Horace Mann The common school era

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Horace MannThe common school era
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• Upon Thomas Jeffersons death a state-supported
  education system was still unrealized throughout
  the nation.

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Massachusetts is used as a spring board for a
discussion of the common school era. Why?
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• Massive changes in the political economy of New
  England lead to an educational system in
  Massachusetts that by the Civil War became the
  model for the nation.
• Massachusetts Bay Colony known for its commitment
  to education.
• 1789 Passed a law requiring towns with more than
  50 families provide an elementary school for at
  least 6 months a year. Towns with more than 199
  were to provide a grammar school to teach
  classical languages.

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• Although these laws existed, at the turn of the
  18th century very few school-aged children
  attended school even in Boston.
• If out of compliance, towns were not held
  accountable for not meeting the basis of the law.
• By 1830 most children had access to elementary
  education.
• Locally controlled schools with voluntary
  attendance were the norm.

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• Schools were generally poorly built, inadequately
  ventilated and provided seats, desks, and
  lighting that was condemned by contemporary
  doctors.
• Schools were located in undesirable parts of town
  because wealthy hired tutors.

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• Many teachers were barely literate.
• Often hired because they would accept an
  inadequate salary.
• Students could range from 2-25 years in the same
  classroom with a range of texts that were brought
  from home.
• Schools existed but no school systems.

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Educational reform begins in the 1820s in
Massachusetts

• Tremendous economic, social, political,
  demographic and intellectual developments drove
  reformers as well as reform.

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Demographic changes

• Massive flows of settlers from coastal states to
  interior territories (Ohio and Mississippi River
  valley, to the great plains and eventually to the
  Pacific coast.
• Brought with them social and cultural customs and
  familiar activities and beliefs.
• Expansion westward and the War of 1812 raised
  concern about how to increase American
  nationalism (which was in its infancy as a
  greater loyalty to states existed.)

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Nationalism raised as

• During this time period (the three decades before
  the Civil War)
• The Flag was developed
• Patriotic songs were written and sung
• Cartoons such as Uncle Sam showed in newspapers.

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Result on education?

• Many saw schools as a means of building a
  nationalistic spirit in the next generations.
• Increased immigration of Irish in the NE school
  seen as a way to fit them into the nation and her
  beliefs (most were Roman Catholic in primarily
  Protestant towns and cities.)

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• Increased urbanization in places such as Boston,
  New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia
• Increased industrialization especially in the
  cotton textiles.
• Marked gapped between rich and poor
• Increased crime, rise in alcohol use and what
  religious leaders termed a dangerous lowering of
  morality
• Schooling was seen as a means of addressing the
  problems associated with increased urbanization

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Political Developments

• Increase in suffrage for white males.
• By 1828 4 or 7 white males could vote (voting
  based on property ownership).
• New England upper class believe that lower class
  intellectually unprepared for the moral
  responsibilities of voting.
• Right and good associated with the ideology of
  the Protestant, classical liberal values.

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Economic Factors

• Industrialization
• Huge expanse of commerce especially in the port
  cities such as Boston, New York, Baltimore,
  Philadelphia

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2. What generalizations could one make about the
use of Massachusetts to the rest of the country?
What about Idaho?
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3. What sort of society was this period? What was
industry like? How were children faring? What was
the political and religious climate?
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Industrialization

• Central factor in the evolution of industry was
  the need to control both the quality and quantity
  of production.
• A strict adherence to the clock and punctuality
• Working for a set number of hours in a setting
  outside of the home

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Children

• Many lower class involved in industry
• Calvanist views that children are naturally
  depraved and must have the devil beaten out of
  them.
• Rich were tutored

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4. Who was Horace Mann? What was his philosophy?
What critical historical changes occurred in
education because of his philosophy?
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During his tenure as Mass. secretary of education

• These significant topics were addressed
• School buildings
• Moral values
• Examples of Prussian education
• Discipline
• Teachers
• Economic value of education

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Buildings

• Is inconvenience or discomfort suffered from
  your construction or location of School Houses in
  your Town, and if so in what manner?
• Manns annual report ranked towns schools in
  terms of expenditures and buildings

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Moral Values

• The school must inculcate the appropriate set of
  moral values in states children
• Piety, justice, sacred regard to truth, love to
  their country, humanity, and benevolence,
  sobriety, industry, frugality, chastity,
  moderation and temperance, and those virtues
  which are the ornament of human society and the
  basis upon which a republican constitution is
  founded.

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Prussian Education

• Free, state controlled universal and compulsory
  schooling
• Developed normal schools
• Two separate tiers of education that were class
  based
• Upper class academically oriented and three
  levels
• Lower class two levels develop patriotic
  citizens loyalty and obedience not initiative
  or critical thinking

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Effects of Prussian Education on Manns view of
education

• Mann liked the idea of a free, state controlled
  universal and compulsory schooling
• He DID NOT believe in the class distinctions and
  actually fought against private schooling for the
  wealthy (because it spun class hatred etc)

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• During his visits to the Prussian schools he saw
  a joy of learning and no child in tears
• Thought is was due to the excellent preparation
  of teachers and the lack of corporal punishment.

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What are normal schools?

• The Prussian model of teacher preparation came
  from their Normal Schools. These were schools
  whose sole job was to prepare teachers in
  pedagogy and content subjects.

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Quality of Teachers

• Mann believed that teachers needed special
  preparation to comprehend the nature of learners,
  the learning process, the subjects, and how to
  teach (classroom organization, discipline,
  pedagogic methods, curriculum and materials
  organization).

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Mann wanted

• Institutions for teacher preparation that were
  new and different than the typical college. The
  academic portion of the education of teachers
  would be based solely on the subjects to be
  taught in the common schools.

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Model had weaknesses that plagues teacher ed
preparation even today.

• The isolation of teacher education from other
  higher education entities.
• Denigration of academic subject matter produced
  teachers whose subject matter knowledge confined
  to elementary school levels.
• Resulted in methods trained teachers who knew how
  to teach but were less acquainted with what
  should be taught or why.

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Normal School Tradition

• Trained technicians but did not develop
  scholars.
• Many argue that teacher preparation has not
  recovered or overcome this original deficit.

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Horace Mann advocated a new discipline of love in
the classroom.

• Until Mann, Calvanistic views directed punishment
  (see previous slide discussions)
• Mann believed that we should manipulate the
  childs nonrational psyche through the granting
  or withholding of affection.
• Use affection to mold appropriate behaviors.

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5. Tozer, Violas and Senese take a position that
Horace Mann's thinking about schooling and
society was perfectly consistent with Jefferson's
view, just with different applications? Are you
buying that argument? Or would you say otherwise?
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Feminization of teaching

• 18th century, males mostly taught.
• Late in the century, New England women taught
  during the summer term when men were in the
  fields.
• Eventually some women employed during winter
  terms.
• Women could be paid far less (women paid 1/3rd of
  males)

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Mann also thought

• Women were more suited to teach because of their
  caring/nurturing natures
• Men were considered driven more by logic and
  reasonthus better suited for other professions

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By the end of the 1840s, teaching was viewed as a
feminine profession.
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6. So did Horace Mann do a good thing for women
or not? Why?
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Considering this discussion about women moving
into education, do you see any parallels to
education today?