Student Experiences of School Reform

1
Student Experiences of School Reform Social
Change

• Progressive era reformers (such as John Dewey and
  others, 1890s-1930s) called for bold changes in
  teaching and learning.
• How did various groups of students and teachers
  actually experience Progressive era school
  reform?
• Did educational policy influence classroom
  practice -- or not?

2
Larry Cuban, How Teachers Taught Constancy and
Change in American Classrooms, 1890-1990
Research Question Did Progressive-era policy
talk influence classroom instructional practice?
3
Larry Cuban, How Teachers Taught

• Source materials to address the research
  question
• Photographs of Progressive-era classrooms
• Textbooks used in classrooms
• Student recollections from this period, in
  diaries or memoirs
• Teacher self-reports written during this period
• Reports written by classroom visitors
• Descriptions of classroom architecture (building
  plans and classroom layouts, placement of desks,
  etc.)

4
Larry Cuban, How Teachers Taught

• Definitions for analyzing photographs
• Teacher-centered instruction
• Teacher talk dominates student talk
• Frequent use of whole-group instruction
• Use of class time determined by teacher
• Classroom organization usually rows facing board
• Student-centered instruction
• Student talk on learning tasks equal to teacher
  talk
• Individual or small/med group instruction, rather
  than whole
• Students help to choose and organize content
• Teacher permits student to partly choose rules of
  behavior
• Varied instructional materials (centers)
  available in classroom

5
Using Cubans question and definitions, analyze
this photo
Source Library of Congress
6
Using Cubans question and definitions, analyze
this photo
7
Cubans thesis

• Some student-centered instructional practice
  appeared in elementary schools between 1920-40,
  but only in one-fourth of the school districts
  that systematically tried to implement it
  unevenly throughout the day.
• These small changes were enough to allow policy
  rhetoric to flourish, though its real impact was
  quite limited.

8
In Cubans other book, Teachers and Machines, he
argues that technological innovation (radio,
television, computers) has not altered traditions
of teacher-centered classroom instructional
practice.
1927 Los Angeles
9
Students Views from Classrooms

• How did American Indian students experience
  Progressive-era schools?

10
From Carlisle Indian Industrial School (PA),
1879-1918
11
Student body assembled on the Carlisle Indian
School Grounds, 1892.
Source Detective Q Is this website a credible
source? http//home.epix.net/landis/index.html
12
Students Views from Classrooms

• How did Italian immigrant students experience
  Progressive era US schooling? Source Leonard
  Covello autobiography

Source Detective Q How to find a book review of
Lassonde, Learning to Forget?
13
Students Views from Classrooms

• How did Puerto Rican migrants experience mainland
  US schooling in the post-1945 era?
• Source
• Esmeralda Santiago autobiography

14
Students Views from Classrooms

• What words would you use to characterize American
  Indian, Italian American, and Puerto Rican
  childrens experiences of schooling?
• Assimilation?
• Integration?
• Annihilation?
• Segregation?
• Americanization?