Theory of Education (IV)
In the United States
Before the 19th century elementary and secondary education in the United States was organized on a local or regional level. Nearly all schools operated on private funds exclusively. However, beginning in the 1830s and 1840s, American educators such as Henry Barnard and Horace Mann argued for the creation of a school system operated by individual states that would provide an equal education for all American children. In 1852 Massachusetts passed the first laws calling for free public education, and by 1918 all U.S. states had passed compulsory school attendance laws. See Public Education in the United States.
Education in the twentieth century
At the beginning of the 20th century, the writings of Swedish feminist and educator Ellen Key influenced education around the world. Key’s book Barnets århundrade (1900; The Century of the Child,1909) was translated into many languages and inspired so-called progressive educators in various countries. Progressive education was a system of teaching that emphasized the needs and potentials of the child, rather than the needs of society or the principles of religion. Among the influential progressive educators were Hermann Lietz and Georg Michael Kerschensteiner of Germany, Bertrand Russell of England, and Maria Montessori of Italy.
Montessori
Montessori’s methods of early childhood education have become internationally popular. Trained in medicine, Montessori worked with developmentally disabled children early in her career. The results of her work were so effective that she believed her teaching methods could be used to educate all children. In 1907 Montessori established a children’s school, the Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House), for poor children from the San Lorenzo district of Rome. Here she developed a specially prepared environment that featured materials and activities based on her observations of children. She found that children enjoy mastering specific skills, prefer work to play, and can sustain concentration. She also believed that children have a power to learn independently if provided a properly stimulating environment.
Montessori’s curriculum emphasized three major classes of activity: (1) practical, (2) sensory, and (3) formal skills and studies. It introduced children to such practical activities as setting the table, serving a meal, washing dishes, tying and buttoning clothing, and practicing basic social manners. Repetitive exercises developed sensory and muscular coordination. Formal skills and subjects included reading, writing, and arithmetic. Montessori designed special teaching materials to develop these skills, including laces, buttons, weights, and materials identifiable by their sound or smell. Instructors provided the materials for the children and demonstrated the lessons but allowed each child to independently learn the particular skill or behavior.
In 1913 Montessori lectured in the United States on her educational method. American educators established many Montessori schools after these lectures, but they declined in popularity in the 1930s as American educators stressed greater authority and control in the classroom. A revival of Montessori education in the United States began in the 1950s, coinciding with a growing emphasis on early childhood education.
Dewey
The work of American philosopher and educator John Dewey was especially influential in the U.S. and other countries in the 20th century. Dewey criticized educational methods that simply amused and entertained students or were overly vocational. He advocated education that would fulfill and enrich the current lives of students as well as prepare them for the future. The activity program of education, which derived from the theories of Dewey, stressed the educational development of the child in terms of individual needs and interests. It was the major method of instruction for most of the 20th century in elementary schools of the United States and many other countries.
Piaget
The work of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget had a major impact on educational theory in the early 20th century, particularly in Europe. Piaget wrote extensively on the development of thought and language patterns in children. He examined children’s conceptions of number, space, logic, geometry, physical reality, and moral judgment. Piaget believed that children, by exploring their environment, create their own cognitive, or intellectual, conceptions of reality. By continually interacting with their environment, they keep adding to and reshaping their conceptions of the world. Piaget asserted that human intelligence develops in stages, each of which enhances a person’s understanding of the world in a new and more complex way.
Political influences
Political leadership has affected the education systems of many countries in the 20th century. In the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) under Communism and in Germany under the leadership of National Socialism, totalitarian systems of government imposed strict guidelines on the organization of national education systems. Many other countries during the 20th century—including the United States—have sought to balance control of their education systems between the federal government and local governments or private organizations. Most countries in the 20th century have also taken steps to increase access to education.
In the United States
Local and state governments have retained most of the responsibility for operating public education in the United States during the 20th century. Because individual communities often have different educational priorities and different abilities to finance public education systems, school systems vary from one region to another. State governments—and occasionally the federal government—attempt to reduce disparity between regions by establishing various requirements for school financing, academic standards, and curriculum. See Education in the United States: Tension Between Localism and Centralization.
