Transcript Document

Moral Training, Women's
Seminaries, and Leadership
in the New Republic
Watras Chapter 2
EDCI 659
History of American Education
12 February, 2004
Mandy Biggers and Mike Hasler
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Key Points and Leaders
Aim of Education:
Preserve the new Republic
Teach all people
democratic values and
appropriate language
Classic Education
can shape students’
abilities and values
Train leaders with
classical education
Franklin
Rush
Jefferson
Yale College
Women’s Seminaries
Webster
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Key Topics
• Preserving the Republic
• Building a National Language
– Spellers
– dictionaries
• Selecting and Training Leaders
• Classical Language debate
• Women’s Education
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Benjamin Franklin
•
Children have to learn to be virtuous, diligent, and independent
– Rush and Webster agreed with this perspective
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Franklin’s 13 virtues for social advancement
– See handout
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Access to books is critical to the self-education of children
– Self education was considered key
•
Junto, the first lending library
•
Poor Richard’s Almanac—entertaining method of spreading ideas
of self improvement
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Usefulness and ornamentation were both important
– e.g., penmanship
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History was Franklin’s most valued subject
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Women should have sufficient practical training for selfsufficiency later in life
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Benjamin Rush
•
Grew up under the influence of two leaders of the “Great Awakening”
– Rush was a slave owner
•
Schools should inspire young people to be patriotic
•
Concept of Public Education focused on four levels:
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Six points:
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Town--reading and writing in English and German for all children
County—prepare youth to enter college
State—Four colleges to teach men math and science
State—University of Philadelphia—law, divinity, political theory, science
Hold Christian faith
Students were “public property” and must serve the common good
Liberty is possible only in a republic
Youth should learn to work and avoid drinking liquors
Students should not learn they have independent will, but under authority of teacher
Youth should participate in “amusements” that reinforced gospel messages
Women need education because of their role in raising educated children and
managing household affairs and budgets
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Noah Webster
•
Textbooks were critical
•
Guiding Principles
– Increase student patriotism
– Strengthen school children’s morals
– Build a uniform national language
•
Opposed study of classical languages
– Latin and Greek
•
Teachers should emphasize morals lessons over intellectual
•
Bible should not be used in the classroom
– He did not want the students to consider the Bible to be common
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Teachers should govern absolutely including the use of “the rod”
•
Webster did not produce the first dictionary in the U.S.
– He focused on simplification of spelling and useful listings of words
– Encouraged and implemented “Spelling Bees”
•
Father of the “copyright”
•
Women should be able to learn to write and speak English properly and have
sufficient math and geography skills
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Thomas Jefferson
•
Education should serve as a method for selecting future leaders
•
“Gifted” students should take on studies in theoretical subjects and classical
languages
•
Structure of Public School Systems
– Independent school districts, approximately 100 schools in each county (boys and girls)
– State had 20 Grammar schools for the top male students for learning Greek, Latin and
mathematics
– Top half from grammar schools went on the College of William and Mary
– Tuition was need based, poor yet able students were admitted tuition-free and costs
covered by the state
– “For the more general diffusion of knowledge” Bill for State of Virginia, 1779
•
“All citizens should have education proportionate to their conditions and pursuits in
life”
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Founder of the University of Virginia
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No specific statements on women’s education, other than basic school proposal,
however, he educated his daughters in all major topics
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Yale College
• Balance curriculum—The 1828 Report
– Subjects may appear irrelevant to modern life
– When joined together, these subjects form a balanced
curriculum that teach students how to learn
– Highest profit from education is from students teaching
themselves
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Professors arranged texts and reading
Tutors (recent graduates) led discussions
Daily examinations in the recitation room
Seniors experienced oral exams of 12 – 14 days
– “The college began the process of education rather than
completed it.”
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Women’s Seminaries
• Franklin, Rush, Webster, Jefferson all felt women needed to
have sufficient knowledge to begin the education of their
children at home and be self-sufficient in case of widowhood
– All encouraged women to pursue higher studies than had
ever been available before the colonial period
• Emma Willard opened a boarding school for women in 1814
– “an enlightened government should provide education for
females because this would elevate the character of the
community”
– “women should not be involved in political causes because it
would hurt their efforts to advance women’s education”
– The Willard School in Troy, New York is still in operation
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Cindy Warren
• The differences between various levels of
education in women during this time and
their ability to educate their sons.
– Each of the major education leaders made
note of the fact that women should be
sufficiently educated to begin the education
of their children at home before they began
school.
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Heekyoung Kim
• According to the timeline (p. 50) Emma Willard opened a
boarding school in 1814. Is this the first school for women?
I am wondering what kinds of restrictions there were to get
in that school. Or what kinds of family background (socially
and financially) did women in that society come from?
• http://www.emma.troy.ny.us/about/history/ehwillard.shtml
• According to the website for the Willard School, the school
was envisioned as a place for the “teaching of teachers.”
They noted that all women were encouraged to attend, if
capable, but the theme of the text leads us to believe that
most of the students were from the upper classes.
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Corrine Wickens
• Who were the major leaders of the “Great
Awakening” and how/why was it so
influential?
