David Nasaws Book Schooled to Order.
In his book, David Nasaw gives a summary of the revisionist educational history as it is termed today. He deals with three periods in the major change of educational history of America the common school of 1840s and 1850s, the transformation of the high school and the expansion of Higher education since World War II. According to him, reformers have always worked out reformation in equilibrium with an attempt of solving social instabilities in the society. Pubic education is molded by the homogeneity in culture. The major role of public education is to give a good preparation to industrial labor force. Throughout, he focuses on the persistence of tension in education which exists between democratic movement for equal outcomes and inequality in social order.
Themes
The themes of his work are portrayed in three specific periods in the social American history in conjunction with public schooling. He attempts to show that in each and every period the youths have been subjected to schooling so as to help them maintain social order. In the era before the civil war, the elementary schools were reformed and in the twentieth century, children from the plain people were welcomed to the schooling system. After the World War II, there was great reformation in higher institutions of learning like universities and colleges. Other races were allowed to study with the whites and yet earlier on there was a serious discrimination basing on race, class and sex. During all the periods, the reformation in the institutions brought about expansion in the number of students intake in various institutions. Common schools were charged with the responsibility of imparting moral conducts of children of farmers and artisans who had failed to play their role (Nasaw, 1981, p.7). Such children were removed from their families who were too poor and in addition lacked the necessary skills to impart to their children. Poor children, delinquents and orphans were all placed in institution in the 1820s where they would be controlled all the day long so as to stop them from being corrupted. Such schools were strictly given to the most undisciplined and there were thousands of such kind of children. Their treatment was special and those who worked in factories, they too received gratis schooling (Nasaw, 1981, p. 11).High schools were also a means of preparing the youth from poor backgrounds and also immigrant adolescents for city life and factory life later in the cities. Cases of indiscipline did not end with the young children. Most youths needed guidance in their adolescence and at that moment various articles were addressing their problems especially criticizing and discouraging putting on of tight clothing especially for girls so as to stop temptations. The immigrant and Native American youths were targets especially in cases of various crimes like drinking, roaming in the streets and staying out late at night. Due to rapid increase in industrialization, the number of skilled labors went down and the few that were there charged highly. The government therefore brought reformations that would accept all youths in America to train them for necessary skills in the cities and factories (Nasaw, 1981, P. 94). Economically the immigrants were very poor and so their youths were trained to help their parents once employed. The social inequality was so dominant in the American history and yet the former was so essential. Youths who were working then, no longer wanted vocational programs and were fighting for accessibility for college. Non whites were also fighting for their rights of equal treatment in schooling. According to Nasaw, this has resulted in subservient system of education especially due to compromise by the dominant class.
Higher learning institutions which were expanded after the world war era were directed towards preparing individuals for white collar jobs and curb against unemployment which was rampant. Nasaw argues that all the schools, starting from the common, high school, colleges and universities underwent expansion with an aim of maintaining social order as well as bringing about an increase in material productivity. However, despite the reformation in the schooling system, all the anticipated outcomes would not be achieved fully due to uncontrollable urbanization and industrialization in the context of private proper ownership system. Nasaw shows that at long last schooling reforms basically succeeded in moving the locus of discussion from social and productive system to those accused of not fitting into the system. It was hard for it to solve the problem of rhetoric democracy yet the society was divided based on class.
Strengths and weaknesses in Nasaws work
Nasaw conclusively portrays the role that reformations have done in the American government. One of his weaknesses is his generalizing of the role of teachers. For instance he says that in the secondary school system, the style, content and instructional method were as usual. Such is too general not specifying what it was like in the past. He presents teachers as having given students facts to memorize with no explanation to why they ought to learn it. His arguments might be true but there is no documentation for the same to show if indeed it is a valid argument (Nasaw, 1981, p. 134). He does not also portray how far the teachers were in agreement with the dictates of educational policies laid down by the business class. He portrays them as having been passive and other public education establishment too. They appear from his work as people admiring the values he presents and stand out to be semi-independent even in decision making. Community college movement as discussed is shown to be a means of preventing the targeted population from receiving true college education. Majority of the teachers are still portrayed in this level to be yearning to be educators and not job trainers. In that case they are on struggling to give students skills of literacy and build on them self confidence thus be able to think for themselves (Nasaw, 1981, p. 234). He does not explain how teachers in the past seemed to have been puppets yet the current community college teachers are paragons of idealism.
