INDEX
A. FOREWORD
B. EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITAIN
- 0. EDUCATION
- 1. HISTORY
1.1 Middle ages
1.2 Seventeenth century
1.3 Eighteenth century
1.4 Nineteenth century
1.5 Twentieth century
- 2. NOWADAYS
2.1 Division of the school years
2.2 The school types
C. EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES
- 3. HISTORY
3.1 In the 19th century, a national system of formal education developed in the United States. But how was it before?
3.2 Development in the 19th century; forming elementary education.
3.3 The rise of American high school after 1900 (secondary education).
3.4 And about higher education..?
3.5 Who were important people in the history of education in the United States?
- 4. NOWADAYS
4.1 The way through the school system..
4.2 Preschool
4.3 Primary education
4.4 Secondary education
FOREWORD
This is the second ICT-project we’ve made for English. Last year we made a project about Pixar, which we both enjoined very much. It was difficult for us to find a new subject that was as good as the first. This became our second subject: Education in Great Britain and in the United States. We agreed that the subject was not as good as Pixar, but we also put a lot of time in the project and we hope that it’ll be marked with a good mark.
Enjoy reading!
EDUCATION IN GREAT-BRITAIN
0. EDUCATION
Education is the teaching of ideas, abilities, principles and discipline. It has always existed. In the past, there were educational traditions: parents taught their children how to hunt, how to wash clothes, a father taught to his son how to do his job etc.
Priests and monks realised the importance of teaching children virtues. Most of these early schools were parish schools, with catholic roots. Later on, the industrial revolution demanded literacy and discipline. This is why the illiteracy has decreased very much in the 19th century.
Nowadays, children get basic education. Basic education means that you’re taught the skills that are important to function in a society properly. In developed countries, it had the effect that they developed more and more. Developing countries are trying to oblige the basic education. This will help decreasing the violence and increasing the literacy, discipline and hygiene, because they will learn how to solve problems in a not-violent way, they will learn to read and they will learn much more about hygiene and diseases.
1. HISTORY
During the 7th century, the Anglo-Saxons, who were not beaten by the Romans, arrived in Britain. Their society was pretty much like the Britain, but the main difference was their religion. In the northern areas of the island still lived peoples who were not Saxons. Then, the Anglo-Saxons converted them to their religion: Christianity. These areas turned out in important places off learning. The monasteries, there, were like universities. Bede is a well known scholar of that time. He was always busy: learning, teaching and writing. He was one of the first people to realise the importance of learning and teaching.
Another great person was Alfred the Great. He lived in the 9th century and was interested in creating a literate, educated people. Therefore, he stimulated and promoted the English language. He also stabilised the country, by putting it into shires. These shires turned out in today’s British counties.
1.1 Middle ages
In the 14th century, there were small schools founded by religious foundations and some by private foundations. Some were attached to a guild, but mostly they were attached to a religion. They gave pupils elementary education.
Then there were preparatory schools, which prepared the pupils for grammar schools. Grammar schools, in which mostly foreign languages and English were taught, were for the wealthier people. Pupils only were admitted when they were able to read and write.
The schools which were founded by private foundations were to give pupils the ground lessons Latin, so that they were prepared for the colleges in Oxford. People saw Oxford as centre of learning, Cambridge became the second one.
In 1249, the University College Oxford was established and in 1284 the university in Cambridge was also established. Cambridge was founded by a group of gentlemen who broke away from the University college Oxford, to set up their own institution. A university in the middle ages was a kind of seminar for the church, where the sons of poor men could receive education. Most of the nobility couldn’t read and write, therefore they had clerks who did the administrative work, for the clergymen was this work too low and they were too educated to do this.
School life was hard in these ages: pupils had to go to school from six in the morning till six in the evening, there were many students per class and corporal punishment was normal. The children complained much about the cruel-punishment.
1.2 Seventeenth century
In this century became evident for which people, where and what was taught. The education institutions became clearer and out of that 2 groups were formed.
Education institutions
Most of the schools were related to a religion, their schools were called charity schools. They were set up by the Society for the promotion of Christian Knowledge. Prayers and Bible reading were a major part in their Curriculum.
There were also schools, which were built up by people who believed in their own ideas: Puritans. They taught their own ideas and beliefs to the students. These schools were called dissenting schools.
Schools
Oxford and Cambridge became more like universities of these days. More and more sons of the gentry went to these schools; still some poor went to it.
Public schools were to prepare students for Oxford and Cambridge. They were based mainly on physically activity and classics. They were open for everyone, who paid the fees. These independent schools were like single-sex boarding schools. Sons of the aristocracy went to these schools. Westminister (1179) is one of the oldest public schools.
Boarding schools, or dissenting schools, were mostly for the rich, for the people from aristocracy and for dissenters. Parents sent their children to these schools, in order to let them become educated. They were often far away, had little contact with their parents, had little holidays and the schooldays were long. Some people thought that these parents were lazy, others thought that it was better to sent your child to this kind of school, because it would be a more proper way of education.
Children from ordinary families went to the parish schools, where they were taught reading and learning prayers. Just the most important subjects were taught. They were sponsored by the churches and cathedrals.
In the grammar schools (1547) writing, Latin, Greek and mathematics were the main subjects to be taught. Mathematics was only for the most able and Latin and Greek were only for boys. These schools were a kind of entrance to go to the colleges in Oxford, Cambridge and others. Grammar schools were often sponsored by the villagers and guilds. The wealthier townspeople sent their children to these schools.
Charity schools were schools sponsored by the cathedrals and churches. They were like parish schools and bible reading and prayers were their main subjects.
Then there were Dame-schools, these were for the lower classes and children of poor people. Children were taught simple reading and some skills that were necessary and useful for them.
Boys and girls
Boys had the ability to study more, to become more educated than girls, because they had the ability in this society, which girls had not. The boys had to study Latin and Greek, while girls only had to be able to read the bible.
In that time, girls had to stop studying once they had learned: the useful skills, to read and to please their husband. Some, who didn’t stop studying, were advised to hide their knowledge, because it wasn’t normal to be an educated woman for that time. Girls were not allowed on grammar schools, public schools and universities. That’s why in 1671 two boarding schools for girls-only were established, there were also some private boarding schools for daughters from rich parents. There, they were taught to be a gentle wife.
Subjects
Science, English and modern languages were educated only on dissenting academies. These subjects were contradictory to Catholicism, not important enough or only for the richer people and that’s why they call them dissenting schools.
At Oxford and Cambridge they taught Latin, Greek, rhetoric, logic, grammar, arithmetic and music. At the end of the 17th century the subjects Hebrew, Arabic, ancient history and geometric were added to the curriculum. The catholic community was not happy with these new ideas, because they are contradictory to the Bible.
On the schools which were attached to religion, Bible reading and learning prayers were the main part. In the schools for the poorest also bible reading and prayers were a major part.
1.3 Eighteenth century
In this century charity schools became more and more directed on the religion. At the end of the 18th century they provided education to a quarter million children. Moral teaching and vocational training were characteristic.
While charity schools were doing well, public schools got a bad reputation. Bullying, violence and wrong corporal punishment became characteristic for them. The government did a lot to support these schools and to help them, but it was difficult.
Children from the nobility and ruling class went, when they had finished school, to universities. Children who had had less education lived a life which was undisciplined and simple.
Oxford was the first to examine the students. Most of the examinations were oral and were seen as a formality. John Scott described his examination Hebrew in 1770. It was like a few questions and when you got the most of it correct, you had passed your exams.
Then there came a new phenomenon. Some of the wealthier students went on The Grand Tour of Europe to complete their education. They went on trip through Europe to learn more about these other countries. However, when they were back at home, they knew only a bit about Europe and a lot more about wine, women and gaming.
The one, who were forbidden by their father to waste money and time on universities and these tours, were sent to dissenting academies. They were cheaper and respectable. They also offered colleges about mathematics (Manchester 1719) and chemistry (Scarborough 1733).
The industrial-revolution began at the end of the 18th century, the British life changed a lot. In 1780 Robert Raikes started with Sunday schools, because he was worried about the children, who hung around on the streets on Sundays. In 1795 a quarter of million children went to these schools. They offered poor children to learn something. At first they should be clean and respectable dressed, but not everyone could afford that. Therefore he accepted if they only washed their hands and face and combed their hair.
However, the powerful people were not happy with this development among the poorest people. They were afraid that these people were going to think about their class, that they would be going to stand up against them, so that they wouldn’t be such great servants anymore. In 1803 the bishop of London said that it would be better for the government and the religion to let the poorest ones in state of ignorance, where the nature put them.
1.4 Nineteenth century
During this century, people got the right to vote. This led to the effect that schools not only taught in subjects anymore, but also in the culture and pride of their land. This preserved Britain from outbreaks and revolution. In 1832, in the Parliamentary Reform Act, this effect was accepted and that made further social advances possible. The middle-class was by this act and by the education act (1833) provided with education.
