CHAPTER 3: PHILOSOPHICAL AND HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES

philosophy

The fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence; in the case of a philosophy of education, what one believes to be true about the essentials of education.

Perennialism

Educational philosophy suggesting that human nature is constant, and that the focus of education should be on teaching concepts that remain true over time.

Essentialism

Educational philosophy that suggests that there are skills and knowledge that all people should possess.

Progressivism

Educational philosophy emphasizing real-world problem solving and individual development, with the teacher serving as a "guide on the side."

John Dewey

Father of progressive education; Progressivism is founded in his work.

Social Reconstructionism

Educational philosophy asserting that schools, teachers, and students should take the lead in addressing social problems and improving society.

Paulo Freire

a Brazilian educator in the 1950s. Influential thinker of the social reconstruction.

Act of 1642

First compulsory education law in the New World. Required parents to educate their children.

The Law of 1647

Required towns of fifty or more families to hire a schoolmaster to teach children basic literacy. Also known as the Old Deluder Satan Act.

Old Deluder Satan Act

Required towns of fifty or more families to hire a schoolmaster to teach children basic literacy. Also known as the Law of 1647.

Dame School

Model of schooling in Colonial America in which parents sent children to a local woman who would teach basic literacy skills for a small fee.

Latin Grammar Schools

Model of schooling in Colonial America to teach boys subjects like classical literature, reading, writing, and math in preparation to attend Harvard University. First established in Boston in 1635.

Parson Schools

Model of schooling in Colonial America in which a highly educated minister opened his home to young scholars and often taught secular subjects.

Charity Schools

Model of schooling in Colonial America established when an affluent individual made provisions in his or her will, including land, to construct and manage a school for the poor. Also called endowed free schools.

Field Schools

Model of schooling in Colonial America involving schools being built in abandoned fields in rural areas to offer affordable education to students. Teachers received payment from families and boarded with families. Also called rate schools, subscription schools, fee schools, and eventually district schools.

Federalists

American Revolutionary Era group supporting mass schooling for nationalistic purposes, such as preserving order, morality, and a nationalistic character, but opposing tax-supported schooling. Included Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, John Adams, and Noah Webster.

Noah Webster

A great advocate for mass schooling.

Anti Federalists

Political group in the American Revolutionary Era that opposed a strong central government, preferring instead state and local forms of government. Included Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson

Anti-Federalist; Proposed 3 tiered schools

Democratic-Republican Societies

Political group in the American Revoutionary Era that supported universal, government-funded schooling.Members of these political clubs included artisans, teachers, ship builders, innkeepers, and working class individuals.

Common Schools

Elementary schools where all students--not just wealthy boys--could attend for free. Developed in the 1800s by Horace Mann.

Horace Mann

Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education; "Father of the public school system"; a prominent proponent of public school reform, & set the standard for public schools throughout the nation; lengthened academic year; pro training & higher salaries to teachers

Normal Schools

Teacher training institutions championed by Horace Mann that arose during the Common School Movement.

Catherine Beecher

the first well-known teacher of the time and one of the normal schools' first teachers.

Freedmen's Bureau

Distributed food, clothing, and medical aid to formerly enslaved people and poor Whites and created over 1,000 schools throughout the southern states after the Civil War.

Industrial Schools

Post-Civil War schools built for Black Americans in the South; focused on vocational or trade skills.

Booker T. Washington

African American progressive who supported segregation and demanded that African American better themselves individually to achieve equality.

W. E. B. Du Bois

believed that African Americans should strive for full rights immediately; founded the NAACP

NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; founded in 1905 to seek legal and political equality for African Americans.

Morrill Act of 1862

Gave states 30,000 acres of land for each senator and representative it had in Congress in 1860. The income generated from the sale or lease of this land would provide financial support for at least one agricultural and mechanical (A&M) college, known as a land-grant institution.

Morrill Act of 1890

Required land-grant institutions seeking increased federal support to either provide equal access to the existing A&M colleges or establish separate institutions for the People of Color in their state.

Ethnocentrism

Judging or evaluating another culture based on your own culture.

Administrative Progressives

Group in the early 1900s who wanted education to be as efficient as possible to meet the demands of industrialization and the economy.

Pedagogical Progressives

Group in the early 1900s focused on changes in how and what students were learning; saw schooling as a vehicle for social justice instead of assimilation. Also called curricular progressives.

Social Reconstructionists

Group of progressive educators, like John Dewey, who ascribed to the educational philosophy of social reconstructionism, meaning they believed education could improve society.

Critical Theory

Approach of constructing meaning through recognizing issues of power, access, and equity; often involves questioning and challenging the status quo.

National Education Association (NEA)

Largest labor union in the U.S., established in 1857 to represent educators.

The American Federation of Teachers

Second largest labor union for teachers in the U.S., founded in Chicago in 1916.

Title IX

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance

Department of Education

1977 - Carter added it to the Cabinet to acknowledge the changing role of the federal government in education.

A Nation At Risk

71-page report released in 1983 that sensationalized a "crisis" in American schooling that led to standards-based reform.

No Child Left Behind Act

Standards-based reform passed in 2001 as a reauthorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Increased educational accountability through standardized testing.

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

2015 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965) and No Child Left Behind Act (2002). Shifted accountability provisions to individual states.

Social Emotional Learning

Process through which students learn to recognize and manage emotions, care about others, make good decisions, behave ethically and responsibly, develop positive relationships, and avoid negative behaviors.