Sheldon, Edward Austin, 1823–97, American educator, b. Wyoming co., N.Y., studied at Hamilton College. After illness forced him to cut short his own education, he held a variety of positions in the education field, including superintendent of public schools in Syracuse, N.Y. From 1862 until his death Sheldon served as principal of the Oswego Primary Teachers' Training School (from 1866, the Oswego State Normal and Training School), which was the first urban teacher training school in the United States. His curriculum, based on the theories of Johann Pestalozzi, was one of the first to employ practice teaching. His system of teacher training served as a model for other normal schools in New York state. Sheldon's writings include several spelling books as well as a series of readers.
See his autobiography (1911).
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