1. EDUCATION IN AMERICA Ch. 2 THE EARLY YEARS

2. Europeans who influencd Early Education
John Amos Comenius [ ] All children should be trained methodically by teachers using quality textbooks in schools supported by government and the clergy. Programs divided into four different grades: The Nursery School [birth to age six] Elementary or National school [ages 6-12] Latin school or Gymnasium [ages 13-18] Academy [Gifted ages 19—24]

3. COMENIUS [cont]
A child’s mind should be “prepared” to receive instruction
Education would be “easy and pleasant” if begun EARLY, before a child’s mind was “corrupted.”
Teachers should:
present lessons at a reasonable pace
use age appropriate instruction
keep materials constantly before children’s eyes
use a single method of instruction at all times

4. ENLIGHTENED VIEWS LOCKE and ROUSSEAU
JOHN LOCKE [ ] believed:
The human mind at birth was a blank slate [tabula rasa] not a collection of preformed ideas placed there by God.
Children:
should interact with the environment by using their five senses to gather and test ideas.
learned through imitation

5. JOHN LOCKE [cont] Teachers should:
Tailor instruction to the individual child’s talents and interests.
Encourage curiosity
Treat children as “rational creatures”who might unlock life’s mysteries
Teach by example and suggestion, not by coercion

6. AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
Defined as a period when reason was valued as a supreme virtue. Locke thought that people were inherently good, and that children taught by benevolent educators were bound to grow intellectually and prosper.

7. JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU [1712-1778]
In his book, Emile, Rousseau described the development of a human being from infancy to maturity.
Goal: to provide experiences that matched the natural conditions of a child’s growth by:
Removing obstacles that might impede development
Allowing the child to:
learn by trial and error
explore the environment with his senses
use his hands (Emile learned carpentry)
compare himself to others
think about his place in the world

8. JOHANN HEINRICH PESTALOZZI [1746-1827]
Children should not be treated like sheep should not be forced to study boring letters and numerals pass through a number of stages of development natural curiosity and playfulness should not be stifiled by educational conditions be exposed to experiences that appealed to all of the senses learn by head, hand and heart

9. FREDRICH FROEBEL [ ]
Founder of the first kindergarten (1837) in Blankenberg, Germany
Children:
learn through the use of educational games
and activities (gardening); play is an important part of learning
are not “lumps of clay” to be molded
need time and space to develop according to natural law
Use their senses, emotions, and reason that are necessary attributes for learning
Learn only when they are ready to learn
Are creative

10. EDUCATION IN THE SOUTHERN COLONIES
Virginia, Maryland, Georgia and the Carolinas
People lived on large plantations with rigid class distinctions
Growers raised crops: tobacco, sugar, cotton
A hired tutor taught the landowner’s children
Curriculum: the 3 Rs; reading the Bible
Slaves, servants and their children rarely received any type of education on the plantation; most could neither read or write
Informal education for small farmers’ children

11. EDUCATION IN THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC COLONIES
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware
Diversity:
Religious: (Catholics,Mennonites, Quakers, Lutherans, Calvanists, Presbyterians, Jews)
Language: most spoke English; others spoke Dutch, German, French, Swedish
Parochial Schools: English, Irish, Welsh, Dutch, and German Quakers (open to everyone including Indians and slaves).
Curriculum: religion, the 3 Rs, vocational training

12. NEW ENGLAND COLONIES
Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut
Shared:
Puritan values
common religious beliefs
Teachings of John Calvin:
God is omnipresent and good
Human beings are evil and helpless, predestined for either salvation or eternal torment
Established: Town Schools (every town of fifty households had to employ a teacher of reading and writing; every town of 100 households had to provide a grammar school to prepare students for continuing study at Harvard University)
Enacted: The Massachusetts Act of 1647 (Old Deluder Satan Act) to produce Scripture-literate citizens to thwart Satan’s trickery.

13. FACTORS AFFECTING EDUCATION BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
Institution of slavery, displacement of Native Americans status of women
European philosophies and educational practices
Patterns of colonization and immigration
Importance of religion
American Independence and westward expansion
Importance of nationalism
Industrialization and Immigration
Wealth and poverty
Common school movement and push for universal schooling

14. QUESTIONS HOW DID INDUSTRY AFFECT EDUCATION?
HOW WERE SLAVES EDUCATED? WHO WAS DAVID WALKER?
DESCRIBE EDUCATION FOR NATIVE AMERICANS.
DESCRIBE EDUCATION IN SPANISH AMERICAN COLONIES
HOW AND WHY HAS THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN EDUCATION CHANGED?
WHY DO YOU THINK ATTITUDES TOWARD PEOPLE WITH DISABLILITIES CHANGED SO MUCH?

15. AIMS OF EDUCATION TO SAVE SOULS: RELIGION THE KING JAMES BIBLE
FORMAL SCHOOLING PATTERNED AFTER ENGLISH SCHOOLS
DAME SCHOOLS = Run by women; taught girls reading, writing and calculating.
Private schools
Wealthy sent their children abroad

16. LIFE IN COLONIAL SCHOOLS
Schoolmasters had to teach and do other jobs
One room schoolhouse with all ages
Whole -group instruction, memorization, drill and repetition, choral responses, corporal punishment: “Spare the rod, spoil the child”
Mid-1880s = change from teacher brutality due to graded schools and Pestalozzi: teaching students to behave rather than beating them into submission.

17. CURRICULA Old and New Testaments = God & the 3 Rs
ABCs, Vowel sounds, one-syllable, longer words and sentences
Wrote on chalk slates and used quill pens and copy books and other books from the family
HORNBOOKS, PRIMERS and ALMANACS
GEOGRAPHIES, SPELLERS and DICTIONARIES
MCGUFFEY READERS (1836)

18. TYPES OF FORMAL SCHOOLS
Monitorial Method = older pupils taught younger pupils
Latin Grammar School (Boston,1635) Boys
Benjamin Franklin’s English Language Academy in Philadelphia (1749)
Thomas Jefferson drafted the Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge = Free public education via the COMMON SCHOOLS, tax-supported schools [3Rs & History] that children could attend free for 3 years and pay thereafter

19. THE MOVEMENT FOR UNIVERSAL EDUCATION
HORACE MANN [ ], Revolutionized US education: the financial responsibility of the state; established the system of grade levels, age and performance; extended the school calendar from 3 to 10 months; standardized textbooks and made attendance manditory. Mann also established the first Normal School for training teachers (1839)
HENRY BARNARD [ ] Led the struggle for the common school; English was the most important subject; promoted the public high school; teacher pay; common school: good enough for the best, cheap enough for the poorest family.

20. THE DEVELOPMENT OF PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS
PROTESTANT
GERMAN LUTHERAN
ROMAN CATHOLIC
BAPTIST
ANGLICAN
CONGREGATIONAL
DUTCH REFORMED
PRESBYTERIAN
FRENCH REFORMED
QUAKERS
MENNONITES
HUGUENOTS
ANABAPTISTS
JEWS