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The Hull House
The Hull House was an establishment created by Jane Addams that was meant to combine education with social reform. Both of these things were then brought to the people in the lower socioeconomic sector of Chicago. It became a testing ground for new forms of education and training for people. This wonderful experiment brought together people from all creeds, races, and backgrounds to work and learn together in a cooperative environment. It also served as a testing place for Dewey's theories. -
Dewey Joins the University of Chicago
How does the individual interact with society, Dewey asked. "One way of achieving such a coordination, Dewey believed, was to make the school a miniature community where the child lived, participated, and contributed-where, in effect, the child's emerging individuality was at one and the same time used to enrich the social community and tested against the dictates of social reality.
Herbert M. Kliebard. The Struggle for the American Curriculum, 1893-1958 (p. 54). Kindle Edition. -
W.E.B. Du Bois
The research he began in to the black communities in the north and south after his time teaching in Tennessee helped illuminate so many of the issues facing the black community and built a bridge between their station in life and how education could change it. Du Bois believed that the pursuit of the liberal arts would be an equalizer for the black community. This opportunity (and ultimately right) at education would create a better life for the black community. (Graduated from Harvard, 1895) -
Edward A. Ross and Frederick Winslow Taylor
Two peas in a pod. Between Ross' Social Control Theory and Taylor's scientific management, there was a groundwork laid for much of the educational system and curriculum we see today. Franklin Bobbitt took these ideas and created and industrial based curriculum platform. The idea was simple: eliminate waste in curriculum and that will eliminate waste in society. This industrial take on education moved curriculum away from the individual towards what was the "most efficient." way of doing things. -
Dewey's Monograph on Interest and Effort
This brilliant piece of work is core to the classroom today. Are students interested in what they are learning? If so, they give more effort to the cause of learning. It is surprising that this isn't a greater focus in education. Perhaps the place we can observe it the easiest is in the selection of elective courses in middle and high school. It should be a consideration of every to continually ask if they can make their content more interesting for the sake of the student. -
Booker T. Washington
Washington (compared to Du Bois) seemed to be more steeped in industry and its benefits. It appears that the hierarchy he observed between the white and black communities was not one that was surmountable so he took education a different route. He helped the black community become trained in industry and manual training and seek out employment. Interestingly, he also found funding for this from white benefactors in exchange for not speaking out on certain social issues. -
Jane Addams
Addams' work is an inspiration and I wish more people knew of her. She was a voice for women to work and excel at making education and society better. Her work in the Hull House showed that education could be molded to a society and it could help people in more ways that just industry. Her work combined industry, culture, and education to assist the lower socioeconomic people of Chicago and surrounding areas. While Dewey receives a lot of her credit, her work at Hull House was instrumental. -
Edward Thorndike
The work of Thorndike fundamentally shifted how people think about curriculum. Before Thorndike's research, education and curriculum was simply an assumption about how people learn and what it does to shape their brain and behaviors. His research showed that there could actually be a scientific approach to curriculum and how people learn. It shifted the idea of curriculum to something more tangible in the lives of people. Curriculum could be tied to live experience instead of assumption. -
John Dewey
It seems like this man is most people's educational crush. Dewey's defining work was the desire to see the individual be kept whole while also being able to work inside of a complex society. He used the University of Chicago and The Hull House as a training and testing ground for his educational theories and creativity. Ultimately, he found that education for the individual as a functioning member and contributor to a society was possible. His work is still used and discussed today. -
Beep Beep Beep
The Sputnik has a place on this timeline because of its push for STEM education in the 21st century. I picked the day of the 'beep beep beep' as it was heard for the sobering reality of nation that was supposed to be behind the USA in technology pulling an amazing feat before them. This Sputnik created a major push for education in science and math technologies for schools that we still see today. The push for technology education and careers is major sector of education and curriculum.
