Educational History Research
By
AMIRAH FARZAN
Master in Educational Technology
Eastern Connecticut State University
Dr. David Stoloffd
January 2013
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In my research paper I choose five different events for the
American Education History. I choose them by what I believe
that was the important events at that age. In order, they are
1690- New England book, 1743- Benjamin Franklin, 1817- The
First Permanent School for Deaf open, 1953- B.F. Skinner’s, and
2007- Cho Seung-Hui (Virginia Tech University). These events
make or represent what the education has been through in the
United States several years ago until our days.
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1690- The New England Primer.
In the late of the 16th century and the beginning of the
17th centaury Benjamin Harries published his book “The New
England Primer” in Boston for the American Colonies. It was
the first reading book at that time which was talking about
many thoughts from King James Bible. At that time this book
knew as “Little Bible of New England”. It was useful book to
know about reading in general. They used the alphabet,
vowels, consonant and other syllables just to make children
know how to read. The objective of the book was almost about
their environment and how is the war and religion affect their
society. In other words, the objective of this book was mostly
religion. Deaths, judgment, punishment, hope, moral are
examples from what they learn. The book was organized by
alphabet, which is a culture production for the book. “In
Adam’s Fall we Sinned all”, “ Thy Life to Men This Book
Attend”, A Dog will Bit” these are some examples of the
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textbook. “First words should be words with a religious
significance, it was especially encouraged to say such words as
“God”, “ Jesus”, “Faith”, “love”.” David H. Watters. Until the 20th
century they still publish this book but the society and the
meaning of death has been changed since that time and now.
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1743- Benjamin Franklin
Inventor, philosophy, author, political, science, and
musician are some names that describe Benjamin Franklin. He
was an American citizen who born in Boston. He started his
way of education since he was teenager until he became 83
years old. He educated himself after 2 years in a formal school
by reading some of his favorites books such as “Pilgrims
Progress, The Dialogues of Plato, and ethical essays of Cotton
Mather”. He believed that thinking, reading, and writing could
bring happiness to your life. This was his way to learn by him
self. When he opened his first Academy in Pennsylvania “The
Pennsylvania Academe” he used to teach his students in the
same way that he learned by himself. He published some of his
written work through his brother journal and that was just the
beginning to become an author. At that time he identified the
13 central virtues of human character such as Resolution,
Justice, Silence, etc. Moreover, he invented the lightning rod,
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bifocals, the Franklin stove, a carriage odometer, and the glass
harmonica. All his life he was expressing the American
thoughts and action through his written work or his
inventions. He concentrated in the both side of self-function
and the public function as well.
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1817- The first Permanent School for Deaf open.
The first school for the deaf people was located in
Hartford, Connecticut. Thomas Hopkins and Laurent Clerc had
established the school for the deaf. The idea of educating deaf
people inspired from a little girl, Alice Cogswell, who was
uneducated because she was deaf. Her father was a doctor and
a friend to Gallaudet who moved to England just to find
someone to help him learning sign language. He met Laurent
Clerc who was a brilliant deaf student lived in Paris. Gallaudet
studied the methods of Europe that he learned from Clerc and
taught him the English language. After that, he convinced Clerk
to come with him to The United States and teach the children
and some teachers the sign language with him. They moved to
Hartford and start their teaching with 7 students including
Alice. In 1817, they open the school under the name of “ The
Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf
and Dumb Persons” after period of time they change it in to “
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The American School for the Deaf”. The problem that no one
try to educate the deaf people at that time was that the
scientist did not know the cause of being a deaf person so they
did not try to find a way to communicate with them like
European countries did. In some of the written works for the
deaf student shows a little difference in grammar that shows
their sign language. By the time teachers found some solutions
for such problems.
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1953- B.F. Skinner’s “ Science and Human Behavior”.
He was a professor at Harvard University in 1958. He
started his life as an author and took his bachelor degree in
literature at that time. By the time, he found that he is not a
writer and he did not have anything to write about. As a
reason, he attended the psychology graduate school and
started his way in psychologist field. He became psychologist,
behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher. He
studied the human and animals behavior in some of his
research. Moreover, according to his studied he published his
theory under the name “Radical Behaviorism”. He had some
theories about studying public that goes under methodological
behaviorism; and privet goes under privet. In the 19th and 20th
century he agree that the mind and brain are synonyms.
Moreover, he said that we could find some creativity in the
class behavior. One of the most of his theories was about
operant conditional that is the cause of an action. Also,
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variation and selection are the keys for it. Every thing in our
behavior is about our experience through our life. Punishment
and reward are the function of what we do. From his work in
behavior he invents what we call it now the skinner box. He
published 21 books and 180 articles one of his books is “Verbal
Behavior”.
