Introduction
Throughout the ETE 115 course we have learned about people who have had a great impact on education in present day. After reading through Urban and Fraser I have picked the ten most influential people in my opinion to talk about, you can find more information on them written below and through the attached links.
Catherine Beecher -
Catherine Beecher educated herself through private studies and then eventually became an educator in 1821. 1823, Beecher co-founded the Innovative Hartford Female Seminary. The purpose of this founding was to help teach women how to be educators and mothers. https://www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/beecher.html |
Thomas Jefferson -
Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia and was established in 1819. Jefferson was a forerunner for the common schools working with Horace Mann. He didn't want centralized authority so the district itself would be in charge of the schools. https://www.libertarianism.org/publications/essays/excursions/thomas-jefferson-public-education-part-1 |
Sonia Nieto -
Sonia Nieto is the founding editor of the Language, Culture, and Teaching Series, Routledge. Nieto believes that educators should approach new information by starting with what their students already know and using that knowledge as a foundation to build off of; also to include their own experiences and taking in new ones. https://naeducation.org/our-members/sonia-nieto/ |
Benjamin Rush -
Benjamin Rush attended the Pennsylvania state convention in 1789 and worked on behalf of the law of the new constitution. Rush combined teaching with a cause of providing assistance to the poor. The Philadelphia Dispensary provided medical care for the poor. 1787 Rush helped with the founding of the College of Physicians. https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/benjamin-rush |
William Holmes McGuffey -
William Holmes McGuffey was a college president and professor who is best know for the used elementary school-level textbooks he wrote, McGuffey Readers. McGuffey strongly believed that religion and education should be related. https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Holmes-McGuffey |
Noah Webster -
Noah Webster wrote many essays which promoted education reformation in the 1780s. The main goal of education for Webster was to train the youth with Christianity and the concepts of it. In 1806 Webster published his Compendious Dictionary of the English Language. https://connecticuthistory.org/noah-webster-and-the-dream-of-a-common-language/ |
John Dewey -
John Dewey was an educator, philosopher, and a social reformer. Dewey saw learning as doing and that education should include information on practical life skills as well. He wanted students to be active and not passive. Students having their desks set in rows and learning by memorization and recitation was not right. https://www.neh.gov/article/john-dewey-portrait-progressive-thinker |
Margaret Haley -
Margaret Haley became a voice in national educational politics. Haley stimulated a more professional approach to teaching; this included improved teacher involvement and education in school management. She was the first business representative of the Chicago Teachers Federation and was a pioneer leader in organizing school teachers. https://www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/haley.html |
Horace Mann -
Horace Mann was elected to act as Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education in 1837. Mann used that position as an opportunity to pass major education reform. He lead the Common School Movement which ensured that every child would receive a basic education which would be funded by local taxes. https://www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/horace.html |
Frederick Douglass -
Frederick Douglass knew slave owners feared the power of education. Douglass knew he had potential for education. He would trade pieces of bread for an eduction as an adult since his educators were white children with the ability to read a write but they had no food. When Douglass was twenty, he went to New York and started his new life as an anti-slavery activist and orator. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/02/10/514385071/frederick-douglass-on-how-slave-owners-used-food-as-a-weapon-of-control |