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In looking for a way to teach the students in my Schools and Society class about the rise of common schools in the United States I did what many teachers do - I stole a lesson from another teacher, my friend Michael Milton (@42thinkdeep). Michael and I wrote about how he used blogs and Twitter to teach his high school students to take historical perspectives of Enlightenment philosophers, and even consider how their perspectives might be pertinent to issues today (Krutka & Milton, 2013). While I had taught about the rise of common schools before I was searching for a way to make the lesson more dynamic and lasting for my students. Michael's lesson seemed an appropriate model.
I began by assigning my students to read a blog post on the rise of common schools called “Education to the Masses” (link) and also watch a video online titled “The Common School: 1770-1890” (link). I reinforced the ideas in these two assignments by using primary documents (e.g., historical quotes, letters, a video clip, pictures) to complete a station activity (link). Students moved from station-to-station with small groups of 2-3 students in five minute increments and were encouraged to consider the question, "How and why did the Common (public) School movement come to fruition in the United States?" I walked around the class and answered questions or provided further context when needed. For homework, groups of students chose one historical actor to research further. The list included:
- A colonial-era school teacher (@EraTeacher - blog post)
- Thomas Jefferson (@TJPresi3 - blog post)
- Benjamin Rush (@Benjamin_Rush - blog post)
- Noah Webster (@NoahWebster1828 - blog post)
- Horace Mann (@HoraceMann15 - blog post)
- Bishop John Hughes (@Bishop_JHughes - blog post)
- Sarah Roberts (@wonttravelfar - blog post)
- Catharine Beecher (@c_beecher - blog post)
- Immigrant student (@FergalMcCoart - blog post)
While some of these characters (e.g., Jefferson, Mann) are well known to the common school movement, others helped bring forth important issues that faced early schools (e.g., Bishop John Hughes - issues of church and state; Sarah Roberts - issues of (de)segregation in Massachusetts; Catharine Beecher - gender issues). Groups sought out new sources and added notes to a collaborative Google Drive document prior to attending class.
Once in class, students were asked to write a blog post reintroducing their character to the world as if they had returned to assess how public schools were doing in their wake. Blog posts were to explain who the actor is and their contribution to the rise of public schools (app. 1 page). Students completed their post on a Google Drive document and then "shared" it with me and I posted it to this blog (dankrutka.blogspot.com). Once this was completed, students and I created a Twitter account by which they could share their blog posts with each other and other educators. The Twitter accounts were to include an avatar, a creative handle, and an accurate bio. Students then used these accounts to share their blog posts using a common class hashtag. Students were asked to read the other posts and post a comment that expanded upon the post in some way (more than just a "good post" pat-on-the-back). Finally, I sought out other educators to ask students questions about how they would view specific problems facing education today. This required students to not only answer from a historical perspective, but research (when necessary) issues that educators should consider as leaders of their field.
References
Brackemyre, T. (2012). Education to the masses: The rise of public education in early America. U.S. HistoryScene (blog). Retrieved from: http://www.ushistoryscene.com/uncategorized/riseofpubliceducation/
Krutka, D.G. &
Milton, M.K. (2013). The Enlightenment meets Twitter: Using social media in the
social studies classroom. Ohio Social
Studies Review, 50(2), 22-29.
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (2001). "Episode 1: The Common School: 1770-1890" In School: The story of American public education. Retrieved from: http://www.fmgondemand.com/play/libsc1