Monitorial system
Two societies, the British and the foreign school society, wanted to keep school as cheap as possible and they found religion and moral values were very important. They used the monitorial system, which saved a lot of money. This means that a teacher teaches to the monitors and they will pass their knowledge on to the students.
Both also supported competition. Therefore was a system of rewards: when you did something good, when you had success you got a reward. This made school more attractive then it was in the last centuries.
Education act (1833)
Ragged schools provided education for the poorest and were supported by charities. Other schools established themselves and ensured that their ideas and philosophy would be passed on to the next generation.
However, the developments of state education were held up by the ideas of the richer: educating the lower classes would make them less good as servants, because they would be going to think about their life and find out that it wasn’t fair. In 1833 this changed, the educational act gave the first Government grant. It was seen as a temporary thing, just to help the societies expand. Though, it held on till 1988.
The Forsters’ Elementary Education Act
In 1867 the right to vote expanded and in 1870 the Forsters’ Elementary Education Act was accepted. This meant that there was a possibility to build state schools, which would be directed by elected school boards.
These schools wouldn’t have any contact with religion. A lot of people found this absurd. This problem was solved by pressing the schools to teach religion at the beginning or the end of the school session, in order that parents could depart their children from the religious instruction. This is why so much Britain people know about the Bible.
In 1880 the Elementary Education Act made education op to the age of 10 free for registered children in school. Though, education was made compulsory till that age, which is logical, because it’s free.
In 1888 the Local Government Act was accepted. This was made to establish the later LEA’s (Local Education Authority).
Education was made free, in de Education Act of 1891. Even the poorest children could go to school and the attendance was first made compulsory till the age of eleven, later on it was made compulsory to the age of thirteen.
Private education
A new class was formed by the industrial development. People who had earned money from the industrial development wanted their sons to receive education which was different than normal education, to receive education that would fit them for a social position. Their sons would become a separated and privileged group of gentleman.
This made that a new type of public schools was formed. These schools were socially exclusive and the students were taught the importance of discipline and correct behaviour. Therefore, sports were used. Sports included discipline, correct behaviour, physical toughening and it also supported development of team spirit and loyalty to the group.
The Curriculum
The curriculum was first still based on the classics, but as the wishes, the salary of the classes and the society changed, the curriculum changed. A school served a class and the curricula became more and more based on their wishes, because that attracted more students.
The demand of secondary education grew and the curricula of new grammar schools were based on the curricula of the public schools: the academical and the classical aspects were important, but most important were the social distinctions and the gentility.
The top of the middle class discovered that education was the process used by parents to get their children better jobs. It wasn’t important what subjects were taught, because it all led to social advantage and that was an important discovery! This made it possible that schools could compete with each other.
The industrialisation made that there were a lot of clerical jobs and because the school - and class system was changed there were also more clerical jobs free. In the earlier days the poor children, who were taught to write and read by and for the church, would do this. The society needed educated workers, but there wasn’t a school that sufficed this need. A consequence was that, because no British educated worker would and could become clerk, foreigners came to England to fill these jobs. The effect from these foreign workers was that there came a bit more unemployed British people.
1.5 Twentieth century
Wars brought questions with them and after the four wars of this century, four major reforms came.
The 1902 'Balfour' Education Act created local education authorities (LEAs). They took the responsibility for board schools from the school boards. Grammar schools also became funded by the LEA. All schools could be funded based on the rates of the school, the LEA’s decided if they got funded or not.
The Fisher Education Act of 1918 made secondary education compulsory up to the age of 14 and gave responsibility for secondary education schools to the state. Many schools became state funded schools or secondary schools, but the children remained going to school till the age of 14, instead of going to a secondary school.
The Butler act of 1944 introduced the tri-partite system and they made secondary education free for all. The tri-partite system meant that the split between primary and secondary education was at the age of 11 and that education became more specific and that every child could get a chance to study. Pupils went to schools which suited to their age and academic ability. Education was more or less divided over three schools:
· Grammar schools: which provided academic education.
· Secondary modern schools: Which provided vocational training
· Secondary technical schools: Which provided technical education that the modern industrial society would need.
When pupils left the primary schools they had to do the eleven plus exam. This exam decided to which secondary school you went. The number of how many children of each school could go to the grammar schools was decided by the LEA’s. So, in some areas it was a lot easier to pass and go to a grammar school than in others. The LEA’s could also put weight on several parts of the eleven plus exam, if they thought it was necessary for that school. Once the pupils were in grammar school, the road to higher education was open and they could get higher positions of power. In 1947 education was compulsory till the age of 15.
In the sixties the comprehensive schools became very popular. Their ideas were, according to the Labour Party, better and more based on the social equality. These schools were flexible and corporal punishment was not tolerated.
More and more, the type of school and the methods of teaching became political issues. Some found out that child-centred learning would be better than the recent method. Now, pupils had to “know” the information. A teacher taught something and they just had to absorb this information and they had to remember it. The Labour government wanted to create a more comprehensive system.
The Conservative party, which got the power in 1972, made two main changes in the eighties. The schools had lost the touch with the needs of the industry and because of that, there were a lot of unemployed young people. Therefore, they expanded the vocationalism. In 1980, the assisted places scheme was introduced. Children, who could not pay a fee-paying school, could get free places if they could pass the entrance exam.
In 1986, corporal punishment was not allowed anymore and in 1988 the system of education changed a lot, the tri-partite system didn’t work the way it should work. So the education reform act was introduced. This act’s aim was producing a “school market”. Schools would be competing. So schools, which educated well, would stay and would grow and schools, which did not educate good, would loose their pupils and maybe even close, leaving only the good schools. These were the reforms:
· The national curriculum was introduced. This meant that certain subjects were made compulsory for schools to teach. It made the differences between schools less and pupils would get a certainty of the knowledge they would get.
· To control this National Curriculum, the government made tests, to test if the pupils knew the compulsory knowledge. Some of these tests were teacher-assessments, others were tested on paper and the mark you got was the assessment. There were four Key Stages (at the age of 7, 11, 14 and 16). The fourth key stage was done with the GCSE exam
· Tables were published in newspapers, so that parents could see which schools were doing well and which were not.
· Formula funding was introduced, which basically meant that the more children a school could attract to it, the more money it got.
· Parents could (within limits) choose againt to which school their children went.
· Schools could become grand maintained schools and receive funding direct from the central government. The schools would get more money than a school would get form the local authorities. This was seen as a political move, because only the central government was run as a rule.
In 1997 the Labour party got the power and they changed the school system again. The following chances took place:
· There came a focus on tailoring education to each child's ability. Critics see this as reminiscent of the original intentions of the Tripartite system.
· Grant maintained status was abolished, with GM schools being given the choice of rejoining the local authority as a maintained community school, or becoming a Foundation school.
· Labour expanded a policy started by the Conservatives of creating specialist schools. This new type of secondary school teaches the National Curriculum subjects plus a few specialist branches of knowledge (e.g. business studies) not found in most other schools. These schools are allowed to select 10% of their pupils.
· The concept of Beacon schools was introduced, where in any area of deprivation a school that is doing well is marked as a Beacon school, and shares its ideas and methods with other less successful schools.
· City Academies were introduced. These are new schools, built on the site of, or taking over from existing failing schools. A city academy is an independent school within the state system. It is outside the control of the local education authority and set up with substantial funding from interested third parties, which might be businesses, charities or private individuals.
· Education Action Zones were introduced, which are deprived areas run by an action forum of people within that area with the intention of make that area's schools better.
· Vocational qualifications were renamed/restructured.
· The New Deal was introduced, which made advisors available to long-term unemployed, to give help and money to those who want to go back into Education.
· Introduced Literacy and Numeracy hours into schools, and set targets for literacy and numeracy.
· Set Truancy targets.
· Set a maximum class size of 30 for 5-7 year olds.
· Introduced the EMA, which is paid to those between 16 and 18 as an enticement to remain in full-time education and get A-Levels/AVCEs.
· Introduced Curriculum 2000, which reformed the Further Education system into the current structure of AS levels, A2 levels and Key Skills.
· Abolished the Assisted Places Scheme.
· A report was commissioned, led by the former chief-inspector of schools, Mike Tomlinson, into reform of the curriculum and qualifications structure for 14–19 year-olds. The report was published on October 18, 2004 and recommended the introduction of a diploma that would bring together both vocational and academic qualifications and ensure that all pupils had a basic set of core skills. It is proposed that the current qualifications would evolve into this diploma over the next decade, whether the government will follow the recommendations is yet to be seen — the Conservative Party have already introduced alternative proposals to return to norm-referencing in A-levels rather than the current system of criterion-referencing.
