The Persian Empire was one of the great empires of ancient civilization. It was this Empire that defeated the Babylonians. This post will provide a brief examination of the educational system of Persia.

Background

The religion of Persia was Zoroastrianism. The priestly class of Persia were called Magi. They responsible for sacred duties as well as the education of princes.

These are the same Magi that are found in the Bible in reference to the birth of Jesus. Due to their priestly responsibilities and knowledge of astronomy, this information merged to compel the Magi to head to Jerusalem to see Christ as a small child.

Teachers for the commoners were normally retired soliders. Exemption from the military began at the age of 50. At this age, if a male was able to live this long, he would turn his attention the education of the next generation.

What was Taught

The emphasis in Persian education was gymnastics, moral, and military training. The physical training was arduous, to say the least. Boys were pushed well nigh to their physical limits.

The moral training was also vigourously instilled. Boys were taught to have a strong understanding of right and wrong as well as a sense of justice. Cyrus the Great shared a story about how, as a boy, he was called to judge a case about coats. Apparently, a large student had a small coat and a small student had a large coat. The large student forced the small student to switch coats with him.

When Cyrus heard this story he decided that the large boy was right because both boys now had a coat that fitted him. The large boy had a large coat and the small boy had a small coat. However, Cyrus’ teacher was disappointed and beat him. Apparently, the question was not which coat fit which boy but rather which coat belonged to which boy.

Something that was neglected in ancient Persian education was basic literacy. The reading, writing, and arithmetic were taught at a minimal level. These skills were left for the Magi to learn almost exclusively.

How Was the Curriculum Organized

From the age of 0-7 education was in the home with the mother. From 7-15 boys were educated by the state and were even considered state property. After the age of 15, students spent time learning about justice in the marketplace.

Girls did not receive much of an education. Rather, they focused primarily on life in the home. This included raising small children and other domestic duties.

Conclusion

Persia education was one strongly dominated by the state. The purpose was primarily to mold boys into just, moral soldiers who could serve to defend and expand the empire. This system is not without merit as it held an empire together for several centuries. The saddest part may be the loss of individual freedom and expression at the expense of government will.

William Kilpatrick (1871-1965) was a prominent educator of the early to mid 20th century. He was a colleague of John Dewey and a proponent of Dewey’  educational model. Kilpatrick’s contribution to education was not only as a supporter of Dewey’s work but also in his expansion of the work of Dewey.

Views on Education

Kilpatrick supported Dewey’s view of getting away from rote memorization and a rigid curriculum and replacing it with a child-centered approach. He was a major critic of the Committee of Ten with their emphasis on acquiring knowledge through traditional means. Kilpatrick saw school not only fulfilling an intellectual purpose but also a social one.

For Kilpatrick, education was about the social development of the child rather than their cognitive development through the mastery of content. This is not saying that the mind did not matter. The emphasis was on learning to think and not focusing on what to think.

The curriculum should come from real-life and not compartmentalized subject matter.  This idea calls for a need for an integrated curriculum that stressed maximum student participation. These beliefs led Kilpatrick to create a unique form of teaching.

The Project Method

Kilpatrick’s Project Method is a blend of behavioral psychology and progressivism. It was behavioral in that student behavior was observed but it was also progressive in the focus on child-centered learning. The four steps of the Project Method are as follows.

1. Purpose
2. Plan
3. Execute
4. Judge

Teachers first need to decide what are they trying to do. Next, the need to develop a plan for achieving these objectives. The development of observable goals is clearly the behavioral aspect of this method. Execution involves the implementation of the the plan. Last is judge, the teacher assess the success of the plan. Again, assessing the students and curriculum is a behavioral aspect of the Project Method.

The progressivist aspect of this method was the constant revision of the curriculum based on student need and interest. The curriculum was developed jointly with the students. This was a core belief of Kilpatrick that students should be leaders in the development of their learning as nothing would motivate them more. This also led to the development of decision-making skills.

It is important to remember that the Project Method was not a rigid method but actually a philosophy. The steps in the method were really just an idea of approaching a child-centered learning experiencing.

Legacy

Few have heard of Kilpatrick today. He was a major supporter of the work of Dewey and lived in the shadow of Dewey throughout his career. Despite living behind a legend, Kilpatrick was an innovator in his own right and developed a distinct strain of progressivism that had an impact within many classrooms. His influence may not have been as strong but nevertheless, he played a role in how teaching is approach in America.

