1. Studying the History of Education
Table 10.1
Studying the History of Education
Benefit
Description
Understanding the forces affecting education
Studying history helps you understand social, political and religious forces and their impact on education.
Learning from the past
You can learn from both the successes and failures of past educational efforts.
Clarifying history’s impact on current issues
It is important for you to understand the impact of historical figures and events on current educational issues.
Henniger
The Teaching Experience:
An Introduction to Reflective Practice
Copyright ©2004 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.

2. Kindergarten movement Cooperative nursery schools
Table 10.2
History of Early Childhood Education
Influences
Key Person/Event
Description
European influences
Pestalozzi
Gifted teacher who based his method on the theories of Rousseau.
Froebel
Emphasized the importance of childhood play; started kindergarten.
Montessori
Developed quality educational materials for use in the early childhood classroom.
American efforts
Kindergarten movement
Early kindergarten programs designed to help low-income children become successful in school.
Child study movement
Effort to better understand child growth and development.
Cooperative nursery schools
Parents assist teacher in implementing preschool program.
Head Start
Begun in 1960s to help low-income preschool children be more successful in school.
Henniger
The Teaching Experience:
An Introduction to Reflective Practice
Copyright ©2004 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.

3. Montessori Materials Table 10.3 Characteristics Description
Careful attention to concept development
Each piece of equipment was designed to teach specific concepts to children.
Graduated difficulty/complexity
As children develop, they need increasingly challenging materials to stimulate continued intellectual growth.
Self-correcting
Whenever possible, materials were designed to be self-correcting so that students could use them without adult guidance.
Sensory-oriented
Materials were designed to stimulate all the senses as an aid to learning.
Source: Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work, by E. Standing, 1962, Fresno, CA: Academy Guild Press.
Henniger
The Teaching Experience:
An Introduction to Reflective Practice
Copyright ©2004 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.

4. Apprenticeship programs
Table 10.4
History of Elementary Education
Time Period
Schooling Options
Description
Early colonial times
Dame schools
Informal programs run by women from the community who had basic educational skills.
Apprenticeship programs
Children were taught the skills needed in specific trades by others who had mastered them.
Charity schools
Funded by religious groups for poor children to learn basic academic skills along with religious training.
Mid-1600s
Town schools
Funded by tuition paid by parents of children within the local community.
Moving schools
Teacher traveled between towns and taught children for several months before moving on.
District schools
Townships were divided into districts, each with its own school.
Late 1700s
Common schools
The idea of universal education and compulsory attendance laws led people such as Horace Mann to promote the establishment of common schools.
Henniger
The Teaching Experience:
An Introduction to Reflective Practice
Copyright ©2004 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.

5. Early Teaching Materials
Table 10.5
Early Teaching Materials
Material
Description
The Hornbook
The most common colonial teaching material was the hornbook, which consisted of a piece of paddle-shaped wood covered with a sheet of paper containing the alphabet and possibly one or two religious writings (such as the Lord’s Prayer). This paper was then covered by a thin coating of cow’s horn for protection from the elements, hence the name.
New England Primer
The first real book used in the schools was the New England Primer. Small in size and having thin wooden covers, these early religiously oriented books of 50 to 100 pages contained the alphabet, lists of words, and verses with small pictures for children to read and study.
McGuffey Readers
During the 1800s, the most popular books were a six-volume series called the McGuffey Readers. Moving away from the heavy emphasis on religion, this series promoted morality and Americanism through the poetry and writings of various leaders of the time.
Sources: Early Schools and Schoolbooks of New England, by G. Littlefield, New York: Russell & Russell, Inc; and Public Education in the United States, E.Cubberley, 1934, Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Henniger
The Teaching Experience:
An Introduction to Reflective Practice
Copyright ©2004 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.

6. History of Secondary Education
Table 10.6
History of Secondary Education
Time Period
Schooling Option
Description
Colonial America
Latin grammar school
Prepared students for college through the study of Latin and Greek.
English grammar school
Prepared students who needed formal education beyond the elementary level, but weren’t planning to attend college.
American Academy
Prepared students for either college or the business world.
Late 1800s
Public high school
Publicly funded high schools for both boys and girls were made available.
Early 1900s
Junior high school
Because young adolescents were seen as having different needs, they were separated from high school students for grades 7-9.
1960s
Middle school
The onset of puberty in many sixth-grade students led to the growth of schools for grades 6-8.
Henniger
The Teaching Experience:
An Introduction to Reflective Practice
Copyright ©2004 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.

7. Gender Equity in High School Sports
Table 10.7
Gender Equity in High School Sports
Year
Boys (thousands)
Girls (thousands)
1971
1978
1985
1993
2000
3,700
4,500
3,400
3,500
3,900
290
2,000
1,750
2,800
Source: From Title IX at 30: Report Card on Gender Equity, by National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education, 2002, Washington, DC: Reprinted with permission.
Henniger
The Teaching Experience:
An Introduction to Reflective Practice
Copyright ©2004 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.