Composition: History & Theory: 1930 - 1939
The Arthurdale Experiment and Place-Based Education
Description
New Deal reformers hired Elsie Clapp, a student of John Dewey, to rework the educational system in Arthurdale, West Virginia. The Arthurdale citizenry was suffering from widespread poverty due to coal company layoffs, conditions which had damaged the region’s traditional cultural ties. Clapp envisioned a school system inseparable from the community it served; students, parents, and community members were given the opportunity to contribute to the school’s design and curriculum. Courses revolved around traditional arts and the skills needed to make the community self-sufficient and self-sustaining. As such, Arthurdale was one of the first major attempts to utilize place-based education in an American public school.
While students responded well to the program, Arthurdale failed to influence the wider American curriculum and educational system. The Arthurdale school system eventually collapsed, due in part to anti-Appalachian currents in American society and desires for education for social mobility, rather than self-sufficiency. In addition, the Arthurdale experiment failed to fulfill its own goals of authentic community representation, as it only served the white, coal company-sanctioned population of the community. (Segregation barred both non-whites and union members from participation in the Arthurdale school.)
Author
Amanda Hayes
Date of Upload
10/06/11