Kliebard+Ch+1,+2,+&+3

Herbert Kliebard, //The Struggle for the American Curriculum//, Ch. 1, 2, & 3
 * EDSS 8290 - Fall 2010**

1. McGuffey Readers- popular reading textbooks in the 19th century. Blueback spellers were commonly used. They were relied upon by poorly trained teachers and contributed to a growing nationalization of the curriculum.
 * Terms:**

2. Mental Discipline- philosophy of the 19th century whereby the mind was viewed as a muscle which needed to be exercised like any other muscle. "Exercising" focussed on memorization and recitation of minutia, as well as the utilization if ineffective and monotonous drill.

3. Common Schools- Horace Mann promoted the idea that everyone needed to go to primary school. Common schools would be tuition free public schools which would be paid for by the state. ([])

4. Industrialization- The movement from a predominantly agrarian lifestyle to that centered around factories. Huge growth in cities were a result. Primary reasons for this period of time were advances in technology, including but not limited to the steam engine, (i.e. trains). Mass production replaced the cottage industry as a result. Some viewed industrialization as detrimental for the family.

5. E. I., Thorndike- Psychologist of the 19th century who believed that the brain was full of millions of connections, (possibly a forerunner of brain pathways). His aim was to discredit both the mental disciplinarians as well as subject hierarchy.

6. Humanism - A belief that the mind, like any other part of the body needed to be exercised through mental discipline. This led to schools using drills, and recitation to "exercise" the brain. All schools were to be divided by subject with all subjects receiving equal attention. The three main premises were: 1) all pupils were to be taught in the same way and to the same extent; 2) all subjects were of equall educational value if taught well; 3 "fitting for college is essentially fitting for life", (pg 12). It was based on preserving traditional subjects despite societal changes (p. 23).

7. Committee of Ten (1890) was created by the NEA to providing uniform entrance requirements for colleges. It was the first attempt in establishing a nationalized curriculum for the U.S. and was based on the humanist philosophy.

8. Yale Report (1828) attempted to defend humanistic values and emphasized developing the ability to think and learning knowledge and skills. Focus was placed upon the teaching of Greek, Latin and mathematics. No deviation should take place.

9. G. Stanley Hall- a developmentalist and supporter of the child study movement. He was an outspoken critic of both the Committee of Ten. He believed tha the natual order of development of the child was the most significant and scientifically defensible basis for what should be taught. He supported scientific pedagogy, the belief that the child's own natural impulses could be used to address what to teach.

10. Committee of Fifteen (1895) a committee established for the standardization of elementary curriculum based on humanist doctrine. It was divided into three subcommittees of 5 to deal with a different aspect of elementary education.

11. William Torrey Harris -chairman of the Committe of Fifteen and editor of the Journal of Speculative Philosophy, who espoused the humanist philosophy but tried distancing the committee from the mental discipline position. He believed that the "five windows of the soul", (grammar, literature and art, mathematics, geography and history were essential for the American culture. He did support some social reform ie the introduction of kindergarten and women's access to higher education.

12. Herbartians - Followed the education theory of Johann F. Herbart. Emphasized child development and growth. They were reformers who favored a "scientific approach" to developing children. They claimed that the "natural order" of child development involved instilling the accumulated values of civilization through education. The process involved steps such as picking topics of interest to the child, building upon previously learned information through a process of questioning, and then relating the knowledge to ethical or moral axioms for everyday living.

13. Colonel Francis Parker - A reformer in the Herbartian tradition. He lived from 1837-1902. He rejected the regimented style of pedagogy in favor of play and activity. He replaced grammer drills with "word play" in which elements of phonics, as well as lists of word families and rimes were used to assist in word recognition. He introduced practical "word problems" into mathematical instruction in stead of mere number manipulation. He favored informal methods of instruction and was said to have rejected formal grading systems.

14. Lester Frank Ward - (1841- 1913) A leading social meliorist who supported evolution, but rejected social Darwinism. He was concerned with social justice in education. He beleived in directing the forces of human nature to a collective, human advantage. Essentially his political and economic ideas are highly similar to modern socialists or those who are left-of-center in their politics in that he supports a strong interventionist role for government to attain the best possible society.

15. Social Meliorists - Viewed schools and primarily public schools) as a major ,perhaps principal, source of social change. Lester Frank Ward was a forerunner of this movement.

16. Cultural Epochs - The notion that a child "recapitulates" in his or her individual development the stages that the whole human race traversed throughout the course of human history. The epochs are synonymous with stages of human rational progress across a broad variety of fields: scientific, moral, legal, religious, aesthetic, etc.

17. David Snedden - (1868-1951) An advocate of the "social efficiency" movement. He attacked the monotony and mindlessness of their contemporary curriculums in favor of standardizing and removing wasteful pedagogic practices. He believed that educational leaders must compel educators and administrators to adopt appropriate standards as well as the best method to achieve and evaluate them. He argued against Dewey's emphasis on growth, creativity, and self-realization. Joseph Mayer Rice - (1857-1934) A "progressive" educator and originator of the comparative methodology in education research. Rice was heavily influenced the Herbartist ideas. He is most well known for his advocacy to train qualified teachers and to base pedagogy on sound psychological principles. He insisted that only trained educators be in charge of educational systems.
 * AND*

18. Social Efficiency - A theory of curriculum that proposes the teaching of specific life task/skills in order to fit children into defined social roles based upon their innate abilities. Teaching subjects that will not help a child perform what he or she is best suited for is considered a waste by proponents.

19. Albion Small - Head professor of Social Studies at the University of Chicago while John Dewey was a colleague. As a proponent of social ameliorist ideas, Small exposed John Dewey to those ideas. Traces of such ideas in Dewey's educational philosophy may be traced to the influence of Small.

20. John Dewey's Laboratory School - A famous school created by John Dewey at the University of Chicago for the purpose of enacting and developing his ideas about the curriculum and educational practices. Though considered a model, the influence of the school's practices lost out to the greater influence of social efficiency proponents.

21. Dewey School Curriculum (occupation) - Dewey believed that a school's curriculum should be centered around fundamental intrinsic human experiences. By distilling these experiences in the curriculum, a child learns to live in a mini-community so that he/she can live in adult society. Thus occupations, for Dewey, connotes the essence of a social activity rather than a specific job or skill set, as the term is understood today.

22. //The School and Society & The Child and the Curriculum -// These two books encapsulated the educational philosophy of John Dewey. In //The School and Society,// Dewey argued that a child should be moved from his/her immediate/concrete interests, such as drawing, to a command of more adult/abstract concepts, such as aesthetics. In //The Child and the Curriculum//, Dewey discusses that reforms in education fail due to not addressing changes in the curriculum, too many standards for judging reform efforts, and lack of changes in organizational features in schools.