TEN OR SO IDEAS TEN OR SO IDEAS That have influenced That have influenced

the development of the development of American EducationAmerican Education

Connie Goddard, Ph.D.American Studies Class

University of Oradea3 December 2010

INTRODUCTORYINTRODUCTORYREMARKSREMARKS

TEACHING IN ALESD AS A PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER

Among things I have to be thankful for is privilege of being here for two years

In education for most of my life, but primarily a teacher only for past decade

Before that, an editor and journalist

Topics for TodayTopics for Today

Ten Ideas – A brief historical survey of American education and the legacy of these ideas

Two short videos

Some differences between schools in Romania and in United States

And, please, LOTS OF DISCUSSION. I’m here to learn, too

IDEA I: 1640sIDEA I: 1640sBasic literacy for all, supported by all members of the community

The US settled by English and Scottish Protestants◦Most literate societies in

the world at the time

First colonies in Massachusetts / New England◦Continuing impact of

their influence on American schools

Colonial North AmericaColonial North America

Legacy ILegacy I

Literacy for boys and girls alike; schools controlled and supported financially by each local community◦It took over 200 years before this idea to be

adopted nationwide, but eventually it was widely accepted

IDEA II: IDEA II: 1780s 1780s

Democratic government depends upon an educated citizenry

“If a nation expects to be both ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.“

Thomas Jefferson(1743-1826)

Jefferson’s ideasJefferson’s ideas

Jefferson and others conceptualized statewide systems of education, beginning with primary schools and extending to university◦Mandated by states but controlled and funded

by town and cities

Developing an aristocracy, not of birth, but of education and talent

Legacy IILegacy II

Education is essential to maintaining a democratic form of government

◦A right for all Americans, not a privilege for the aristocracy or leisure class

IDEA III: IDEA III: 1790s1790sSchools essential to defining what an American is

The American Spelling Book

The American Dictionary of the English Language

Both the work of Noah Webster (1758-1843), writer and educator

Defining what is AmericanDefining what is American

Webster’s efforts defined the differences between American and British English

He claimed that schools were the most important institution in American society

Legacy IIILegacy III

Defining distinctly American institutions helped to unify the new nation

◦Particularly important as the American people continued to move into the new nation’s western territories, carrying the idea of the school with them

IDEA IV: IDEA IV: 1800s on1800s onTHE PUBLIC SCHOOL

a nonsectarian institution for an increasingly urban society

In major US cities, public schools began to replace the pauper schools that had been established by Protestant churches

◦Especially an issue in growing urban centers like New York City and Philadelphia

Public School Society of NYCPublic School Society of NYC

DeWitt Clinton (1769-1828) New York mayor and governor

redefined Jeffersonian ideal for a changing society

Helped establish the Public School Society of New York

Advocated free public schools supported by the city itself

Education as a way to ameliorate the social vices of growing cities

Legacy IVLegacy IV

Nonsectarian public schools were essential to encouraging a generalized notion of Christian morality among all Americans

◦Less expensive to pay for schools now than for prisons later

◦Separation of church and school

New York City in 1850New York City in 1850

IDEA V: IDEA V: 1830s to 1830s to 19001900

THE COMMON SCHOOL

The great equalizer for an increasingly diverse society

All children – rich and poor alike – to attend public schools together

Widespread movement supported by a variety of social reformers◦Response to threat of

social fragmentation◦Fear of moral and cultural

decay as the frontier moved west and the economy began to industrialize

The Common SchoolThe Common School

Chief advocate was Horace Mann of Massachusetts◦ Lawyer and state legislator

(1796-1859)◦ Named first state

superintendent of education◦ Traveled the state encouraging

support -- one school for all children

◦ Essential for urban and rural society

The “balance wheel of the The “balance wheel of the social machinery”social machinery”

The common school as the means for turning all – native and foreign-born – into American citizens ◦Literate, productive, and law-abiding◦To the wealthy, Mann argued that their security

depended upon having neighbors who had attended school

◦For the poor, he claimed that education was a means for securing their own prosperity