· In 2003 a green paper was published entitled Every Child Matters. It built on existing plans to strengthen childrens services and focused on four key areas:
o Increasing the focus on supporting families and carers as the most critical influence on children's lives
o Ensuring necessary intervention takes place before children reach crisis point and protecting children from falling through the net
o Addressing the underlying problems identified in the report into the death of Victoria Climbié - weak accountability and poor integration
o Ensuring that the people working with children are valued, rewarded and trained
The green paper prompted a wide debate about services for children, young people and families. There followed a wide consultation with those working in children's services, and with parents, children and young people. Following this, the Government published Every Child Matters: the Next Steps, and passed the Children Act 2004, providing the legislative spine for developing more effective and accessible services focused around the needs of children, young people and families. Every Child Matters: Change for Children was published in November 2004.
2. NOWADAYS
2.1 Division of the school years
Primary education
· Primary School or Infant school
Class Age
Reception 4-5
Year 1 5-6
Year 2 6-7 (KS1 National Curriculum Tests – England only)
· Primary School or Junior School
Year 3 7-8
Year 4 8-9
Year 5 9-10
Year 6 10-11 (eleven plus exams in some areas of England, KS2 National Curriculum Tests)
Secondary education
· Secondary School or High School
Year 7 11-12
Year 8 12-13
Year 9 13-14 (KS3 National Curriculum Tests, known as SATs (Statutory Attainment Tests))
Year 10 14-15 (KS 4)
Year 11 15-16 (old O level examinations, modern GCSE examinations)
Year 12 (lower sixth) 16-17 (AS-level examinations)
Year 13 (upper sixth) 17-18 (A2-level examinations) Both AS-levels and A2
Levels count towards A-levels
National Curriculum Tests are tests which guarantee that the pupil has the basic knowledge.
Eleven plus exams are exams which prove which direction is the best for the pupil to go after primary school.
2.2 School types
Community Schools
In community schools (formerly county schools), the LEA employs the schools staff, own the schools land and buildings and have primary responsibility for deciding the arrangements for admitting pupils.
Foundation Schools
In foundation schools the governing body employ the staff and have primary responsibility for admissions. The school land and buildings are owned by the governing body or by a charitable foundation. Many of these schools were formerly grant maintained schools. The Foundation appoints the majority of governors. In 2005 the Labour government proposed allowing all schools to become Foundation schools if they so wished.
Voluntary Aided (VA) Schools
Many voluntary aided schools are church schools. VA governing bodies employ the staff and decide admission arrangements. The schools land and buildings are normally owned by a charitable foundation. The governing body contributes towards the capital costs of running the school. Most aided schools are linked to either the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church, but there are schools linked to other faith groups and a few non-denominational schools, often linked to philanthropic organisations like the Haberdashers and the Drapers.
Voluntary Controlled (VC) Schools
VC schools are almost always church schools, and the land and buildings are often owned by a charitable foundation. However, the LEA employ the schools staff and has primary responsibility for admission arrangements.
EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES
3. HISTORY
Before we talk about the school system American people go to nowadays, we talk about the history of America’s school system.
3.1 In the 19th century, a national system of formal education developed in the United States. But how was it before?
There was no national education system before the development of a national system of formal education in the United States. America knew a collection of local, regional and usually private institutions. Their education programs were based on what to do with it within the community or on a religious purpose.
Although, after the American Revolution (1775-1783) the founders of America argued that education was essential for the prosperity and survival of the new nation.
An important person in this development was Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence. He was the first person who suggested there should be a system with free schools for all persons and that it should be under the control of the government.
He made an education plan in 1779, which included that all children in the state Virginia can go to a free school for three years. The best of those students would go to publicly funded colleges.
Jefferson’s plan had never become reality, but Jefferson’s plans for a universal education program became the basis of education programs that were developed in the 19th century.
3.2 Development in the 19th century; forming elementary education.
In the 19th century (1830s-1840s) the American school system began to change. Important men who were responsible for the development of a new school system were Horace Mann and Henry Barnard. They pleaded for a common school system for all children. They argued that education could transform all youth into virtuous, literate citizens. They suggested that education could build a distinctive new nation that would be better equipped to fight with other countries. In one word: A school system is the best you can create for your country.
By the end of the 19th century the reformers had largely achieved their objective. Free public education at the elementary level was available for all American children. In 1918 all states had passed laws requiring children to attend at least elementary school.
The common school movement
The common school movement was a complex dynamic that exhibited elements of oppression and emancipation. On the one hand, the movement for common schools constituted a rebuilding of the educational system to respond to the needs of expanding capitalist industries and the realities of growing cities. Among these needs were the training and disciplining of the new immigrants so they could become productive and docile workers, and the provision of stability and control in the populated urban areas. In other words, a massive and authoritarian educational system facilitated the emerging massive and authoritarian productive system. On the other hand, the common school movement removed the walls of an elitist educational system and opened its doors to large numbers of children who were previously excluded. The common school movement amalgamated the need of factory owners for a disciplined and productive workforce, the need of the emerging liberal state for social and ideological control (removing it from the church), the hopes of working class and immigrant groups for upward mobility, and the good faith and drive of many well-intentioned educational reformers who conceived education as the main avenue to build a more democratic, more egalitarian, and better society.
3.3 The rise of American high school after 1900 (secondary education).
Only for a small number of teenagers a variety of schools existed before the 20th century. The teenagers had the ability or the desire to pursue education beyond the elementary level. In 1900 only 10 percent of the American teenagers aged 14 to 17 were going to a high school. Secondary education was mostly conducted by private tutors or privately supported academies.
The rise of American high school attendance was one of the most striking developments in the history of the education. After 1900, as more achieved a high school education, high schools gradually took on the ideals of the "common" school that elementary schools had brought together. Typically only the middle or upper classes could afford to send their children to college or university. Fewer children attended high school, however, since immigrant and working-class families often had to rely on their children working to support the family. High schools were typically attended by middle- and upper-class students who aspired to so-called white-collar jobs or a higher academic education. As an improved economy brought slightly higher wages after 1900, more working-class families started sending their children to high schools in the hope that they, too, could achieve better jobs. Vocational and industrial programs in high schools were offered by reformers during this period in large part to entice the working class and poor to stay in school and to prepare them adequately for what the reformers thought was their appropriate role in society.
The primal cause for the rise of American high school was of course the increasing welfare.
3.4 And about higher education…?
Just like high school, higher education or postsecondary education increased during the 20th century. At the beginning of the century only two percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 were going to college. There were fewer than 1000 colleges then, with about 157000 students at that moment.
At the end of the 20th century, more than 60 percent aged 18 to 24 were going to college and were enrolled in about 3500 four-year and two-year colleges.
Before the 20th century, universities like Harvard (1636), College of William and Mary (1693) and Yale (1701) had existed since a long time. They were more motivated by religious convictions, so that was than the reformed elementary and secondary schools, who weren’t based on a religious purpose. College and university weren’t really reformed by public institutions.
Many American public universities came about because of the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Acts of 1862 and 1890. During the rapid westward expansion of the United States during the 19th century, the federal government took control of huge amounts of so-called "empty" land (often after forcing the previous Native American residents into reservations). Under the Morrill Acts, the federal government offered to give 30,000 acres (121 km²) of federal land to each state, on the condition that they used the land (or proceeds from its sale) to establish universities. The resulting schools are often referred to as land-grant colleges, and the most well-known is the University of California. However, there are exceptions, such as Cornell University, which is a private school that also is a land-grant university of the state of New York.
Harvard
Here’s a little history about Harvard for having a more specific history about college and university.
Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. It is widely considered one of the finest academic institutions in the world. It is founded on 8 September 1636 by a vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States.
It was originally named as the New College, but it was changed into Harvard College on 13 March 1639, after its first principal donor, John Harvard. He was a young graduate of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. John Harvard left a few hundred books behind in his will to form the basis of the college library collection, along with several hundred pounds.
Harvard has steadily developed under the great American educators who have successively served as its presidents. During the presidency of Charles W. Eliot (1869-1909), Harvard established an elective system for undergraduates, by which they could choose most of their courses themselves. Under Abbott L. Lowell, who was president from 1909 to 1933, the undergraduate house systems of residence and instruction were introduced. Academic growth and physical expansion continued during the tenures of James B. Conant (1933-1953), Nathan M. Pusey (1953-1971), and Derek C. Bok (1971-1991). Neil L. Rudenstine was appointed president in 1991.
Sponsored by Henry Rosovsky, former dean of the faculty of arts and sciences (1973-1984), the undergraduate elective system, or General Education Program, was replaced in 1979 by a Core Curriculum intended to prepare well-educated men and women for the challenges of modern life. Students are now required to take courses for the equivalent of an academic year in each of five areas: literature and arts, history, social analysis and moral reasoning, science, and foreign cultures. In addition to the new curriculum, students must spend roughly the equivalent of two years on courses in a field of concentration and one year on elective courses. Students must also demonstrate competence in writing, mathematics, and a foreign language.
3.5 Who were important people in the history of education in the United States?
There are a few people important in the history op education. Here’s a small biography of those men.
