| The role of
teachers in the curriculum:
The definition of curriculum means generally what
people experience in a setting. When this is understood
specifically with regard to education, it is a
collective term for all the courses of study offered
by an educational institution. The origins of
this word go back to the nineteenth century when
it first started being used in reference to formal
courses and programs of study. However, it was
in the 1920s started being used more frequently.
In those times, curriculum was the link between
academic courses of study and disciplinary study
material. But in those days, the teachers had
nothing to do with curriculum as is now the norm.
This link formed later on when it was assumed
that teachers were the common element between
the curriculum and its object, i.e., students.
Today, it is the teachers who make curriculum
in their own classrooms by selecting and using
curricular materials (Teachers as curriculum planners,
2004).
History:
Teaching and learning have been vital
parts of human experience since time immemorial
- in fact, since the very existence of man. For
the development of individuals, groups and communities,
the communication of knowledge and practical skills
is and has always been essential. This was true
for man in his most primitive times and remains
true today also when personal satisfaction depends
largely on one's social role which is often a
direct result of acquired knowledge and the ability
to make the most of it. The ability to develop
one's critical sense, the ability to analyze,
to see how things and persons relate are all skills
that are the result of education (Teachers as
curriculum planners, 2004).
It was not long before communities realized that
if they needed people of ability then it had to
encourage education. After all a society of any
kind is not a mere abstraction but a number of
individuals that are in some way are related and
interact. The development of society as a whole
depends on the development of each constituent
part.
The people living in the Stone Age, the Homo
Habilis were also exposed to learning as they
had to learn to make basic weapons to defend themselves
and to hunt for food. Men had to learn how to
use the skins of the animals to make basic protective
clothing. Education was the key to their survival
(Polino, 2004).
In Britain, during the Middles Ages, formal education
was already taking shape. Schools were of many
different kinds, from the ones organized by the
local parish to those connected to Cathedrals,
chantries and monasteries. These were responsible
for imparting the very rudimentary level of education.
Pupils were given religious instruction and were
taught to read.
Later, grammar schools were introduced and these
prepared pupils for entrance into the colleges
in Oxford. The Bishop of Winchester founded Seinte
Marie College of Winchester (chartered in 1382
and opened by him in 1394). Another very prestigious
institution, Eton College, was founded by Henry
VI in 1440. Both Winchester College and Eton College
still exist as very exclusive institutions. All
of these institutions provided specialized knowledge
in Latin and Greek necessary for their future
studies in one of the Oxford colleges. Apart from
these academically orientated institutions there
were also other forms of formal education especially
those of a vocational kind. Apprentices learnt
their trade skills in schools run by the various
guilds (Teaching through the ages, 2004; public
schools, 2002; Education in England, 2004).
Education in America began when the Pilgrims
arrived in the early 1600s. The first public school
opened its doors in 1635 in Boston, Mass. It was
after this that "dame" schools and Latin
Grammar schools for the purpose of higher education
were introduced. Massachusetts was at the verge
of implementing educational "reform",
when in 1642, a law saying any child not being
properly educated, would have to be apprenticed
to a trade was passed. Virginia followed suit
and passed a similar law in 1646. The importance
of education was finally realized formally in
1647 when the General Court of the Massachusetts
Bay Colony passed a statement proclaiming that
every town home to at least fifty families should
have an elementary school and that every town
of 100 families should have a Latin school. The
aim was to make sure that Puritan children learnt
to read the Bible and received basic information
about their Calvinist religion. This was called
the Massachusetts "Old Deluder Satan Act"
of 1647 (Labaree, 1999).
A large number of these institutions were Latin
grammar schools, and their main area of emphasis
would be Latin, Greek, memorization and discipline.
Mostly, the teachers were ministers, or transient
masters. Whipping posts would be present outside
school buildings as disobedient students were
tied here, and thrashed for misdemeanor. On the
contrary, the prevalent concept of 'dame' schools
can be compared to a more conventional and traditional
version of a finishing school: these schools taught
reading and writing, but only to females, as this
was all the knowledge they were expected to be
equipped with, not being as intellectually stimulated
as their male counterparts. Their classes were
held in the kitchens of the homemaker/teacher
who went on with her chores as the girls did their
lessons (America's First School, 2004).