Legacy V: the schoolhouseLegacy V: the schoolhouse

IDEA VI: IDEA VI: 1840s 1950s1840s 1950s

THE SCHOOLMARM

Canonization of the female schoolteacher

Leading advocate was Catherine Beecher (1800-1878) from Connecticut

Sister of Harriett Beecher Stowe (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)

Women as schoolteachersWomen as schoolteachers

Contemporaneous with common school◦ More schools meant more teachers

Widespread acceptance◦ Women’s salaries were lower

Beginnings of teacher education◦ The “normal school”

Men remained as principals and administrators◦ Professionalizing of their role

Legacy VI: Another iconLegacy VI: Another icon

United States in 1850United States in 1850

Schools spread along with population

Northeast then Midwest were centers for migration and immigration

New England’s influence on schools spread across the northern tier

Schools less influential in South

IDEA VII:IDEA VII:1870s on1870s on

UNITY IN DIVERSITY

Assimilating the children of immigrants while respecting their ethnic identity

Addressed in two ways –Schools and settlement houses

“How can the school fuse all these diverse elements so as to produce the unity essential to a democracy? . . . .

That can only be attained by spreading intelligence and a sense of responsibility for the control of the social whole.”

Ella Flagg Young(1845-1918)

Schools one solutionSchools one solution

Ella Flagg Young• Chicago teacher and

superintendent of schools

School as social harmonizer

The school as a matrix of many nations

Children sit side by side and learn to become citizens and to respect each other

Settlement houses anotherSettlement houses another

Hull House in Chicago Established in 1889 as a place for immigrants to learn skills and practice crafts learned in native lands

Jane Addams (1860-1935)

Art classes and kindergartensArt classes and kindergartens

Legacy VII: multiculturalismLegacy VII: multiculturalism

Americans – both early arrivals and more recent immigrants – began to be comfortable with the idea of a multicultural society

IDEA VIII:IDEA VIII:1900s on1900s on

PROGRESSIVE SCHOOLS

For a

PRAGMATIC SOCIETY

PRAGMATISM◦To be of value, ideas

must have meaning for beneficial human activity

PROGRESSIVISM◦Wise policies and good

schools could improve the lives of average people and society as a whole

Developing the whole childDeveloping the whole child

Leading advocate was John Dewey (1859-1952)

Author of:◦My Pedagogic Creed (1896)◦School and Society (1900)◦Child and the Curriculum

(1902)◦And many other books

Established Laboratory School

Progressive EducationProgressive Education

Debt to ideas from Germany and BritainHow to present content while engaging

student interestEducating students to develop their

talents while helping them define a productive role for themselves in the broader society

The activity / occupations method

Legacy VIIILegacy VIII

The development of the child as an individual became a function of the school

◦ Difficulty of doing this well on a large scale – very time-consuming for teachers

◦ Progressive techniques can interfere with inculcation of essential information

IDEA IX:IDEA IX:1950s1950s

SCHOOL INTEGRATION

Black and white children to attend school together

Supreme Court in 1954◦ Reversed unworkable policy

of separate but equal schools◦ Led to bitter confrontations in

the South, but also in Northern cities where segregation a product of residential patterns

◦ Consequences of segregation remain contentious six decades later

Lead campaign through the courts Lead campaign through the courts to end discriminatory practices to end discriminatory practices

Thurgood Marshall(1908-1993)

“The government they [founding fathers] devised was defective from the start requiring [social transformations to attain] the freedoms and individual rights we hold as fundamental today.” (1987)

But it happened with little But it happened with little deliberate speeddeliberate speed

School integration often happened only after federal court orders

At left – a picture that changed a nation’s mind◦ Central High School in

Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957

Legacy IXLegacy IX

Not only ended state-sponsored discrimination in schools, but led eventually to affirmative action practices to undo legacy of segregation

The federal government now has an ongoing role in funding schools and in determining what is taught and how

IDEA XIDEA X

MEASUREMENT

AND

ACCOUNTABILITY

Role of educational psychology, studies of learning and cognition

Research an essential aspect of American education

Leave No Child Behind (2001) and Race to the Top (2009)

Barack Obama & Arne DuncanBarack Obama & Arne Duncan

ONGOING LEGACYONGOING LEGACY

Is it the student or is it the school that is chiefly responsible for what children learn in the process of education?