Throughout the years the topic of an American
public education has been a very controversial subject. Since the time of the
early Massachusetts Bay Colony, many have been divided on the role, if any, the
government should play in educating America’s children. There has also been
debate on the type of education American children, and teachers should have.
Although, there has been tremendous progress in creating an “ideal public
education”, there is still an ever-evolving need for change in America’s public
educational system. This paper strives to focus on this matter. First, it will
look at the history of American education, beginning with colonial America to
the present day. It will also examine America’s philosophy of education over
the years. And lastly, it shall give insight on my personal views of an ideal
educational system.
The New World was grouped in three geographic categories, consisting of the
southern, middle and New England colonies. Since the southern colonies depended
on an agrarian economy dominated by a plantation system based on slavery, there
were great distances between each house and plantation; making it was rather
difficult to establish schools for all. For this reason learning occurred
mostly in the home, by parents or tutors. For the slaves in the southern
colonies, there was very little education because their lack of education was
used as a to maintain their present state of ignorance. Most of the settlers in
the southern colonies arrived as indentured servants, and were of English lower
or middle-class background. However, once arriving to the New World these same
English men became the new aristocrats of the southern colonies. S. Alexander
Rippa notes, “family fortune and great wealth were accumulated by land
acquisition and tobacco growing…these were the quickest ways to prosperity”
(Rippa, 6). In the southern colonies, religion was not a focal matter as it
once was in England. The Anglican Church was a primary institution were
governmental matters were handled instead of religious matters. Therefore, we
see that religion was not as important to the southern settlers and it did not
serve as an “instrument of civic discipline” as it was for the other colonies.
In the other colonies, religious matters was the main reason for education,
however,
“education in the southern colonies was considered to be a private and
individual concern instead of a civil or religious matter. The Anglican Church,
to which the southern colonists officially adhered, was not indifferent toward
education. But unlike the Puritans in New England, the Anglicans in the South
did not view the state as an agency for establishing schools” (Rippa, 25).
Because settlers believed education was not a public concern of the state, the
wealthy had tutors on their plantations for their children.
Non-English speaking groups such as the German Quakers and the Dutch dominated
the Middle colonies. The Quakers believed they were a different kind of people,
who discouraged all worldly vanities. They came to the New World to in 1683, to
practice their religion without ridicule. As a result, the Quakers brought
their strong religious belief to their educational system. Education for the
Quakers centered on their religious beliefs and was the sole purpose for
education. The Dutch’s “entire curriculum strongly emphasized religious
training,” where the schoolmaster was often an officer of the church (Rippa,
29).
The Puritans were the inhabitations of the New England colony. Just like the
Quakers, the Puritans also brought their strong religious beliefs and practices
with them to the New World. Under the influence of John Calvin the Puritans had
two types of schools: “the primary schools, such as the dame schools and the
reading and writing schools for the children of the lower classes; and the
Latin grammar school for the elite” (Rippa, 30). The New England Primer was
used as reading material; it taught children their alphabet, phonics, as well
as religious rhymed couplets.
From this we see that religion was the main focus of early American education.
We also see that education was not required but considered a privilege of the
elite and men. Over the years the perception of education being for males and
the elite has changed; wherein today’s educational creed is open to all
regardless of race, sex, class, or denomination.
Many believed that education was not a necessity for all, and those who were
deemed privileged enough to receive one were taught by family members. One of
the responsibilities of a family was to educate their young. However, to
educated them didn’t necessarily mean teaching them the fundamentals of math,
english, and science; most often their education included