Our education system has moved through two eras: the apprentiship era to the universal - schooling era. There were also changes on who was responsible for education, what was the purpose and content of education, how students were to be taught, and what did we expect students to learn. Location of where learning occured also changed, the culture changed, and the relationships between students and teachers changed.All education aspects are constantly changing as we move into the lifelong learning era.
In the apprenticeship era, parents were the deciding factor on what their children would learn. Boys would follow in their fathers footsteps and girls would become housewifes and learn farming duties. People of this era were self-taught. Horace Mann and his fellow colleagues had the revolutionary idea to take the responsibility of education away from parents. They argued that children should be required to attend school to learn American values and the English when their were immigrant children involved. In the present-day era, a shift back to the parents from school is happening. We see more home schooling, distance education, and learning centers. More parents are taking control of the education of their children by using computer software and educational videos. They teach their children what they think is important.
Before the Industrial Revolution, parents had expectations for their children to follow in their footsteps. These expecations supported reproduction of class differences. The main goal was to raise choldren with same skills their parents had.
After the Industrial Revolution, Horace Mann's main focus was on creating a common school system that would be the central path for children to take advantage of social mobility. His basic argument was equity through education because he flet that if children were given a free education, they would receice the American values and have the basic skills needed to do any work they chose. The teaching of apprenticeship involves observing, modeling, and practice and coaching. It is very resource intensive. The apprenticeship has started with some technological help, computer tutors. I believe these computer tutors do help students. They fully help the students in solving complex problems by pointing out thier mistakes. Apprenticeship is further discussed as assessments and as venues change especially with computers and the web.
Home schooling is not a bad idea. It is respected by many that parents want their moral values to be taught to their children by them. That is perfectly fine. However, just like Mann's view is perceived, home schooling lacks the sociability with others. This is critical to every child. The opportunity for them to explore many different options to learn what truely interest them is taken away. Instead of it being one or the other, I believe the two should work together to meet both needs.
ReplyDelete-April Johnson
I do not believe that homeschool is a bad idea. I have several friends that were home schooled. The social aspect that the children need has been taken away. I think every child needs to have that social factor with other children. I understand and respect that parents what their children to have their moral values. They can still have that and go to school with other children.
ReplyDeleteBritan Dickey
The question, “Who is responsible for our children education,” have been so revolutionized by technology itself. There are many options to draw from when this subject is approached. The three eras of education summarize how fortunate each generation of educators and learners have mobilized in many areas. For instance the apprenticeship era there was a cap and limitation on what a child should learn, especially depending on what type of industry the parents were working in. The horizon is so much broader in the lifelong learning area because what to learn and how to learn depends on the interest of the individual.j What drives our interest now plays a major role in what is desired to be learned. Over the years our expectations for our lives change, and to obtain those changes we must be willing to do what it takes to become that successful individual.
ReplyDeleteAmelia Mosley