HPC 582: History of Education in the U.S.
Spring 2015
School of Education, Iowa State University
Wednesday, 5:10-8:00
Lagomarcino 0760
Instructor: Michael Bowman ([email protected])
Office Hours: Please contact to make an appointment
About the Course
This introductory course aims to help you become informed and active participants in conversations
about the history of education in the U.S. To this end, the course provides: (1) a basic overview of
the history of education in the U.S.; (2) an introduction to significant contemporary scholarship and
approaches in the field of history of education; and (3) opportunities for you to begin participating
in the historical conversation, which in turn should help illuminate your understanding of
contemporary debates in public education, especially on issues of educational access and equity, as
well as competing visions about the purpose(s) of public education.
To accomplish our task, the course is divided into two sections. During the first section, we will
concentrate on reading the 5th edition (2015) of John Rury’s interpretive, introductory history of
education in the U.S., Education and Social Change. During this time, we will also read collections of
historical documents. This will give us an overview of the history of education in the United States,
from colonial times, through the common school movement of the early nineteenth century, to the
progressive era, and the modern era of rapid expansion and bureaucracy, and of the impact of social
movements on schooling. As part of this overview we will also consider some of the major debates
among historians of education.
During the second section, we will read scholarship in the field— a book every other week, paired
with additional smaller texts— that will push and pull Rury’s narrative about the relationship
between education and society. These texts will also allow us to dig into specific issues, events, ideas,
and figures in the educational history of the U.S. as well as examine the kinds of historical
approaches and forms of evidence that historians use to construct their arguments. Throughout the
course, we will identify and follow some ‘master ideas’ or ‘keywords’ that are important to the field
of education more broadly– themes that are undoubtedly vital to our own educational work and
research.
In each historical moment and location under study, we will ask questions such as:
•! What is the purpose of schooling? Who decides?
•! How are these purposes reflected at the macro level– in educational policy, political rhetoric,
and funding mechanisms, etc.? How are these purposes reflected at the micro level– school
locations and assignment policies, school policies and structures, curriculum, etc.?
•! What is the relationship between the macro and micro levels? In other words, what, if any,
impact does policy have on practice? Practice on policy? Federal involvement on local
provision? Local provision on federal involvement?
•! Whose interests are served by schools? Whose interests are not?
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•! What social, psychological, and physical effects does the experience of schooling have on
those whose interests are served and those whose interests are not served?
•! In what ways have schools been positioned as sites of broader social, economic, cultural,
political struggle? Are schools capable of affecting broader change?
•! How have informal educational spaces augmented, expanded, or even replaced formal
schooling?
Readings
All books are available for purchase at the University Bookstore. Documents and articles can be
accessed through Blackboard.
Books
Julie Davis, Survival Schools: The American Indian Movement and Community Education in the Twin Cities
(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013).
Mario T. Garcia and Sal Castro, Blowout!: Sal Castro & the Chicano Struggle for Educational Justice
(University of North Carolina Press, 2011)
Benjamin Looker, A Nation of Neighborhoods: Imagining Cities, Communities, and Democracy in Postwar
America (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015).
Hilary J. Moss, Schooling Citizens: The Struggle for African American Education in Antebellum America
(University of Chicago Press, 2009)
David Reynolds, There Goes the Neighborhood: Rural School Consolidation at the Grass Roots in Early
Twentieth-Century Iowa (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1999).
John Rury, Education and Social Change (New York: Routledge, 2015; 5th edition)
Rules of the Game
In order for class discussion and activities to be educative it is important for everyone to complete
course assignments on time and come to class ready to go. Additionally, this is controversial material
that is sure to spark passion and debate. This is good! However, this makes it especially important
that we listen to each other, respond to each others arguments (not persons), and try to model the
type of democratic discourse we would like to see thrive in the general public. In others words,
please be critical, but definitely be thoughtful.
Disability
If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please
contact me as soon as possible. Documentation for disabilities can be obtained in the Disability
Resource Office on the main floor of the Student Services Building (Room 1076).
