PUBLIC EDUCATION AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE: THREE MODES OF ADJUSTMENT

In: The journal of politics: JOP, Band 35, Heft 4, S. 798-829

Abstract

MAJOR EDUCATIONAL TASKS ASSUMED BY US PUBLIC SCHOOLS HAVE LED TO SHIFTING SC RELATIONSHIPS BASED ON 3 HISTORICAL PHASES MARKED BY DISTINCTIVE MODES OF EDUCATIONAL CHANGE. FROM 1787-1857 (PHASE I), THE EMPHASIS IN PUBLIC EDUCATION MOVED FROM RELIGIOUS RECTITUDE TO DEVELOPMENT OF GENTILITY & THE EVENTUAL ESTABLISHMENT OF CLASS STRUCTURES. WITH THE EMERGENCE OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOC, PHASE 2 (1857-1945) MARKED A SHIFT IN THE CRITERIA OF SS DUE TO CHANGES IN SOCIAL STRUCTURE BROUGHT WITH THE MOBILITY OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. THE SCHOOL NO LONGER STRATIFIED AGRARIAN AMERICA; IT ATTEMPTED TO BRIDGE AN INCREASINGLY HETEROGENEOUS NATION. CHARACTERISTIC OF THIS STAGE WAS A MINIMIZING OF MOBILITY & ASSIMILATION PROBLEMS THROUGH FORMING PUBLIC CONSENSUS AROUND NORMS OF A DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL EQUALITY, VOCATIONAL SUCCESS, & PERSONAL SOCIABILITY. PHASE 3 (1945-) WITH ASSIMILATION OF THE MOST DEPRIVED SUBGROUPS INTO THE MAINSTREAM, APPROACHES EDUCATIONAL REVOLUTION. THE CONTEMPORARY SCHOOL IS MULTIDOCTRINAL, MULTIFUNCTIONAL, & STRESSES BELIEF IN HUMAN POTENTIAL. BY REMOVING TRADITIONAL RESTRICTIONS EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FREE THE STUDENT TO DEVELOP HIS OWN UNIQUE LIFE WITHOUT ENFORCING NORMS OF BEHAVIOR & ACCEPTANCE. EMPHASIS IS ON GREATER DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION & POLITICAL ACTIVITY WITHIN THE SCHOOLS IN THE CONTEXT OF COMMUNITY, STATE, & NATION. THROUGH AN INCREASING ADOPTION OF EGALITARIAN EDUCATIONAL DOCTRINE, US SCHOOLS HAVE MOVED TO GREATER SHIFTS IN SM. 2 FIGURES. T. BABITSKY.