How Does History Changed Our Future?

The man with the greatest effect on the government’s relationship with schools is Horace Mann. Often called the “Father of American Education,” Horace Mann wasn’t

Some people look at history as a boring subject, but that’s because they haven’t thought of it like a marvelous tale of action, drama, tragedy, and whole lot of chaos. By thinking of it that way, it will make the subject much more interesting.

Horace Mann, an American politician and education reformer, helped establish the common school movement. It was this common school movement that revolutionized the teaching and structure of schools across America. After visiting nearly one thousand schools within 6 years, he found that the facilities were in poor condition, lacked many educational tools such as textbooks, and were built on inequality. It was Mann, who established the first normal school back in 1839 with the idea that these schools would provide education and equality to all boys and girls. “Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery. (p. 183),” said Mann. It was his belief that everyone was entitled to the same content in education. Oftentimes, wealthy children would stay in school longer than the poor children, who couldn’t afford to go at all. The “great equalizer” of education meant that education through common school would be available and equal for all, whether rich or poor. As historian, Kathryn Kish had pointed out, “ The equalizing capacity of the school was something that he very much believed in. The common school became for him the place where we all came together,

Horace Mann was one of the most influential reformers in the history of American education. He was responsible for the Common School Movement, which was to ensure that every child receive free basic education funded by local taxes. Growing up in poverty where there was lack of access to education, the first secretary of Massachusetts Board of Education strongly believed that tuition- free education would be the “great equalizer,” and the key to fight against poverty and crime. As a result, Massachusetts’ residents were the

In the farming society of the early 1800’s, education was not possible for many children. Horace Mann, a farm boy himself and an early advocate for educational reform, saw the deficiencies in the educational system. He pushed for “common schools” that would retain local control, be co-educational and revolve around the agricultural year. Mann’s ideas began to be adopted around the country in the second half of the nineteenth century. By the start of the twentieth century, mandatory public schooling was the norm. This was the height of the industrial revolution. As Davidson notes in “Project Classroom Makeover”, “Public Education was seen as the most efficient way to train potential workers for labor in the newly urbanized factories (197).” Schools began to work like an assembly line with a focus on efficiency, attention to detail, memorization of facts and staying on task. Curriculum became standardized and states began to replace the local management of education. Critically thinking outside the box was less valued. Regardless of ability, children started school at the same age and were moved through their education in a regulated process.

While the 1800’s were full of groundbreaking inventions it is also home to many changes in quality of life and living, including the educational reform, the prison reform and the abolition movement. In the early 1800s getting an education was not a priority or option for most children. While it was often class based and varied between the north and south. Most children attended little to no school and the education they did receive was provided by unqualified teachers who received little pay. The education reform directed by Horace Mann helped bring about state sponsored public education, with curriculum and local property tax to finance education. Horace Mann believed that “popular schooling could be transformed into a powerful instrument for social unity.” (https://www.mackinac.org/2035) The organizarional model Mann and others adopted for massachusetts was the Prussian educational system. Allowing for the state to control education from lower grades up to the university level. Along with the state supervising the training of the teachers, children were

History engages me like no other subject. History is unrivaled in complexity and depth compared to other areas of study, but many do not realize this because we choose to gloss over the vast majority, reducing entire sagas into little more than a footnote on a single page. The American revolution, while celebrated in the US, is little more than a paragraph in European history, overlooked because of the more relevant Napoleonic era. My passion for learning encourages me to read into these footnotes and discover the lessons and ideas that are ignored by the common curriculum.

Mann served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1827–1833 and the Massachusetts Senate from 1834–1837. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1848 after serving as secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education. He is often called “the father of American public education”. Horace Mann, American educational reformer: Horace Mann was an influential reformer of education, responsible for the introduction of common schools—non-sectarian public schools open to children of all backgrounds—in America. Mann advocated a statewide curriculum and instituted school financing through local property taxes. Mann also fought protracted battles against the Calvinist influence on discipline, preferring positive reinforcement to physical

Since I was little, I have always loathed history. I never understood why there was a need to learn about events that already happened; only the future mattered. But when my history teacher from sophomore year described AP US History as the class where students learned to appreciate history, I doubted how one class could change my mindset and decided to take the challenge and enroll.

Horace Mann and Jane Addams both lived in the 19th century America and were university educated reformers. However, they came of age in very different times, with Horace Mann living during the early years of American democracy and Addams the massive industrial expansion and immigration era of the late 19th century (Gutek, 2011). These differences created distinct educational needs that required very different responses. In the case of Mann the need was for quality instruction for all children and not just the children of the elite. Horace Mann used the skills he developed as a Massachusetts politician and his post as the first secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education to advocate for the creation of Common Schools. These schools

Horace Mann, is often referred to the Father of the Common School, he began his career as a lawyer and legislator. He was elected as Secretary of a new Massachusetts Board of Education in 1837. He used his power to create an educational reform. He believed that every child could receive a basic education funded by local taxes. Soon his influence spread beyond Massachusetts, more and more states began to take up the idea of universal schooling. Mann was influential in the development of teacher training schools and the earliest attempts to professionalize teaching.

Even though America's first public high school opened in 1821, the idea of a nationwide system was advocated by Horace Mann and many other educational reformers who had a longing opposition of the idea of having to purchase their own learning. Due to their efforts,

Horace Mann is referred to as, “the Father of the modern school,” and rightly so.1 He is responsible for the public school system we know today. 1 While head of the State Board of Education, in Massachusetts, Mann made his mark on the United States of America. 1 He changed the education system and made history. 1 For the first time the populace recognized the need for a balanced education. 2 Everyone has value. Everyone deserves a fair chance to gain knowledge. 2 After all, “Knowledge is power.” 2 Mann was also a Christian who firmly believed that all men are created equal and thus should be equal in the education system. 2

Teaching seems like it could be done by anyone, but in reality it does take some skill or at least some effort to be a good teacher. Since teachers are surrounded by students at all times, they need to know the easiest ways for their students to learn the material with the least amount of problems. The last thing they want is to have their students struggle with the class, and not understand what the lesson is about. Also, not only are they teaching multiple students at once, but multiple students who learn in different ways. There are students who learn verbally and others who prefer to see it (visually). Not to mention they are students who learn by doing hands-on projects. The teacher must find a balance in between all the teaching styles in order to please or help