History 1080. Growing Up in North America . Children in School. November 25, 2005
1. School becomes the norm
A. Child labour declines
- 13.8 % of Canadians 10-14 = in workforce in 1891; 3.2% in 1921
B. School attendance increases
- 61 % youth attend school consistently in 1900
C. Trend=children start school younger (kindergarten), leave older (high school)
D. Theme=school as social control
- Schools teach work discipline, cultural assimilation, social hierarchy
2. Children & school in the late 19 th century
A. One room schoolhouse & urban schools compared
(Albert School, New Brunswick 1889)
i . large classes, irregular attendance
B. Pedagogy and curriculum
i . Morals education
ii. Rote learning, reading aloud, penmanship (repetition & memorization)
C. Education Reform
i . Johann Pestalozzi (1746-1827)
- child- centred ; moves from concrete to abstract (object learning);
ii. Debate over corporal punishment (Supreme Court of Canada ruling, 2004)
iii. Curricular debates: classical vs. practical education
3. School and socialization in an industrializing society
A. Kindergartensi . Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852)
- Toronto incorporates kindergartens into public school system, 1883
B. Rural education
i . Macdonald -Robertson movement
C. High schools
- 1900: only 10% of Canadian 15=19 year olds attend high schools
- US: in 1890, 4 % of 14-17 years are in school, compared to 47 % by 1920
4. Schools and Diversity: Americanization and Canadianization
A. Immigrant children & cultural conflict
B. African Americans & education
- segregation & industrial education
Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), Tuskegee Institute ( Alabama )
Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955), Daytona Institute ( Florida )
C. Native Schools
5. Schools as sorters: classifying children in a multicultural society
A. Testing, efficiency, and Laggards in our Schools (1909)