FOCUS QUESTIONS

FOCUS QUESTIONS

What was the nature and purpose of colonial education?

The nature of colonial education had very basic needs in the beginning. The need to learn about god, how to save someone’s soul and to train women how to run a household properly.

How did the Common School Movement promote universal education?

Well it started out as that it was believed that only the poor children should get public/free schooling. Seeing how it was so beneficial to them, people began spreading the acceptance of the idea of public schools which is that they should exist for all students.

What developments mark the educational history of Native Americans?

The U.S. established Native American boarding schools. The schools were taught by Christian Missionaries to show the natives how to become more European, appear more European looks wise and think like the European culture.

How did teaching become a “gendered” career?

Women found a way of teaching children through nurture and guidance instead of controlling them physically and frightening them. By the late 1840s, across all regions in the U.S. women were beginning to enter the teaching field in very large numbers.

How did secondary schools evolve?

Boston was very focused and committed on the idea of building good schools in order for young men to become successful career oriented individuals. Other regions began following in Boston’s footsteps and built more schools, provided more teachers, more resources, etc.

What were the main tenets of the Progressive Education movement?

John Dewey was a progressive thinker and he was responsible for shaping the educational curriculum so that it would capture the students’ interests.

What role has the federal government played in American education?

The role of the government was not very involved at first because it relied on the people living in the region to develop and run the schools the way they wanted to. However, the involvement of the government and its influence has largely grown in the public schools.

How did history shape the educational experiences of African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders, and Arab Americans?

It helped us realize as a society how diverse and multicultural we have become. It has also influenced teachers on the fact that lesson planning had to become more open to new ideas, diverse and differentiated. The same teaching method will not work for everyone because of how different culturally we are. It has helped us realize that schools had to make better plans for accommodations.

What educational barriers and breakthroughs have girls and women experienced?

Women have gone from not being taken seriously, only teaching girls how to be good housewives, being underpaid for doing the same kind of work TO building good careers, being able to teach college courses, able to take the same classes as the men and being able to earn the same degrees as the men. The pay is also more equal and the role as a female teacher is taken more seriously.

Who are some of the influential educators who have helped fashion today’s schools?

Paulo Freire, Joel Klein, John Sexton, Aron Alagoppon, Randi Weingarten, etc. There is a large list of educatorsin all sorts of different positions that work on or have worked on imporoving the way education is being taught for today’s students.