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2007- Cho Seung- Hui “ Virginia Tech University”.
In the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University a
massacre happened. The murder was 23 years old, senior
originally from South Korea. When he was eight years old his
family moved to the United States and he became a permanent
resident states. He was shy, frail, wary and not very well
spoken. When he was in the middle and high school he
received therapy, which the Virginia school did not know that.
On the other hand, after the massacre happened they knew
that he had a very serious mental problem, which was very
late. Some of the psychologists and writers thought that he did
this because of the misunderstanding of culture. Moreover,
some of the immigrants had the same problem that they can’t
involve with the new culture because they feel different. In the
background of Cho life they found that he did not trust any one
and he felt anger from people who made fun of him at school.
He could not express his feelings through his life, which led
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him to do this to be remembered. Some other people thought
that he was full of evil and others said the he had a virus in his
head. In the massacre he killed 32 people and wounded 15
others before he suicide. Some of them are faculty and others
are students in two different time. Before he did that, he sent
some videos to the CNN for him explaining why he is going to
kill the people. When his family saw that videos they get
shocked from his full complete sentences, which emphasize the
point that there was no good communication in the family.
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References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_England_Primer
http://familyphonics.com/ab/AB1/history.htm
http://liberty-virtueindependence.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-england-primer1691.html
http://0web.ebscohost.com.www.consuls.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfvie
wer?sid=f308f121-0e8a-4a73-b97e9a3b6c1392e1%40sessionmgr111&vid=2&hid=107
David H. Watters. “ I Speak as a Child” Authority
Metaphor and The New England Primer.
http://0web.ebscohost.com.www.consuls.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfvie
wer?sid=30fe7a75-3cae-498f-beaa3ddf02919685%40sessionmgr110&vid=2&hid=107
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin
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http://www.biography.com/people/benjamin-franklin9301234?page=2
James J. Dillon, Benjamin Franklin. A wonder-Based
Approach to Life and learning.
http://0web.ebscohost.com.www.consuls.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfvie
wer?sid=12d65e7b-aed8-41f1-ab1c8c8016d480da%40sessionmgr112&vid=4&hid=107
Jeff Osborne, Benjamin Franklin and the Rhetoric of
Virtuous Self-Fashioning in Eighteenth Century America.
http://0web.ebscohost.com.www.consuls.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfvie
wer?sid=88659ef5-9e6e-49a7-86d8b7f548c3f9dc%40sessionmgr114&vid=2&hid=107
http://www.pbs.org/weta/throughdeafeyes/deaflife/first_sch
ool.html
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Something for the deaf
http://0web.ebscohost.com.www.consuls.org/ehost/detail?sid=d484c
45b-b250-4113-9b76b0494edcb998%40sessionmgr111&vid=2&hid=127&bdata=Jn
NpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=54171927
Laurent Clerc
http://0web.ebscohost.com.www.consuls.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfvie
wer?sid=6789eb4e-4e7c-486f-bde30dc6c6731b2b%40sessionmgr114&vid=2&hid=127
Lydia Huntley Sigourney and the Beginnings of American Deaf
Education in Hartford: It Takes a Village.
http://0web.ebscohost.com.www.consuls.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfvie
wer?sid=364fd45d-59f9-4f76-a8bc2e8e187f8361%40sessionmgr113&vid=13&hid=127
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http://learningtogive.org/papers/paper98.html
http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bhskin.htm
l
Simon Dymond, The selective of Skinner’s Verbal Behavior on
Empirical Research: A Reply to Schilinger.
http://0web.ebscohost.com.www.consuls.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfvie
wer?sid=ad520eee-82cf-4021-94db18222950fe2c%40sessionmgr115&vid=2&hid=127
John C. Malone, Radical Behaviorism and the Rest of
Psychology: A Review of Skinner’s About Behaviorism.
http://0web.ebscohost.com.www.consuls.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfvie
wer?sid=fe263d32-e9ff-474b-bece50ac64bc1807%40sessionmgr110&vid=2&hid=127
Joseph W. Wyatt, What Caused The Tragedy at Virginia Tech?
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http://0web.ebscohost.com.www.consuls.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfvie
wer?sid=6c0e59fe-22ac-4800-9b1c9f06b985becd%40sessionmgr104&vid=2&hid=127
Sun S. Kim and Geri Dickson, Revisiting Mental Health Issues in
Young Immigrants: A Lesson Learned From The Virginia
Massacre.
http://0web.ebscohost.com.www.consuls.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfvie
wer?sid=4a72a9a8-f98d-49bd-bf9807496bca1740%40sessionmgr112&vid=2&hid=127
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