#sschat is a network of educators, resources, and ideas that started on Twitter, but has expanded to Facebook, an annual NCSS unconference, and more. Join us to chat asynchronously on Twitter or Facebook, or chat with us live on Mondays from 7-8pm EST.
Welcome to #sschat! I'm your host Jenn (@JennBinis). Tweeting tonight from this account cause it's all about education history tonight. Q0: Please take a moment to introduce yourself using the A0 structure. Be sure to remember the #sschat tag!
A0) Chris from Bloomington, IN. Teach world history for private online HS affiliated w/ Indiana University. Also one of the #sschat co-leaders. Thanks to @JennBinis@EdHistory101 for hosting tonight's chat.
A0) Hello #sschat. Glad to back with you all this summer evening. It's been a while ( summer trips, toddler swim lessons, lazy afternoons etc. ) Joining from CA
Welcome to #sschat! I'm your host Jenn (@JennBinis). Tweeting tonight from this account cause it's all about education history tonight. Q0: Please take a moment to introduce yourself using the A0 structure. Be sure to remember the #sschat tag!
A1 - Summer break was to allow kids to work on farms. I have heard it was about getting them out of oppressive heat in classrooms with no air conditioning. #sschat
#sschat The current environment is the result of the victory of the standards movement, which beat out the progressives at the end of the 20th century. But now it looks/feels like the pendulum may be swinging back!
Enjoyed my visit today to the @Reagan_Library. This is a must visit for any social studies educator. Outstanding primary sources to help tell the story of our 40th President. #ditchbook#sstlap#sschat#worldgeochat
#sschat A1-Schools teach a variety of different subjects, a liberal education, in order to prepare students for a world that lacks information, like the time before the web.
#sschat The current environment is the result of the victory of the standards movement, which beat out the progressives at the end of the 20th century. But now it looks/feels like the pendulum may be swinging back!
#sschat A1-Schools teach a variety of different subjects, a liberal education, in order to prepare students for a world that lacks information, like the time before the web.
A1
I've been told that we have summer off so I can help out on the farm. But that really doesn't make much sense since summer seems to not have much activity on Illinois farms. #sschat
Since I got my credential in June 1970, I've seen lots of efforts made to change the system. Lots of talk, but little real change. Definitely not a pendulum. #sschat
#sschat The current environment is the result of the victory of the standards movement, which beat out the progressives at the end of the 20th century. But now it looks/feels like the pendulum may be swinging back!
Welcome to #sschat! I'm your host Jenn (@JennBinis). Tweeting tonight from this account cause it's all about education history tonight. Q0: Please take a moment to introduce yourself using the A0 structure. Be sure to remember the #sschat tag!
A1
I've been told that we have summer off so I can help out on the farm. But that really doesn't make much sense since summer seems to not have much activity on Illinois farms. #sschat
No, they are pretty much the same: get rid of grades, let kids follow their passion, end standardized tests (yes, we had them in 1970 too), etc. etc. #sschat
A1
I've been told that we have summer off so I can help out on the farm. But that really doesn't make much sense since summer seems to not have much activity on Illinois farms. #sschat
Q2 incoming in about one minute! So far we've got summer vacation, Horace Mann, industrial model, and pendulums! Last call for stories/factoids you've heard about school. Perhaps you've heard one about grades? Or why teachers use last names? #sschat
Q2 incoming in about one minute! So far we've got summer vacation, Horace Mann, industrial model, and pendulums! Last call for stories/factoids you've heard about school. Perhaps you've heard one about grades? Or why teachers use last names? #sschat
Time for Q2. Where did you hear the factoid you mentioned for Q1? (I mentioned bells as training for factory work. It's often traced back to an author named Taylor Gatto.) #sschat
And from the darkness comes an education history hero!!! Not really a hero - more that my husband wondering the same thing and so we did a podcast episode on it: https://t.co/j9510EORBd#sschat
Q2 incoming in about one minute! So far we've got summer vacation, Horace Mann, industrial model, and pendulums! Last call for stories/factoids you've heard about school. Perhaps you've heard one about grades? Or why teachers use last names? #sschat
Nana Teacher for West Wendover, NV 11th grade U.S History, 12th grade American Government
With industrialization and urbanization and child labor laws school was a very reasonable solution #sschat
A2) I don't remember reading anything about why there is such a focus on age-based classrooms in elementary. I know that Montessori schools have multi-age classes. #sschat
Time for Q2. Where did you hear the factoid you mentioned for Q1? (I mentioned bells as training for factory work. It's often traced back to an author named Taylor Gatto.) #sschat
A2) Schools preppring kids for the factories is part of the industrialization of America story but have heard it more recently from those advocating for change to a more free form school model. #sschat
#sschat A2-Probably the idea of the factory system model and the following progressiveness acts. Liberal education led to a citizenry that could accomplish more since, all together, they could call upon a large number of facts and information.
