How Did Horace Mann Change American Education

The American school system is no stranger to criticism, but everybody seems to have a distinct idea of what should be done to improve it. It was not too long ago that we had no public schooling system at all. A man would change that forever, immortalizing himself as the “father” of American education. It was surprising to me that I had never heard of this man, especially considering I had finished my journey through free and compulsory education two years ago. The man who went on to change American education, was Horace Mann, the first Secretary of the Board of Education in Massachusetts. Horace Mann tirelessly campaigned for the public to be educated, heralding it as a “great equalizer.” So why is the gap between social classes rising exponentially?

His vision revolved around the idea that a successful schooling system would enable people to transcend social class. Among the issues he discussed were physical, intellectual, political, moral, and religious education. Mann believed that modern science put control of one’s well being in their own hands, and people must learn to care for themselves adequately so that healthy habits are ingrained into our culture and subsequently the upbringing of children. Intellectual education, perhaps the most important issue, as it is the one predominantly aimed at enabling people to move up in social class. Mann deemed “vast and overshadowing private fortunes” as one of the greatest threats to people’s happiness. In addition to intellectual education, Mann thought schools should prepare people to participate in politics. Citizens should study government and the constitution, and consider voting an important way to participate in decision making. Mann also thought morals should be instilled in members of society to restrain their destructive impulses at a young age so that they “do not depart” from it. Lastly, Mann considered religion to be important to developing morals and understanding of others. While the bible was not supposed to be a “supreme” reference in schools, it was acceptable to teach it and let students take away their own

Teachers themselves are often left to make the best of what little they have to work with. A narrow curriculum with little for scholars to decide themselves leaves them feeling like completing cookie-cutter worksheets is boring and pointless. Over time, students begin to hold educators with contempt and become disgusted by school and the tedious, rote labor that comes with it. With no enthusiasm, defeated students scores plummet and the faculty in turn can develop a bad attitude about students. The worst part is this combination produces a negative loop that often only spirals further downward. To break this loop, curriculums should be redesigned from the ground up by teachers and students themselves to be open-ended. If students can play an active role in their own education by considering what they want to learn, I believe they will be much more willing to work towards achieving it. Coursework should not detail an outrageous list of steps to follow to arrive at a “correct” answer, but leave questions open-ended so that students can form and share their own opinions. With more motivation to actively participate in their own learning, I believe scores will