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Religious Accommodation
If an academic or work requirement conflicts with your religious practices and/or observances, you
may request reasonable accommodations. Your request must be in writing, and I will review the
request. You or I may also seek assistance from the Dean of Students Office or the Office of Equal
Opportunity and Compliance.
Assignments and Grades
Four Assignments
(1) You are expected to read all assigned material and come to class prepared to engage in
conversation about the texts and ideas under consideration. If you miss more than three classes you
will not pass the course.
(2) Each Monday by midnight, post at least one comment on the course discussion board related to
the texts assigned for the upcoming week. To do this, select one quotation from a text that
resonated with you. Then write a paragraph or two reflecting on that quotation. Do you agree?
Disagree? Do you have issues with the evidence the author used to support his/her claims? Does it
prompt questions for you related to your own work and/or research? Does it connect with other
readings?
Feel free to also make comments on the posts of your colleagues. These posts will guide part of our
weekly seminar discussions.
(3) In week two, you will select one of the books from the second part of the course. You will write
a book review for your selected book and submit it via email to me on the week after we finish
reading it. The book review must include a summary of the book and also your own opinion,
positive, negative, or mixed, regarding the book. Book reviews should be informed by the class
discussion but must, in the end, represent your own opinion of the work. Additional information
about the reviews appear at the end of the syllabus.
(4) Final paper: critical review of Rury’s Education and Social Change (detailed description at the end of
syllabus) or an alternative assignment that you propose. Alternatives might include: an essay focused
on a ‘master idea,’ ‘keyword,’ or theme (e.g. educational opportunity; educational justice; citizenship;
freedom) that runs throughout the books and is linked to your professional and/or academic
interests; an imagined conversation between the authors of two or more books; a book review of a
history of education book and an argument for its inclusion in subsequent iterations of the course.
This list is by no means exhaustive. The goal of the final assignment is for you to use course
texts to help you think historically about education and schooling. 12-15 pages double-spaced.
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Course Grades
There are a total of 100 points in the class. The breakdown is as follows:
Participation: 10
Discussion posting: 30
Book review: 20
Final paper: 40
Weekly Schedule
Week 1 (Aug. 26): Introductions, Overview, Questioning historical evidence
Part I: Surveying the History of Ed with John Rury’s Education and Social Change
Week 2 (Sep. 2): Survey of History of Education in the U.S. Part I
Read:
(1) Rury (2015), Intro and Chapter 1, pp. 1-48
(2) Documents:
In James W. Fraser (2010), The School in the United States: A Documentary History (New York:
Routledge, 2nd edition), pp. 4-29
(a) Virginia Council [London], Instruction to Sir Thomas Gates, Knight, Governor of
Virginia, 1636
(b) Virginia Statutes on the Education of Indian Children Held Hostage, From the Virginia \
Statutes at Large, 1656
(c) South Carolina Statute on Conversion of Slaves to Christianity, Digest of the Public Statute
Law of South Carolina, 1711
(d) A Missionary Report from Mr. Taylor to the Society in North Carolina on the Baptism of
Slaves, April 23, 1719
(e) Virginia’s Cure or An Advisive Narrative Concerning Virginia, London, 1662
(f) Sir William Berkeley, Governor of Virginia, Response to “Enquiries to the Governor of
Virginia,” From the Lord’s Commissioners of Foreign Plantations, 1671
(g) Massachusett’s Old Deluder Satan Law, 1647
(h) Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, 1714-1718
(i) The New England Primer, 1768
(j) Thomas Jefferson, A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge, 1779
(k) Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, 1783
(l) Benjamin Rush, Thoughts Upon Female Education, 1787
