ch. 4 reflection

The authors began this chapter by commenting that the Knowledge Revolution of today has brought a large shift in schools and society like the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century did. This current revolution, they claimed, will change education in that schools and learning will not be as closely linked as they were in the past. I agree with this statement. Already, UF has cut down on its education program (among many other areas) in part because of the rise of online colleges and other avenues (made possible by computers and the Internet).

The chapter briefly mentioned that before the Industrial Revolution, parents were largely responsible for their children's education. Once the Revolution occurred, this responsibility shifted to that of the state. I agree with this to some extent (i.e. setting up schools and hiring teachers); I also believe that parents still have responsibility in this matter. They should at least be monitoring their children in terms of their understanding and completion of school work. While I realize that all parents do not have this luxury, at least some have a say in which school to send their child (private, public, at home, etc.).

The authors decided to take a deeper look into why the Industrial Revolution came about and its impact on schools. Before the revolution, parents were involved in that they decided in what area their children would apprentice (and most of the time the children took apprenticeships with their parents or other relations). This began to change when certain events took place.

An invention that nudged America towards creating a universal schooling system was that of the printing press because it led to widespread knowledge for all as well as increased what children needed to know for the adult world. American culture experienced a change from that of oral tradition (and the role of the elderly in telling stories/events) to writing events down. The authors note that having events written down makes them easier to evaluate and challenge as well as study, which is important for universal schooling.

The Reformation led to the notion of individually acquiring knowledge rather than tradition as well as a need for educational institutions to teach people, especially in how to read. This also led to the American Revolution, which called for an educated population.

The Industrial Revolution brought many immigrants to America as well as a push towards urbanization. Urbanization led to crime and poverty as well as a push for children to be educated in state-provided schools. The authors noted ideas that caught on quickly in the 19th century and are now hard to change include the graded school, the plan for American schooling (kindergarten, elementary school and high school), and units (i.e. the establishment of class periods/permanent classes each week). In the 20th century, the physical organization of schools (each room in schools were in constant use), schools based on a system of measurement, and many more now common school characteristics (middle school, community college, the SAT, etc.) were established and hold strong today, many years later. Other characteristics include mandatory attendance and test and textbook use. These features were solutions to problems that arose in society many years ago and should at least be reevaluated now to determine if they are still the best way to handle each problem.

When I become a teacher, I will be sure to contemplate what is best for my students and teach them that in the most relevant ways I can without an over reliance on teachers' editions of textbooks.