CHAPTER 3
An Overview of Schooling in America
History and Philosophy
Collin College
EDUC 1301
 Consider:
• Role of wealth, privilege, & social capital
• Effect of geographic location on access
• Goals of education
• Effects of immigration
• Transmission of values & beliefs
• Roles of local, state, federal governments
 Old
Deluder Satan Act (Mass., 1647):
 Why was it called that?
• A town of 50 households: Must appoint & pay a
teacher of reading & writing
• 100 households: Must offer a grammar school
 Result: The
schools
spread of Latin grammar
• Forerunner of American high school
• Run by town board
• Financed by students’ families
New
England
• Mostly Puritan, taught Scripture
• Town and district schools
Middle
Colonies
• Diverse population
• Private venture schools
– First forms of public schools
– Earliest vocational education
• Lack of formal education for many
South
– Dispersed population
– Social-class, racial distinctions
• Private tutoring for wealthy
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10 - 4
 Congress
set aside land for public
schools
 One-room schoolhouses, multi-age class
 Common schools: Public, tax-supported
elementary schools (1820s)
 Academy: Private secondary school
• Broader, practical curriculum with electives
• For rich, some open to girls
 Jefferson, Franklin, Mann:
• Democracy needs informed citizens & an
education system that promotes meritocracy
 Immigration
in 1830s-1840s created new
tasks for schools:
• Workforce training
• Assimilation of “morally dubious” immigrants
into dominant culture
 Two-year
programs in educational
philosophy & teaching methods (1830s)
• Catherine Beecher: Train women teachers
• Booker T. Washington: Train African American
teachers
Selected video excerpts from
this history of the teacher in
American public education
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reserved.
98
 Take
the Philosophy Test
 11 M/C Questions
 No wrong answers
 Score with Chart on page 3
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reserved.
910
SubjectCentered
Perennialism
Essentialism
ChildCentered
Existentialism
Progressivism
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9 - 11
 Core
knowledge is essential to person’s
life in society, so schools should teach it
•
•
•
•
A.k.a. “back-to-basics,” the “three Rs”
Math, science, literature, history
America should have a common culture
“Teacher knows best”
 Views
mind as central element of reality
 Learning happens through contact with
physical world and reasoning from
observations
 Active
learning through problem solving,
projects, hands-on experiences
 Knowledge must be constantly redefined
and rediscovered to keep up with
constant change in the world
• School = laboratory driven by student curiosity
• Integrate subject matter & make connections to
real life experience
• Teach students to collaborate
 School
should be democratic
 Single
core curriculum focused on the
enduring ideas of the great thinkers
• A.k.a. the “Great Books”, timeless classics or
“great ideas”
 Focus
on classic Greco-Roman literature,
history, art, philosophy, moral instruction
• Curriculum inflexible and unchanging
• Emphasizes Socratic method
 Purpose
of life is to search for constant,
changeless truth
 Goal: Improve
society by transforming
oppressive systems through education
• Social reconstructionism: Curriculum promotes
social reform
• Critical theory (Paulo Freire): Students should
challenge oppression
• Existentialism (Søren Kierkegaard): Truth lies
within individual, so students should choose
subjects & learning methods
 Stresses
freedom and the responsibility to
choose
 Needs and interests of the individual student
are more important than those of society
 Learning is self-guided and self-paced
 Curriculum is led by child’s curiosity, rather
than set by teachers and is foundation for
gaining personal freedom
• Emphasizes humanities, liberal arts
• De-emphasizes science
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reserved.
916
 People
learn from the consequences of their
actions and those of others
 Behavior that is rewarded is more likely to be
repeated
 Behavior that is punished or not rewarded is
less likely to be repeated
 Curriculum should be based on clearly
defined behaviors which students are
rewarded for achieving
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reserved.
917
 Knowledge
must be constructed in the mind
by each learner, rather than transmitted
 Learners constantly reconstruct their mental
knowledge as new information becomes
available
 Curriculum should involve students in real
situations that let them use and reconstruct
prior knowledge as new information is
presented
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reserved.
918
 An
ongoing process
 Requires reflection and experience
 Eclecticism is not an excuse for sloppy
thinking
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reserved.
919
 Write Your
Philosophy of Education
 Guidelines are in the lab manual
 Due March 22
 USE NAME OF A PHILOSOPHY!
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reserved.
920