Samuel Wilderspin

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Samuel Wilderspin (1792, London – 1866) was an English educationist known for his pionering work on infant schools. His belief was that a child should be encouraged to learn through experience, and to development in feelings as well as intellect. His work provided the model for infant schools in Europe and North America.

Wilderspin was apprenticed as a clerk in the City of London, but later trained in infant education. He became the master of his own infant school in Spitalfields, and published On the Importance of Educating the Infant Poor in 1823, based on his experiences there. He began working for the Infant School Society the next year, informing others about his views on education. His approach to schooling as necessary for a socially and morally prepared child was informed by his Swedenborgianism.

Play was an important part of Wilderspin's system of education, and he is credited with the invention of the playground. He also ran a company supplying apparatus for playground activities.

Several hundred schools were founded by Wilderspin throughout the United Kingdom. However, Queen Street School in Barton-upon-Humber is the only known surviving school built to his designs. It was completed in 1845, and Wilderspin himself taught at the school for several years before retiring in 1848.

His papers are in Senate House Library, University of London.