E. Key was one of the representative woman writers in Sweden. She has achieved
a international reputation through the book The Century of the Child. In that book
she proclaimed the ‘pedagogy from child', which was founded on the change of the
ideas on child. Her pedagogical ideas, however, resulted from many other precedent
pedagogical thoughts. For the deeper understanding of Key's ideas on Education,
therefore it is necessary to know the theoretical foundations of Key's ideas on
education. In this respect, this study aimed to explore the relationship between Key's
ideas on education and the thoughts of precedent pedagogical thinkers.
The Thinkers who were to have the greatest impact on Key's views were
Montaigue, Rousseau, Spencer. Key learned about the liberalism and practicality in
education from Montaigue. And Rousseau occupied a very special place in Key's
thinking of natural and negative education. Key, too, was influenced by Spencer. We
find a close similarity between Key and Spencer in the respect of evolutionistic and
individualistic view of education. Finally it was mentioned that the relevancy of Key's
ideas on education and the pedagogical thoughts of Montaigue, Rousseau, Spencer is
obvious, however she suggested her own pedagogy by adapting their pedagogical
aspects.