Formal level

In the didactics of Johann Friedrich Herbart and his students (the Herbartians ), the formal levels are a fundamental concept.

Herbart analyzed the learning process as a sequence of stages:

• Phase of deepening
  • Create clarity about the previous knowledge
  • Association = inclusion of new elements of knowledge
• Phase of reflection
  • Incorporation of the new knowledge elements into the system of the existing knowledge
  • Through practice, the new knowledge becomes applicable as a method .

Tuiskon Ziller and Wilhelm Rein turned it into a lesson-keeping technique. In a frozen form, this method dominated teacher training well into the 20th century. From the progressive education was a "teacher-centered" fought.