Title: 1950s Education: Civil Defense and the Push for Curriculum Reform
11950s Education Civil Defense and the Push for
Curriculum Reform
- Dominant Interpretations Themes
- Chapter 3
- Bonnie Pazin
- ILEAD 5
2Civil Defense Education and the Post-Sputnik Era
- Politics Eisenhower Administration
- Climate and Federal Government Role
- School Preparedness Safety Education
- Role of principals and teachers in schools
- Curriculum
- Science and math reform
- Issues carry forth to today
- Science/Technology and Math Curriculum
- Terrorism
3General Climate of the 1950s
- Early 50s marked the detonation
- of the hydrogen bombs
- Space race escalated
- Hysteria and panic in general atmosphere fears
of communism, atomic/nuclear bombs - Civil defense education seen as a way to prepare
the general public including school children - Civil defense education seen as necessary, as
future wars would involve both military and
civilians in case of attack on US soil
4Civil Defense Roots
- Truman stated Education is our first line of
defense. In the conflict of principal and policy
which divides the world today, Americas hope,
our hope, the hope of the world is education. - Truman created the Federal Civil Defense
Administration (1951) - Encourage and coordinate nations civil
preparedness
5The FCDA
- The Federal Civil Defense Administration (1951)
- Left practical implementation and funding to
state and local governments - Did not allocate federal funds to civil defense
projects - Produced educational and propaganda materials
intended to mobilize state and local agencies and
private individuals to spend their own funds to
implement programs
6Women Promote Civil Defense
- Katherine Graham Howard
- Deputy Administrator for the FCDA
- Tireless civil defense advocate
- Helped promote role of women in civil defense
- Civil defense seen as an opportunity for women to
get involved play an important role - Family seen as the unit of survival in civil
defense women had key role in family
7Example of Civil Defense PreparationThe Red
Scare in New Orleans
- Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Civil Defense
maintained an active program to instruct citizens
in procedures to follow in the event of nuclear
attack. - Fallout shelters were designated throughout the
city, including the basements of the new City
Hall and the new Main Library (where fallout
shelter signs can still be seen). - The city installed an elaborate warning system of
76 large sirens and even built a fully equipped
command center from which city officials could
"safely" direct the operations of rescue and
salvage following an attack. - The bunker remains on the neutral ground between
West End and Pontchartrain Boulevards, abandoned
now, along with the fears that pervaded the 50s
and 60s. - Louisiana Photograph Collection. Municipal
Government Collection Office of Civil Defense
Series Taken from website http//nutrias.org/
nopl/exhibits/ccmem.htm
- These are "ground observers," civilian volunteers
trained by the Office of Civil Defense to spot
enemy invaders, photographed atop the Hibernia
Bank building in February, 1955.
8Civil Defense and Education
- FCDA mobilized state and local agencies for the
cause - Did the best they could with no federal funds
- Often used other areas of the budget but had to
justify and tie the original purpose of the
budgeted area to civil defense - FCDA produced educational materials about civil
defense brochures, films, etc. - Strongly precautionary stance about its powers of
mass destruction - Units on communism were also developed at same
time by state departments of education - Advised how to build fallout shelters, what to
stockpile, how to survive atomic blast - Over 100,000 Americans prepared their own fallout
shelters
9Civil Defense and Education
- Much of education in general developed and
promoted civil defense including state
departments of education, US Office of Education,
schools of education - Most state departments of education prepared
civil defense strategies and materials for use in
schools - Teachers were considered key people in civil
defense - Teachers were to try to reduce potential for
trauma in young children - Impacted safety education, atomic bomb drills,
changes in school architecture as well as through
formal curriculum of science and math
10Civil Defense in Schools
- Civil Defense became a way of life in American
schools - Clara P. McMahon, Elementary School Journal
- Advised teachers that schools must adjust
curriculum to incorporate qualities of students
needed in an emergency - Listed 9 desired skills including
- Acting without panic
- Administering simple first aid
- Thinking critically, problem solving
- Working well with others
- Recognizing and obeying air raid signals
11School Preparedness Procedures
- Many schools implemented procedures and actual
bomb drills issued dog tags - Smooth implementation was delegated to building
principals - Detroit public schools issued a directive,
Protection of School Children in the New
Emergency Preliminary Guide for Immediate
Action with 10 steps for principals - Detroit considered a high-profile target city due
to auto industry and took serious precautions
12Civil Defense Education Getting Parents Involved
- Civil defense educators saw schools as a
communication channel to parents - Communities formed district-wide committees
involving parents - School districts sent letters home with students
- Parents were advised to discuss issues with their
children
13Civil Defense Curriculum and Instruction in
Science Math
- US Atomic Energy Commission developed workshops
and institutes for teachers - Schools of education developed programs in higher
ed - Information about atomic energy infused into
curriculum as units in existing science and
social studies in high schools - Elementary students even incorporated atomic
energy into their readings - Example a 2nd grade essay on good atoms
14Educators drive for federal aid
- New civil defense ultimately allowed educators to
demonstrate the importance of the nations
schools to national security - Hoped to use that to justify federal aid to
education - Educators response to civil defense in the 50s
has been described as public uniformity and
sometimes educators were more willing to comply
with civil defense education than the FCDA needed
(JoAnne Brown, Journal of American History)
15The Time of the Eisenhower Administration
- US generally economically prosperous and
affluent growing middle class rise of suburbia
and development of highways - Eisenhower a moderate Republican who was seen as
a reassuring father figure in a frightening time - Had two premises to his foreign policy
