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fmertz
Citizen
Username: Fmertz
Post Number: 111
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 5, 2006 - 10:23 pm: | 
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Yes, this probably belongs on the education thread somewhere, but I chose instead to post it here.
I'm curious as to the origins of public education. The reason why is this. Religious schooling, I suspect, was probably prompted, at least in part, to stimulate and broaden the numbers of those who could read the bible.
However, I believe that public education was promoted to enhance for the assimilation of immigrants into using a common language and finding common ground. Public schools could help them become literate and able to communicate with one another by using a common language. In other words, public educations initial objectives most certainly included the desire to create a common thread among the population. In turn this would educate the children of the next generation and provide them with the ability to read and write in English, and perform appropriate mathematic calculations useful in everyday life. The chosen common language was English. Further it was also probable that it was desirable to teach students the constitution, heritage and development of America.
Do public schools still attempt to fulfill this promise today? It doesn’t seem so to me anymore. The big thing these days, especially here in Maplewood is to promote diversity. We can see how well that seems to be working. Hey even Rodney King, that astute, (I suspect public school educated) and skillful driver from California said it best, “Can’t we all just get along”.
Why not return to the origins of what a public education was supposed to do. Stop re-defining its purpose to suit the agenda of a few. Teach our kids valuable skills in how to work together instead of celebrating each others differences…
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Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 9133
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 5, 2006 - 10:44 pm: |
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That's a fairly diverse point of view you have there. ;-) |
Bob K
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 11144
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, April 6, 2006 - 5:23 am: |
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Public education started in the United States well before the Revolution. Right here in Maplewood the building at the corner of what is now Ridgewood Road and Baker Street was a school house at one time. An old map I saw labels the building as "Necissity Corner", because, I assume, the cost of education was an issue even then.
Up until the potato famine in Ireland and the beginning of a large influx of Catholics into the country there was some generic Christian religion in the public schools based on the St. James (Protestant) version of the bible. This died out as more Catholics came to this country and led to the rise of parochial schools, mostly Catholic.
I think it is common for non-Christians and even many Catholics to view Protestianism as a monolithic structure. It isn't. In the 18th and 19th centuries the differences in doctrine were great and public schools based on one denomination would not have been acceptable to other denominations, so I don't think religion was a major factor in the development of public education.
On a more general level there is an article in this weeks Newsweek by Jon Meecham, one of the senior editors, about religion in public life and how it came about at the Continental Congress.
An interesting, to me at least, aside is that Harvard, Yale and Princeton (then called the College of New Jersey) all have their roots in training ministers for various denominations. The President of Princeton, Reverend Witherspoon, was the only clergyman at the Continental Congress. The actress Rene Witherspoon is a direct decendent btw.
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