– Solomon Stoddard, a Puritan from
Massachusetts
– Jonathan Edwards with his sermon on
“Sinners in the hands of an Angry God”
– http://www.wfu.edu/~matthetl/perspectives/fou
r.html
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Jisook Kim
• As simply mentioned in this book, Thomas
Jefferson did not hold multicultural attitudes and I
can remember a phrase which Jefferson used,
“America for White.” I want to know how Jefferson
is evaluated in America in this point of view.
– http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/tj3/writings/slavery.htm
– While widely admired then and now for his many great
qualities, Jefferson’s views on slavery and differences
between races are often now looked at as incorrect. He
did, however, make clear his desire for eventual
emancipation of the slave population of the US, but was
concerned about the results of immediate emancipation
without preparing slaves for life as free men and women.
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Grace Lin
• What are more utilitarian and applicatory
women topics do you think are appropriate for
the second millenirian women?
– Not sure about what you’re asking here… we’ll
discuss in class 
• What are required skills of women in your
country in ancient and present times?
– This greatly depends on their job, and has changed
over the decades… raising a family, running a
household, cooking, being “proper”, working to
support her family, being a support center, etc.
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Homayra Moghadasian
• Page 48 states that in 1832 the women who founded the
Female Anti-Slavery Society, confronted the fact that they
could not hold property or retain their earnings. As a
Muslim, I know that almost 1500 years ago Islam gave
these rights to women. I was wondering if the discussant
can find out when these rights were given to women in
western countries.
– In 1919 Congress finally passed the Susan B. Anthony
Amendment that had first been introduced in Congress in
1878, simply: "The right of citizens of the United States to
vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States
or by any State on account of sex." Illinios was the first
state to approve this amendment. The 19th Amendment to
the Constitution took effect on August 26, 1920. This
made the United States the 27th country to allow universal
sufferage.
– http://library.thinkquest.org/J002886/sufferage.html
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Tamara Carter
•
On page 27 (and several other places), the book mentions the
education that was intended for boys. I got the impression that
this education was only for white boys, but the only references I
found in the chapter to it were the description of Jefferson’s
beliefs on page 41 and Rush’s beliefs on page 29. Do you know
anything about the education of Native American or black boys?
– I was not able to find anything different from the text about the
education of nonwhites during this period. However, it is reasonable
to assume that this was only addressed as a matter of practicality.
•
Also on page 27 Franklin suggested that boys should be able to
read and write when they enter the academy at age 8. Where
would they have learned to do this?
– Throughout the chapter, all of the key leaders in this time noted the
importance of the mother in providing the first phases of education.
This was the prime motivation for many of early statements about the
need for women to be educated at all.
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Linda Black
• Does the current move toward nationalized testing, and
therefore a national curriculum just reflect the continuation
of this chapter’s theme on republican education, which
began after the revolution?
– Possibly! I also believe it is to put us on track to be
competitive internationally because we are so far behind other
countries when it comes to education.
– “OECO Indicators 1998 reveals that the lowest 25 percent of
Japanese and Korean eighth graders outperform the average
American eighth grader in math and science. And a recent
report found that only 7 percent of Ohio high school seniors
are prepared for learning and performing most skilled entrylevel jobs.” quoted by State Senator Eugene Watts of Ohio
– http://www.enc.org/topics/assessment/testing/document.shtm?
input=FOC-001574-index
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Alicia Kerr
• How was it decided that the words Noah Webster used in his
dictionary became the “proper” American language? From
the book I can see his rationale behind it, but is there more
information, particularly things in writing (besides the few brief
mentions in this book) about opposition to it and preventing it
from happening?
– http://www.historyhouse.com/in_history/webster/
– Yes! Even now there is opposition, and I’m sure there was at the
time it was written, although I couldn’t spend enough time to find
the references to show it.
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KJ Lowry
• Would you agree that after considering all
the aspects of this chapter and its
notable characters, that the most truly
influential individual with respect to
education here is Noah Webster?
– As far as who is still influencing us today,
probably. We all have a copy of Webster’s at
home or at school. I would argue though,
that Jefferson’s model for education in
Virginia served as a model for how many
states set up their school systems.
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Daewoon Yoo
• Though I have never experienced the spelling bee test
personally, it is familiar with my by mass media. I fully
understand that spelling bees acted as a tool for measuring
individual ability in early 19c. Because people thought
educational level could be measured by the ability to spell at
that time. Besides, these contests were used to reinforce the
democratic character of America. Now days, what is the
importance of spelling bee in American education? Is it a just
useful tool for students to memorize how to spell? Does it
have any extra role?
– Scripps Howard (the National Bee people) quote “Our purpose is
to help students improve their spelling, increase their
vocabularies, learn concepts, and develop correct English usage
that will help them all their lives.”
– I believe it can be used as motivation to help kids become good
spellers and to study in general.
– http://www.spellingbee.com/about.shtml
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Mandy Biggers
• Why did Franklin publish under a pseudonym?
Didn’t everyone know it was Franklin?
