Brian Agnew NJ : Impact of Economy on Schools

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Impact of Economy on Schools

• Brian Agnew NJ

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Objectives

• Give examples of how education reflected local
  culture and beliefs
• Trace changes in the preparation, roles and
  status of teachers over time
• Describe how educational opportunities changed
  from colonial times forward
• Analyze how key people in early education reform
  responded to concerns of the time

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Key Terms

• Apprentice someone who learns a skilled trade
  by watching and helping someone in that trade
• Dame School early American schools run by women
  in their own homes parents paid a fee for their
  children to attend
• Hornbook flat wooden board with a handle sheet
  of paper usually containing the alphabet, a
  prayer or two, and Roman numerals was pasted on
  the board and covered with a thin, flat piece of
  clean animal horn to protect the paper.

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Key Terms Continued

• Common Schools public schools available to
  children from all levels of society
• Normal Schools schools that prepared men and
  women with the necessary skills to become
  teachers.
• McGuffey Readers first widely used textbooks
  published during the American Common Schools
  period. Included moral lesson along with science,
  grammar, and other subjects

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Key Terms Continued

• Progressives members of a reform movement that
  began in late 1800s believed that education
  should be more individualized and teach students
  skills that would improve the ills of society.
• Montessori Method teaching principals developed
  by Maria Montessori, an Italian doctor,
  emphasizing self-directed learning through
  sensory experience.
• Career and Technical Education courses of study
  that prepare students for careers related to a
  specific trade or occupation.

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Key Terms Finished

• Disposable Income income beyond that needed for
  basic necessities, allowing people to buy or do
  thing they want.
• Quotas - limits

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1600-1776 American Colonial Period

• Most education took place at home
• Basic reading and arithmetic skills taught
• Daily life and work provided opportunities for
  practical learning
• When schools were established
• Mainly in well-populated areas
• Primarily for elementary grades
• Few universities and colleges founded so few
  opportunities to attend
• Most older children worked on family farms and
  business
• Others, learned a trade in an apprenticeship
• Some worked without pay for agreed upon time
  period in exchange for their learning

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New England Colonies

• Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire,
  Rhode Island all came from England
• Majority Puritans
• Believed in importance of religious education
• Valued persons ability to read the Bible
• School viewed as a way to reach those goals and
  teach basic skills for farmers
• 1642 Massachusetts enacted a law requiring every
  town to establish a school not always followed

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Middle Colonies

• New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania Delaware
• All from different backgrounds
• No common school system
• Cultural groups developed own schools
• Quakers
• Settled around Philadelphia
• Believed everyone should be educated
• Tolerant of others beliefs
• Established 1st school that welcomed all
  regardless of religion or race
• Open to girls, African Americans and Native
  Americans

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Southern Colonies

• Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South
  Carolina, and Georgia
• Social and economic class divisions were more
  rigid
• Sons of wealthy plantation owners received a
  formal education preparing for college in
  colonies or Europe
• Due to geographical separation of plantations
  were educated at home by tutors
• Middle class was smaller than other areas
• Middle class and poor, especially girls, had
  fewer opportunities
• Enslaved people were only taught skills useful to
  their owners
• Dame schools were open to both boys and girls

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Role of Teacher

• Ranked right below religious leaders in
  importance
• Were men better educated than the general
  population
• Expected to teach and act as an example of moral
  behavior
• Could NOT drink, smoke, date or marry
• Had to
• Attend church regularly
• Participate in civic events
• Be industrious and honest
• Routinely clean the school
• Visit the sick
• Perform charitable acts

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School Curriculum

• Most schools focused on basic reading, writing,
  simple math and religion
• Some educated beyond elementary
• Few formal school existed
• In Middle and New England colonies training was
  available for trades
• Sons of wealthy learned Latin, Greek and advanced
  math
• In south sons studies astronomy for navigation
  and plantation management skills
• Girls taught basic skills sewing, home
  management skills
• Wealthy daughters taught literature and poetry
• Books were rare and expensive
• Schools used hornbooks used throughout the
  colonies until 1800s when books became less
  expensive

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1776-1840 American Early National Period

• Began with the American Revolution
• Believed they could make a better society and
  were eager to try new ideas
• Change occurred quickly in cities and slower in
  rural settings
• Educators believed improving lives and society
  through the use of reason could find rational
  solutions for problems
• Schools were a vehicle for making a better
  society
• Ideas traditions of Europe less influential
• Education considered way to promote the new
  nations ideas of freedom liberty
• Religion played less of a role focused on
  teaching skills to help students enter fields
  such as agriculture, business and shipping

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Benjamin Franklin

• One of the most important early leaders
• Started a secondary school or academy in
  Philadelphia open to anyone who could pay
  tuition
• Due to his influence schools today
• Teach good citizenship
• Are available to everyone
• Teach a wide variety of subjects

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Thomas Jefferson

• Believed that education was the key to making the
  newly formed democracy a success
• Introduced legislation to divide counties in
  Virginia into smaller districts that were
  responsible for education a public system of
  education
• Wanted elementary schools available without cost
• Due to his influence schools today
• Public system of education introduced
• How public schools are organized

