. He was also a committed practitioner who looked to his own experiences (and was, thus, difficult to dismiss as 'academic). In short, he offered a new way, a break with earlier traditions.
Freedom to Learn (1969; 1983; 1993) is a classic statement of educational possibility. Carl Rogers, himself, was a gifted teacher. His approach grew from his orientation in one-to-one professional encounters. He saw himself as a facilitator - one who created the environment for engagement. Carl Rogers has provided educators with some fascinating and important questions with regard to their way of being with participants, and the processes they might employ. Informal education is not so much person-centered as dialogical.
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