- Avoiding the catastrophe of nuclear war
- Maintaining national security through nuclear
deterrence
16Eisenhower on Education
- Truman, his predecessor, believed that the
federal government had a role in advancing
education - Eisenhower, however, believed education should be
handled at state and local levels - Did not believe federal government had large role
in education
17Eisenhower on Education
- Despite his reluctance he was drawn into
education issues - Establishment of Department of Health, Education
and Welfare (1953) - Supreme Court ruling that racial segregation in
public schools was unconstitutional (1954) - Little Rock, Arkansas desegregation controversy
- Enactment of the National Defense Education Act
(NDEA 1957)
18National Defense Education Act
- 1957 -- National Defense Education Act (NDEA)
- Gave assistance to
- Science Technology
- Math
- Foreign language instruction
- Guidance
- Based on premise that federal government had an
interest in these areas related to national
defense - Eisenhower stated that it would strengthen our
schools and advance our national security
19National Defense Education Act
- Over 100 million annually sent to aid public
education - Led to curricular developments
- New Math
- New Chemistry, New Physics
- Increase in Foreign Language Study
- Technology education studies
- Teachers institutes were created
- Brought classroom teachers to colleges
universities over the summer to work with
innovators in their fields
20Sputnik was the catalyst
- October 4, 1957
- Soviets launch successfully a space satellite
that orbited the earth - Generated international, widespread criticism of
American education especially in math, science
and technology - Seen as a decline in academic rigor allowing USSR
to take the lead in the space race - By concentrating more rigorously on math
science in US schools, Americans could reclaim
the lead
21F. James Rutherford
- F. James Rutherford
- American Association for the Advancement of
Science, Sputnik in Science Education - Speaks of pre- and post-Sputnik education
- Concerns in pre-Sputnik / Post WWII era concerned
with demographics and returning veterans - Often called post-Sputnik era, the concerns were
curricular - What was being taught and how
- Another key difference between pre and
post-Sputnik eras was the assignment of blame - Pre-Sputnik military and politicians received
blame for Pearl Harbor and not educators - Post-Sputnik blame shifted to schools
- In 2005, launched Project 2061 which is
dedicated to scientific literacy by all
22J. Myron Atkin
- Applying Historic Lessons To Current Educational
Reform - J. Myron Atkin, School of EducationStanford
University - never before had scientists from the highest
echelons of the academic community had such a
controlling influence on elementary and secondary
school curriculum - Began a trend that leads to todays education
- Not only did university professors criticize what
they saw in schools, many became deeply and
personally committed to change - Experts turned their talents that had been used
to create the bombs to peaceful efforts - Had support of admiring and grateful public
- Had unprecedented influence in matters of public
policy, including education
23J. Myron Atkin (continued)
- Teachers in the 50s were assumed to have best
knowledge of how to convey information scientific
content to students, but the responsibility for
content lay with the scientists - Today the policymakers realize that teachers must
be closely involved with content - key decisions
made today by stakeholders including academia,
teachers, parents, scientists, industry ,etc. - Even though today science-related issues are at
the forefront of society, it is harder and harder
to get students involved
24Rodger W. Bybee
- Rodger W. Bybee
- Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering
Education, National Research Council - In the 50s a mathematical reform was already
initiated by Max Beberman, University of Illinoic
Committee on School Mathematics (UICSM) - Sputnik was a historical turning point
symbolized a threat to American security, to
superiority in science and technology, progress,
and political freedom - US perceived itself as weak scientifically,
technologically, militarily and economically - Educational reform was broadened and accelerated
supported by public, policy makers increased
federal funding - Called it the Golden Age of science and
mathematics education
25Civil Defense Today
- Civil Defense has continued through the years and
is alive and well today - Ex. Ronald Reagans Crisis Relocation Plan 1983
- Presently known as Homeland Security and
Emergency Management - Has taken new role after 9/11 and as threat of
terrorism becomes more prevalent in U.S.
26Dominant Perspective Research to be continued
- Long term effects of civil defense education
today - The notion that civil defense is alive and well
as homeland security and terrorism - Movement to reform science education after
Sputnik and the beginning of the space race - The involvement of federal government in
education vs. state and local governments
27Part 2 References
- Brown, JoAnne. A is for Atom, B is for Bomb
Civil Defense In American Public Education,
1948-1963. The Journal of American History, 75,
No. 1 (June 1988), pp. 68-90. Retrieved
September 15, 2006 from http//www.jstor.org/cgi-b
in/jstor/printpage/00218723/di952432/95p0006c/0.pd
f? backcontextpagedowhatAcrobatconfigjstoru
serIDc07c22c5_at_unt.edu/01cce4403700501c76dd10.pdf
- http//www.wikipedia.org
- http//www.archives.nysed.gov/edpolicy/research/ch
ronology1944.shtml - http//www.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.html?src
ln - http//nutrias.org/nopl/exhibits/ccmem.htm
- http//www.conelrad.com/index.php
- http//www.loti.com/fifities_history/surviving_nuc
lear_attack.htm
28Part 2 References
- American Association for the Advancement of
Science - Sputnik in Science Education
- http//www.nas.edu/sputnik/ruther1.htm
- The Sputnik Era Why is this educational reform
different from all other Reforms? - http//www.nas.edu/sputnik/bybee1.htm
- What We Have Learned and Where We Are Headed
Lessons From The Sputnik Era - http//www.nas.edu/sputnik/deboer.htm
29Part 2 References
- Gutek, G. (2000). American Education 1945-2000
A history and commentary. Long Grove, IL
Waveland Press Inc. - Good, H.G. (1962). A History of American
Education, Second Edition. New York The
Macmillan Company. - McMahon, C. Civil Defense and Educational Goals.
Elementary School Journal, Vol. 53, No. 8 (Apr.,
1953), pp. 440-442 - The Nuclear Family retrieved from
http//www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/pmccray/2020T
he20Nuclear20Family.pdfsearch22atomic20honey
mooners22