By the dawn of the 20th century, education, particularly completing primary education, was a norm. Due to the growth in education, there was a corresponding expansion in the courses taught. However, there was no unifying hand over schools or curriculum.

The lack of coordination over education led to problems. The amount of time needed for a class was different from place to place. A student would be placed in different grades depending on where they enrolled. Lastly, the courses offered were focused on a classical tradition even though few went on to college (this last problem was exacerbated not solved).

With the confusion came a push for reform. In order to bring change, several influential committees were formed in the early 20th to bring order to the chaos of education. The major committees include

1. The Committee of Fifteen
2. The Committee of Ten
3. The Committee on College Entrance Requirements

The Committee of Fifteen

The Committee of Fifteen was not so much a committee om reformation as it was a counter-reformation committee. This committee rejected adding additional courses, focusing on children needs, and interdisciplinary approaches to teaching.

Instead, the Committee of Fifteen supported a support for the three R’s, and separate subjects. In terms of change they did support reducing elementary school from grade K-10 to K-8, and including manual training starting in grade 7.

The Committee of Fifteen put breaks on change but did not stop it. With other committees arose the push for more reform.

The Committee of Ten

The Committee of Ten brought strong, but conservative, change to education. They recommended nine academic subjects covering language, math, history, and science. They also recommended having several different tracks that students can study on depending on their goals.The tracks were classical, science and or language focused.

The Committee of Ten ignored the humanities (art, music, etc,), PE, and even vocational education believing that these subjects did not benefit the mind. The overall purpose of the curriculum was still college preparation. The impact of this committee can be seen in how secondary schools still focus on college preparation.

The Committee on College Entrance Requirements

The Committee on College Entrance Requirements simply reaffirmed what the Committee of Ten proposed. They also proposed the number of credits students should earn for particular subjects if they want to go to college.

The biggest contribution of this committee was the development of the “Carnegie Unit” which was in response to the credit hour proposal of the committee. Seat time in class was now a measure of knowledge of a subject. This idea has worked for over 90 years but is now being criticized as seat time does not lead necessarily to mastery.

Conclusion

Rapid growth led to a need for rapid organizations. The committees mentioned in this piece have had a tremendous impact on secondary education in the US. For most, going to high school is preparation for going to college. This mindset is due to these committees that met in the late 19th century.

The focus on college preparation may be due to the fact that these committees were lead by college-educated scholars whose passion was naturally the training of the mind. This singular focused has made education one-dimensional to this day. Whenever pushing for change in curriculum, the team needs to have a mixture of personalities and abilities to produce a balanced system. This was missing from these great committees. They had a great vision that applied strictly to a minority of the population.

Attending high school is an experience of virtually every teenager in the United States. However, this has not always been the case. The concept of high school evolved over most of the 19th century and was formalized much more extensively in the early 20th century.

The Beginning

High schools have their origins in what were academies. The concept of the academy was developed by Benjamin Franklin. These schools offered a more practical education in lieu of the Latin Grammar School. Academies also charged tuition as did Latin Grammar Schools.

Despite their emphasis on a practical education, academy curriculum was influenced heavily be college entrance requirements. Some of the more popular courses include Latin, Greek, grammar, geography, and arithmetic. The classical streak within academies was strong despite its emphasis on a practical education

Taxes and High School

High schools were slow to develop and they really did not begin to grow until 1874 with the Supreme Court Decision in the “Kalamazoo Case.” In this decision, the court ruled that tax dollars could be used to support high schools. Prior to this ruling, tax dollars were only used to support elementary education as part of the common school movement. With more and more students completing elementary school there was a greater need for high schools.

With the birth of high schools came the death of academies. Now, parents could send their kids to secondary school for free. Such a price is hard to argue with and made academies obsolete quickly. Today, few academies exist.

The Curriculum

With the results of the “Kalamazoo Case” enroll in high school exploded. With this came a need to determine what to teach the students. Initially, the curriculum was a classical, college preparatory model. This curriculum emphasized literature, languages, and mathematics.

As enrollment continued to increase the high school curriculum became more diverse and began offering such subjects as geography, chemistry, government, and even vocational training. This growth in diversity catered to the wide interest and career objectives of the students. With high schools becoming common it was more likely that not all the students who came were college bound. As such, a more varied curriculum experience was needed to support a more diverse student population.

It is important to note that high schools in the United States are comprehensive. This means that anyone and everyone can attend them regardless of race, class, or religion. This is in stark contrast to the European model with its influence on class distinction. This emphasis on being comprehensive partial explains the wide variety of courses offered in high school. Different students have different needs and high schools must address this.

