Education in the 1800s
Today, students attend school in large brick buildings with several classrooms and many highly trained and specially licensed teachers, learning a wide variety of subjects. They are required by law to attend from kindergarten to twelfth grade, riding on school buses, walking short distances, or taking a parent’s car back and forth every day. Compared to those of today, schools in the 1800s were vastly different in many ways. School buildings, laws and policies regarding education, transportation, subjects taught, school supplies, and teacher license requirements have all changed in the past two centuries.
Unlike today’s schools with multiple classrooms for different grade levels and subjects, schools of the 1800s consisted of one room and taught all subjects for children from elementary school all the way up to high school. All of the students attended school at the same time, so younger and older children were mixed together. There were many students and only one teacher in each school, so often times older students helped the younger students. These schools were called one room schoolhouses. As the name suggests, they were made up of one room, with a stove in the middle to keep everyone warm and a blackboard at the front. Often times, one room schoolhouses served as churches
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From school buildings to supplies and teacher license requirements, life is very different for students and teachers today compared to two centuries ago. Today’s teachers receive higher education to learn the profession, and students learn new subjects such as foreign language, art, health, and science. After a long day of learning, most take the school bus home and continue their studies further. One thing that is similar between education in the 1800s and education now, however, is that children grow up to become well-educated, well-rounded individuals who are knowledgeable about themselves and the world around
The Antebellum period was a time of reform and improvement. After the War of 1812, America went through a period of westward expansion, patriotism and an economic emergence as a world power. Their new found power as a country inspired reformation. Abolitionists worked to end the institution of slavery through protests, rallies, and the formation of societies; women’s rights activists advocated in a similar way. Simultaneously, many Americans supported the government’s efforts to remove Native Americans from their own land. Americans during the Antebellum period were ambitious, but contradictory in their activism; while many activists fought for the rights of slaves and women, others sought to curtail rights of Native Americans.
Now that public schools were commonplace in America, they needed to be altered to increase knowledge of students leaving them. Through reforms and political events, schools became not only a place for learning math and English, but also a place to learn other skills that will help students obtain jobs once they graduate. School was becoming essential rather than optional.
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Originally founded by Mary Lyon as Mount Holyoke Female Seminary on 8 November 1837, it is the "first of the Seven Sisters" and is the oldest continuing institution of higher education for women in the United States. In addition, according to the United States Department of Education, "Mount Holyoke’s significance is that it became a model for a multitude of other women’s colleges throughout the country." (contributors, 2008) 1834 was a turning point for Mary Lyon. She decided to leave Ipswich Female Seminary, where she was assistant principal, and focus all of her time and efforts on founding an institution of higher education for women. For the next three years, she crusaded tirelessly for funds and support. It was not the best time to ask people for donations, the U.S. was in a severe economic depression. But Mary Lyon persisted. She wrote circulars and ads announcing the plan for the school, raised money, persuaded prominent men to back her enterprise, developed a curriculum, visited schools and talked to educators as far away as Detroit, chose the school's location, supervised the design and construction of a building, brought equipment, hired teachers, and selected students. She endured ridicule from those who felt her ambitious undertaking would be "wasted" on women. Her constant travels often left her in a state of exhaustion. Yet, Mary Lyon never doubted her belief that women deserved to have the same opportunities for higher education as their brothers.
If were to be lucky to go to school, the first school children would attend would be a petty school, also known as a dame school that were run by an educated local woman, but the teachers had no specific training. Boys and even some girls ages five to seven would go there, and were give instruction on how to be good Christians, have proper behavior such as table manners. School would begin at six or seven in the morning and end at sundown. They were to be
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the American educational system has undergone much transition in response to our changing society. Though there have been many problems raised throughout the years in regard to what our school systems should be teaching our children, there have also been many developments.
Children from the middle colonies were usually homeschooled, but if they were to go to public school, that school would be run by a religious group. Since there were many different religions each community had its own schoolhouse that it governed. At most schools, dynamic/hands-on lessons were taught because when the children start to work on the fields and get older, then they could use what they learned and apply it in their lives in any situation. Some of these lessons would be the techniques used to cutting down a tree.
Children in the early 1800s were predominantly taught at home by their parents. The parents could only give out the knowledge to the level of education they
The teacher was in charge of teaching the children reading and writing, and they must prepare the children for college. Education was now becoming a priority in most states. Many poor colonists were able to attend pauper schools, but the colonists who were better off financially were able to pay for private schooling. Women who had time to educate children established Dame schools, often in located in their homes. By the year 1689, about six schools were established. . Though there were schools, it was not enough for the many children needing an education, so some parents tried their best to provide it for them. They used resources like the Bible and a hornbook to teach them to read and
Lawson, John and Harold Silver. A Social History of Education in England. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1973.
Schools in the 1900s were very, very different. They faces many more challenges than they do today. They were racially, and sexually discriminatory. They were often in poor repair, badly positioned, and crowded. Although, some good things were in these old schools, such as the open-air school, which was a lot more Earth friendly than schools back then, and even now. These are just short details about these old schools, and over the next few paragraphs, I’ll tell you about them.
As a young boy in early America, your educational choices were very limited and based upon your family’s economic status. You would probably have found yourself
The American system of education has undergone dramatic transformations at various times since its origins in the 1600s, reflecting changes in the social life and culture of the nation. The first forms of education began years after the Protestant Reformation when Europeans began settling in North America. The largest influence on early education was religious sects-including, Puritans, Huguenots, Anabaptists, and Quakers. Schools were frequently built by the religious leaders in order to ensure the replication of individual sects. As time develops we can see how education spread throughout the states and developed significantly.
The issues of 1800s education have shifted and changed over time, helping to lead to the modern day education system and the many issues littering it. Issues are still based on the teachers, students, and coursework. Even with its similarities, education has grown into something wildly different from its origin, creating more issues but blooming into a system that allows for more chances for the children of the US.
...them to succeed in the classroom. Although the look of the classroom has changed over the years, one thing still remains: teachers are the number one factor in a student’s educational experience.
The premise of this essay is to give an idea of what the philosopher Aristotle’s view on the education system in the early 1900s. Specifically, the schools influenced by John Dewy and the schools influenced by him, such as the ones in Gary, Indiana. My idea is to have Aristotle give his thoughts and ideas both good and bad on the way the school system was run at that time and who’s idea of public schools best fits the need of the children becoming moral citizens. Aristotle will run through a school day with the children starting with his walk to school, observing classes (reading, writing, arithmetic, home economics, machine shop, field trips) and finally the end of the school