One commonality I see between all five theorists is their belief that children must have the independence to DO real things in order to learn. To some degree all the the theorists reject the "banking" education system and advocate to give students opportunities to experience authentic learning activities. We can see this in Dewey's advocacy in learning through educational experiences, Montessori's belief in giving children real tools, Erickson's ideas that children need real choices and opportunities for independence, Piaget's concept of children constructing meaning by interacting with the world, and Vygotsky's belief that through a combination of doing and talking children will construct meaning. The fact that Vygotsky's ideas were separated from the other theorists in that he believed the teacher should give out some information and push students in certain directions demonstrates how ingrained this value for experiential and independent learning was in the context of these theorists.

Observation is also a common thread through the theories. Dewey, Montessori, and Vygotsky all stressed observation as one of the most important tasks of the teacher. According to these three theorists observation enables teachers to be responsive to their students needs and interests and gauge how to proceed to create the best learning environment for the group and individuals.