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Beede, Martha

College of Education and Social Services

2005

Ed. D.

The story of the Odenwaldschule, and the path many of those at the school chose to follow before and during World War II, is one of the compelling stories of courage and hope emerging from the Holocaust period. This research provides a window into the importance and history of the progressive education movement that was occurring in Europe and the United States during the height of the progressive era (1910-1945). The Odenwaldschule was one of the crown jewels of the progressive education movement until Nazi storm troopers raided the school in 1933. This caused the founders and many of the students to eventually escape to Switzerland to carry out their vision of humanistic education at the Ecole d'Humanite. This dissertation is written as multi-genre Scholarly Personal Narrative to explore the connection between life histories of Odenwaldschule students and the ideology of the school. This narrative provides the history and background of the progressive education movement, as told through the living history of Odenwaldschule students who were at the school during this tumultuous time period in world history. The author's own family history is deeply intertwined in the Holocaust and Resistance. This personal connection, along with the "voices" lent by former Odenwaldschule students participating in the research process, became an important piece of the narrative. Crossing the boundaries of qualitative research, educational history, and scholarly personal narrative, the author attempts to illuminate the insidious nature of authoritarian repression, the impact of ethnic prejudice, and the need for a humanistic educational approach that directly addresses issues we are still facing in education today.