Conclusion

Secondary education has come from something was for the elite to now being something that is essentially required by law. This slow transformation has a great deal to do with concepts of equality and even public funding. With the idea of equality and tax dollars, high schools have never flourished.

During the 19th century, education in American was beginning to take root. As the nation matured there was a corresponding growth in providing education to the people.

One type of school that was not only a type of school but a movement was the common school. The idea of everyone having access education to was at one time radical in the United States. As such, understanding the characteristics of the common school movement provides insights into US education.

Origins

The common school was developed in 1826 in Massachusetts, which required every town to have a school. Other states copied Massachusetts’ idea and the common school began to spread. Horace Mann was the main catalyst in spreading the common school idea.

Mann developed support for the common school by adjusting his message to his audience. For businesses, common schools would provide an educated workforce. For workers, common schools would provide for social mobility. In other words, Mann was making the claim that the common school would solve everyone’s problems in one way or the other. Catering to the needs of his audience was a brilliant strategy in encouraging the acceptance of universal education.

Soon the common school moved out west to the frontier where students were receiving the basics of education. Despite the rapid growth of the common school, it was not without problems.

Characteristics of Common Schools

Common schools varied from state to state. In general, the schools taught any child from age 6 to 15. With such a wide range of ages, teachers had to prepare multiple lessons in a day. There were also challenges with maintenance as the schools were in perpetual disrepair. Add to this the challenge of keeping the school warm in the winter and cool in the summer and the challenges become apparent.

Teachers were paid terrible salaries that were discouraging for many.  In addition, they often lacked training, which led to low quality. There were critics of the system but at the time, this was all that was available for many children.

The common school was particularly popular in the frontier territories. This is where the iconic “little red schoolhouse” comes from. It seems as though most communities had a school. The schools were not only for education but were also used as a multi-purpose facility for voting, meetings, and other events.

Legacy of Common Schools

Common schools have contributed strongly to the American mindset that everyone is equal. Common denotes something that is available to all and the idea of a common education was unique to America. These schools provided basic education to all by the state. Without the contribution of the common school the concepts of citizenship and an educated workforce would have never been achieved.

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) was an English social scientist whose contribution to education was his emphasis on bringing science into the curriculum of schools. In this post, we will examine Spencer’s views and his impact on education.

Spencer’s Views

Spencer was influenced by the work of Charles Darwin and applied evolution to the social sphere. In Spencer’s view, societies were evolving to more advanced societies.  Those who did not keep up would disappear.

Due in part to his support of evolution, Spencer was a critic of religion and other fields of the humanities. He viewed them as impractical and unrelated to contemporary life. The current school system was not providing students with the skills they needed for the modern world.

For Spencer, students should be taught how to think instead of what to think. This could
be done through focusing on the teaching of science. The benefit of science is due to its focus on progress and usefulness. It is the application of scientific breakthroughs that lead to a more advanced society.

Spencer’s Influence

Spencer’s influence runs deep in education. His principles about science in the curriculum have been a key component of secondary education since the early part of the 20th century. Spencer’s focus on using scientific knowledge in an industrialized society is literally the total focus of education today in the 21st century. The Humanities have long taken a back seat to science due in part to Spencer.

Spencer also laid the foundation for progressivism. His beliefs influenced John Dewey as Spencer looked not only at science but also at the need to develop social relationships and citizenship, which are components of progressivism. Dewey took Spencer’s views and systematized them in his scientific approach to education.

Edward Throndike‘s views on behaviorism were also influenced by Spencer. Behaviorism is still one of the major focuses of education to day due to its emphasis on observing changes in behavior.  This has contributed to the development of behavioral objectives in education.

Conclusion

Spencer’s views were controversial in their time. De-emphasizing religion and raising science above it was not popular with many. Now, his views can be seen as a major part of education.

Spencer’s desire to downplay and even remove the humanities on the curriculum puts too much emphasis on material gain and survival. Humans are more than just resource developing beings. Humans were created to express themselves in artistic and humanistic ways. The reason that music, art, and even history are a part of the human experience is that they are components of the humanity that make them human.

Spencer does provide for some role of the humanities but only in the leisure moments of home and family. This is a disservice as great art can only be developed the same way as great science and that is through a professional commitment to the field. To have a balanced society calls for both science and the arts. This was something that Herbert did not see.