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) is perhaps best known for being primary author on the Declaration of Independence. He was the third (1801–1809) President of the United States, second (1797–1801) Vice President, first (1789–1795) United States Secretary of State and had many more functions in his life of which you can write a whole book about. Although, more important in this story about the history of education is that he formed a education plan in 1779 when he became governor of Virginia. Virginia was the ground in which Jefferson planned to plant the roots of his ideal republic. Jefferson's broad vision of a republican society included governmental, cultural, educational, and societal institutions and activities. In his view, Virginia's political, legal, and educational systems were to be reformed and assembled into an ideal republican society as a model for America and Europe. For Thomas Jefferson, public education was the key to preserving republican government. To secure the level of popular education Jefferson prepared his "Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge" as part of the revision of Virginia's laws. As chair of the committee, Jefferson proposed a three level system in 1779, (never adopted): three years of primary education for all girls and boys; advanced studies for a select number of boys; a state scholarship to the College of William and Mary for one boy from each district every two years.
Horace Mann
Horace Mann (1796-1859) was American education reformer. It was not until he became secretary (1837) of the newly created board of education of Massachusetts, that he began the work which was soon to place him in the foremost rank of American educationists. He held this position until 1848, and worked with a remarkable intensity, holding teachers’ conventions, delivering numerous lectures and addresses, carrying on an extensive correspondence, introducing numerous reforms, planning and beginning the Massachusetts normal school system in Lexington and Bridgewater, founding and editing The Common School Journal (1838), and preparing a series of Annual Reports, which had a wide circulation.
Most importantly is that he worked effectively for more and better equipped school houses, longer school years, higher pay for teachers and a wider curriculum.
The practical result of his work was the virtual revolutionizing of the common school system of Massachusetts, and indirectly of the common school systems of other states. In carrying out his work he met with bitter opposition and was being attacked particularly by certain schoolmasters of Boston who strongly disapproved of his pedagogy and innovations and also by various religious sectarians, who contended against the exclusion of all sectarian instruction from the schools.
Henry Barnard
Henry Barnard (1811-1900) As a delegate to the Connecticut General Assembly in 1837, Barnard introduced the first legislation for free education and created the Connecticut Board of Common Schools. He was made the secretary of the Connecticut Board of Education in 1838. He published a variety of articles on Pestalozzi as editor of the Connecticut Common School Journal from 1838 to 1842. From 1843 to 1849 Barnard served as the state superintendent of schools in Rhode Island.
He was exposed to the kindergarten of Mme. Bertha Ronge while attending the International Exposition of Educational Methods in London in 1854. He championed the Froebel kindergarten giving lectures and publishing articles in the highly influential American Journal of Education from 1855 to 1882.
4 EDUCATION IN THE USA NOWADAYS
What about the education that’s been given nowadays? We now know a lot about the history, so right now it’s time to tell something about America’s school system nowadays.
4.1 The way through the school system..
They use a grade notation and year naming system in the United States that is not well understood in other countries. Unlike other nations, Americans prefer to use ordinal numbers rather than cardinal numbers for grades in ordinary speech. So, when you ask an American child in what grade he is, he’ll say “fourth grade” instead of “grade four”. The following is the typical ages and grade groupings in public and private schools. Many different, though rare, variations exist across the country.
· Preschool, Nursery School, or Head Start; Under 5
· Elementary School
o Kindergarten: 5–6
o 1st Grade: 6–7
o 2nd Grade: 7–8
o 3rd Grade: 8–9
o 4th Grade: 9–10
o 5th Grade: 10–11
· Middle school (more traditionally called junior high school)
o 6th Grade: 11–12 (not always—some elementary schools include 6th grade as their highest grade)
o 7th Grade: 12–13
o 8th Grade: 13–14
· High school
o 9th Grade (Freshman year): 14–15 (not always—some junior high schools include 9th grade as their highest grade)
o 10th Grade (Sophomore year): 15–16
o 11th Grade (Junior year): 16–17
o 12th Grade (Senior year): 17–18
· College or University (usually four years)
o Freshman: 18–19
o Sophomore: 19–20
o Junior: 20–21
o Senior: 21–22
4.2 Preschool
A preschool or nursery school is a school for the education of very young children (generally five years of age and younger). These schools give childcare with little educational benefits. They focus on education and generally teach early social skills including interpersonal interaction, being a part of a group of peers, and classroom skills such as following the instructions of a teacher. Some formal education also takes place, such as early reading or language skills. Some nursery schools have adopted specialized methods of teaching, such as Montessori, High Scope, Reggio and various other pedagogy.
4.3 Primary education
Elementary school
Elementary school, "grade school", "grammar school", and "public school" are all interchangeable names for schools that begin with Kindergarten or first grade and end either with fifth or sixth grade. Elementary school provides a common daily routine for all students, except the most disadvantaged students (those with learning disabilities, mental illnesses, or those students who do not speak English) and sometimes gifted or advanced students. Students do not choose a course structure and remain in a single classroom throughout the school day, with the exceptions of physical education ("P.E." or "gym") and music and/or art classes.
Education is relatively free at this level. Teachers receive a book to give to the students for each subject and brief overviews of what they are expected to teach. In general, a student learns basic arithmetic and sometimes rudimentary algebra in mathematics, as well as learning English proficiency (language arts), such as basic grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.
Social studies (history) and science are the most under taught subjects, mostly because most elementary teachers have a degree in English or education. Social studies may include basic events and concepts in American history and world history, and in some places state or local history; science varies widely.
4.4 Secondary education
Middle school
"Middle school", "junior high school", and "intermediate school" are all interchangeable names for schools that begin in 6th or 7th grade and end in 8th, though they may sometimes include 9th grade as well. The term "junior high school" and the arrangement beginning with 7th grade are becoming less common.
At this time, students begin to enroll in class schedules where they take classes from several teachers in a given day, unlike in elementary school where all classes are with the same teacher. The classes are usually a strict set of a science, math, English, social science courses, interspersed with a reading and/or technology class. Every year from kindergarten through ninth grade usually includes a mandatory physical education or P.E. class. Student-chosen courses, known as electives, are generally limited to only one or two classes.
High school
Students in the United States, unlike their counterparts in other developed nations, do not begin to specialize into a narrow field of study until their sophomore year of college. At the high school level, they mostly take a broad variety of classes, without special attention. Typically, American high schools require that courses in the areas of English, science, social science, and mathematics.
Generally, three science courses are required. Biology, chemistry, and physics are standard options. Other science studies include geology, the environment and forensics.
High school mathematics subjects include topics such as algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. Advanced study options can include pre-calculus, calculus and statistics, with or without Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) accreditation.
English classes are usually required for all four years of high school.
Required social science classes often include American history, civics, and world history. Additional study options can include classes in law (constitutional, criminal or international) economics and psychology.
A year of physical education (usually referred to as “gym” by students) is commonly required. Many states require a "Health" course in which students learn anatomy, nutrition, first aid, the basic concepts of sexuality and birth control, and why to avoid destructive substances like illegal drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol. In some places, the health and physical education class are combined into one class.
High schools also offer a wide variety of elective courses, although the availability of such courses depends upon each particular school's financial situation. Some schools and states require students to earn a few credits of classes considered electives, most commonly foreign language and physical education.
Common types of electives include:
Visual arts (drawing, sculpture, painting, photography)
Performing arts (drama, band, orchestra, dance, film)
Vocational education (woodworking, metalworking, automobile repair)
Computer science/business education (word processing, programming, graphic design, computer club, Web design)
Physical education (American football, baseball, basketball, track and field, swimming, gymnastics, water polo, soccer)
Journalism/publishing (school newspaper, yearbook)
Foreign languages: (French, German, and Spanish are common; Chinese, Latin, Greek and Japanese are less common, though Latin is gaining increased popularity)
Family and consumer science/health ("home economics"; nutrition, child development)
Some American high schools offer drivers' education. At some schools, a student can take it during school as a regular course for a credit. At some, however, drivers education courses are only available after school.
4.5 Higher education
College/university
Post-secondary education in the United States is known as college or university and commonly consists of four years of study at an institution of higher learning. Like high school, the four undergraduate grades are commonly called freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years (alternately called first year, second year, etc.). Students traditionally apply to receive admission into college, with varying difficulties of entrance. Schools differ in their competitiveness and reputation; generally, public schools are viewed as more generous and less prestigious than the more expensive private schools. Admissions criteria involve test scores and class ranking as well as extracurricular activities performed prior to the application date. Also, many colleges consider the strictness of previous courses taken along with the grades earned. Certain test scores, class rank, or other numerical factors hardly ever have absolute, required levels, but often have a threshold below which admission is unlikely.
Once admitted, students engage in undergraduate study, which consists of satisfying university and class requirements to achieve a bachelor's degree. The most common method consists of four years of study leading to a Bachelor of Arts (BA), a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree, or sometimes (but very rarely) another bachelor's degree such as Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA). Some students choose to attend a "community college" for two years prior to further study at another college or university. A community college is run by the local municipality, usually the county. Though rarely handing out actual degrees, community colleges may award an Associate of Arts (AA) degree after two years. Those seeking to continue their education may transfer to a four-year college or university (after applying through a similar admissions process as those applying directly to the four-year institution, see articulation). Some community colleges have automatic enrolment agreements with a local four-year college, where the community college provides the first two years of study and the university provides the remaining years of study, sometimes all on one campus. For example, the University of Houston System has partnered with community colleges in neighbouring cities to provide bachelor's and master's degrees in cities that are only served by community colleges. The community college awards the associate's degree and the university awards the bachelor's and master's degrees.