It was in the later century that higher learning
became a reality as in the 1700s the curriculum
of college preparatory and university institutions
was revised and improved upon to include a number
of subjects previously left out. However, outside
the classroom, rampant inequality prevailed. At
this point in time, Ben Franklin's vision of an
academy of learning comprised an English school
and a Classical school. The Latin master had a
title, and the English master had none. Though
the Latin master earned twice as much, the English
master had twice the number of students (Teachers
in America, 2004).
In 1805, the New York Public School Society was
formed by wealthy businessmen who wanted to provide
education for poor children who couldn't afford
it otherwise. The 'Lancasterian' model was being
followed in schools, in which one 'master' would
teach hundreds of students in a single room. The
teacher would give a rote lesson to the older
students, who would then teach it to the younger
students. Discipline and obedience were firmly
practiced. In 1817, a petition was presented in
the Boston Town Meeting asking for establishment
of a system of free public primary schools. The
idea was mainly supported by local merchants,
businessmen and wealthier artisans. Many wage
earners opposed it, because they were not inclined
towards paying taxes.
In 1821, high school, which was at that time
known as 'terminal' school, came into existence
in Boston, for boys aged 12 and above. Again,
a law was passed which said that towns where more
than 500 families lived must have a high school
with the prescribed curriculum. Larger towns with
over 4,000 inhabitants were required to teach
Latin and Greek, as well as other extra subjects.
A law was also passed making all grades of public
school open to all pupils free of charge. By the
1830s, most southern states in the grip of slavery
had laws which forbade teaching people in slavery
to read. But around 5% of the people become literate
and defied the discriminatory law.
In the 1820s and 30s another category of public
schools existed: agriculture boarding schools
- but only for a short period of time. They had
been introduced in the country to satisfy the
needs of the 'idle and morally exposed' children
from the city. But between the 1820s and 1860,
the number of people employed in agriculture dipped
low as family farms were taken by larger agricultural
businesses and people had no option other than
to look for work in towns and cities. Around this
time, cities expanded explosively, fueled by new
manufacturing industries, the influx of people
from rural areas and many immigrants from Europe.
Only between 1846 and 1856, 3.1 million immigrants
arrived in the U.S., a number equal to one eighth
of the entire U.S. population. Hence, owners of
industry needed a disciplined and obedient workforce
and expected public schools to provide it (Historical
timeline of public education in the U.S., 2004).
In 1837, Horace Mann became the head of the recently
formed Massachusetts State Board of Education.
Edmund Dwight, a major industrialist, was of the
opinion that the state board of education was
essential for factory owners and offered to supplement
the state salary with extra funding from his side.
As an influx of Irish immigrants started disrupting
the infrastructural fabric of the country, the
Irish Catholics in New York City struggled for
local neighborhood control of schools as they
wished that their children were not force-fed
a Protestant curriculum (Historical timeline of
public education in the U.S., 2004).
In 1848, another milestone occurred as the Massachusetts
Reform School at Westboro opened. This was the
first of its kind - a reform school which combined
the features of the educational and juvenile justice
systems. Children who refused to attend public
schools were sent here. This begins a long tradition
of "reform schools," which combine the
education and juvenile justice systems. The same
year, the war against Mexico ended with the signing
of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, and the United
States was given almost half of what was then
Mexico. The treaty effectively guaranteed the
continued use of the Spanish language, including
in education. It was not known at that time but
one hundred fifty years later, in 1998, California
would break that treaty, by implementing Proposition
227, which would make it unlawful for teachers
to speak Spanish in public schools (Historical
timeline of public education in the U.S., 2004;
Schugurensky, 2004).
Just a few years later in 1851, the State of
Massachusetts passed its first compulsory education
law. The aim of this law was to ensure that the
children of poor immigrants get 'civilized' and
learn how to behave with obedience and restraint,
so that they become a better part of the employed
population and don't contribute to social upheaval
and unrest. In 1864, Congress rendered it illegal
for Native Americans to be taught in their native
languages. Language issues related to curriculum
surfaced frequently in the history of public school
curriculum. ("Historical timeline of public
education in the U.S.")
