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The 19th Century
Transcript of The 19th Century
Transition to the 19th century
-Schooling was used to teach traditional values
“Animated by a Protestant commitment to social perfectibility and the republican spirit of national advancement , along with the model of the factory system, these [reformers of the 19th century like Horace Mann] offered the school as a solution to a host of social problems, and as a tool of economic and political development” (Rury, 2013, p.76)
How have the foundational ideals still affected our national identity and our attitudes towards education?
Parents at the Beginning of the 19th Century
“The belief that children should be taught obedience and respect for authority clearly dominated much of American education” (Rury, 2013, p.62)
Physical punishment was used at times in school and at home
Traditional values (Protestantism!) and authority were key
Parents at the End of the 19th Century
“[Horace Mann] demanded that their regime of unquestioned authority and fear be replaced by an approach featuring mutual respect, affection, and the love of knowledge. Mann wanted adult authority in classrooms, but believed it best achieved by observing courtesy and compassion” (Rury, 2013, p.84).
Physical punishment discouraged
Love and mutual respect
Are parents the problem with education? Or is it the culture of the US/cultural expectations of children that are more problematic?
“Urbanization and economic development helped to spawn a movement to improve the common schools and expand their purview [or scope of influence]” (Rury, 2013, p.70)
Redefining schooling as “preparation for life” (Rury, 2013, p.65) where life means work.
Schools were most influential and centered in cities
New Industrial Revolution: growth in cities
5.3 million to 75 million
“As cities grew, a host of institutions were established to cope with new social problems” (Rury, 2013, p.67)
Think police, asylums, and jails. More people means more problems!
“Questions of poverty and destitution, crime and social conflict, along with greater cultural variety, seemed to call for institutional responses. Education was also viewed in this light” (Rury, 2013, p.67)
Upper class, growing middle class, urban poor
Urbanization + Industrialization = Bigger Wealth Gaps
“This was education for citizenship, but it was also preparation for the emerging industrial order, a society increasingly marked by social and economic distinctions and the rule of the clock and efficiency” (Rury, 2013, p.65)
Schooling was marked by separation of classes
Ex: high schools were for elite only
Do we still view education as a solution to social problems?
Is it truly, in your opinion, a “fix all” to social inequity?
Are we wrong to put all of our hopes into education to fix social problems?
How is your answer to these questions shaped by your experiences and values?
Changing Women’s Roles
Teaching: “There was a widely shared belief that women should occupy a respected but largely delimited domestic role in the division of labor, although non-White women were often expected to perform hard labor” (Rury, 2013, p.81)
Horace Mann's View
Mann supported women’s education (Republican Motherhood idea is still around)
The role of women as teachers began, for the most part, here. Mann believed that women had the “maternal disposition of patience and affection” (Rury, 2013, p.79) and were also cheaper to employ.
Have women’s role as the primary educators affected education?
Is women's dominance in the teaching profession a positive or negative thing? Is this still true in today's society?
Single schoolhouse with one teacher
Older students used as "monitors" or teaching assistants who oversaw lessons (Rury, 2013, p.68)
Thought of as a good system at the time b/c it was cheap, efficient, and followed the factorization idea
“Preoccupied with order and efficiency, highly structured routines and uniformity of expectations, these schools represented a factory-like approach to education” (Rury, 2013, p.68)
The Beginnings of Reform
Schooling became disputed when it was suggested that schools should be larger, more expensive, and a more central aspect of social life
“This and the nation’s rapidly developing transportation network, and improved communications, were symbols of progress and the superiority of American civilization. Reformers wanted to depict schools in the same light: They would improve each succeeding generation, uniting the country in a common set of values and forging a national identity” (Rury, 2013, p.75)
Taxing education became a largely disputed topic
Should there be any taxing? If so much?
Economic development starts with an educated population
Education = common morals and standards of behavior
“The age of the common school” (Rury, 2013, p.76)
Publically supported education that accepted all religions and cultures
“Longer school terms” (Rury, 2013, p.76)
Requirements for teachers: training and testing
“Mann suggested that schooling also could help bridge a widening gap between the wealthy and the laboring classes, promoting social harmony in an era of marked disparities in social status” (Rury, 2013, p.78)
School is a public responsibility and it should be free and open to everyone. Education is worth it (economically and socially)!