Graduate study conducted after obtaining an initial degree and/or after some years of professional work, may lead to a Master's Degree (MA), Master of Science (MS), or other master's degrees such as Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Education (MEd), and Master of Fine Arts (MFA). After additional years of study and sometimes in conjunction with the completion of a master's degree, students may earn a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or other doctoral degree, such as Doctor of Arts, Doctor of Education or Doctor of Theology. Some programs, such as medicine, have formal apprenticeship procedures like residency and interning which must be completed after graduation and before one is considered to be fully trained. Other professional programs like law and business have no formal apprenticeship requirements after graduation (although law school graduates must take the bar exam in order to legally practice law).
Entrance into graduate programs usually depends upon a student's undergraduate academic performance or professional experience as well as their score on a standardized entrance exam like the GRE (graduate schools in general), the LSAT (law), the GMAT (business), or the MCAT (medicine). Many graduate and law schools do not require experience after earning a bachelor's degree to enter their programs; however, business schools candidates may be considered deficient without several years of professional work experience. Less than 10% of students ever attend postgraduate courses and most, after obtaining their bachelor's degree, proceed directly into the work force.
OPINION ABOUT OUR PROJECT
Well, this is our ICTproject about education in Great Britain and the United States of America. We hope you enjoined it.
We are satisfied with the result of our work and as you can see, it was a lot of work.
Of course, we hope that the project will get a good mark, but we will hear that when you’ve read it!
SOURCES + LOGBOOK
Sources
http://www.eng.umu.se/education/Default.htm
(I’ve used everything that’s beneat the title history.)
Education
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education#History_of_education
History education
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_britain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_British_society
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_England
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_school
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_school_%28England%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammar_School
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_education_authority
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleven_plus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Curriculum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_school
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_school
Nowadays
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_England
A. FOREWORD
B. EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITAIN
- 0. EDUCATION
- 1. HISTORY
1.1 Middle ages
1.2 Seventeenth century
1.3 Eighteenth century
1.4 Nineteenth century
1.5 Twentieth century
- 2. NOWADAYS
2.1 Division of the school years
2.2 The school types
C. EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES
- 3. HISTORY
3.1 In the 19th century, a national system of formal education developed in the United States. But how was it before?
3.2 Development in the 19th century; forming elementary education.
3.4 And about higher education..?
3.5 Who were important people in the history of education in the United States?
- 4. NOWADAYS
4.1 The way through the school system..
4.2 Preschool
4.3 Primary education
4.4 Secondary education
FOREWORD
This is the second ICT-project we’ve made for English. Last year we made a project about Pixar, which we both enjoined very much. It was difficult for us to find a new subject that was as good as the first. This became our second subject: Education in Great Britain and in the United States. We agreed that the subject was not as good as Pixar, but we also put a lot of time in the project and we hope that it’ll be marked with a good mark.
Enjoy reading!
0. EDUCATION
Education is the teaching of ideas, abilities, principles and discipline. It has always existed. In the past, there were educational traditions: parents taught their children how to hunt, how to wash clothes, a father taught to his son how to do his job etc.
Priests and monks realised the importance of teaching children virtues. Most of these early schools were parish schools, with catholic roots. Later on, the industrial revolution demanded literacy and discipline. This is why the illiteracy has decreased very much in the 19th century.
Nowadays, children get basic education. Basic education means that you’re taught the skills that are important to function in a society properly. In developed countries, it had the effect that they developed more and more. Developing countries are trying to oblige the basic education. This will help decreasing the violence and increasing the literacy, discipline and hygiene, because they will learn how to solve problems in a not-violent way, they will learn to read and they will learn much more about hygiene and diseases.
1. HISTORY
During the 7th century, the Anglo-Saxons, who were not beaten by the Romans, arrived in Britain. Their society was pretty much like the Britain, but the main difference was their religion. In the northern areas of the island still lived peoples who were not Saxons. Then, the Anglo-Saxons converted them to their religion: Christianity. These areas turned out in important places off learning. The monasteries, there, were like universities. Bede is a well known scholar of that time. He was always busy: learning, teaching and writing. He was one of the first people to realise the importance of learning and teaching.
Another great person was Alfred the Great. He lived in the 9th century and was interested in creating a literate, educated people. Therefore, he stimulated and promoted the English language. He also stabilised the country, by putting it into shires. These shires turned out in today’s British counties.
1.1 Middle ages
In the 14th century, there were small schools founded by religious foundations and some by private foundations. Some were attached to a guild, but mostly they were attached to a religion. They gave pupils elementary education.
Then there were preparatory schools, which prepared the pupils for grammar schools. Grammar schools, in which mostly foreign languages and English were taught, were for the wealthier people. Pupils only were admitted when they were able to read and write.
In 1249, the University College Oxford was established and in 1284 the university in Cambridge was also established. Cambridge was founded by a group of gentlemen who broke away from the University college Oxford, to set up their own institution. A university in the middle ages was a kind of seminar for the church, where the sons of poor men could receive education. Most of the nobility couldn’t read and write, therefore they had clerks who did the administrative work, for the clergymen was this work too low and they were too educated to do this.
School life was hard in these ages: pupils had to go to school from six in the morning till six in the evening, there were many students per class and corporal punishment was normal. The children complained much about the cruel-punishment.
1.2 Seventeenth century
In this century became evident for which people, where and what was taught. The education institutions became clearer and out of that 2 groups were formed.
Education institutions
Most of the schools were related to a religion, their schools were called charity schools. They were set up by the Society for the promotion of Christian Knowledge. Prayers and Bible reading were a major part in their Curriculum.
There were also schools, which were built up by people who believed in their own ideas: Puritans. They taught their own ideas and beliefs to the students. These schools were called dissenting schools.
Schools
Oxford and Cambridge became more like universities of these days. More and more sons of the gentry went to these schools; still some poor went to it.
Public schools were to prepare students for Oxford and Cambridge. They were based mainly on physically activity and classics. They were open for everyone, who paid the fees. These independent schools were like single-sex boarding schools. Sons of the aristocracy went to these schools. Westminister (1179) is one of the oldest public schools.
Boarding schools, or dissenting schools, were mostly for the rich, for the people from aristocracy and for dissenters. Parents sent their children to these schools, in order to let them become educated. They were often far away, had little contact with their parents, had little holidays and the schooldays were long. Some people thought that these parents were lazy, others thought that it was better to sent your child to this kind of school, because it would be a more proper way of education.
In the grammar schools (1547) writing, Latin, Greek and mathematics were the main subjects to be taught. Mathematics was only for the most able and Latin and Greek were only for boys. These schools were a kind of entrance to go to the colleges in Oxford, Cambridge and others. Grammar schools were often sponsored by the villagers and guilds. The wealthier townspeople sent their children to these schools.
Charity schools were schools sponsored by the cathedrals and churches. They were like parish schools and bible reading and prayers were their main subjects.
Then there were Dame-schools, these were for the lower classes and children of poor people. Children were taught simple reading and some skills that were necessary and useful for them.
Boys and girls
Boys had the ability to study more, to become more educated than girls, because they had the ability in this society, which girls had not. The boys had to study Latin and Greek, while girls only had to be able to read the bible.
In that time, girls had to stop studying once they had learned: the useful skills, to read and to please their husband. Some, who didn’t stop studying, were advised to hide their knowledge, because it wasn’t normal to be an educated woman for that time. Girls were not allowed on grammar schools, public schools and universities. That’s why in 1671 two boarding schools for girls-only were established, there were also some private boarding schools for daughters from rich parents. There, they were taught to be a gentle wife.
Subjects
Science, English and modern languages were educated only on dissenting academies. These subjects were contradictory to Catholicism, not important enough or only for the richer people and that’s why they call them dissenting schools.
At Oxford and Cambridge they taught Latin, Greek, rhetoric, logic, grammar, arithmetic and music. At the end of the 17th century the subjects Hebrew, Arabic, ancient history and geometric were added to the curriculum. The catholic community was not happy with these new ideas, because they are contradictory to the Bible.
On the schools which were attached to religion, Bible reading and learning prayers were the main part. In the schools for the poorest also bible reading and prayers were a major part.
In this century charity schools became more and more directed on the religion. At the end of the 18th century they provided education to a quarter million children. Moral teaching and vocational training were characteristic.
While charity schools were doing well, public schools got a bad reputation. Bullying, violence and wrong corporal punishment became characteristic for them. The government did a lot to support these schools and to help them, but it was difficult.
Children from the nobility and ruling class went, when they had finished school, to universities. Children who had had less education lived a life which was undisciplined and simple.
