One of my favorite topics is History. I love learning about the origins of our world today. Both of the articles about the history of education were quite inspiring and interesting. I have never stopped to look at the history of those who played such a role in shaping the school environment. There was one key difference in “makers” and innovators that stood out to me. Innovators go after education with a purpose, and “Makers” are those who make an indirect impact on education.
After looking at all of the achievements and hurdles that the innovators had to over come and what they changed, I look to Horace Mann as the maker that stood out above the rest. From equality to professional educators, they all made a difference but where did it all begin? Horace Mann is where the structure for modern education began.
A few years back I had the privilege of being a part of opening a new school, Scales Elementary. Although there was much excitement and an overwhelming amount of support, this was no small task for any of us that were involved. Horace Mann did much of the same, only he did it at a much higher level, and with much more at stake. We saw the need for an additional school, and he saw the need for a complete reform, reorganization, and a refreshed idea of what education should be.
The line in his biography that stood out the most to me was: “Mann comprehensively surveyed the condition of the state’s schools, established training institutes for teachers, increased the length of the school year to six months, and gathered support for more funding for teacher salaries, books and school construction.1 “
Any one of these achievements would have been good, but to do all of them is simply amazing. I realize that the school system would have been smaller and simpler at that time, but what a great adjustment he made to the public education system. The quality and energy that goes into the beginning of anything carries with it so much importance, and Horace had to get this re-invention of the school system right. Even though he lived through a time of great social changes and unrest, he stayed focused on making the education system better.
The “Maker” that I felt influenced public education the most was Henry Ford. With his abilities to make transportation easier, the little schoolhouses were quickly becoming part of the past. People were able to move across our world easier than ever before, and thus had freedoms that they had never had before. Farming would fade from its dominant role as the job of Americans. Instead, city life and factories began to take over. Just like Ford’s design of an assembly line, schools followed suit.2 Instead of several small schools; they began to combine into school districts. These districts would be more equipped to provide a better education. All of these advances hinged on the popularity of the automobile.
Comparing the differences that the makers and innovators have made over the years is very inspiring. The world we live in needs “Makers” of education. Those people that will see something that needs to be done better and will spend their life fixing it. The kind of people that will put everything they can into making our world a better place for the children of the world. The world will always be full of innovators who demand that education change. The world needs those people who bring about such a change to the world that the education system simply must change to accommodate the changing world. The one thing I do know is that the education that my grandchildren will receive will be quite different from the one that I received.
1. School “The Story of American Public Education” Roundtable Publications. https://elearn.mtsu.edu/d2l/lms/content/viewer/main_frame.d2l?ou=2975445&tId=19133297
2. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy website.
http://www.mackinac.org/4926
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