Johann Herbert (1776-1841) was a German educator during the 19th century. He is most notably for his work in moral education. Not only did he laid the foundation for moral education he also developed an approach to teaching morals as well as other subjects. This post will explore the contributions of Herbert to education

Foundations of Moral Education

Herbert believed that education was about developing good virtuous people. This is not unique as Aristotle also emphasized this. Herbert lays down what he thought were the five major ideas of moral character which are as follows

1. Inner freedom-Action based on one’s personal convictions which is related to Maslow’s self-actualization
2. Perfection-The idea of developing consistency between thoughts and actions.
3. Benevolence-Concern with the welfare of others
4. Justice-The balance between individual desires and group norms.
5. Retribution-The idea of reward and punishment for behavior.

These five principles represent the core of Herbert’s view of moral education. However, he did not stop at this as he also identified two forms of interests that should be a part of education. The first was knowledge interest, which was scientific and philosophical knowledge. The second was ethical interest, which is knowledge of how to treat others and social relationships.

Herbert believed that education would contribute to people who had high moral character and the capacity to make appropriate decisions. Problems in the world were due to a lack of education and moral development. With his ideas in place, Herbert needed a method of teaching these concepts.

Herbartian Instructional Model

Herbert, with the help of his followers, developed a 5-step approach to teaching. This method became known as the Herbartian Model. The steps are explained below

1. Preparation-The teacher gets students ready to learn by reviewing previous information.
2. Presentation-The new material is shared with the students.
3. Association-The new material is connected with material the students are already familiar with (an early form of constructivism).
4. Systemization-The use of examples to illustrate the principles or the development of generalizations of the examples used (inductive and deductive thinking).
5. Application-Assessment of the learning

It is hard to overestimate the impact of the Herbartian Model. Not only does it combined several theories that had not been developed yet, this model also may serve as one of the first attempts at instructional design (over 100 years before Tyler’s principles of curriculum). Herbert lays out a clear approach to teaching that can be used not only in morals but in many other subjects.

Herbart’s model of instruction was used in teacher training for years and still has influence to this day. It is common for teachers to look at the principles of this model and convert them into questions they need to answer. What should I review from yesterday? How will I teach today’s lesson? How is today’s lesson related to other topics? These are just some of the questions that teachers have been answered for years in part due to the pioneering work of Herbert.

Conclusions

Many if not all trained teachers have been influenced by Johann Herbert. From his views on moral education to his work in instructional design, Herbert was an innovating figure. One of the primary missions of schools in most countries is to developed upstanding, moral citizens. This focus on character is due in part to the work of Johann Herbert.

Colonial education in the United States dates back to the 17th century. In general, the characteristics of education in the United States can be divided into three regions, which are…

• New England schools
• Middle colonies
• Southern Colonies

We will explore each of these areas briefly in this post.

New England Schools

New England Schools included the colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and other colonies of the utmost northern part of the American colonies. Schools were initially started in this area through the establishment of various laws. For example, Massachusetts, in 1642, passed a law that required parents to teach their children to read and understand the bible and the laws of the colony. In 1647, the “Old Deluder Satan” act was passed. This law stipulated that towns of a certain size had to employ teachers. This law provides an insight into how important religion was at this time in American history. The example of Massachusetts was followed by most of the other New England colonies.

Middle Colony Schools

The Middle Colonies, which included New York, New Jersey, and other colonies, were never able to adopt a single system of education as was found in the New England Colonies. In comparison to the New England Colonies, there was much more religious and political variety in the Middle Colonies. As such, this independence of thought and action was seen in the establishment of schools. In the Middle Colonies, one will find independent and parochial schools to match the many different flavors of ethnicities and religions. Schools were usually locally controlled.

Southern Colonies

The Southern Colonies had the most independent spirit in term of education than the New England or Middle Colonies. In the South, the education of children was left to the family with almost no state interference. For poor children, the most education they could hope for was training in some sort of vocation, which did not include learning to read and write. For children of affluence, such as the plantation owners, the best education was provided through private tutors. For slaves, it was actually illegal to even learn to read and write. The political system of the South prevented the growth of a school system since a widely available education was seen as a threat to the established order.

Conclusion

As one moves from North to South, one will see that the control over schools gradually decreases. From the religiously inspired laws of the North to the independent spirit of the South, the control over education varied greatly. This can be seen in who goes to school. In the North, everyone was “required” to go to. school. In the South, some were “required” to not go to school.

The curriculum of all areas consisted of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Learning emphasized memorizing and conformity. These values would endure for almost the first 200 years of American history.