Chapter 5: The History of Schools in the United States

Curriculum in the United States has changed a lot since the colonial times. At the end of the nineteenth century, the country became more industrialized and began focusing on educating immigrants to become more literate and disciplined workers. Psychologists also contributed to creating curriculum to prepare students as workers for the industrial revolution. However, in 1896 John Dewey influenced education to focus more on the students and to serve a social function. The progressive movement encouraged activities and engaging the students in their own interests. During the Cold War, curriculum became more focused on math and science so that the United States might beat the Soviet Union in the arms race. The early focus of curriculum was on the Protestant, Anglo Saxon culture, however as other cultures began to immigrate into the country, they began to fight for representation in the textbooks.
Throughout history there has been much debate over what is put in textbooks and what is taught to students. The first texts that were used taught a strong Puritan ethic, which eventually created conflict when people of contradictory religions sent their children to the public schools. There is still much debate over religion and how to respect religions without teaching any one as greater than another. Another disagreement that has been ongoing in schools is that of the representation of cultures in textbooks. Early on, the only culture represented was the Puritan Anglo Saxon heritage; today we have more cultures being emphasized in textbooks, however, people continue to argue over which cultures to include and what should be presented about them. Lastly, debate continues over the curriculum content and focus, it must be decided what children should be taught and how that should be presented.