The Progressive Era

1870’s – 1920’sPolitical Economy

IdeologySchooling,

John Dewey and Charles Eliot

Political Economy• Urbanization Changes• Immigration

– increasing– Racism and bigotry

• Industrialization– Increase in manufacturing– Inventions – Scientific Management/Taylorization– Women in more than domestic jobs– Partnerships and Corperations formed

Ideology• Modern Liberalism vs. Classic Liberalism

• Darwinism biology and relative truth

• Reason defined by scientific method experts and organizations

• Individuals viewed only as a cell in the social organism

• Progress was possible

• Government should regulate to create conditions of freedom

• People could only improve so much, they were limited by their genetic endowment

• Positive Freedom-positive government interference

• Education was for the gifted and talented only, training was appropriate for the average and below

Schooling

• Progressive Education

– Response to urbanization, industrialization, immigration and articulated in terms of the emergent ideology of modern liberalism.

– New psychological approaches.

– Traditional classical curriculum vs. child-centered curriculum.

– Emphasis on student interests and activities related to the larger society.

• Problems of the school in the 1880’s

– Failure to interest and motivate students with classical curriculum

– High dropout rates

– Juvenile delinquency and illiteracy among the urban youth growing

– Waste and inefficiency in school management practices in the neighborhood controlled schools

– Irrelevance of the traditional curriculum to the real needs of the industrial society

What Did Progressive Educators Believe?

• Varied curriculum based on the needs and interest of the students

– Specific concerns and motivations of each child vs. in the best interests of the child (academic or vocational track)

• Learning should be based on activities

• School aims, content and processes should reflect social conditions

• Schools could best prepare students for participation in a democratic society

• Primary aim of school-help solve social problems

• Teacher should be resource person and guide

• Educate whole child, not just the mind

• “Children are prepared in school as if they were going to lead the life of slavery rather than a life as a free individual.”

– John Dewey-

What do you think John Dewey meant by this quotation?

John Dewey1859-1952

• John Dewey believed:

– School should be a laboratory for democracy

– Children are by nature actively social creatures, by nature constructive, creatively expressive and finally, curious and inquiring

– Classrooms should be a place where children work together in social activity, frame and execute their own purposes.

– Schools penalize children for behaving in accord with the above facets of nature

– Working together, students could cooperatively solve problems thinking critically about the causes and consequences of things they were interested in, thus growing intellectually.

– Believed classroom was not preparation for life, but life itself

-Graduated from Harvard in 1853

-Employed at Harvard as Tutor (1854-1858) and assistant professor of chemistry (1858-1863). He studied chemistry and foreigneducational methods in Europe in 1863-1865

-1869 was elected president of Harvard University

-Spokesman for the replacement of traditional educational goals by 4 new ones

1. Social stability 2. Employable skills

3. Equal education opportunity

4. Meritocracy

-Became and advocate of vocational education as the numbers of ethnic diversity and high school students increased-

-Prejudices against students not from “Pure American stock” and especially against African Americans and Indians

Charles Eliot-Social Efficiency1834-1926

Social Stability• Eliot was supportive of business more than labor.

• Believed one function of the school would be to teach prospective workers a more accommodating and cooperative attitude toward management.

• Vocational education offered a good way to address problems of labor unrest

• Vocational education, night school, adult education, supervised playgrounds, supervised vocational guidance schools were needed.

• Schooling no longer for privileged few. Now compulsory and for mandatory many.

Employable Skills• Schools should prepare students with specific skills and attitudes for the

workplace.

• Believed society was divided into 4 groups

1. Managing class 2. Commercial class

2. Skilled artisans 4. Rough workers

Saw schools as factories to shape raw materials.

Increase in vocational subject enrollment.

Co-education was challenged

Vocational subjects grew to be more than just shop and home-ec. Now, vocational English, Vocational Math, etc…

Equal Education Opportunity

• Students would receive different kinds of education, but all students would have “equal opportunity” to receive the education appropriate to them.

• Teachers of the elementary schools were to sort pupils by their evident or probable destinies. Believed the teachers should find out what the child does best and give them the happiness of achievement in that line.

Meritocracy“A class of persons making their way on their own ability and talents rather

than because of class privileges” The Random House Dictionary

• Believed needed to teach students to:1. Respect and confide in the expert in every field of human activity2. Help locate and educate the most talented members of society for democratic

leadership• IQ testing began in the second decade. Differentiated curriculum and placement in

vocational tracks could now be based on scientific measurement of student abilities.