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> That public school should have a goal of instilling American values is one of the oldest ideas in American society This is wildly untrue. In fact there was a
by kthejoker2 3y ago
> That public school should have a goal of instilling American values is one of the oldest ideas in American society
This is wildly untrue. In fact there was a huge battle to introduce a more "American" civics vs British/Eurocentric history in the early 20th century that wasn't really resolved until World War II when (for better or worse) American patriotism completely invaded public school curriculum.
Most people until ... let's say 1950 ... learned virtually nothing about the Revolution, "manifest destiny", the Bill of Rights (largely untested in court), or any other number of US cultural "values" unless they went to college.
Public school was the three Rs and the trades.
- tptacek 3y agoI don't think you're right about this, and I'll present two pieces of countervailing evidence: (1) Horace Mann's own words, in which he defines "education" as meaning "much more than an ability to read, write, and keep common accounts" --- and goes on to list, at great length, civic and moral virtues. (2) The deliberate effort at the turn of the century to use public education to inculcate American values & civic culture into immigrants. At any rate, Rayiner and I agree about this premise. Further, if I'm wrong, I'm clearly not "wildly" wrong.