Rheta Goolsby DeVries (1 September 1936 – 28 May 2012) was an American developmental psychologist, professor, and a leading scholar in the application of Jean Piaget's constructivist theory to early childhood education. She served as a professor and director of the Regent's Center for Early Developmental Education at the University of Northern Iowa.
Biography
DeVries was born on September 1, 1936, in Arkansas. She earned her doctoral degree in developmental psychology and began her academic career in the 1960s. She later joined the University of Northern Iowa, where she became a professor of Curriculum and Instruction and served as Director of the Regents' Center for Early Developmental Education from 1993 to 2006. She was also a principal investigator on a National Science Foundation grant. She died on May 28, 2012, in Little Rock, Arkansas, at the age of 75.
Academic Work
DeVries studied under Jean Piaget alongside Constance Kamii, with whom she co-wrote numerous books on early childhood education curriculum. Their work focused on children's sociomoral development, the construction of numbers and arithmetic, and the understanding of reading and writing. Drawing from Piaget's theory of moral, social, affective, and cognitive development, they developed constructivist approaches to early education that emphasized free choice of activity within a wide range of games and experiments. Piaget himself recognized their work, which was compiled into three books outlining a constructivist educational program.
DeVries also collaborated with scholars such as Carolyn Hildebrandt and Betty Zan on research applying Piagetian theory to classroom practice.
Selected Bibliography
- Programs of Early Education: The Constructivist View (1987) — ISBN 978-0-582-28301-5
- Constructivist Early Education: Overview and Comparison With Other Programs (1989) — ISBN 978-0935989335
- Moral Classrooms, Moral Children: Creating a Constructivist Atmosphere in Early Education (1994) — ISBN 978-0-8077-3341-7
Legacy
DeVries is recognized as a pioneer in the application of Piagetian theory to early childhood classroom practice. Her work contributed significantly to the proliferation of constructivist-based teaching methods in early childhood education and influenced the field of early childhood mathematical instruction. Her papers are held in the Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Northern Iowa.