In the early 20th century access to education in the United States was largely divided along racial lines. State laws segregated most schools in the American South by race. No such laws existed in northern states, but school districts there often established district boundaries to ensure separate facilities for black and white students. In both northern and southern states, school facilities for African American students were usually inadequate, public transportation to such schools was insufficient or nonexistent, and public expenditures per student fell well below that provided per student in white schools. In 1954 the Supreme Court of the United States decided in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that separate facilities for black and white students resulted in unequal educational opportunities, and that such segregation was unconstitutional. Since then, public school systems throughout the United States have attempted to desegregate schools and to provide equal educational opportunity for all students. Integration efforts and affirmative action programs in American schools have helped enable African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and other minorities to increase high school and college attendance rates and to make impressive gains on standardized test scores. See Education in the United States: Education and Equality.
In the Soviet Union
After the Russian Revolution in 1917 the Communist Party’s Central Committee made the important educational decisions in the Soviet Union. In the 1920s Communist leader Joseph Stalin established a rigid curriculum for Soviet education that stressed science, mathematics, and Communist ideology. Soviet schools attracted large numbers of foreign visitors, especially individuals from developing countries. In 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite sent into space. To many educators around the world, this achievement indicated the advanced state of Soviet technological learning. Soviet educator Anton Semyonovich Makarenko also brought international recognition to the Soviet education system for his work on the rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents.
Many observers criticized the rigidity and authoritarianism of the Soviet education system. In 1989 and 1990 Mikhail Gorbachev, then the general secretary of the Communist Party and the leader of the USSR, tried to reform the country’s education system by allowing schools more local control. However, the nation was suffering from political upheaval and a weak economy, which hampered efforts aimed at educational reform.
With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 the former Soviet republics, such as Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia, became independent nations that controlled their own political and education systems. Education in Russia and the other new countries faces especially daunting obstacles because the struggling economies of these nations often provide insufficient funds for education. Other problems in educational administration and schooling stem from tensions between the many different ethnic and language groups in most of these nations. While Russia has a predominantly Russian population, over 100 other ethnic groups also comprise its population.
In Germany
The fall of Communism has also affected education in Germany. The disintegration of the Soviet Union from 1989 to 1991, and the tearing down of the Berlin Wall in 1989 helped lead to the collapse of the Communist government in East Germany. East Germany reunified with West Germany in 1990 and the West German school system was extended throughout the reunited nation. The Federal Republic of Germany follows a joint federal-state system of education. The Grundgesetz (Basic Law) gives individual German states the major responsibility for primary and secondary education. In higher education, the federal government works in conjunction with the states.
The kindergarten, developed by Froebel in the 19th century, remains popular in Germany. Children begin compulsory education at age six in the Grundschule, the basic primary school, and continue there until they are nine years old. When they finish primary school, German students go to separate secondary schools, such as the Hauptschule, Realschule, Gymnasium, and Gesamtschule. The Hauptschule offers a general education, the Realschule prepares students for middle-level careers as managers and supervisors, the Gymnasium is a university preparatory school, and the Gesamtschulen is a comprehensive secondary school. German education also includes extensive vocational, technical, and apprenticeship arrangements.
In France
The central government controls most education in France. A federal department, the Ministry of Education, sets the curriculum so that all students study the same subjects at the same ages throughout the country. French schools emphasize careful thinking and correct use of the French language. The lycee, the traditional academic secondary school, prepares students to attend universities. The grandes écoles, the great schools, are universities that train future leaders for government service, business administration, and engineering. Aside from providing free elementary and secondary education, the French central government provides financial aid to Catholic schools. In 1960 the government also began providing financial subsidies to private schools that meet state standards.
In Developing Nations
The 20th century has also been marked by the emergence of national school systems among developing nations, particularly in Asia and Africa. Compulsory elementary education has become nearly universal, but evidence indicates that large numbers of children—perhaps as many as 50 percent of those age 6 to 18 throughout the world—do not attend school. To improve education on the elementary and adult levels, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) conducts literacy campaigns and other educational projects. UNESCO attempts to put every child in the world into school and to eliminate illiteracy. Some progress has been noted, but it has become obvious that considerable time and effort are needed to produce universal literacy.
For additional information on national systems of education, see the Education section in the articles on individual countries.
Culled from Encarta .