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Week 3 (Sep. 9): Survey of History of Education in the U.S. Part II
Read:
(1) Rury (2015), Chapters 2 and 3, pp. 49-115
(2) Documents:
In James W. Fraser (2010), The School in the United States: A Documentary History (New York:
Routledge, 2nd edition), pp. 49-60 and pp. 118-136
(a) Horace Mann, “Tenth Annual Report” (1846)
(b) Horace Mann, “Twelfth Annual Report” (1848)
(c) Catherine E. Beecher, An Essay on the Education of Female Teachers for the United States (1835)
(d) Booker T. Washington, The Future of the American Negro, (1899) (selection)
(e) W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk, (1903) (selection)
Week 4 (Sept. 16): Survey of History of Education in the U.S. Part III
Read:
(1) Rury (2015), Chapter 4, pp. 117-154
(2) Documents:
(a) John Dewey, “My Pedagogic Creed” (1897)
(b) *National Education Association (1892), “Report of the Committee on Secondary
Schools Studies” aka The Committee of Ten (pages 1-33 of the report):
http://archive.org/details/cu31924030593580
(c) George Counts, “Dare the School Build a New Social Order” (1932)
(d, optional refresher from the first day of class) *National Education Association (1918),
“Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education: A Report” (pages 5-31):
http://archive.org/details/cardinalprincipl00natiuoft
Week 5 (Sept. 23): Survey of History of Education in the U.S. Part IV
Read:
(1) Rury (2015), Chapters 5 and 6 and Epilogue, pp. 155-227
(2) Documents:
(a) *Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954):
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0347_0483_ZS.html
(b) Plyler v. Doe (1982). Selection from Latino Education in the United States: A Narrated
History from 1513-2000 edited by Victoria-Maria Macdonald (New York: Palgrave Macmillan,
2004), 286-293. Complete record of Supreme Court opinions:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0457_0202_ZO.html
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Part II: Pushing and Pulling Rury
Historical Approach 1: Space, Place, and Educational History
Week 6 (Sept. 30):
Richard White, “What is Spatial History”
Hillary Moss, Schooling Citizens
Week 7 (Oct. 7):
Moss, Schooling Citizens
Week 8 (Oct. 14):
David Reynolds, There Goes the Neighborhood, 3-130
Week 9 (Oct. 21):
Reynolds, There Goes the Neighborhood, 131-248
Des Moines Register, “Iowa’s Lost Schools: An Introduction to a Year-Long Documentary”
http://dmreg.co/1EwFc5f
Documentary screening and discussion: TBD
Historical Approach 2: Oral Histories, Educational Justice Movement Histories
Week 10 (Oct. 28)
Valerie Yow (2005), “Introduction to the In-Depth Interview,” in Recording Oral History, 1-23
Mario García and Sal Castro, Blowout!, 1-171
Week 11 (Nov. 4):
García and Castro, Blowout!, 172-331
Week 12 (Nov. 11):
American Indian Movement, “Past, Present & Future”
Julie Davis, Survival Schools, xi-126
Week 13 (Nov. 18):
Davis, Survival Schools, 127-247
In-class workshop ideas for final paper
November Break
You should, of course, take some time to be with friends and family. But also spend some
time with Benjamin Looker, as well as start preparing for your final paper. Perhaps
dinnertime conversations about the purpose of schooling; about the school as a site of
historical struggles over education, place, and identity; or about educational justice
movements past and present?
Historical Approach 3: American Studies, Cultural Histories
Week 14 (Dec. 2):
Benjamin Looker, A Nation of Neighborhoods
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Week 15 (Dec. 9):
Looker, A Nation of Neighborhoods
Finals Week (Dec. 14-18): Final Paper
Final paper due at designated finals time (electronic)
Assignment Descriptions
Book Review
There are five prompts (see below) that I want you to address in your book review. It might be
helpful to think of your answers for each prompt as a paragraph. Do not to restate the prompts—
the paper should flow.
All papers should be 2 pages, single-spaced, 12-point font, Times New Roman, and have 1-inch
margins on all sides.
1. (Summary) Imagine you are writing 4-6 sentences describing the book to an audience that has not
read the book. This will force you to be succinct. Be sure to state the author’s primary argument(s).
Warning: this sounds easier than it is!
