Carleton Washburne
| Carleton Wolsey Washburne | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 2, 1889 Chicago, Illinois |
| Died | November 17, 1968 (aged 78) Okemos, Michigan |
| Occupation | Educator |
Carleton Wolsey Washburne (December 2, 1889 – November 17, 1968) was an American educator and education reformer. He served as the superintendent of schools in Winnetka, Illinois, United States from 1919 to 1943 and is most notably associated with the Winnetka Plan that he developed for his district.
Carleton Wolsey Washburne was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1889 to an obstetrician father. His mother was active in political affairs, especially education, and was a friend of innovative educator John Dewey. The family was well-educated, though not particularly wealthy. Washburne was raised Protestant and attended the Francis W. Parker School. Late in his childhood, his family moved to Elkhart, Indiana where Washburne attended a traditional school. During his high school years, Washburne moved back to Chicago to live with his maternal grandfather and study at John Marshall Metropolitan High School. When his immediate family moved to Elgin, Illinois, Washburne followed and finished his high school education there. He initially followed in the family footsteps and studied medicine at the University of Chicago. However, he found little interest in the material and transferred to Stanford University in California, graduating in 1912. Washburne married Heliuz Bigelow Chandler in the same year.
Washburne originally set out on a business venture, but was unsuccessful. Unable to otherwise support his family, he took a position as a teacher in low-income La Puente, California. Seeing the shortcomings of then-prevalent style of instruction, he combined the ideas of Dewey with his experiences at the Francis W. Parker school to create a progressive education curriculum. His work caught the attention of Frederic Burk, the president of the San Francisco State Teachers College, who hired him to teach at the institution's affiliated elementary school. Washburne taught there for five years, serving as head of the science department. While there, he conducted research on preadolescence and studied at the University of California, Berkeley, becoming one of the first recipients of a doctorate in education.
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