#sschat Using last names is part of what's referred to as the "grammar of school" - we do it because well... it's always been done. However, there are plenty of public, private schools that use first names for adults. #SSchat
Some good reading on the history of public schools: "The Troubled Crusade" and "Left Back" -Diane Ravitch, "The Schools We Need..." -E.D. Hirsch "The World We Created at Hamilton High" -G. Grant #sschat
Time for Q2. Where did you hear the factoid you mentioned for Q1? (I mentioned bells as training for factory work. It's often traced back to an author named Taylor Gatto.) #sschat
#sschat A2-Another benefit of having your citizenry know the same information, such as basic math, language arts, and basic social studies, is they could all better communicate with each other.
A2: I'm not 100%sure where I head it specifically (schools prepping Ss 2 b activate citizens) but I feel like I may have read it in a blog post. Maybe in Education Week? #sschat
#Sschat Jenny hit upon an interesting consequence of ed history factoids. Modern day authors often use them to sell their product or advocate for a particular philosophy.
A2) Schools preppring kids for the factories is part of the industrialization of America story but have heard it more recently from those advocating for change to a more free form school model. #sschat
At a conference a lecturer shared that much of our model was based off Henry Ford and how he set up his factories to be efficient with the assembly line model. #sschat
At a conference a lecturer shared that much of our model was based off Henry Ford and how he set up his factories to be efficient with the assembly line model. #sschat
A2 Wait, what? I have to check the reliability and identity of my sources?!!? Pffft....
The idea of factory-based schooling seems like common knowledge, but probably also came from an undergrad history of ed class.
#sschat
A2) The study of reform movements in my own classroom, teacher lounge, pedagogy courses in the credential program and...my grandmother who is retired teacher/librarian who swears our job is so much harder today. #sschat
So let's test these factoids, #sschat friends! We identified a factoid (I mentioned factory bells), described the source (Gatto, for my example), now, let's talk specifics. What's the primary source? Where might you look for a primary source if you're not sure? #EdHist
A3) I could look for writing by Maria Montessori about the value of multiage classrooms. Not sure where I'd go to find out why most elementary school classrooms are age-based. #sschat
I love @NanaTeacher22's use of the word "discussed." It's so compelling to think about the difference between primary and secondary sources, especially for us adults. So for Q3, what's the primary source for the thing you think is true? #SSchat
So let's test these factoids, #sschat friends! We identified a factoid (I mentioned factory bells), described the source (Gatto, for my example), now, let's talk specifics. What's the primary source? Where might you look for a primary source if you're not sure? #EdHist
Hmmmm - interesting. Perhaps an NEA publication from the late 19thC extolling the factory model? A school super's testimony at city hall explaining why it's so efficient? #sschat
So let's test these factoids, #sschat friends! We identified a factoid (I mentioned factory bells), described the source (Gatto, for my example), now, let's talk specifics. What's the primary source? Where might you look for a primary source if you're not sure? #EdHist
Great reminder from Bill! We can go right to the horse's mouth, as it were. Google Books provides all of Mann's original reports - we can read, in his own words, where his head was at. #sschat
So let's test these factoids, #sschat friends! We identified a factoid (I mentioned factory bells), described the source (Gatto, for my example), now, let's talk specifics. What's the primary source? Where might you look for a primary source if you're not sure? #EdHist
#sschat A3-I would check books and articles that were written by progressive educators, such as John Dewey, and search their bibliographies and footnotes for any mention of how schools should be organized.