Nasaw does not explore the capacity of American public education in promotion of self-criticism or rewarding radical intellectual problems. He again fails to look into the evidence he cites since most of it is from critical studies from indisputably agencies, for instance Harvard Educational Review. Others emanated from sociologists and historians who were teaching in public institutions. In fact, he is one of them since he was in the college of Staten Island of the city of University of New York which funded his work. The best part of his work is in his last paragraph where he points out that public schools neither belongs to the state nor their communities. They are still contested having many agendas and purposes. He argues that reformers both in present and in the past have not managed to use them as a means of bringing about social control.
The opponents if they try to use it in such reformations of bringing about egalitarian educational institutions will affect the state and society that supports it. His work is also synthetic especially when he explains the fact that the public education movement has been working towards meeting the interests of the business class. Disparity even in schools of the whites and the blacks has been evident way back in history and even up to date, the division still exists.
Nasaws story is well narrated. The periods he presents in the American Educational History are very significant and are the turning points in its educational system. These periods are well studied in history by the majority of historians. His writing is clear and affective. The only problem is its limitation leaving other writers whose works are more sophisticated to take an upper hand. His work is more of a summary of American educational system from a left perspective rather than from an original scholarship.
The current education system is aiming at maintaining social, economic as well as economic stability. In the elementary teachers are trying so hard to impart moral skills to young children since parents are very busy nowadays and children are getting influenced on a higher note by what they watch from the television. Basic skills like respect to the elderly and what to watch are some of the skills that children are being trained on. Unlike Nasaws case, high school currently is directed towards helping youths to build their future careers especially the white collar jobs. When one has done well in high school he or she can easily move to higher institutions of learning to build on his or her career. Inequality still exists among different races and education is still looked upon as one of the ways of bringing about equality. By having equal opportunities in school social stability will be achieved. Political stability is achievable when there is no more discrimination in various factors such as health, education and employment among others. Education in various levels preaches equality and that individuals should not be discriminated against basing on his o her race, sex, or class.
Social Order though with its weaknesses and strengths typically shows how the American education system has undergone various reformations with an aim of establishing social order. There has been tension in the economy, political and social sector way back in history and education is viewed as an avenue of peace and a solution to all the problems. Different races in America have felt the impact of inequality. The current system of education still place education as a solution to such problems since it leads to employment and thus curbing against economical problems.
Themes
The themes of his work are portrayed in three specific periods in the social American history in conjunction with public schooling. He attempts to show that in each and every period the youths have been subjected to schooling so as to help them maintain social order. In the era before the civil war, the elementary schools were reformed and in the twentieth century, children from the plain people were welcomed to the schooling system. After the World War II, there was great reformation in higher institutions of learning like universities and colleges. Other races were allowed to study with the whites and yet earlier on there was a serious discrimination basing on race, class and sex. During all the periods, the reformation in the institutions brought about expansion in the number of students intake in various institutions. Common schools were charged with the responsibility of imparting moral conducts of children of farmers and artisans who had failed to play their role (Nasaw, 1981, p.7). Such children were removed from their families who were too poor and in addition lacked the necessary skills to impart to their children. Poor children, delinquents and orphans were all placed in institution in the 1820s where they would be controlled all the day long so as to stop them from being corrupted. Such schools were strictly given to the most undisciplined and there were thousands of such kind of children. Their treatment was special and those who worked in factories, they too received gratis schooling (Nasaw, 1981, p. 11).High schools were also a means of preparing the youth from poor backgrounds and also immigrant adolescents for city life and factory life later in the cities. Cases of indiscipline did not end with the young children. Most youths needed guidance in their adolescence and at that moment various articles were addressing their problems especially criticizing and discouraging putting on of tight clothing especially for girls so as to stop temptations. The immigrant and Native American youths were targets especially in cases of various crimes like drinking, roaming in the streets and staying out late at night. Due to rapid increase in industrialization, the number of skilled labors went down and the few that were there charged highly. The government therefore brought reformations that would accept all youths in America to train them for necessary skills in the cities and factories (Nasaw, 1981, P. 94). Economically the immigrants were very poor and so their youths were trained to help their parents once employed. The social inequality was so dominant in the American history and yet the former was so essential. Youths who were working then, no longer wanted vocational programs and were fighting for accessibility for college. Non whites were also fighting for their rights of equal treatment in schooling. According to Nasaw, this has resulted in subservient system of education especially due to compromise by the dominant class.
