Chapter 3 mentions, “Jeffersons opinion on education in the new republic were quite different from those of his contemporaries…”I agree with the logic of Thomas Jefferson.As the text states, “he believed education should provide the average citizen with the tools of reading and writing and the political beliefs would be formed through the exercise of reason.” It later states, “political education should be provided to students from newspapers and history.”We are all familiar with this form of learning.However, “heroification” in history can affect many students way of thinking.Heroification is “the act of turning someone into a hero through one’s own perception, and not for any heroic deeds they might have done(Wiki.answers).”For instance, the numerous stories of Christopher Columbus.If Jefferson believed it was best for students to intake information at a younger age, would heroification affect them in the long run?If students must focus on historical information and it is inaccurate, how would the future society be free, if we lack information,which may alter our perspective?
The Lancasterian System was a very brilliant form of teaching.It is similar to Lev Vygotsky’s Scaffolding Theory.Although the system was used in 1822, it may be useful in classrooms setting today.Classroom management plays key role in the type of education any student receives.
If the Lancasterian System was practiced in more United States classrooms, I feel the quality of education will differ.In addition to a better education, this system would help students develop interpersonal skills (the interactions with professor/teachers in the classroom setting) and build moral character.
It’s very interesting to me that you associate the Lancaster system with Vygotsky’s theory; I never would have thought of it in that way. I think it is insightful to interpret this system in terms of scaffolding, but I don’t know that Vygotsky would have been a proponent of the Lancaster system. It is an interesting question to consider…
Chapter 3
I never knew that Noah Webster created the foundation of speech and literature in American society. Single-handedly it seems, he constructed a working language that would be ours (America’s) and not theirs (England’s). I believe this was done in order to give us some sense of pride in our values, our system of governance and effectively unify the masses. Because even though we may have many differences culturally, we would have a language, a method of communication that would bind us together and give us something to share.
By combining American teachings and demonstrations into the classroom, I believe that he was educating the future of America in some of the core values of America. As it says in the The American School “The ultimate end of patriotism was to strengthen emotional ties to the country so that common citizens would be willing to die in military service to the government”. This almost sounds like indoctrination. Although, at this point in history, they feared for the future of the state.
In building this “inviolable attachment” between nation and state, from a very young age, the government could reach the emotions of young Americans through public education. I believe that even though this brought a unifying force to Americans, it took away from the scholastic advantage it could have capitalized on. This is why I believe that Thomas Jefferson had a better grasp on the education system. His believed more in the basic necessities of education and the idea that education did not stop at 17 or 18 years of age but went on through college. This would build a lasting infrastructure. Even though he eventually gave in to the mainstream thought, his original opinions, I believe, were taken into consideration later on in the development of public American education.