Oxford was the first to examine the students. Most of the examinations were oral and were seen as a formality. John Scott described his examination Hebrew in 1770. It was like a few questions and when you got the most of it correct, you had passed your exams.
Then there came a new phenomenon. Some of the wealthier students went on The Grand Tour of Europe to complete their education. They went on trip through Europe to learn more about these other countries. However, when they were back at home, they knew only a bit about Europe and a lot more about wine, women and gaming.
The one, who were forbidden by their father to waste money and time on universities and these tours, were sent to dissenting academies. They were cheaper and respectable. They also offered colleges about mathematics (Manchester 1719) and chemistry (Scarborough 1733).
The industrial-revolution began at the end of the 18th century, the British life changed a lot. In 1780 Robert Raikes started with Sunday schools, because he was worried about the children, who hung around on the streets on Sundays. In 1795 a quarter of million children went to these schools. They offered poor children to learn something. At first they should be clean and respectable dressed, but not everyone could afford that. Therefore he accepted if they only washed their hands and face and combed their hair.
However, the powerful people were not happy with this development among the poorest people. They were afraid that these people were going to think about their class, that they would be going to stand up against them, so that they wouldn’t be such great servants anymore. In 1803 the bishop of London said that it would be better for the government and the religion to let the poorest ones in state of ignorance, where the nature put them.
During this century, people got the right to vote. This led to the effect that schools not only taught in subjects anymore, but also in the culture and pride of their land. This preserved Britain from outbreaks and revolution. In 1832, in the Parliamentary Reform Act, this effect was accepted and that made further social advances possible. The middle-class was by this act and by the education act (1833) provided with education.
Monitorial system
Two societies, the British and the foreign school society, wanted to keep school as cheap as possible and they found religion and moral values were very important. They used the monitorial system, which saved a lot of money. This means that a teacher teaches to the monitors and they will pass their knowledge on to the students.
Both also supported competition. Therefore was a system of rewards: when you did something good, when you had success you got a reward. This made school more attractive then it was in the last centuries.
Education act (1833)
Ragged schools provided education for the poorest and were supported by charities. Other schools established themselves and ensured that their ideas and philosophy would be passed on to the next generation.
However, the developments of state education were held up by the ideas of the richer: educating the lower classes would make them less good as servants, because they would be going to think about their life and find out that it wasn’t fair. In 1833 this changed, the educational act gave the first Government grant. It was seen as a temporary thing, just to help the societies expand. Though, it held on till 1988.
The Forsters’ Elementary Education Act
These schools wouldn’t have any contact with religion. A lot of people found this absurd. This problem was solved by pressing the schools to teach religion at the beginning or the end of the school session, in order that parents could depart their children from the religious instruction. This is why so much Britain people know about the Bible.
In 1880 the Elementary Education Act made education op to the age of 10 free for registered children in school. Though, education was made compulsory till that age, which is logical, because it’s free.
In 1888 the Local Government Act was accepted. This was made to establish the later LEA’s (Local Education Authority).
Education was made free, in de Education Act of 1891. Even the poorest children could go to school and the attendance was first made compulsory till the age of eleven, later on it was made compulsory to the age of thirteen.
Private education
A new class was formed by the industrial development. People who had earned money from the industrial development wanted their sons to receive education which was different than normal education, to receive education that would fit them for a social position. Their sons would become a separated and privileged group of gentleman.
This made that a new type of public schools was formed. These schools were socially exclusive and the students were taught the importance of discipline and correct behaviour. Therefore, sports were used. Sports included discipline, correct behaviour, physical toughening and it also supported development of team spirit and loyalty to the group.
The Curriculum
The curriculum was first still based on the classics, but as the wishes, the salary of the classes and the society changed, the curriculum changed. A school served a class and the curricula became more and more based on their wishes, because that attracted more students.
The demand of secondary education grew and the curricula of new grammar schools were based on the curricula of the public schools: the academical and the classical aspects were important, but most important were the social distinctions and the gentility.
The industrialisation made that there were a lot of clerical jobs and because the school - and class system was changed there were also more clerical jobs free. In the earlier days the poor children, who were taught to write and read by and for the church, would do this. The society needed educated workers, but there wasn’t a school that sufficed this need. A consequence was that, because no British educated worker would and could become clerk, foreigners came to England to fill these jobs. The effect from these foreign workers was that there came a bit more unemployed British people.
1.5 Twentieth century
Wars brought questions with them and after the four wars of this century, four major reforms came.
The 1902 'Balfour' Education Act created local education authorities (LEAs). They took the responsibility for board schools from the school boards. Grammar schools also became funded by the LEA. All schools could be funded based on the rates of the school, the LEA’s decided if they got funded or not.
The Fisher Education Act of 1918 made secondary education compulsory up to the age of 14 and gave responsibility for secondary education schools to the state. Many schools became state funded schools or secondary schools, but the children remained going to school till the age of 14, instead of going to a secondary school.
The Butler act of 1944 introduced the tri-partite system and they made secondary education free for all. The tri-partite system meant that the split between primary and secondary education was at the age of 11 and that education became more specific and that every child could get a chance to study. Pupils went to schools which suited to their age and academic ability. Education was more or less divided over three schools:
· Grammar schools: which provided academic education.
· Secondary modern schools: Which provided vocational training
· Secondary technical schools: Which provided technical education that the modern industrial society would need.
When pupils left the primary schools they had to do the eleven plus exam. This exam decided to which secondary school you went. The number of how many children of each school could go to the grammar schools was decided by the LEA’s. So, in some areas it was a lot easier to pass and go to a grammar school than in others. The LEA’s could also put weight on several parts of the eleven plus exam, if they thought it was necessary for that school. Once the pupils were in grammar school, the road to higher education was open and they could get higher positions of power. In 1947 education was compulsory till the age of 15.
In the sixties the comprehensive schools became very popular. Their ideas were, according to the Labour Party, better and more based on the social equality. These schools were flexible and corporal punishment was not tolerated.
The Conservative party, which got the power in 1972, made two main changes in the eighties. The schools had lost the touch with the needs of the industry and because of that, there were a lot of unemployed young people. Therefore, they expanded the vocationalism. In 1980, the assisted places scheme was introduced. Children, who could not pay a fee-paying school, could get free places if they could pass the entrance exam.
In 1986, corporal punishment was not allowed anymore and in 1988 the system of education changed a lot, the tri-partite system didn’t work the way it should work. So the education reform act was introduced. This act’s aim was producing a “school market”. Schools would be competing. So schools, which educated well, would stay and would grow and schools, which did not educate good, would loose their pupils and maybe even close, leaving only the good schools. These were the reforms:
· The national curriculum was introduced. This meant that certain subjects were made compulsory for schools to teach. It made the differences between schools less and pupils would get a certainty of the knowledge they would get.
· To control this National Curriculum, the government made tests, to test if the pupils knew the compulsory knowledge. Some of these tests were teacher-assessments, others were tested on paper and the mark you got was the assessment. There were four Key Stages (at the age of 7, 11, 14 and 16). The fourth key stage was done with the GCSE exam
· Tables were published in newspapers, so that parents could see which schools were doing well and which were not.
· Formula funding was introduced, which basically meant that the more children a school could attract to it, the more money it got.
· Parents could (within limits) choose againt to which school their children went.
· Schools could become grand maintained schools and receive funding direct from the central government. The schools would get more money than a school would get form the local authorities. This was seen as a political move, because only the central government was run as a rule.
In 1997 the Labour party got the power and they changed the school system again. The following chances took place:
· There came a focus on tailoring education to each child's ability. Critics see this as reminiscent of the original intentions of the Tripartite system.
· Labour expanded a policy started by the Conservatives of creating specialist schools. This new type of secondary school teaches the National Curriculum subjects plus a few specialist branches of knowledge (e.g. business studies) not found in most other schools. These schools are allowed to select 10% of their pupils.
· The concept of Beacon schools was introduced, where in any area of deprivation a school that is doing well is marked as a Beacon school, and shares its ideas and methods with other less successful schools.
· City Academies were introduced. These are new schools, built on the site of, or taking over from existing failing schools. A city academy is an independent school within the state system. It is outside the control of the local education authority and set up with substantial funding from interested third parties, which might be businesses, charities or private individuals.
· Education Action Zones were introduced, which are deprived areas run by an action forum of people within that area with the intention of make that area's schools better.
· Vocational qualifications were renamed/restructured.
· The New Deal was introduced, which made advisors available to long-term unemployed, to give help and money to those who want to go back into Education.
· Introduced Literacy and Numeracy hours into schools, and set targets for literacy and numeracy.
· Set Truancy targets.
· Set a maximum class size of 30 for 5-7 year olds.
· Introduced the EMA, which is paid to those between 16 and 18 as an enticement to remain in full-time education and get A-Levels/AVCEs.
· Introduced Curriculum 2000, which reformed the Further Education system into the current structure of AS levels, A2 levels and Key Skills.
· Abolished the Assisted Places Scheme.
