Morrison, Henry (1871 - 1945)

Genre: Non-Fiction - Scholarly

Henry C. Morrison was born and raised in Old Town, ME. When he wasn't able to finance his own college education, the local banker and the selectmen of the town, based on his distinguished work in preparing for college, raised the money to send him to Dartmouth (BA, 1895, magna cum laude).

He began his teaching career in Milford, NH but quickly earned appointment as superintendent of schools for Portsmouth, NH, then commission of public education for the state of NH. He also lectured on school administration at Dartmouth and guest lectured at the University of Chicago, then became the superintendent of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools.

While at the University of Chicago, he developed a method of instruction which came to be known as the "Morrison Plan" or "Morrison Method" -- a five-step general pattern in which the student must master one level before progressing to the next. It was a precursor to the "individualized instruction" and "mastery learning" educational movements of the 1970's.

He lived most of his adult life in New Hampshire and Chicago.

Selected Bibliography

• The Practice of Teaching in the Secondary School (1931)
• The Evolving Common School (1933)
• Basic Principles in Education (1934)
• The Curriculum of the Common School: From the Beginning of the Primary School to the End of the Junior College (1940)
• American Schools: A Critical Study of Our School System (1943)