COLD WAR ERA 1930’S TO 1960’S Political Economy Ideology Schooling James Conant

Political Economy  1920’s Businesses making large profits Food, clothing, new advances Agriculture, new low Urban areas-Poverty increased Racism continuing-Blacks denied decent livings, menial and low paying jobs  Collapse of the Stock Market ¼ adult population unemployed/lost jobs Wages slashed Standard of living reduced Wealthy became poor

 1945 End of World War II War had created many jobs More consumerism Demand for single family housing, cars, household appliances Unemployment never exceeded 7% in 1950’s Little sympathy shown for poor or dispossessed  Fear of Soviet Communism Afraid that communism would spread Threat of spread led to policy of containment Containment-US declared they would take any economic and military means necessary Doctrine of First Use-Prerogative to initiate nuclear bombing whenever enemy forces threatened American military Political Economy cont…

 1940’s-1950’s Fear of Soviet communism reached hysterical levels. Joseph McCarthy accused people of belonging to the Communist Party  Mid 1950’s Less hysteria Foreign policy based on the ideological split between the two superpowers  Racism Since emancipation, African Americans had been deprived of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness Slow steps taken toward the elimination of discrimination Armed forces desegregated Brown vs. Board of Ed. Playwrights and film makers focused on discrimination

Political Economy cont…  Resistance  Parents of white children in some areas battled black people and government authority to forestall integration of public schools  Zoning ordinances were devised to keep African Americans out of white neighborhoods  Banks redlined black business district  Civil Rights Movement  Affirmative Action helped to develop a new and larger class of black professionals and entrepreneurs  Public school officials called on schools to halt the vicious cycle of poverty that plagued many African American families

Ideology  Classic liberalism had given way in the Progressive Era to faith in scientific methods  Progress considered achievable through science and technology  Experts and centralized decision making was linked to progress. Workers were managed by a few elite  Democracy had come to be regarded as a form of government that was properly administered by experts  Leaders from all walks of life assumed that only a few individuals had superior intellects and that the welfare of the US depended on locating these individuals— placing them in positions of authority  CLASSIC LIBERALISM VS. NEW LIBERAL CONCEPTIONS OF FREEDOM—CHART-PAGE 222

Schooling  Support for Social Efficiency Social Stability Employable Skills Meritocracy Equal Education Opportunities  GI Bill—read independently-p. 226  James Conant Doctorate at 23 in chemistry from Harvard Instructor, then Professor and finally President of Harvard University (after great depression) Great Universities must recruit researchers of the first rank who were acknowledged experts in their field Felt Harvard’s mission was to educate best and brightest students, regardless of their social or economic backgrounds

Schooling cont…  James Conant cont… Saw the need to develop a valid measure of academic aptitude to ensure objectivity in determining scholarship eligibility Wanted to eliminate barriers of only elite being admitted Allow scholarship to those that were academically gifted Decided on SAT (Mid 1930’s) Believed exams such as the SAT would be a nearly fool proof method of ascertaining academic promise  Do you think the SAT would be a fool proof method back then? Now?

Schooling cont…  James Conant cont.. Preached Meritocracy—advancement based on own ability talent--- Favored Vocational Education Believed primary purpose of schooling should be not the growth of every individual (Dewey), but instead the national interest ________________________  Modern comprehensive high school brought together all students, vocational and academic, under one roof. Tracking system ensured that all students took courses best suited to their needs Forge closer relationships among future professionals, crafts persons, engineers, and labor leaders.  Education must match talent to occupations. Through testing, must select and sort students to prepare for different occupational roles.

Schooling cont…  Liberal Education suited only for a few students  Conant compared goals of Vocational Education to Gifted Education  1957-Soviets launched Sputnik report alarming the American Public  1983-Nation at Risk equated a failure to teach math and science as equivalent to universal disarmament  Progressive Era’s focus of education being for the best interests of the child and a curriculum to match, Conant reformers moved back into schooling to be for the political, economical and social stability of the country