· In 2003 a green paper was published entitled Every Child Matters. It built on existing plans to strengthen childrens services and focused on four key areas:
o Increasing the focus on supporting families and carers as the most critical influence on children's lives
o Ensuring necessary intervention takes place before children reach crisis point and protecting children from falling through the net
o Addressing the underlying problems identified in the report into the death of Victoria Climbié - weak accountability and poor integration
o Ensuring that the people working with children are valued, rewarded and trained
The green paper prompted a wide debate about services for children, young people and families. There followed a wide consultation with those working in children's services, and with parents, children and young people. Following this, the Government published Every Child Matters: the Next Steps, and passed the Children Act 2004, providing the legislative spine for developing more effective and accessible services focused around the needs of children, young people and families. Every Child Matters: Change for Children was published in November 2004.
2. NOWADAYS
2.1 Division of the school years
Primary education
· Primary School or Infant school
Class Age
Reception 4-5
Year 1 5-6
Year 2 6-7 (KS1 National Curriculum Tests – England only)
· Primary School or Junior School
Year 3 7-8
Year 4 8-9
Year 5 9-10
Year 6 10-11 (eleven plus exams in some areas of England, KS2 National Curriculum Tests)
Secondary education
· Secondary School or High School
Year 7 11-12
Year 9 13-14 (KS3 National Curriculum Tests, known as SATs (Statutory Attainment Tests))
Year 10 14-15 (KS 4)
Year 11 15-16 (old O level examinations, modern GCSE examinations)
Year 12 (lower sixth) 16-17 (AS-level examinations)
Year 13 (upper sixth) 17-18 (A2-level examinations) Both AS-levels and A2
Levels count towards A-levels
National Curriculum Tests are tests which guarantee that the pupil has the basic knowledge.
Eleven plus exams are exams which prove which direction is the best for the pupil to go after primary school.
2.2 School types
Community Schools
In community schools (formerly county schools), the LEA employs the schools staff, own the schools land and buildings and have primary responsibility for deciding the arrangements for admitting pupils.
Foundation Schools
Voluntary Aided (VA) Schools
Many voluntary aided schools are church schools. VA governing bodies employ the staff and decide admission arrangements. The schools land and buildings are normally owned by a charitable foundation. The governing body contributes towards the capital costs of running the school. Most aided schools are linked to either the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church, but there are schools linked to other faith groups and a few non-denominational schools, often linked to philanthropic organisations like the Haberdashers and the Drapers.
Voluntary Controlled (VC) Schools
VC schools are almost always church schools, and the land and buildings are often owned by a charitable foundation. However, the LEA employ the schools staff and has primary responsibility for admission arrangements.
EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES
3. HISTORY
Before we talk about the school system American people go to nowadays, we talk about the history of America’s school system.
3.1 In the 19th century, a national system of formal education developed in the United States. But how was it before?
There was no national education system before the development of a national system of formal education in the United States. America knew a collection of local, regional and usually private institutions. Their education programs were based on what to do with it within the community or on a religious purpose.
Although, after the American Revolution (1775-1783) the founders of America argued that education was essential for the prosperity and survival of the new nation.
He made an education plan in 1779, which included that all children in the state Virginia can go to a free school for three years. The best of those students would go to publicly funded colleges.
Jefferson’s plan had never become reality, but Jefferson’s plans for a universal education program became the basis of education programs that were developed in the 19th century.
3.2 Development in the 19th century; forming elementary education.
In the 19th century (1830s-1840s) the American school system began to change. Important men who were responsible for the development of a new school system were Horace Mann and Henry Barnard. They pleaded for a common school system for all children. They argued that education could transform all youth into virtuous, literate citizens. They suggested that education could build a distinctive new nation that would be better equipped to fight with other countries. In one word: A school system is the best you can create for your country.
By the end of the 19th century the reformers had largely achieved their objective. Free public education at the elementary level was available for all American children. In 1918 all states had passed laws requiring children to attend at least elementary school.
The common school movement
The common school movement was a complex dynamic that exhibited elements of oppression and emancipation. On the one hand, the movement for common schools constituted a rebuilding of the educational system to respond to the needs of expanding capitalist industries and the realities of growing cities. Among these needs were the training and disciplining of the new immigrants so they could become productive and docile workers, and the provision of stability and control in the populated urban areas. In other words, a massive and authoritarian educational system facilitated the emerging massive and authoritarian productive system. On the other hand, the common school movement removed the walls of an elitist educational system and opened its doors to large numbers of children who were previously excluded. The common school movement amalgamated the need of factory owners for a disciplined and productive workforce, the need of the emerging liberal state for social and ideological control (removing it from the church), the hopes of working class and immigrant groups for upward mobility, and the good faith and drive of many well-intentioned educational reformers who conceived education as the main avenue to build a more democratic, more egalitarian, and better society.
3.3 The rise of American high school after 1900 (secondary education).
Only for a small number of teenagers a variety of schools existed before the 20th century. The teenagers had the ability or the desire to pursue education beyond the elementary level. In 1900 only 10 percent of the American teenagers aged 14 to 17 were going to a high school. Secondary education was mostly conducted by private tutors or privately supported academies.
The primal cause for the rise of American high school was of course the increasing welfare.
3.4 And about higher education…?
Just like high school, higher education or postsecondary education increased during the 20th century. At the beginning of the century only two percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 were going to college. There were fewer than 1000 colleges then, with about 157000 students at that moment.
At the end of the 20th century, more than 60 percent aged 18 to 24 were going to college and were enrolled in about 3500 four-year and two-year colleges.
Before the 20th century, universities like Harvard (1636), College of William and Mary (1693) and Yale (1701) had existed since a long time. They were more motivated by religious convictions, so that was than the reformed elementary and secondary schools, who weren’t based on a religious purpose. College and university weren’t really reformed by public institutions.
Many American public universities came about because of the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Acts of 1862 and 1890. During the rapid westward expansion of the United States during the 19th century, the federal government took control of huge amounts of so-called "empty" land (often after forcing the previous Native American residents into reservations). Under the Morrill Acts, the federal government offered to give 30,000 acres (121 km²) of federal land to each state, on the condition that they used the land (or proceeds from its sale) to establish universities. The resulting schools are often referred to as land-grant colleges, and the most well-known is the University of California. However, there are exceptions, such as Cornell University, which is a private school that also is a land-grant university of the state of New York.
Harvard
Here’s a little history about Harvard for having a more specific history about college and university.
Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. It is widely considered one of the finest academic institutions in the world. It is founded on 8 September 1636 by a vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States.
It was originally named as the New College, but it was changed into Harvard College on 13 March 1639, after its first principal donor, John Harvard. He was a young graduate of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. John Harvard left a few hundred books behind in his will to form the basis of the college library collection, along with several hundred pounds.
Sponsored by Henry Rosovsky, former dean of the faculty of arts and sciences (1973-1984), the undergraduate elective system, or General Education Program, was replaced in 1979 by a Core Curriculum intended to prepare well-educated men and women for the challenges of modern life. Students are now required to take courses for the equivalent of an academic year in each of five areas: literature and arts, history, social analysis and moral reasoning, science, and foreign cultures. In addition to the new curriculum, students must spend roughly the equivalent of two years on courses in a field of concentration and one year on elective courses. Students must also demonstrate competence in writing, mathematics, and a foreign language.
3.5 Who were important people in the history of education in the United States?
There are a few people important in the history op education. Here’s a small biography of those men.
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) is perhaps best known for being primary author on the Declaration of Independence. He was the third (1801–1809) President of the United States, second (1797–1801) Vice President, first (1789–1795) United States Secretary of State and had many more functions in his life of which you can write a whole book about. Although, more important in this story about the history of education is that he formed a education plan in 1779 when he became governor of Virginia. Virginia was the ground in which Jefferson planned to plant the roots of his ideal republic. Jefferson's broad vision of a republican society included governmental, cultural, educational, and societal institutions and activities. In his view, Virginia's political, legal, and educational systems were to be reformed and assembled into an ideal republican society as a model for America and Europe. For Thomas Jefferson, public education was the key to preserving republican government. To secure the level of popular education Jefferson prepared his "Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge" as part of the revision of Virginia's laws. As chair of the committee, Jefferson proposed a three level system in 1779, (never adopted): three years of primary education for all girls and boys; advanced studies for a select number of boys; a state scholarship to the College of William and Mary for one boy from each district every two years.
Horace Mann
Horace Mann (1796-1859) was American education reformer. It was not until he became secretary (1837) of the newly created board of education of Massachusetts, that he began the work which was soon to place him in the foremost rank of American educationists. He held this position until 1848, and worked with a remarkable intensity, holding teachers’ conventions, delivering numerous lectures and addresses, carrying on an extensive correspondence, introducing numerous reforms, planning and beginning the Massachusetts normal school system in Lexington and Bridgewater, founding and editing The Common School Journal (1838), and preparing a series of Annual Reports, which had a wide circulation.