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Role of Teacher

• Continued to be positive models of good
  citizenship
• Expected to be involved, make community better
  place through church participation and
  involvement in community issues
• Taught that citizenship involved obeying laws and
  rules and respecting authority

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School Curriculum

• Continued teaching basics of reading, writing,
  math Christian principals and citizenship
• Also taught Greek, Roman, English history and
  American history
• Opportunities remained limited, especially in
  less populated areas
• Wealthy boys were taught Greek, Latin and English
  grammar, advanced math, geography, literature and
  science in preparation for university entrance
• If girls received additional education it was
  through a tutor at home or schools designed for
  girls
• Education was limited to those of European
  ancestry

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1840-1880 American Common School Period

• Marked by events that significantly altered the
  American way of life
• 1840 Oregon Trail opened
• Gold discovered in California
• Labor saving devices developed sewing machines
  and washing machines
• 1860s civil war claimed lives, freeing slaves
  triumph of union altered American life
• In 1840 most American children received minimal
  schooling if any at all
• By 1880 education, including free public
  education for many was more widely available

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Horace Mann

• Served as 1st Secretary of the State Board of
  Education in Massachusetts
• Worked hard to establish free public education
  for every boy and girl
• First public state supported schools called
  common schools gave the same education to people
  from different levels of society
• Established teacher-training schools called
  normal schools
• Successfully advocated establishment of free
  libraries
• Increased state funding for public schools by
  using state taxes to pay for education provided
  money to raise teacher salaries and improve
  materials and equipment
• Believed schools should be nonsectarian since
  funded by taxpayers reasoned that people should
  not have to pay to teach religious principals
  contrary to own beliefs
• Since country was overwhelmingly Christian,
  morality based on general Christian principals
  still taught

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African American Education

• Before civil war very few enslaved African
  Americans were able to read or write
• Most learned in secret due to laws in South
  prohibiting educating them
• Former slaves in Northern states faced social and
  economic obstacles
• Few African American schools existed
• Quaker schools allowed them to attend
• Struggled with very low wages so children found
  work as soon as old enough
• After civil war
• Educated African Americans set up schools
• Missionaries from North set up schools
• First African American colleges founded
• Debates among African Americans about what was
  the best type of education for their people
• Most efforts were short lived
• Schools strictly segregated
• Lacked funds for equal education

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Role of Teacher

• Country was still primarily rural
• Children educated at home or in small country
  school houses.
• 1 teacher taught all grades
• Teachers paid by community members
• Salaries quite low

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Normal Schools

• To enter a normal school for training applicants
  had to take a test to show that they were
  properly educated
• Resulted in higher expectations of teachers
  knowledge and teaching abilities
• More women enrolled and entered profession
• Opportunity to make a living on own

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School Curriculum

• Brought more change in how subjects were taught
• Establishment of kindergartens in public school
  in 1870
• Developed by Fredrich Froebel, a German educator
• Believed young children learned best through play
• First kindergarten classes established to help
  poor children succeed in school
• Songs and games were used to teach the children
• Prior to this children did not attend school
  until 7 years old

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School Curriculum Continued

• Textbooks became more widely available
• Reverend William Holmes McGuffey asked to write a
  textbook
• beginning of McGuffey readers
• Used in schools across country
• Books taught moral lessons along with reading,
  spelling and other subjects
• Subsequent readers taught history, biology,
  botany, literature, speech, proper behavior
• Contributed to standardization of American
  education

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School Curriculum Continued

• Morrill Act of 1862
• Known as the Land-Grant College Act
• Gave federal land to establish colleges in every
  state
• Provided practical education in agriculture, home
  economics and other useful professions to people
  from all social classes
• Second Morrill Act in 1890 expanded the system

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1880 1921 American Progressive Period

• Bridged the 19th and 20th centuries
• Women gained more rights
• European immigrants poured into cities
• Industrial revolution continued to change nature
  of work and society
• Time of business expansion and reform
• Reformation members called themselves
  Progressives
• Wanted to regulate big business who took
  advantage of workers and consumers
• Corrupt government officials were also targets

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American Progressive Period Continued

• Between 1880 and 1920, half the rural population
  abandoned farming and moved to town to find work
• Over 15 million new immigrants arrived
• Urban areas became overcrowded
• Poverty and disease widespread
• If you found work
• Long hours
• Working conditions were hazardous
• Children worked limiting education opportunities
• Progressives worked toward
• Better pay for women
• Passed laws reducing number of hours children
  could work in factories
• By 1920 all states passed laws requiring children
  attend elementary school

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Segregated Education

• Schools were still highly segregated
• African American children attended separate
  public schools that received less funding
• Educational materials were scarce and inferior,
  often the cast-offs from the white schools
• African American teachers could only teach in
  African American schools and received lower pay
  then their counterparts

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Role of Teachers

• Teachers were considered professionals
• Teacher preparation programs in colleges replaced
  normal schools
• More emphasis was placed on educational theories
• Teachers were well trained and qualified to both
  run a classroom and teach a variety of subjects
• Many teachers grew unhappy with emphasis on
  standardization
• First teachers unions were formed to protect the
  working rights of teachers
• Fought to improve pay, status and working
  conditions
• Women entered the workforce in greater numbers
• By end of progressive period, women had achieved
  the right to vote

