Objectives:
1. Identify the pioneers of education and understand how they influenced the growth of the educational system as it is known today. (APTS 7; INTASC 1)
2. Examine the history of American education through its different eras of development. (APTS 7; INTASC 1)
Assignments #1 / Pioneers' Contributions to EducationChoose two educational pioneers discussed in the textbook.
Create/write a lesson plan for middle to secondary students that includes a historical perspective on the lives of these pioneers and their major contributions to education.
1. You may use the EEI lesson plan template, (NOTE: we have used this one before), within which to write the content of the lesson plan. Include an assessment to gauge student learning.
2. To convey the content of the lesson plan: Prepare a PowerPoint presentation of 10-12 slides that describes each pioneer, his/her contributions to education, and the impact the pioneer had on education.
3. Be sure to include a title slide, reference slide(s), and speaker's notes.
ASSIGNMENT #2 Journal: Education in a Culturally Diverse Society
Write a reflection journal of 400-500 words that addresses the following question: How does the history of American education provide a context for multiculturalism?
Topic Material:
Lecture 4
Historical Development of American Education
Introduction
Countless philosophers and teachers have influenced America's educational system as it is known today. The purpose of this module is to highlight a few that were extraordinary in their impact. Descriptions of these pioneers will focus on their principles of teaching and learning and how they influenced educational practices today.
The Pioneers
Jan Komensky, known as Comenius (1592−1670) was a Czech educator who served as a transitional figure between the Renaissance humanist educators and the later naturalist reformers like Locke, Rousseau, and Pestalozzi. Comenius respected children and thought it appropriate for them to learn in their natural stages of growth and development. He thought children learned best when given active, visual lessons that related to their lives. He also believed that teachers should be patient and kind while guiding students to learn.
John Locke (1632−1704) expanded on the notion that children should learn through experiences in their own lives and within their environment. Sensory learning was a large part of his epistemology, and it encouraged experimental process learning and scientific method in instruction. Future pragmatists owe much to his work.
Another philosopher who agreed with Comenius and built on his concepts was Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712−1778). Not only did he agree that children were intrinsically good and should learn in natural stages but he also identified a developmental schema that gave each stage of development guidelines. He wanted children to be able to engage with nature and define their own realities.
Johann Pestalozzi (1746−1827) agreed with the basic tenets of both Comenius's and Rosseau's philosophies, but added that a student's emotional well-being was just as pertinent and necessary for successful education.
Friedrich Froebel (1782−1852) was German and most famous for pioneering education in early childhood. An idealist, he believed children had a spiritual essence that searched naturally for knowledge (latent knowledge). His most notable addition to the educational community was his model for the first kindergarten.
Herbert Spencer (1820−1903) lived during the time of Darwin, embraced his ideas and was a proponent of Social Darwinism. He also believed that the fittest of each generation would survive because of skill and adaptability and that competition was natural. Consequently, he supported private school education over public schools, citing that public schools were a place that would breed mediocrity.
John Dewey (1859−1952) is the philosopher who had the greatest impact on American education. He was a pragmatist who thought education was a social process that should involve activities. He believed in the scientific method of problem solving in the classroom, and he felt the process was more important than specific findings. He wanted his students to be able to apply problem-solving to the real world.
Jane Adams (1860−1935) was the founder of Hull House in Chicago, which was a facility that emphasized a sense of community and encouraged socialized education. She was the forerunner of multicultural and feminist education.
Maria Montessori (1870−1952) developed a form of early childhood education that consisted of activities and experiences. She emphasized practical, sensory, and formal skills. Her schools exist internationally today.
Jean Piaget (1896−1980) was a Swiss psychologist who pioneered new insights into children's cognitive, moral, and language development. He identified four stages in the development of human intelligence: the sensorimotor stage, the preoperational stage, the concrete operational stage, and the formal operational stage. Today, Piaget's concepts are recognized as revolutionary. They stimulated enormous changes in early childhood and elementary education.
Paulo Freire (1921−1997) developed the philosophy called liberation pedagogy which recognizes the politics of education. It fosters rational and critical thought as a means of developing a critical consciousness that liberates one from oppression.
American Education's Historical Growth
The Colonial Era
During the colonial period in America, geographical issues had a large effect on educational growth. The following identifies different sections of colonial America and how education was developed in each.
The New England colonies included Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, where a majority of the population was Puritan. The people believed that educated people who could read and interpret the Bible were able to resist temptation. With this in mind, the Massachusetts General Court passed a law called The Old Deluder Act (1647). It stipulated that all towns with 50 or more families had to appoint a reading teacher. Those towns with 100 or more families had to also appoint a Latin teacher to prepare young men for college. These laws effectively replicated the dual tracking system, which Puritans were familiar with in Europe. These laws, in combination with the fact that this area had a common language and religion, resulted in a very successful model for educating the colonies' youth. Some of the most prestigious college prep schools and universities today are located in New England and are products of the Puritan approach to education.