“They all believed in the central importance of individual character as a key element of social progress. Without virtuous people, in their opinion, society was doomed, so proper moral development— through families, churches, schools, and other institutions —was seen as essential to national survival. Personal industry and self-discipline were deemed key to moral development, as was private property. This was an ideological perspective well suited to the capitalist social order, and the common schools everywhere trumpeted the virtues of private enterprise as a superior economic system” (Rury, 2013, p.80)
“Beginning in the 1840s and escalating quickly after the Civil War, millions of European immigrants came to the United States, many seeking jobs in the burgeoning industrial economy. Industrialization appeared to have produced a new class of unskilled, impoverished workers, and a high degree of cultural and social diversity” (Rury, 2013, p.64)
Immigrants = increase in cultural/ racial diversity
Came to be laborers, mainly in cities
White Protestants worried about increasing diversity causing there to be a lack of common values and shared identity
“Educators worried about the immigrants that industrial growth attracted to American cities, and they designed institutions to prepare children for changing work roles and citizenship” (Rury, 2013, p.58)
Some minority groups (Catholics, Blacks, other racial minorities) formed their own schools because they were not accepted by the majority – White Protestants.
High schools were exclusive accepting less than 1/10 of the potential students, which DID include women, but not Blacks or Native Americans
Charity schools for minorities were typically primary or elementary schools, but during the 19th century secondary or high schools began to develop
How does immigration still affect education today?
How are minorities at a disadvantage in today's society? Think education & bigger picture.
“Schooling became an increasingly significant social issue as the industrial revolution unfolded. The nation’s total investment in education grew dramatically, as larger segments of the population attended school for greater lengths of time” (Rury, 2013, p.64)
Compared to today:
Schooling did not take up as much time in an average person's life & didn't have as big of an impact on one's future
Large differences in education in different regions
The South (run by white plantation owners) were concerned about literacy spreading to slaves and causing rebellions
Common Ideas: schools should be "supported by property taxes, should have greater uniformity, should be nonsectarian, should last for more than six months, and should be staffed by trained, professional teachers" (Rury, 2013, p.82)
“There was widespread commitment to using education to unify the American people, so that the nation could realize its manifest destiny of world leadership” (Rury, 2013, p.81)
“American secondary schools prepared students for a host of commercial and educational purposes. Although attendance was small at first, high schools eventually became one of the most significant educational developments of the 19th century” (Rury, 2013, p.69)
Boston’s English Classical High School established in 1821 to give students a well-rounded and practical education intended to prepare students for careers dealing with commerce and government
Subjects included history, math, literature and writing, political economy, science, geography (Rury, 2013, p.85)
“They were a part of the popular education system, yet they were designated to serve social and academic elites” (Rury, 2013, p.85)
Required entrance exams: exclusive enrollment (no working-class kids)
Kids wanted to go to high school which led to more academic consistency within school systems
Competed with private and semi-public secondary institutions
BUT controversial because paid for with tax money while only serving a small segment of the population
Controversy was offset by their popularity w/ the new and growing urban middle class
Urban high schools were better: better teachers, better resources, etc.
“Even though these institutions served a small fraction of the nation’s school-aged population, they had come to be seen as an indispensable feature of the educational landscape” (Rury, 2013, p.89)
Prepared students for ministry and teaching positions
Transmitted "high culture" but college education had few practical uses outside of that
At end of the 19th century, college began to focus more on research and more diverse career paths rather than classical studies (Greek/Latin)
Focus on recitation/memorization
Throughout most of the 19th century colleges dominated by "classical curriculum and an academic culture with traditions handed down from colonial times” (Rury, 2013, p.89-90)
In 1862, 1890 Morrill Acts (Land Grant College Act): Agricultural and mechanical schools (government gives money to promote agricultural research/mechanical development)
“[Harvard’s Charles] Eliot introduced an elective system that allowed students to choose courses, with few requirements— a reform later modified to feature a required core” (Rury, 2013, p.90)
Rury, J. L. (2013). Education and Social Change: Contours in the History of American
Schooling. New York, NY: Routledge.
The American way of life was established
“If the 19th century was the age of the factory, the school became a parallel institution concerned with preparation for industrial life” (Rury, 2013, p.65)
Transportation, mainly the railroad system, connected many parts of the United States and was a source of pride and identity for Americans
• Greater value on education in general
• Child laborers did not have the same opportunity to attend school
Impact of Industrialization on Attitudes towards Education:
• Model school system after factory with hierarchical organization, emphasis on efficiency, order, and uniformity
Standardization was a positive thing
How does the interconnectedness that grew out of a national transportation system & growing urban centers affect education?
Does the fact that we are one huge country pose more problems for a national education system than it solves?
Do we still associate industry and mechanization to our methods of schooling?
“Education for citizenship” (Rury, 2013, p.65)– is this phrase still true?
How do you see it (or not) in your own education?
Do you think that a public school education is more affected by this idea than a private school education?