Composition: History & Theory: 1865 - 1899
Darwinism and the Progressive Movement
Description
In The Transformation of the School: Progressivism in American Education 1876-1957 (1961), Lawrence Cremin notes that the 1890s brought about massive changes in how science influenced several areas: psychology, social theory, philosophy, chemistry, physics, biology, and Darwinism. Darwinism is defined as: A theory of biological evolution developed by Charles Darwin and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual’s ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. The Progressive movement was bolstered by the increased authority of science.
Herbert Spenser (1820-1903), according to Cremin, started the beginning of the progressive movement with such works as Social Statistics and Synthetic Philosophy. Spenser declared, “To prepare us for complete living is the function which education has to discharge” and further claimed that all education must be measured by how well it completes that task (Cremin 91). Spenser defines “complete living” as, “(1) those activities ministering directly to self-preservation, (2) those that secure the necessaries of life, (3) those concerned with the rearing and disciplining of offspring, (4) those that maintain proper social and political relations, and (5) those devoted to the gratification of tastes and feelings” (Cremin 92). Spenser believed that the current educational system relied too heavily on “elegance” as the goal (Cremin 92). Instead, Spenser saw science as more “efficient and economical”. It is clear that Spenser was a strong supporter of Darwin and had a social theory very similar to Darwin’s evolutionary stance (adaptation to environment). Spenser believed education should prepare one for life (93). He believed: “The best the teacher can do is provide the knowledge that will enable people to adapt more readily to the circumstances that surround them” (Cremin 94). A fellow advocate, William Graham Sumner, also praised the scientific approach and suggested that the “fittest” would lead, but ultimately, he seemed somewhat anti-progressive in his views.
Lester Frank Ward read everything Spenser wrote, but had differing views of education. He felt Spencer only dealt with the genetic aspects, which was easy according to Ward. Ward, however, explained, “The office of the mind is to direct society into unobstructed channels, to enable these forces to continue in free play, to prevent them from being neutralized by collision with obstacles in their path” (96). Ward saw education as “the foremost activity of mankind” (97). He saw potential where others saw limitations. Ward realized the educational system was flawed but knew it was the only true way to transfer information. Sadly, much of his work was ignored until Albion Small. Small used Ward’s ideas as the foundation to his own ideas. Small summarized that Education must reflect three modern realities: interdependence, cooperation, and progress. “By 1896,” Cremin notes, “American educators could take their choice between Spenser and Sumner or Ward and Small . . . “Conservative Darwinism on the one hand or Reform Darwinism on the other” (99).
Granville Stanley Hall earned Harvard’s first doctorate in psychology (1878) and put forth the thesis that one’s development through life is related to similar stages that humankind, from presavagery to civilization, has undergone over time. His ideas helped shift pedagogical thought to the needs of the student because the student’s nature, needs, and development were the only “worthy” path (103). Up to this point, students were often “told to perform up to standard or get out” (104). Hall’s lack of modesty annoyed those that trained him such as William James. James helped Hall at Harvard to work in labs. James, in fact, completed one of the most important psychology texts, Principles of Psychology in 1890 (it took him 12 years to write instead of the planned two; he started the same year Hall got his PhD).
William James realized there was more to Darwinism than just being molded by one’s environment. He noted, “the knower is an actor who helps transform the world of which he [or she] is part” (106). The point is not merely to adapt to things “but to change them as well” (106). James explained (via Cremin), “the job of the teacher is to turn the ‘sensitive, impulsive, associative, and reactive organism’ that is the child into a purposeful, thinking adult who will use his [or her] talents to the fullest in the struggle for a better life” (108). James’s works led pedagogical thinking toward teaching in a more hopeful manner.
Edward L. Thorndike wrote his dissertation on Animal Intelligence. This work propelled psychology with “learning” theories that explained how animals learned by reward and when rewarded, learned faster (111). His work spawned the belief that using animals in laboratory experiments would aid in the understanding of the animal (and human) mind. Thorndike also dealt a severe blow to previous beliefs about Biblical views (humans are essentially evil), the Rousseauian view (that humans are essentially good), and the Lockean view (that humans are completely modifiable) (112). Instead, Thorndike believed humans had tendencies that could be exploited for good or bad (112). Finally, Thorndike believed that to train children (via animals) was “to arrange everything in connection with the trick so that the animal will be compelled by the laws of his own nature to perform it” (Cremin 112).
John Dewey studied James, Kant, and Hegel, but was also heavily influenced by the times. Business wanted workers; patriots wanted “Americanization”; workers wanted domestic science (such as hygiene and child care). He boldly concluded, “Society . . . educates” (117). This is important because previous to this, many aspects of society felt others aspects of society needed to educate, not the whole. “Dewey’s ‘embryonic community’ [sought] to reflect the life of the larger society, thereby removing the curse he saw in traditional education, isolation from reality. But even more important, Dewey’s ‘embryonic community’ was to improve the larger society by making it more ‘worthy, lovely, and harmonious.’ Once again, the school is cast as a lever of social change; for as soon as ‘worthy, lovely, and harmonious’ are defined, educational theory . . . becomes political theory, and the educator is inevitably case into the struggle for social reform” (Cremin 118). Like Hall, Dewey felt education should focus on the child. Dewey also felt the school should become the focal point of society to ensure a “better life” (Cremin 119). Dewey’s works include The School and Society, Democracy and Education, Ethics, Moral Principles in Education, How We Think, Interest and Effort in Education. Democracy and Education was an instant hit which was praised for being “the clearest, most comprehensive statement of the progressive education movement” (Cremin 120). Dewey believed that the purpose of education was to make citizens that lived life to the “fullest—that is who will continually add to the meaning of their experience and to their ability to direct subsequent experience” (Cremin 123). This related especially to each subsequent generation. Dewey felt education included the “industrial” arts and that these were a stepping-stone to further education, but he also felt that the industrial arts were important to equalize society. The point is that anything was worthy of study if “the goal of growth was in mind” (Cremin 125).
Date of Upload
3/13/09