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School Curriculum

• Progressives believed that schools should focus
  on students more as individuals, felt that
  curriculum was too standardized
• Felt that students should be encouraged to think
  critically and independently, rather than simply
  memorize information and accept facts these
  changes were significant for education
• One notable change was the opening of thousands
  of public high schools
• In 1880 there was only about 800 of these
• This allowed students to continue their education
  and prepare for a career, even if they were not
  attending college
• High school diploma became more important in
  finding a job

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John Dewey

• An educational philosopher, psychologist and
  writer was a leading voice for progressive
  education
• Believed that classrooms were too rigid and
  inflexible, did not adapt to needs, interests,
  and abilities of individual students
• Believed schools should place a greater emphasis
  on the development of problem solving and
  critical thinking skills
• Promoted the link between learning and experience
• Due to his influence schools today
• Collaborative learning on projects and discussing
  topics
• Role of teacher as guiding learning
• Real life activity that linked new information to
  previous experiences

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Maria Montessori

• Italys first female doctor, tried to find ways
  to help children who had difficulty learning
• Believed that young children are capable of great
  discovery and motivated to explore the world.
• Sensory experiences should come before learning
  to read and write
• Developed the Montessori method
• Considers all of a childs needs, not just
  intellectual
• Classrooms are stimulating environments
• Many opportunities for large and fine-motor
  development and sensory exploration, along with
  language, science, art, geography, and math
• Children direct their own learning with teachers
  as partners
• Teachers encourage children to judge their own
  progress and choose own interests

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Career and Technical Education

• Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 established federal
  funds to support vocational education (now called
  career and technical education)
• Prepares students for the many career
  opportunities in specific trades and occupations
  where skilled workers are needed
• Funding greatly influenced the spread of CTE
  classes in public high schools

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1920s and the Great Depression (1921-1940)

• America was the most industrialized country in
  the world and economic prosperity and growth were
  strong
• Influence of the Progressive movement in
  education continued through this period
• Economic prosperity of the 1920s increased the
  size of the middle class.
• Most people had disposable income
• Americans became consumers, rather than producers
• Consumer credit issues surfaced for the first
  time as credit became more widely available, so
  consumer education became a need.
• Concerns about the rate of immigration caused
  quotas to be set
• October 14, 1929, the New York Stock Market
  crashed
• Became known as Black Thursday
• Caused the economic panic that put country into
  the Great Depression

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Impact of Economy on Schools

• In hard economic times schools had to respond to
  lost revenue
• During the Great Depression
• Public schools faced a shortage of cash
• Many citizens were unable to pay taxes
• Some districts ceased to operate
• Some districts shortened the school year
• Teacher pay was decreased or eliminated
• Course offering cut back to basic subjects
• Families found it difficult to keep children fed
  and dressed - not enough money for books and
  school supplies
• Many children unable to attend due to working to
  supplement family income
• Federal Government steps in to help
• Funds helped support some schools to hire
  teachers and purchase supplies
• Schools began offering free hot lunches for
  children
• Better schools were built in some communities as
  part of the program to employ others
• By end of 1930s families were getting back on
  their feet
• Social institutions were working to recover from
  a decade of hardship
• Americans were inward focused

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Dick and Jane Readers

• Early 1930s, a new set of reading textbooks for
  beginning readers were published
• Taught basic reading skills with simple stories
  about a family.
• From 1930 to 1960, over 85 million students used
  these textbooks
• Widespread use help standardize education

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Give examples of how education reflected local
culture and beliefs

• Ability to read the Bible
• Religious education
• Everyone educated Quakers
• Social and economic divisions
• Tutors plantation children
• Nonsectarian paid for by taxes
• Segregation
• Industrial revolution

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Trace changes in the preparation, roles and
status of teachers over time

• Men only to men and women
• Role models to professionals
• Teacher dos and donts
• Duties
• Community involvement
• Segregation
• Normal schools to teacher colleges
• Low pay
• Teacher unions

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Describe how educational opportunities changed
from colonial times forward

• Tutors
• Apprenticeships
• One-room school houses
• Common schools
• Kindergarten
• Morrill Act
• Mandatory elementary school attendance
• Montessori Method
• Smith-Hughes Act
• Hornbooks to McGuffey readers to Dick and Jane
  Readers

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Analyze how key people in early education reform
responded to concerns of the time

• Benjamin Franklin
• Thomas Jefferson
• Horace Mann
• Fredrich Froebel
• Reverend William Holmes McGuffey
• John Dewey
• Maria Montessori

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Analytical Question Prompts

• Throughout the early history of education in
  America, teachers were held in great respect and
  were expected to be role models for students. In
  your opinion, how are teachers regarded today?
  Give reasons for your view.
• During the Great Depression of the 1930s, some
  teachers continued to work for little or no pay.
  What do you think motivated them? How do you
  think you would react, as a teacher, if a similar
  situation occurred? What factors would you weigh
  as part of your decision?

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Thank You