Between 1865 and 1877, the African Americans
started paying attention as the key to success
as they brought public education to the South
for the first time. As the Civil War ended and
Abraham Lincoln brought a much-needed end to slavery
practices, the African Americans in the South
made alliances with white Republicans to attain
many important political and structural changes
such as rewriting state constitutions and guaranteeing
free public education (Historical timeline of
public education in the U.S., 2004).
In 1877, Reconstruction ended as the federal
troops, which had occupied the South since the
end of the Civil War were withdrawn. As the white
people regained political autonomy over the South,
they introduced legal segregation. Segregation
proved to be a topic of much controversy as will
be seen later on in the text. Some years later,
school boards were downsized as the country's
28 biggest cities were reduced to half their original
size. Most local district (or 'ward') based positions
were done away with and this meant that local
immigrant communities could no longer exercise
control over their local schools. Members in the
school board were admitted by city-wide election
and the makeup of school boards changed from small
local businessmen and some wage earners to professionals
(like doctors and lawyers), rich businessmen and
other members of the upper strata of society (Historical
timeline of public education in the U.S., 2004).
In 1896, the Plessy v. Ferguson decision took
place and due to this, many southern states passed
laws requiring racial segregation in public schools.
A few years later, right at the beginning of
the 20th century, the U.S. Supreme Court passed
a bill requiring California to extend public education
to the children of Chinese immigrants. But racial
issues had not subsided: between 1930 and 1950,
the NAACP tried a series of suits over unequal
teachers' salary for Blacks and whites in southern
states. It was around the same time that the southern
states realized they were losing precious African
American labor to the northern cities. Hence,
both these reasons led to the increase of spending
on Black schools in the South (Historical timeline
of public education in the U.S., 2004).
Then, in 1954, a milestone case called Brown v.
Board of Education of Topeka happened. The Supreme
Court unanimously agreed that segregated schools
promote inequality by their very existence and
must be abolished. But almost 45 years later in
1998, schools, especially in the north, are as
segregated as they were in early times. All the
same, in 1974, Milliken v. Bradley was another
landmark case. The Supreme Court comprising Richard
Nixon's appointees ruled that schools may not
be desegregated across school districts. The result
of this case was the effective and apparently
legal segregation of students of color in inner-city
districts from white students in wealthier white
suburban districts (Historical timeline of public
education in the U.S., 2004).
Public schools were never without their share
of problems. During the late 1970s, the instance
of 'taxpayers' revolt' led to the implementation
of Proposition 13 in California, and Massachusetts
followed suit with Proposition 2-1/2. These led
to the freezing of property taxes, which were
how public schools were primarily funded. The
impact of this was staggering: California went
from being first in the nation in per-student
spending in 1978 to number 43 in 1998 (Historical
timeline of public education in the U.S., 2004).
In later years, enactments like the Proposition
187 (which made it illegal for children of undocumented
immigrants to attend public school), Proposition
209 (which outlawed affirmative action in public
employment, public contracting and public education)
were passed in California amid much controversy.
Though public education and curriculum has seen
its share of hype and criticism, it is still extremely
essential. Following are reasons why:
Public schools give the employment sector a mix
of skills and aptitude needed crucially to succeed
in the business world. They encourage the intuitive
ability as well as provide book knowledge - both
very important skills. They provide businesses
with a pre-trained workforce that has been taught
important skills. These skills may include ability
in subject matter like reading or math, but even
more important to business is attitude. Public
schools teach "skills" that business
owners find very useful like competition, discipline,
obedience and respect for and compliance with
authority.
Some schools might be rich and some might be
of a lower standard with students belonging to
a less well-off section of society, public schools
ensure that everyone has an equal chance. Just
the mere fact that everyone can go to public school
prove that in the U.S., everyone is given a fair
chance to move ahead in life.
One way of looking at the history of public education
in the United States is to see how wealthy people
and business shaped the schools to contain and
control poor people and turn them into useful
workers and consumers. This could be a reason
why rich people are willing to support public
schools with their tax dollars because in the
end, a skilled workforce benefits them. As Horace
Mann, Massachusetts' first state Superintendent
of Schools informed business owners in the 1840s
that they would get better workers if they paid
for public education. Workers who had been to
school were distinguished by their "docility
and quickness in applying themselves to work,
personal cleanliness and fidelity in the performance
of duties," not by their ability to read
or do math. The concept remains today, as public
education is a vital building block for greater
things to come.
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