Rachel Bishop
Seminar Preparation #5
The American School
October 13, 2006
“Despite school segregation and harassment from the white population, the
African American population of the United States made one of the greatest
educational advancements in the history of education. Denied an education by law
in slave states and facing inequality of educational opportunities in free states,
only 7 percent of the African American population was literate in 1863. Within a
ninety-year period, the literacy rated jumped to 90 percent.” Pg 192
This is really remarkable. It shows that even without the ideal circumstances it is possible
to make real progress in education just through dedication.
“In other words, should preparation for life differ from preparation for college?
This seemingly innocuous question had important implications for the role of
education in a democratic society. Because more children of wealthy families
tended to go to college than those of poor families, a difference in curriculum for
college- and non-college bound students had the potential of creating a class
system of education.” Pg 246
On the surface it seems like giving students a choice of college bound or vocational
education is a great service. If a student is not going to go to college, it would serve them
to have a high school education that will offer them some job skills. But the question then
is, how much does this become a self-fulfilling prophesy. The students can only choose
from the choices available to them.
“During the common school period in the nineteenth century, equality of
opportunity meant giving everyone the same education so that everyone could
compete on equal terms in the labor market. In the context of the commission’s
report, equality of opportunity meant giving students different types of education
based on individuals’ future occupations.” Pg 258
Equality of schooling does not really mean equality of opportunity because there are so
many other factors influencing whether a person will be successful. But it is curious how
differentiated instruction could be considered any type of equality at all.
“Dewey felt that a community had existed in America’s past because individuals
had been aware of the total industrial process and this awareness joined people
into a community through a sense of working together. Dewey believed that a
modern urban industrial society was destroying this sense of community and
common goals and that the school had to actively foster its growth. The function
of social imagination, learned in the cooperative work of the school, was to help
students relate their work to the total industrial process and to become aware of
sharing a common goal.” Pg 275
To Dewey education was not so much about learning a bunch of information. Instead he
think that kinds need to understand their place in society, and the complexity on
interdependency of how everyone works together. Since his goals were not based on
content he was able to move beyond the idea of direct instruction and incorporate other
teaching methods.
“The project method, group activity, socialized learning, child-centered education,
and the educating of social imagination were ideas the received a wide audience
in the educational community. In many ways, these methods of instruction
seemed suitable for preparing students for a world of highly organized living in
cities and corporations. Undoubtedly, most teachers trained in the first half of the
twentieth century received some exposure to these methods.” Pg 277
I had no idea that education of this style had been around this long. Today there are often
bureaucratic barriers such as standardized curriculum or testing that make in hard to
incorporate this type of teaching. If these methods had gotten off the ground back then,
education today could look very different.
“The classroom environment of bolted-down desks and large numbers of students
was more conducive to Thorndike’s stimulus-response, drill, reward and
measurement methods of instruction than to the types of group activity and
socialized forms of instruction advocated by the social educators.” Pg 279-280
Spring implies that just the physical reality of the classroom had a large impact on the
type of instruction used and ultimately the type of instruction that would become popular.
It is important to realize as educators how much of an impact the environment can have
on our teaching and to the extent possible be intentional about the physical environment
on our classrooms.
“These texts lacked critical analysis of educational problems, educational
philosophy, or educational issues in a social context. The focus of training for
school administrators was not scholarship and learning but principles of
management.” Pg 295
This quote refers to the text books that students of educational administration used. They
were not focused of the hows and whys of education. Although management is still
certainly as aspect of an educational administrators role, today their role goes far beyond
just this. How and when did educational theory an practice become part of an
administrators job?
“One reason for the popularity of the new intelligence tests among some
Americans was that they seemed to confirm the racial superiority of the English
and Germans. Also, the seemed to confirm to Anglo-Americans that Native
Americans and African Americans were inferior races.” Pg 298
The tests were of course written by the Anglo-Americans, the group who did well on
them. One has to be careful when using science to justify a conclusion like this. Just you
perspective coming into the question can influence your results.
“One method of getting people to accept their position in society was to convince
them that the particular position they held reflected their individual merit.” Pg 299
Was this actually an effective method? Were people convinced that their role was due to
their merit? Or did they criticize the social structure that had put them where they were?
“In the Minds of some Anglo-Americans, the United States was destined to rule
the continent because of its Protestant culture and republican form of
government.” Pg 169
“Anglo attitudes about the education of the children of immigrant Mexicans
involved two conflicting positions. On the one hand, farmers did not want
Mexican children to go to school—because school attendance meant that they
were not available for farmwork. On the other hand, many public officials wanted
Mexican children in school so they could be “Americanized.” Pg 175
“Manifest destiny—the idea that a certain future event is inevitable and just—
provided a rationalization for deculturalization. The expansion of its borders to
the Pacific Ocean was felt to be the manifest (obvious) destiny of the United
States. Manifest destiny rested on a belief in the superiority of Protestant AngloAmerican culture and U.S. political institutions.” Pg 183-184
“Here was the great compromise—acceptance by blacks of social segregation for
the opportunity to participate in the new industrial order of the South. As
Washington explained in the conclusion of his speech, he believed that once the
economic value of blacks had been established, social acceptance would follow.”
Pg 193-194
“What this meant for public schools was that students needed to be taught to work
together and that the stress of competition needed to be reduced. During the early
part of the twentieth century, these ideas resulted in an emphasis in the schools on
group activities, sharing, and working together.” Pg 248
“The romantic and poetic impulses of youth, it was believed, could be captured
and directed toward socially useful projects such as helping the poor, the
community, or the nation.” Pg 250
“youth represented either a promising future or a collapsing civilization.” Pg 250
“Through the course of development, no serious suggestion was ever made that
students be given real power. The purpose of student government was to provide
applied civics, not to run the school.” Pg 253
“Dewey’s methods emphasized student interest, student activity, group work, and
cooperation—methods premised on the idea that the school had to serve a new
social function in a would of increasing urban life and large corporations.” Pg
273
“Dewey’s philosophy relies on the ability of individuals to interpret their own
experience instead of relying on the word of God.” Pg 274
“Thorndike viewed teaching as a science concerned with the control of human
behavior.” Pg 278