Composition: History & Theory: 1865 - 1899
Vocational Education
Description
“When the school opened,” Joel Spring notes in The American School From the Puritans to No Child Left Behind (2008), “it was dedicated to providing a moral and civic education […] however, pressure from students and parents forced the school to focus on training that provided for success in the job market” (253). Schools during this time period began to adopt a differentiated curriculum to serve different vocational aspirations. The concern for the social development of students was also on the rise with the formation of clubs, student government associations, and organized athletics. When the Committee of Ten was developed in 1892 under the leadership of Harvard’s president, Charles Eliot, the committee concerned itself with creating uniform requirements for admission to colleges. Many high school educators found it difficult to organize a course of study when different colleges had different requirements. This marked the beginning of the differentiation between college prep and vocational training. The question at the time was: “[S]hould preparation for life differ from preparation for college?” (255). The Committee recommended no difference between what should taught to the two groups of students. They declared that “there should be no such thing as class education” (255). Their advice would not be followed.
A look at the bigger picture: “Before 1900,” Spring explains, “little support existed for public education that would train students for specific occupations. A major factor in changing attitudes about specific job training was concern about the U.S. in world markets relative to other industrialized countries, such as Germany” (265). According to educators during this time period, the German technical schools were “at once the admiration and fear of all countries” (265). “In the world’s race for commercial supremacy,” they argued, “we must copy and improve upon the German method of education” (265). The campaign for vocational education led “to a widespread bias against the so-called academic side of school work” (268). Industrial education was promoted by disparaging the work of what were referred to as the literary schools. Schools began distinguishing between “abstract-minded” and “concrete-minded” students. Vocational aptitude tests followed, as did guidance counselors.
Date of Upload
3/13/09