History_of_American_Education

History of American Education Nimiwari Ighofose AED/201 April 16th, 2010. Amber Wilton History of American Education The three major periods in the history of American education are: • The Colonial Period (1607-1775) • The Early National Period (1775-1820) • The Common School Movement (1820-1865) The two major eras in the history of American education are: • The Progressive Era • The Modern Era The table below lists events that stood out in each historical period or era. |The Colonial Period | Massachusetts Bay Colony law requires proper teaching of children (1642) | |The Early National Period |Jefferson proposes establishment of common schools (1779) | |The Common School Movement |Boston gets public high schools, which eventually replace Latin grammar schools and public academies | | |(1821) | |The Progressive Era |Maria Montessori begins the early childhood movement (1907) | |The Modern Era |UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization is founded (1945) | Maria Montessori’s establishment of the early childhood movement in 1907 had a great effect on education systems for young children and the teacher education. According to the International Montessori Index website (2010), she believed that children are born with “a unique potential to be revealed, rather than as a ‘blank slate’ waiting to be written upon”. After becoming a physician in 1896, she turned her focus to children’s education. Her first work was with fifty children from a slum. These uncultured children would be a testament to her determination to show that all children, no matter their background or social status, have the potential to success if they are treated with respect. In her own words, she “studied her children, and they taught her how to teach them” (Flaherty, n.d.). Her method of observing children and finding the best way to teach them is something that all teachers are trained to do, even in modern times. She was just the first person to successfully do this. She also introduced the concept of giving children a comfortable atmosphere in which to learn. Her children were the first to have child-sized chairs and tables (Flaherty, n.d.). When the children saw the effort she made to make sure they could learn comfortably, they also gained respect for the environment and were quite well-behaved. Maria Montessori believed that if something was fun, the children would have no problem absorbing it. In a bid to teach the children the importance of starting the day with focus, she invented the ‘game of silence’. In this game, the students had a few moments of silence at the beginning of the day. Because they saw it as a game, they always looked forward to it. At the same time, they were learning the importance of gathering their thoughts before beginning a day of work. Having respect for children, believing in them no matter their social status, taking the time to teach in the most effective way possible, and making learning fun are concepts that Maria Montessori introduced to the world of education that are still in use today. References Flaherty, T. (n.d.). Maria Montessori. Women's Intellectual Contributions to the Study of Mind and Society. Retrieved from http://www.webster.edu/ The International Montessori Index. (2010). Maria Montessori, MD. Retrieved from http://www.montessori.edu