– http://www.school-forchampions.com/biographies/franklin.htm
– http://www.english.udel.edu/lemay/franklin/citizen.html
1732-1757 (WOW)
– http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/l3_wit_name.html
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Jennie Stuhrenberg
• I know that public schools over the last few years
have made values and character building part of
their curriculum. What are some ways local schools
are teaching values? Are there specific programs or
is it just a part of daily lessons?
– At my last school we used a program called “Character
Counts” that has 6 pillars that we taught the first six weeks
of school (trustworthiness, respect, caring, responsibility,
fairness, and citizenship)
– http://www.charactercounts.org/
– There are other programs… has anyone taught with them?
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Rui Kang
• On the bottom of page 42 and top of 43, the
author discussed the rationales for a more
balanced curriculum for higher education. How
do you compare a more balanced curriculum
that includes everything and a narrower but
more focused curriculum that concentrates on
students’ chosen subject or area of interest
considering the issue of efficiency and the fact
that some knowledge and skills are certainly
valued more by the society than others?
– Class discussion
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Samantha McPhail
• What are all 13 of the virtues referred to in Poor
Richard’s Almanac? Why did Franklin write this book
under an assumed name? In his library group, what
exactly does Junto mean? In Franklin’s academy, he
had four denominations, one of which was the
Moravian denomination-what is this?
– See handout for 13 virtues
– Junto Society http://www.juntosociety.com/
– Junto, Latin for meeting, Webster’s defines it as “a group of
persons joined for a common purpose”
– The Moravian church is a Reformed Protestant
denomination with its historical roots in Germany and the
Czech regions of Europe. Early adherents to the Moravian
faith settled in Eastern Pennsylvania (hence Franklin’s
connections) and later in the Winston-Salem region of North
Carolina.
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Anissa Myers
• What would an example of a “value standard” be
that an aristocrat may have that Franklin felt
artificial?
– First, the example of carrying a decorative hat that the
author used in the book
– My assumption is that the use of foreign phrases that
add no value to the discussion, but only serve to show
one’s worldliness would fall in this category, e.g., “joie
de vivre,” “jene se qua”
– Pretending to love opera or classical music because it
is expected of the upper classes, when one really
doesn’t care for it
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Moira Baldwin
•
How do Jefferson’s three recommendations for
schools (p. 39) compare to today’s tracking?
–
Heavily debated, these are some points and
counterpoints
1. Students should be separated into groups by their
abilities
–
There is a philosophy that classes should be blended to
ensure that there are high performers that can provide
informal role modeling and peer tutoring to classmates
–
Likewise there is a counterpoint that the Gifted and
Talented groups should be allowed to learn at their own,
accelerated, pace.
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Moira Baldwin, cont.
2. Some students should receive vocational
training
–
Until recently, most high schools had “shop class”
or “business training”, now that is usually done at
the community college level
3. Gifted students should undertake theoretical
studies and the classical languages that were
the foundation of scientific studies
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Gifted students today are still encouraged toward
higher level science and languages.
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Michael Saberian
• Chapter discussants should address how economic
differences between the commercial North and the rural
South influenced their views on the purpose of education,
particularly what manner of material was studied
(vocational training verses academic training).
– Yes, this was the case as the agrarian South encourage a
more vocational approach to education.
– This is still somewhat evident in the presence of
vocational vs. “college prep” curricula present in rural US
compared to urban and suburban schools
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Fuhui Tong
• Are there boys’ or girls’ schools in the US and is it
overwhelmingly advantageous that coeducation is
much better?
– There are still today differing points of view on this topic
– There are several private single-sex institutions, but
very few, if any public.
• In page 29, the book talked about the Great
Awakening which influenced Benjamin Rush’s
ideas of education. I would like to know more
about this occurence.
– Previously discussed
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Fuhui Tong, cont.
•
Besides Webster, are there any other eminent figures who help
establish American English?
– Samuel Johnson also developed a dictionary, but it was outsold by
Webster’s.
– This website describes Webster: “Noah Webster (1758-1843) was by
all accounts a severe, correct, humorless, religious, temperate man
who was not easy to like, even by other severe, religious, temperate,
humorless people. A provincial schoolteacher and not-very-successful
lawyer from Hartford, he was short, pale, smug, and boastful...” (The
Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson)
•
Please explain more about “recitation room” on page 43 and
provide your view of the function of tutors.
– Closest example of the recitation room today is the case method of
study with study groups found in Law and Business Schools at the
Master’s levels as well as the defense process during the pursuit of the
Ph.D.
– Class discussion on tutors
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Tsueifen Chen
• I am amazed at Webster’s effort in
building a national language. I would like
to know if his original scripts, books,
dictionary, or grammar books were well
preserved and exhibited in any museum.
– Yes! We will pass around some, albeit not
original, for you to see 
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Junhi Liu
• In page 39, one of the learned groups was wealthy and
wanted to prepare of government service. I wonder why
this group should be so rich to do government service. I
wish I could get more background knowledge to
understand this paragraph.
– The early phases of our nation’s development focused on
the landowner as a key individual, particularly in the more
agrarian regions in the South. Landowners had the time
and the resources to devote to public service, while most
citizens required the wages from work or small farms to
survive and support their families. In many ways, this
hasn’t changed significantly.
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Close
• Any Questions?
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