The Middle Atlantic Colonies, consisting of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, differed a great deal from the New England colonies. The people that lived in this area were very culturally diverse and spoke several different languages. This resulted in a more fragmented system of education that represented each different culturally based faction separately.
The Southern Colonies, Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, had yet a different set of circumstances that affected their efforts to educate their youth. The most significant was that the area was very geographically dispersed. There was simply a lot of land to cover to get to school. As a result, white plantation owners often had their children tutored or sent north to study. Rural families, whose livelihood was based in agriculture, struggled to get their children to schools that were often very far away from their homes. There were also times in the year that children simply needed to stay home to help harvest crops. These inconsistencies negatively affected the overall educational system in this region.
The Early National Period
The Early National Period began when British rule ended in 1776. The new leaders wanted to establish a system for education that met the needs of democracy. They recognized that everyone needed to be educated in order to understand the issues at hand and to vote. Ben Franklin founded an academy that focused on a more utilitarian curriculum. Thomas Jefferson introduced legislation that would assure a separation of church and state, and Noah Webster led the republic's cultural nationalists. Simply explained, cultural nationalists wanted to assure that America was culturally unique and removed from Britain. Webster argued that the United States should have its own language and literature based in nationalism. He set forth to create textbooks and an American Dictionary with that goal in mind.
The Movement Toward Public Schooling
The common school, established in the early 1800s, was significant to American education because it was the first educational entity that was publicly financed. The forerunner of the public schools in this country, common schools were open to all classes of children and to both boys and girls. Horace Mann was the most famous proponent of the common school and was established as Massachusetts's first Secretary to the Board of Education. He was diligent in his efforts to convince taxpayers and legislators that education should be publicly funded. As the number of common schools grew, so too did the need for teachers. Normal schools were established as the nation's first teacher preparation institutions. Attended mostly by women, these schools answered America's growing need for teachers.
The Development of American Secondary Schools
The private academy was the forerunner of the American high school and replaced the colonial period's Latin grammar schools. Their intention was to expand access to education and include middle-class students. The curriculum at these institutions was broad based and offered options for students that would end their formal educations at the academy level. The first American high school was founded in 1821, and, as laws were passed that allowed tax dollars to support the establishment of high schools, they gradually replaced private academies. Later junior highs and middle schools were established to act as transitional institutions between elementary school and high school.
The American College and University
In colonial times, colleges were established as religious institutions. Schools like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton were founded by various religious denominations and offered curriculum that emphasized Latin, Hebrew, Greek, rhetoric, logic, and philosophy.
When the Morrill Act (1862) passed, it granted public land to be used for the development of Land Grant Universities. These institutions provided education in new fields of study like agriculture, engineering, and other applied sciences. The largest impact to the American university system came at the end of World War II with the passing of the G. I. Bill (Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944). It opened the doors of America's higher learning institutions to countless returning service men at no cost. This changed the face of higher education in this country. The growth, of course, was obvious, but the increased opportunity for men and women to attend college in this country had an even greater impact. College education was no longer just for a chosen few. This egalitarian attitude prevails today.
Conclusion
This lecture has reviewed the pioneers of education and given a brief overview of how education was developed in this country. Knowing the past often clarifies the present.
References
The Morrill Act, (1862) ch. 130, 12 Stat. 503, 7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.
The Old Deluder Act (1647). Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, II: 203 (1853).
Ornstein, A. C., & Levine, D. U. (2006).Foundations of education9thed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, Pub. L. No. 78-346, 58 Statutes at Large 284 (1944).
Textbook
1. Foundations of American Education
Review chapter 6 and read chapters 7-8.
http://gcumedia.com/digital-resources/pearson/2012/foundations-of-american-education_ebook_7e.php
Electronic Resource
1. Sort the Pioneer
Complete the activity, "Sort the Pioneer."
http://lc.gcumedia.com/zwebassets/courseMaterialPages/edu215_sortThePioneer.php
Website
1. National Women's History Project
Explore the National Women's History Project website.
http://www.nwhp.org/
Additional Material
1. Optional: Preschool Education in America: The Culture of Young Children From the Colonial Era to the Present
For additional information, the following is recommended: Preschool Education in America: The Culture of Young Children From the Colonial Era to the Present, by B. A. Beatty (1995).
2. Optional: Inventing Kindergarten
For additional information, the following is recommended: Inventing Kindergarten, by N. Brosterman (1997).
3. Optional: American Education 1945-2000
For additional information, the following is recommended: American Education 1945-2000, by G.L. Gutek (2000).