American education system is very different from many education systems in the world. Its main uniqueness is the lack of uniformity in the running of schools in all the states of the country (Sowell,1993). The schools are usually controlled by district boards, which are also in charge of setting policies, soliciting funds, regulating the teaching process and setting the curricula for various districts (Ravitch, 2010). Public schools get their funds from state, local and federal governments (Sowell,1993). Many of the students attend public schools. Specifically, 88% of them go to public schools, while the rest go to private schools or get home schooling.
The education system is divided into sevaral levels based on the age of the learners (Sowell,1993). The first level is the elementary school (K school and primary school), then goes middle or junior high school and senior high school. These initial levels are then followed by the tertiary level of schooling, college and graduate school (Ravitch, 2010). The entire education system lays emphasis on the learner-centered method of teaching, where the teacher only serves as a guide in the learning process.
The learner works on his or her own to make discoveries. This system came to be what it is today as a result of the work done by many fore-runners of education. This paper discusses the impact of some of them. Precisely, it looks at the works of Calvin and Calvinism, Horace Mann and the education board, Socrates and John Dewey and their influence on the current American education system.
One of the first people to make a significant contribution to the American education system was John Calvin. He was a protestant reformer who mainly advocated for the sponsorship of education by state governments (Ravitch, 2010). He also advocated for universal literacy for the purpose of helping citizens know how to read the Bible. According to him, people who could read the Bible would easily transform into morally upright citizens (Ravitch, 2010). His influence is still felt up to today. The schools are sponsored by the federal, local and state governments as he envisioned.
In addition, the American education system still emphasizes the production of morally upright citizens. However, it does not achieve this objective through the use of biblical teachings (Ravitch, 2010). In 2002, the Congress passed a bill, The No Child Left behind Bill, to ensure that all the learners in the states acquire at least a certain level of knowledge (Ravitch, 2010). This move ensured that Calvin’s dream of universal literacy was achieved. Later, the court ruled that state governments should sometimes sponsor some of the Parochial Schools associated with Calvin and other Christian scholars.
Before Calvin, Socrates had surprised the world with his Socratic Method. This method entails dialectic questions intended to make learners think logically and come up with rational responses to difficult situations (Levin, 1987). According to Socrates, education is meant to help people become citizens that can think rationally and critically. This method targets statements that people make and shows their faults. In most cases, teachers must challenge what their students say and make them self-contradicting. As a result, speakers are forced to re-phrase their statements. Eventually, speakers move toward objectivity (Levin, 1987).
Though the American system does not use this method as was originally formulated by Socrates, its influence is evident in the student-centered method that is very common in American classes. Mostly, teachers only guide the students to make their own discoveries. They formulate questions and the students look for answers on their own. The American education system uses this method of teaching to ensure that their graduates are absolutely non-conformistic (Levin, 1987).
Horace Mann was also a very influential person in the history of American education. He formed the first education board in America, which brought about very many reforms in the running of education in the country (Mann, 1957). The most felt reforms were from Europe, especially Prussia. Among the reforms he proposed were the elimination of ignorance among the public, the payment, sustenance and control of education by the public, admission of students from all backgrounds, non-sectarian teaching, freedom in the teaching and learning process and the possession of adequate training by the teaching staff (Mann, 1957).
As a result of these propositions, education in America became non-sectarian and all-inclusive. Learners are not treated based on religion color or class. Besides non-sectarianism, the running of education is still in the hands of education boards in every state. In addition, the public indirectly caters for their children’s education through paying taxes to the federal, local and state governments.
The most important of these individuals was John Dewey. He introduced the student-centered method of teaching and advocated the maximum participation of students in the learning process (Dewey, 1915). He also conceptualized that students learn best when they experiment with ideas before embracing them as facts or refuting them (Dewey, 1915). This method is the most common approach of teaching employed in the US. Students learn through experiments, fieldworks, the use of hypotheses and many other heuristic methods of learning. In modern times, a typical American teacher only serves as a guide in the learning process.
Summarily, the American education system has come a long way. Many scholars, from the classical period to the modern period, have influenced this system of education differently. American educational reformists also had to borrow some practices and ideologies from other countries along the way.
References
Dewey, J. (1915). The school and society. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Levin, M. (1987). The Socratic method. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Mann, H. (1957). The republic and the school. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.
Ravitch, D. (2010). The death and life of the great American school system. New York: Basic Books.
Sowell, T. (1993). Inside American education. New York: Free Press.