The Politics of Literacy

As I read through the section on 20th Century Education and looked at the links which were imbedded in the section, I was struck by the many, many changes which have occurred in education during the 20th century. I had not realized that kindergartens had been in most public schools since 1910! The first sentence states that “...the 20th century was inclusivism and the idea of education for all.” I think that statement is somewhat debatable – clearly, although there were schools available for all people, those schools were certainly not equal in the quality of education and the opportunities each offered. Many inequalities have been addressed within the 20th century, however. The laws regarding segregation in schools addressed some of the problems, as did the formation of the “Integrity Task Force,” created to address the issue of the drop-out rate for Native Americans, and various rulings regarding Hispanic education, Asian-American education, and special education programs. Reading through the “Milestones in American public education” link made it clear that the social and economic events of the century also had a profound impact on the changing face of our education system.

I was particularly interested to read the comments of Eleanor Roosevelt about public education, originally published in Pictorial Review, April 1930: 4, 94, 97. She began by asking the purpose of education, noting that “Perhaps because there are so many books and the branches of knowledge in which we can learn facts are so multitudinous today, we begin to hear more frequently that the function of education is to give children a desire to learn and to teach them how to use their minds and where to go to acquire facts when their curiosity is aroused.” If she thought that in 1930, imagine how “bamboozled” she would be by the resources available to people today! I liked her comment about one of her teachers in that same article. She said “If ever in small ways I may do any good work in the world the credit will not be mine, but in part at least it will belong to the most inspiring teacher I ever knew.” She went on to say that “While we have put much money in buildings and laboratories and gymnasiums, we have forgotten that they are but the shell, and will never live and create a vital spark in the minds and hearts of our youth unless some teacher furnishes the inspiration.” What an insightful comment from a woman in 1930! I believe that, regardless of the facilities, the laws, or the rulings, the very heart of an education springs from the special relationship between a teacher and the students.