Higher learning institutions which were expanded after the world war era were directed towards preparing individuals for white collar jobs and curb against unemployment which was rampant. Nasaw argues that all the schools, starting from the common, high school, colleges and universities underwent expansion with an aim of maintaining social order as well as bringing about an increase in material productivity. However, despite the reformation in the schooling system, all the anticipated outcomes would not be achieved fully due to uncontrollable urbanization and industrialization in the context of private proper ownership system. Nasaw shows that at long last schooling reforms basically succeeded in moving the locus of discussion from social and productive system to those accused of not fitting into the system. It was hard for it to solve the problem of rhetoric democracy yet the society was divided based on class.
Strengths and weaknesses in Nasaws work
Nasaw conclusively portrays the role that reformations have done in the American government. One of his weaknesses is his generalizing of the role of teachers. For instance he says that in the secondary school system, the style, content and instructional method were as usual. Such is too general not specifying what it was like in the past. He presents teachers as having given students facts to memorize with no explanation to why they ought to learn it. His arguments might be true but there is no documentation for the same to show if indeed it is a valid argument (Nasaw, 1981, p. 134). He does not also portray how far the teachers were in agreement with the dictates of educational policies laid down by the business class. He portrays them as having been passive and other public education establishment too. They appear from his work as people admiring the values he presents and stand out to be semi-independent even in decision making. Community college movement as discussed is shown to be a means of preventing the targeted population from receiving true college education. Majority of the teachers are still portrayed in this level to be yearning to be educators and not job trainers. In that case they are on struggling to give students skills of literacy and build on them self confidence thus be able to think for themselves (Nasaw, 1981, p. 234). He does not explain how teachers in the past seemed to have been puppets yet the current community college teachers are paragons of idealism.
Nasaw does not explore the capacity of American public education in promotion of self-criticism or rewarding radical intellectual problems. He again fails to look into the evidence he cites since most of it is from critical studies from indisputably agencies, for instance Harvard Educational Review. Others emanated from sociologists and historians who were teaching in public institutions. In fact, he is one of them since he was in the college of Staten Island of the city of University of New York which funded his work. The best part of his work is in his last paragraph where he points out that public schools neither belongs to the state nor their communities. They are still contested having many agendas and purposes. He argues that reformers both in present and in the past have not managed to use them as a means of bringing about social control.
The opponents if they try to use it in such reformations of bringing about egalitarian educational institutions will affect the state and society that supports it. His work is also synthetic especially when he explains the fact that the public education movement has been working towards meeting the interests of the business class. Disparity even in schools of the whites and the blacks has been evident way back in history and even up to date, the division still exists.
Nasaws story is well narrated. The periods he presents in the American Educational History are very significant and are the turning points in its educational system. These periods are well studied in history by the majority of historians. His writing is clear and affective. The only problem is its limitation leaving other writers whose works are more sophisticated to take an upper hand. His work is more of a summary of American educational system from a left perspective rather than from an original scholarship.
The current education system is aiming at maintaining social, economic as well as economic stability. In the elementary teachers are trying so hard to impart moral skills to young children since parents are very busy nowadays and children are getting influenced on a higher note by what they watch from the television. Basic skills like respect to the elderly and what to watch are some of the skills that children are being trained on. Unlike Nasaws case, high school currently is directed towards helping youths to build their future careers especially the white collar jobs. When one has done well in high school he or she can easily move to higher institutions of learning to build on his or her career. Inequality still exists among different races and education is still looked upon as one of the ways of bringing about equality. By having equal opportunities in school social stability will be achieved. Political stability is achievable when there is no more discrimination in various factors such as health, education and employment among others. Education in various levels preaches equality and that individuals should not be discriminated against basing on his o her race, sex, or class.
Social Order though with its weaknesses and strengths typically shows how the American education system has undergone various reformations with an aim of establishing social order. There has been tension in the economy, political and social sector way back in history and education is viewed as an avenue of peace and a solution to all the problems. Different races in America have felt the impact of inequality. The current system of education still place education as a solution to such problems since it leads to employment and thus curbing against economical problems.
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