2. (Sources) What sources does the author use in order to construct their historical narrative? For
instance, did the author read person Xs diaries and use these diaries as the primary source of
evidence to make claims about person Xs life (i.e., biographical claims)? Did the author look at
schooling records from school Y in order to make claims about school Ys curriculum in the 1850s?
Use examples from the text to illustrate. Furthermore, how is the author using the work of other
scholars (secondary sources) who have already written about the issue in question? Use examples to
illustrate. This is intended to get you to think about how historians construct their arguments— how
historians use primary and secondary sources as evidence to support claims. We will talk about
sources (and footnotes) quite a bit this semester, especially when we dig into the scholarly books and
articles. In the meantime, this quick discussion of primary and secondary sources should be helpful
if the concept is new: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/education/008-3010-e.html
3. (Praise) Tell me what you liked most about the book? Did you find certain arguments particularly
compelling? Was the use of historical sources impressive? Be specific and be sure to explain why.
Here I want you to be thinking about what makes a piece of historical scholarship ‘good’. Also, be
sure to focus on substantive issues (e.g. do not tell me that you liked the book because it was short).
4. (Critique) No book is perfect. And the point here is not to zone in on small details and quibbles. I
want you to think about things like sources and argument and the organization of the narrative. For
instance, perhaps the author’s evidence does not support their claims or the book is very poorly
written, thus making it nearly impossible to follow the argument. One thing to keep in mind is
audience. Who is the intended audience? Oftentimes people critique a book because it is not
accessible, usually to some imagined universal readership. Everything is written for a specific
audience. In this case, most of these books are written for historians and other scholars interested in
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historical work. So, before saying the book is problematic because it is not accessible, think about
the intended audience. This will help you determine if the critique of accessibility is fair. Of course,
sometimes it is. As with praise, be sure to focus on substantive issues (e.g. do not tell me that you
don’t like the book because the topic is boring).
5. (Questions and Reflection) What questions does the book raise for you? Many scholars say that
the sign of a good book is that once you finish reading it you have more questions than answers. In
other words, good books help you ask good questions. What questions does the book raise for you?
Does the book shift your thinking about the world? Does it make you wonder about something?
Final Paper– Critical Review of Rury option; for alternative papers, please consult with me
All papers should be 12-15 double-spaced pages, 12-point font, Times New Roman, and 1-inch
margins all around.
John Rury’s Education and Social Change, now in its fifth edition, provides an overview of the history
of education in the U.S. with a specific focus on the history of primary and secondary public
schooling. The book is well regarded and frequently taught in introductory foundations and history
of education courses. While well regarded one could easily argue that the book is not without its
shortcomings. Some of these may simply be the result of the difficulty of writing a short overview of
a highly complex history that spans over three centuries. Authors have to make choices, and we may
disagree with the choices made. Other shortcomings may be the result of specific interpretive
disagreements, such as how to interpret the meaning and significance of specific events, documents,
individual actions, and ideas. Further still, we may also disagree over broader narrative framing—
what we see as the central topics and tensions in the history of education.
In this paper your task is to offer a critical review of John Rury’s Education and Social Change based
upon the books we have read in the course. While you may draw upon outside historical sources
(e.g. other work in the history of education that you have read), I want the review to primarily draw
upon course readings.
The purpose of this critical review is not to slam, rant against, or condemn Rury’s book. You should
offer a generous read. This assignment views Rury’s book as a starting point for entry into a
conversation about the history of education in the U.S., and it views our other readings as new
voices in this conversation that should push and pull our thinking about Rury’s narrative. To this
end, your task is to offer a measured assessment of Rury’s book based upon these new voices,
which, notably, Rury does not reference in his book. For instance, given these new voices, what do
you think of Rury’s framing and his choices and interpretations of historical events, ideas, and
individuals?
There is no set format for this paper. You will need to make an argument about Rury’s book and
support it with evidence drawn from the course materials. In addition to a clear, well-crafted and
supported thesis, solid organization, and thorough editing, the best of papers are sure to offer a
close and insightful reading of Rury’s book as well as of our other readings.
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