Most importantly is that he worked effectively for more and better equipped school houses, longer school years, higher pay for teachers and a wider curriculum.
Henry Barnard
Henry Barnard (1811-1900) As a delegate to the Connecticut General Assembly in 1837, Barnard introduced the first legislation for free education and created the Connecticut Board of Common Schools. He was made the secretary of the Connecticut Board of Education in 1838. He published a variety of articles on Pestalozzi as editor of the Connecticut Common School Journal from 1838 to 1842. From 1843 to 1849 Barnard served as the state superintendent of schools in Rhode Island.
He was exposed to the kindergarten of Mme. Bertha Ronge while attending the International Exposition of Educational Methods in London in 1854. He championed the Froebel kindergarten giving lectures and publishing articles in the highly influential American Journal of Education from 1855 to 1882.
4 EDUCATION IN THE USA NOWADAYS
What about the education that’s been given nowadays? We now know a lot about the history, so right now it’s time to tell something about America’s school system nowadays.
4.1 The way through the school system..
They use a grade notation and year naming system in the United States that is not well understood in other countries. Unlike other nations, Americans prefer to use ordinal numbers rather than cardinal numbers for grades in ordinary speech. So, when you ask an American child in what grade he is, he’ll say “fourth grade” instead of “grade four”. The following is the typical ages and grade groupings in public and private schools. Many different, though rare, variations exist across the country.
· Preschool, Nursery School, or Head Start; Under 5
o Kindergarten: 5–6
o 1st Grade: 6–7
o 2nd Grade: 7–8
o 3rd Grade: 8–9
o 4th Grade: 9–10
o 5th Grade: 10–11
· Middle school (more traditionally called junior high school)
o 6th Grade: 11–12 (not always—some elementary schools include 6th grade as their highest grade)
o 7th Grade: 12–13
o 8th Grade: 13–14
· High school
o 9th Grade (Freshman year): 14–15 (not always—some junior high schools include 9th grade as their highest grade)
o 10th Grade (Sophomore year): 15–16
o 11th Grade (Junior year): 16–17
o 12th Grade (Senior year): 17–18
o Freshman: 18–19
o Sophomore: 19–20
o Junior: 20–21
o Senior: 21–22
4.2 Preschool
A preschool or nursery school is a school for the education of very young children (generally five years of age and younger). These schools give childcare with little educational benefits. They focus on education and generally teach early social skills including interpersonal interaction, being a part of a group of peers, and classroom skills such as following the instructions of a teacher. Some formal education also takes place, such as early reading or language skills. Some nursery schools have adopted specialized methods of teaching, such as Montessori, High Scope, Reggio and various other pedagogy.
4.3 Primary education
Elementary school
Elementary school, "grade school", "grammar school", and "public school" are all interchangeable names for schools that begin with Kindergarten or first grade and end either with fifth or sixth grade. Elementary school provides a common daily routine for all students, except the most disadvantaged students (those with learning disabilities, mental illnesses, or those students who do not speak English) and sometimes gifted or advanced students. Students do not choose a course structure and remain in a single classroom throughout the school day, with the exceptions of physical education ("P.E." or "gym") and music and/or art classes.
Education is relatively free at this level. Teachers receive a book to give to the students for each subject and brief overviews of what they are expected to teach. In general, a student learns basic arithmetic and sometimes rudimentary algebra in mathematics, as well as learning English proficiency (language arts), such as basic grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.
4.4 Secondary education
Middle school
"Middle school", "junior high school", and "intermediate school" are all interchangeable names for schools that begin in 6th or 7th grade and end in 8th, though they may sometimes include 9th grade as well. The term "junior high school" and the arrangement beginning with 7th grade are becoming less common.
At this time, students begin to enroll in class schedules where they take classes from several teachers in a given day, unlike in elementary school where all classes are with the same teacher. The classes are usually a strict set of a science, math, English, social science courses, interspersed with a reading and/or technology class. Every year from kindergarten through ninth grade usually includes a mandatory physical education or P.E. class. Student-chosen courses, known as electives, are generally limited to only one or two classes.
High school
Students in the United States, unlike their counterparts in other developed nations, do not begin to specialize into a narrow field of study until their sophomore year of college. At the high school level, they mostly take a broad variety of classes, without special attention. Typically, American high schools require that courses in the areas of English, science, social science, and mathematics.
Generally, three science courses are required. Biology, chemistry, and physics are standard options. Other science studies include geology, the environment and forensics.
High school mathematics subjects include topics such as algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. Advanced study options can include pre-calculus, calculus and statistics, with or without Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) accreditation.
English classes are usually required for all four years of high school.
A year of physical education (usually referred to as “gym” by students) is commonly required. Many states require a "Health" course in which students learn anatomy, nutrition, first aid, the basic concepts of sexuality and birth control, and why to avoid destructive substances like illegal drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol. In some places, the health and physical education class are combined into one class.
High schools also offer a wide variety of elective courses, although the availability of such courses depends upon each particular school's financial situation. Some schools and states require students to earn a few credits of classes considered electives, most commonly foreign language and physical education.
Common types of electives include:
Visual arts (drawing, sculpture, painting, photography)
Performing arts (drama, band, orchestra, dance, film)
Vocational education (woodworking, metalworking, automobile repair)
Computer science/business education (word processing, programming, graphic design, computer club, Web design)
Physical education (American football, baseball, basketball, track and field, swimming, gymnastics, water polo, soccer)
Journalism/publishing (school newspaper, yearbook)
Foreign languages: (French, German, and Spanish are common; Chinese, Latin, Greek and Japanese are less common, though Latin is gaining increased popularity)
Family and consumer science/health ("home economics"; nutrition, child development)
4.5 Higher education
College/university
Post-secondary education in the United States is known as college or university and commonly consists of four years of study at an institution of higher learning. Like high school, the four undergraduate grades are commonly called freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years (alternately called first year, second year, etc.). Students traditionally apply to receive admission into college, with varying difficulties of entrance. Schools differ in their competitiveness and reputation; generally, public schools are viewed as more generous and less prestigious than the more expensive private schools. Admissions criteria involve test scores and class ranking as well as extracurricular activities performed prior to the application date. Also, many colleges consider the strictness of previous courses taken along with the grades earned. Certain test scores, class rank, or other numerical factors hardly ever have absolute, required levels, but often have a threshold below which admission is unlikely.
Once admitted, students engage in undergraduate study, which consists of satisfying university and class requirements to achieve a bachelor's degree. The most common method consists of four years of study leading to a Bachelor of Arts (BA), a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree, or sometimes (but very rarely) another bachelor's degree such as Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA). Some students choose to attend a "community college" for two years prior to further study at another college or university. A community college is run by the local municipality, usually the county. Though rarely handing out actual degrees, community colleges may award an Associate of Arts (AA) degree after two years. Those seeking to continue their education may transfer to a four-year college or university (after applying through a similar admissions process as those applying directly to the four-year institution, see articulation). Some community colleges have automatic enrolment agreements with a local four-year college, where the community college provides the first two years of study and the university provides the remaining years of study, sometimes all on one campus. For example, the University of Houston System has partnered with community colleges in neighbouring cities to provide bachelor's and master's degrees in cities that are only served by community colleges. The community college awards the associate's degree and the university awards the bachelor's and master's degrees.
Graduate study conducted after obtaining an initial degree and/or after some years of professional work, may lead to a Master's Degree (MA), Master of Science (MS), or other master's degrees such as Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Education (MEd), and Master of Fine Arts (MFA). After additional years of study and sometimes in conjunction with the completion of a master's degree, students may earn a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or other doctoral degree, such as Doctor of Arts, Doctor of Education or Doctor of Theology. Some programs, such as medicine, have formal apprenticeship procedures like residency and interning which must be completed after graduation and before one is considered to be fully trained. Other professional programs like law and business have no formal apprenticeship requirements after graduation (although law school graduates must take the bar exam in order to legally practice law).
Entrance into graduate programs usually depends upon a student's undergraduate academic performance or professional experience as well as their score on a standardized entrance exam like the GRE (graduate schools in general), the LSAT (law), the GMAT (business), or the MCAT (medicine). Many graduate and law schools do not require experience after earning a bachelor's degree to enter their programs; however, business schools candidates may be considered deficient without several years of professional work experience. Less than 10% of students ever attend postgraduate courses and most, after obtaining their bachelor's degree, proceed directly into the work force.
OPINION ABOUT OUR PROJECT
Well, this is our ICTproject about education in Great Britain and the United States of America. We hope you enjoined it.
We are satisfied with the result of our work and as you can see, it was a lot of work.
Of course, we hope that the project will get a good mark, but we will hear that when you’ve read it!
SOURCES + LOGBOOK
Sources
http://www.eng.umu.se/education/Default.htm
(I’ve used everything that’s beneat the title history.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education#History_of_education
History education
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_britain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_British_society
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_England
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_school
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_school_%28England%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammar_School
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_education_authority
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleven_plus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Curriculum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_school
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_school
Nowadays
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_England
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it's really really good!!
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