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Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism surrounded the theory that the terms of natural selection are parallel within the social realm. Lester Frank Ward, who advocated for social progress, was greatly influenced by Darwinian theory, but criticized this movement; he rather thought the humans had the intellectual capability to change thing for the better, and civilization was built through social progress. -
The Contents of Children's Mind
G. Stanley Hall published his first major child-study research that surrounded the knowledge of children. His goal was to understand what children already knew, so the curriculum could reflect on what children needed to know. His conclusion was teachers were assuming that children knew more than they actually knew. He ciritized the standarization of education hindered adolescents' natural spontaneity. -
The Texbooks
(No defined date) By the end of the 19th century, America sees an increase of textbooks used withint the classroom. This becomes an unfortunate issue; many untrained educators strictly relied on the information within the textbooks and took the metaphor, "mind-as -a-muscle" literally. This monotonous approach to education pushes away young children. Out of 500, 412 children would rather be doing factory labor work. -
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The Era of Child-Study
Within this timespan, the child-study movement began to really thrive. In 1894 the Department of Child Study and the Illinois Society of Child Study were created. In proceeding years, the success of this department created 20 or so more societies focused on child-study. There were a variety of approaches to the movement, but all were meant to gather data on children. -
And Then There Was a Boom
By 1892, there was a sure sign that newspapers were beginning to increase in sales and magazines by this time had also increased in popularity. Journalism began its rise to popularity, connecting towns frequently and increased America's awareness what was actually going on among the people. By 1889, the railroad had expanded massively, contributing this connectivity. All this helped drive the need for those in the educational field to try and standardize the American school system. -
NEA's Committee of Ten
This group was originally created to unify college entrance examines, however over the course of the late 19th and early 20th century, they contributed more than just their intended purpose. When Charles W. Eliot was president of the committee, he not only an influence in the higher education, but he influenced both secondary and primary education with his humanist perspective on education. -
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Herbartianism
This short lived educational movement was sprung from a group who called themselves the National Herbart Society. This society was mainly composed of those who studied in Germany and perceived themselves to have a scientific outlook on education. Among them was John Dewey, although he tended to critize the American Herbartian position on various points. Herbartarians believed that one subject should be the focal point for all other subjects, creating "unity" in the curriculum. -
Dewey Enters the Field
Dewey's first submission to the National Herbart Society Yearbook (1985) was a major contribution.. His work was to shed light on the major debate between Herbartians and the child-study advocates on one side, and the humanists, those who advocated for the training of will, and the mental disciplenarians on the other. He chose no side in his criticizim, and chose to point out that they were both guilty of the same fallacy. -
The Dewey School
Dewey established his experimental curriculum school in Brooklyn, New York. For this school, he designed a curriculum that drew its subject matter from man kind's cultural development, and was to connect to the child intrisic experience. -
Thorndike Enters the Field
Edward Lee Thorndike was brought to the Teachers College in order to help build upon the study of education. It is here that he will spend the majority of his career. His experiements often surrounded the concept of "transfer" where one's specific skill was developed until proficent, and then transfered to a similar task. -
Social Control
Edward A. Ross contributed much to the development of social efficacy educators, although he was never a sociologist of education himself. His social ideals, as seen in his book "Social Control," were greatly admired and influenced sociologists such as Ross Finney, Charles Ellwood, and David Snedden. He noticed, "we find an almost world-wide drift from religion toward education as the method of indirect social restraint." -
The Child and the Curriculum
Dewey releases "The Child and the Curriculum" which has come to be known as one of his major contributions, and is known to be the clarest description of his theory. This work discusses his attmept to dispel the "untenable duelism": the immature and underdeveloped being, and the mature experiences of the adult. -
The Expert Investigator
Dr. Susan M. kingsbury was appointed by Governor William L. Douglas to investigate the difference between the the older styled curriculum often seen in the rural parts of Massachusetts, and the more up to date curriculum in order to understand the needs of the citizens within the state. -
Smith-Hughes Act
This piece of federal legislation, along side the Morrill Act of 1862, was enacted to preserve the ways of agerculture in rural schools by providing funding to bring this curriculum into elementary and secondary schools. Liberty Hyde Bailey sought to bring nature studies to rural schools, providing instructional material to more than 3,000 rual educators. -
Vocational Education
The direction in which vocational education was decided. It would include skill training and federal support. At the time The National Society for the Promotion of INdustrial Education, was a main driving force behind including federal support. This movement gained momentum, and is seen as one of the more prominent curricular innovation of the 20th century. -
Bobbitt's Theory
In "The Curriculum" Bobbitt had recognized that no curriculum could truly supplement the full range of human activity. He also recognized that some things are learned from socialization, and even through an unconcious effort on the student's part. He also characterized schools as "agents of social progress" which should contribute an effective service through scientific means. -
Kilpatrick and Counts
Kilpatrick publishes an article in Teacher's College Record titled "The Project Method". The article rekindled the hope once fostered by the developmentalists that the answer to revitilizing curriculum lies with the child. However, Counts published, "Dare Progressive Education be Progressive?" which was against the social welfare that the PEA supported, and to which Kilpatrick was a part of. -
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The Senior High School Curriculum
Charters conducted an analysis from 15 cities to research the secondary curriculum. He noted that there was a rapid change of curriculum, and that the "old" curriculum was disappearing. However he was disappointed that the curriculum, in his opinion, did not meet the standards that the American Civilization needed. He also found that "Misfortune as well as fortune, passes down from generation to generation." -
The Climax for School Reform
By 1926, the suggestion that education system needed to be reformed was at the forfront of designing the curriculum; it is at this point it was still undecided in which path the curriculum should take. The "Twenty-Sixth Yearbook" volume was created to help arrive at a concensus for the new curriculum. -
What is Progressive Education?
When succeeding Eliot as president of the Progressive Education Association, Dewey asked the question, "Was a school progressive simply because it displayed 'a certain atomosphere of informaility' or because there was an emphasis on activity?" His aim to was to clarify that the quality and consequences of an activity were more important than the quanitative element. Due to his rational, his position as president often raised doubts of the direction the Association was taking. -
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The Diminish of the Progressive Education Association
Stanwood Cobb, the founder of the Progressive Education Association, stepped down from his position as President in 1930. By 1932, the administration at Teachers College (Columbia University), had pushed the association away from it's original child-centered position, and had transitioned towards George S. Counts' new social policy that was rising in popularity. pg 168 -
The First Successful High School Curriculum
At this time, what is considered the first successful attempt to bring the experienced curriculum to high school level, lead by John DeBoer comes to fruit. This curriculum surrounded 4 subjects: English, Social Studies, Science, and the Arts. He encouraged teachers to focus their subject at the center of their curriculum, focusing on connect to the life activities of the students. -
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World War II
WWII begins, which ultimately changes the perception of how curriculum is seen, and what it should address to meet the needs of society during this time. -
Sputnik Enters Space
Russia becomes the first country to send an artifical satilite into Earth's atomosphere. This threatens America's dominance as a world leader, and pushes reform for American curricula to include more math, social studies, and sciences -
National Defense Education Act (NDEA)
Within a year after the launch of Sputnik, Congress passes NDEA. This act focuses the mental and technological resources to the reconstruction of America's "soft" curriculum, and refocus efforts on reforming math, science, foreign language, and improving on identifying talented students.