How Did Horace Mann Implement The Common School Movement
The Common School Movement was a crucial aspect of the 1830s and 1840s, and it has paved the way for education today. Horace Mann, the father of Common Schools, diligently earned the title, whereas he advocated for free public education, and caused much controversy doing so. In his efforts to implement the common school, Horace Mann wrote appealing, persuasive, and controversial reports, with the twelfth report being the most popular. In Horace Mann’s twelfth report, he frames the goals of education into five categories; physical education, intellectual education, political education, moral education, and religious education. In his report Mann states many of his concerns with past education schooling, he says, “Our schools, far more than they
have done, may supply the Presidents and Professors of Colleges, and Superintendents of Public Instruction, all over the land….(Mann, 1848). Mann felt that the previous school system did not provide adequate education to the children, and with the inexperienced teachers, the children were not enrolled in an effective program. Horace Mann’s call for a nonsectarian, tuition-free, universal public education for all was crucial during the antebellum era (Urban & Wagoner, 2014 pp.88). Although it is stated in the American Education, A History that, enrollment in the common school did not produce a large increase in students, the controversy was tremendous (Urban & Wagoner, 2014 pp.88). Mann’s belief that the school was the institution best suited to solve Massachusetts’ major problems; the threat of class warfare that accompanied the population shift, and the need to assimilate culturally diverse immigrants into mainstream American life, was the perfect reason for the implementation of the common school (Urban & Wagoner, 4 pp.90-91). Although Mann’s ideas seem sensible, and he received a lot of support, he also received a lot of backlash from many who did not agree with the Common School Movement in terms of taxes, who should attend school, the teachers, and the curriculum.
have done, may supply the Presidents and Professors of Colleges, and Superintendents of Public Instruction, all over the land….(Mann, 1848). Mann felt that the previous school system did not provide adequate education to the children, and with the inexperienced teachers, the children were not enrolled in an effective program. Horace Mann’s call for a nonsectarian, tuition-free, universal public education for all was crucial during the antebellum era (Urban & Wagoner, 2014 pp.88). Although it is stated in the American Education, A History that, enrollment in the common school did not produce a large increase in students, the controversy was tremendous (Urban & Wagoner, 2014 pp.88). Mann’s belief that the school was the institution best suited to solve Massachusetts’ major problems; the threat of class warfare that accompanied the population shift, and the need to assimilate culturally diverse immigrants into mainstream American life, was the perfect reason for the implementation of the common school (Urban & Wagoner, 4 pp.90-91). Although Mann’s ideas seem sensible, and he received a lot of support, he also received a lot of backlash from many who did not agree with the Common School Movement in terms of taxes, who should attend school, the teachers, and the curriculum.