Assignment #8
When Horace Mann became Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education in 1837, he was appalled by the haphazard nature of the schooling provided for the state’s children. How did Mann's beliefs about effective instructional practices differ from the accepted practices in local public schools at the time?
SUMMARY
We have all come to a conclusion how impactful Horace Mann was. He was an advocate for education reform and has made a significance difference in education. Many people viewed education as something that was a separated affiliation and was also more taught at home or in church. Horace wanted to change that and separate school and church. Not only was his purpose wasto obtain a tax-funded public school system, he wanted to provide teachers with better training for a better outlet of giving information to the students.
Kitty Lui
Many public schools at that time were funded by local towns and were religious. So after visiting the schools, Horace Mann coined the term “ common school.” In this, he wanted schools to be free from religious influence. He believed that school should be a place where any one from any religion and any social class can attend. Others opposed this because they felt that school is what connected those to their religion.
Mann wanted schools to last longer than the usual term, have a more consistent standard of how teachers taught, more and better supplies and more much reforms. He argued that the funding should come from everyone through taxes, even from those that didn’t have kids themselves. He had a hard time convincing others to jump on board for this type of funding.
Mann also had a different view of women education. He felt that women would fit the perfect role as an educator because they are naturally suited to teach and work well with children. He felt that it would be beneficial financially for women to be teachers.
Nancy Lu
Horace Mann was an indefatigable lawyer and state legislator who accepted the newly created Massachusetts post of Secretary of the State Board of Education in 1837. He would address a range of issues in education, and lobbied for laws establishing a modern educational system. He witnessed instances of intolerance and felt that religious sectarianism and cultural conflict threatened American institutions. However, this resulted his idea of a common school where students of different groups would be more essential to the future of the republic. He believed that students attending school should establish the idea of supporting a full range of religious beliefs and cultural traditions. At the time, common public schools barely enhanced what children were already learning back at their homes or from their parents. There was a point where there was religious affiliations.Thus, Mann became the reason for tuition free public education. He focused on expanding social equity and political reform. He viewed education as equity in which the rich and poor could attend school and be educated without any affiliations.
Omar Sarreal
Horace Mann was an advocate of education reform and he wanted to focus on equality in regards to school and education. He was the catalyst for the common school, in which students of different race, religion, and social status could attend school. Back in the days, school tend to separate those who were poor or rich and would have different affiliations. However, Horace Mann wanted to improve standardized curriculum, improve how teachers were trained, promote female teachers, and provide schooling that is free of charge. This reform that Horace Mann encouraged that schools should refunded through property taxes, but many disagreed and didn’t want it. Before Mann became an advocate of education reform, children were being taught at home or at church, however, Mann was able to separate public schools from church.
Aliyah Deiz
Many people back then did not value education in the same way Horace Mann did. For others, education was just to learn basic literacy so the conditions of the school houses were in poor conditions. The seats were uncomfortable, the boards were not very effective, and curriculum varied across the state.
When Mann took notice of this, he immediately wanted to make changes. These changes included better seats, black boards, and a common curriculum across the state of Massachusetts. All these changes and many others, were under the push towards creating Common Schools. To achieve this, Mann believed that the citizens would pay taxes in order to compensate for the new changes to the schools. The public disagreed with this because they felt that schools were not important. To the public, they felt that only those who had children going to these schools should pay.
Angel Moreno
When Horace Mann was elected as secretary of the Board of Education in Massachusetts, it marked the initiation of a progressive movement in public education known as the Common School Movement. The main purpose of this movement was to obtain a tax-funded, secular public school system. One belief that Mann had was that he needed to provide teachers better training so that it provided a better avenue for the sharing of information to the students. He founded the Normal Schools in Massachusetts which were schools aimed at preparing teachers with standards. Horace Mann believed in the idea of better teachers leads to an increase in student learning. Mann also believed that public schooling was central to good citizenship and societal well-being. He informed and pointed out that political stability and social harmony depended on education: only a certain amount of literacy and the inculcation of common public ideas. One concept that really stood out was that the philosophy behind the Common School Movement constructed an objective of discussing goals and purposes of public schools. This sense of goal-oriented attitude influenced the children because it got them to think in a similar manner. Ultimately, it wanted students to be inspired and really look forward to their future.