Evolution of Education

The Evolution of Education through Time
Shauna Hammond
Grand Canyon University: The Philosophical and Social Issues in Education
October 1, 2013

The Evolution of Education through Time The right for all children to receive a sound education was once just an idea. The public school did not even exist until the 1800’s. Several leading theorists and many movements that span several hundred years made education what it is today. John Calvin, Horace Mann, John Dewey and Sputnik are just a few of the largest influences on education as it evolved from a privilege only for aristocrats to becoming a right for all.

John Calvin John Calvin, a thankfully outspoken theologian, believed education should be for the public and not just the aristocrats. He believed that education of the general public and teaching them to read the Bible was the key to more individuals receiving salvation. His beliefs prompted him to open the Geneva Academy which provided tuition free education to young people. His academy was the precursor to our modern schools. John Calvin’s schools stressed curriculum that included Latin grammar and vocabulary paired with physical exercise. He also opposed corporal punishment in schools and asked that the principals of his schools use gentle methods to enforce discipline, cleanliness and promptness.
Calvin’s movement, universal primary education, began in Europe with the Protestants and traveled to the New World with the Puritans in the New England colonies. His ideas spanned time and the distance of the Atlantic Ocean. In New England the Calvinist movement brought about the vernacular schools. These schools stressed educating students in the native tongue of the community in reading, writing, mathematics, and religion. The American elementary school model was born.

Horace Mann: The Common School Movement
Jump forward about 300 years to the Common School Movement and its originator, Horace Mann. This movement spanned from 1830 to 1835 and from the east coast to the west coast of the United States. Horace Mann proposed that education be provided by the state and to all. Just as Calvin had opposed education being only for the aristocrats, Mann also felt that every citizen deserved the right to an education. Business owners supported the common school because it provided them with a better source of literate and skilled workers, while the upper class saw it as a means to illicit control over the general public as the schools promoted conformity through the teaching of one language and one vision.
The common school continued to spread across the new nation. The one room school house that dotted the frontier became an actual representation of civilization. As the masses became educated voting was open to all white males and no longer were only the upper class able to run for government offices. The playing field had been leveled for the “haves” and the “have-nots,” because of the common school. Children also benefited from Horace Mann’s vision, that education was a child’s right and that the state had the obligation to provide it.

John Dewey: The Progressive Movement
John Dewey had firsthand experience as a high school teacher, so his observations of the student were very accurate. In his days the classroom was very sterile as students were expected to sit at their desks quietly and passively attain information from textbooks and teachers and then commit facts and rules to memory. Dewey saw this as limiting and proposed that students needed to be actively involved in the learning process. He believed that learning began at home as children helped around the house with chores and participated in activities and interests. These believes brought a reform in education. John Dewey became known as the “Father of Pragmatism” (www.scholastic.com). The progressive movement in education began as John Dewey made his beliefs known.
He had a huge impact on curriculum as the emphasis was taken off of subject-centered instruction and placed on child-centered instruction. The dynamics of the classroom changed drastically as students were encouraged to explore their surroundings and become an active part of their education. Student and teachers became the learners. Not only did the classroom change, but the period of learning went from a spanning a child’s adolescence to spanning a person’s lifetime. “Education is not preparation for life: Education is life itself.” (John Dewey)

Sputnik: Science and Math Education Movement In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, an artificial satellite, into space and the race for space began. This event was also a catalyst for another educational reform. The United States feared they lacked in technology and education was made the scapegoat. The result was the federal government passing the National Defense Educational Act in 1958, which allotted millions of dollars to an educational reform in the areas of math, science, and foreign language. The allocated funds went towards better training of teachers, revised curriculum in math and the sciences, and financial aid to college bound students.
Another result of the Math and Science Movement was spiral curriculum. Spiral curriculum is basically a specific subject matter that is revisited in sequencing grades, becoming more complex and presented in more depth as a student progresses through grade schools. Math and science, along with other subjects, are currently presented in elementary and middle schools as a spiral curriculum.

Conclusion John Calvin and the Calvinist movement, Horace Mann and the Common School, John Dewey and the Pragmatism (Progressive) movement, along with Sputnik and the Math and Science movement are only a few examples of the many faces and forces that changed the course of education. Education has evolved in beneficial and detrimental ways from its beginnings. One aspect of education has stood the test of time and that is the right for every person to receive an education whether provided by the state, federal or private funding.

A Partial Educational History Timeline

John Calvin Horace Mann John Dewey Sputnik
Universal Primary Common School Progressive Era Science and
Education Movement Math Education Movement

References:
Calvin the Educator. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.calvin500.com
Dean, C. (2007, September 25). When Science Suddenly Mattered in Space and in the Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com
Early Childhood Today Editorial Staff (2000, October). Pioneers in our field: John Dewey - Father of Pragmatism. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com
Educational Theory of John Calvin. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.newfoundations.com
Gelbrich, J. (1999, July). American Education: 2nd Half of the 20th Century: Post- World War II and Beyond. Retrieved from http://www.oregonstate.edu
Smith, M. K. (2001). John Dewey on Education, Experience, and Community. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org
Webb, L. D., Metha, A., & Jordan, K. F. (2000). Foundations of American education(7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Merrill.
What is Spiral Curriculum. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ask.com

References: Calvin the Educator. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.calvin500.com Dean, C. (2007, September 25). When Science Suddenly Mattered in Space and in the Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com Early Childhood Today Editorial Staff (2000, October). Pioneers in our field: John Dewey - Father of Pragmatism. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com Educational Theory of John Calvin. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.newfoundations.com Gelbrich, J. (1999, July). American Education: 2nd Half of the 20th Century: Post- World War II and Beyond. Retrieved from http://www.oregonstate.edu Smith, M. K. (2001). John Dewey on Education, Experience, and Community. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org Webb, L. D., Metha, A., & Jordan, K. F. (2000). Foundations of American education(7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Merrill. What is Spiral Curriculum. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ask.com