Innovators and Makers of American Education

The first thing that stuck me about the innovators in the PBS site, was the people that they decided to include into the list. Reflecting on the list, I felt as if it was almost a canonization of those who have made contributions to modern American education. I had previous heard some of those spotlighted on the PBS site, for example Mann, Beecher, and Washington, however most of them were fairly unknown to me. Mann seemed to be a natural choice, but honestly, I did not know that he argued for education as a public good or promoted the democratic and egalitarian aspects of a public education. I found these ideas to be refreshing and enlightening. John Joseph Hughes was one of my favorites, because, again, I had no idea that he had begun the movement toward the secularization of American education. People feel very differently about this, however, as a huge fan of the First Amendment, I find it to be incredibly important for all Americans. I was personally confused to as why PBS would include Booker T. Washington and mention W.E.B. DuBois, but choose not to include him. I think both voices are incredibly important to the history of American Education, and I found it to be an interesting decision. Overall, I thought all of the innovators helped shape the discussion and evolution of American education as we know it today.

Personally, I really enjoyed reading about the real makers of public education. I am a fan of alternative literature and history and thought that the makers website really made a very good argument about public education. Sometimes as a teacher, I struggle with the balance of teaching my students middle class values and norms with teaching a number of individuals to become a group of robots. The idea of schools as business made me think about Fast Food Nation, a book about the history and state of fast food in America. McDonalds was the first to effectively promote its product to children, and the website made me think of this instantly.

The two sites presented an interesting dichotomy. I think education provides one of the few opportunities of social mobility to those of the lowest socioeconomic status. However, at the same time I feel as if teaches students to belong and accept things without causing too much trouble.

Deciding on which of the two makers or innovators made the largest impact on American education as we know it today, is the most difficult question. With the risk of sounding a bit cliché, I have to say that Horace Mann, out of all of the innovators, has made the most lasting impact on public education, as we know it today. In some ways, Mann achieved the American Dream—he came from humble beginnings to achieve an Ivy League education to make his own legacy. He saw the potential of a public education to be a social equalizer for its students, he advocated for teacher training, funding for schools, and better materials and support of public schools. Perhaps, my favorite idea, he promoted education as a public good that could benefit all students, not just those that received it. While he was not perfect and failed to address some of the other social injustices of his day, his impact can been seen today.

Of the makers of modern schooling, it seems as if Frederick W. Taylor has made the largest impact of modern education in America. This was especially difficult. One could argue that any of those named—Carnegie, Ford, Rockefeller, or Morgan—had a huge impact on the modern education, with its focus on money end results. However, since Taylor inspired the entire Social Efficiency movement, his ideas have made the largest impact overall. The Gilded Age was a turning point in American history, and making money and becoming more efficient seems to have been at the heart of the movement.

The innovators were comprised of a rather diverse group, and that makes it very difficult to easily categorize them. Some of the innovators have some common ideas—Washington, Cubberly, and Hirsch all seem to promote a certain set of ideas. It may seem a bit controversial to include Washington, however, I see them as promoting working and learning without rocking the boat or becoming more independent thinkers. On the other hand, Dewey, Gutiérrez, and Meier share more progressive, empowering ideas, that promote the education of all children.