This is why Q3 fascinates me - so many things we believe to be true about education, we pick up from the ether. (I may be tipping my cards about Q4 but we'll get there in about 3 minutes!) #SSchat
A3: No primary source here but let's look at the language used in both scenarios, common language in both settings; How long until you are done, this is wrong, I need you to correct this. I need you quiet and "working" sounds like some factory/classrooms to me #sschat
I actually had an early 20th C textbook from an ed school that diagramed how to get 40 kids up to the front of the room one at a time for recitation! #sschat
#sschat A3-Once I had a list of people, books, institutions, and archives, I would continue searching their online catalogs until I feel I gather enough information.
Again! @NanaTeacher22 using such wonderful words to describe things! "Sounds like" - so many of the things we hear about education history do we accept because they feel or sound true. #SSchat
A3: No primary source here but let's look at the language used in both scenarios, common language in both settings; How long until you are done, this is wrong, I need you to correct this. I need you quiet and "working" sounds like some factory/classrooms to me #sschat
I was part of the masses that originally thought it was to help on the farm. Then learned it was later codified during the IR if I recall correctly. #sschat
I would say both, and sadly i might add as I don't see school as a place to train workers, I see my classroom as a place to develop thinkers and learners who can then choose what they want to be and what they want to do with what they know #sschat
We're going to give ourselves a bit more time for Q4. Think of it as browser field trip. Open a new tab and google the factoid you mentioned. If you don't have one, feel free to use "factory model" or "school summer vacation." #SSchat
This article focuses on multiage classrooms in two Canadian provinces (mostly rural) & how it may expand but also challenges of multiage classrooms: https://t.co/3eYJrPXxSv May offer some insights into why single-age classrooms dominate. #sschat
We're going to give ourselves a bit more time for Q4. Think of it as browser field trip. Open a new tab and google the factoid you mentioned. If you don't have one, feel free to use "factory model" or "school summer vacation." #SSchat
Fortunately, there are a number of great resources around that. The book WOMEN'S TRUE PROFESSION is a collection of teachers' writing from the rise of the common school. #SSChat
One of my favorite education history books (I have many) is WOMEN'S TRUE PROFESSION by Hoffman. She pulls together primary sources by white teachers across the country and Black teachers in the North and South to give the reader a sense of what it was like. #SSchat
Yes! My job is to guide students to become be critical thinkers, know how to use today's media responsibly and ethically to include media literacy, learn how to advocate and get into 'good trouble,' and become active & informed citizens. #sschat
I would say both, and sadly i might add as I don't see school as a place to train workers, I see my classroom as a place to develop thinkers and learners who can then choose what they want to be and what they want to do with what they know #sschat
The tension between primary and secondary sources is a tough one! It's hard to follow a thread back far enough to get a sense as to the why. This piece by @Edu_Historian is really interesting and helpful: https://t.co/QoUv0TlJSe#SSchat
This article focuses on multiage classrooms in two Canadian provinces (mostly rural) & how it may expand but also challenges of multiage classrooms: https://t.co/3eYJrPXxSv May offer some insights into why single-age classrooms dominate. #sschat
I'm super late to #sschat, but after a quick skim, I have to say, "What fun!" This is such a great idea to identify and challenge assumptions about schools.
This could be a newer "fact" related to education: that Wikipedia is untrustworthy. Many of my students tell me that in an opening lesson but try to tell them it CAN be good place to get overview, additional sources, etc. But, yes, handle with care. #sschat
Q5 in two minutes. Feel free to share resources that you discovered to help you uncover the truth about the thing you believed to be true back at 7:05! #sschat
I'm super late to #sschat, but after a quick skim, I have to say, "What fun!" This is such a great idea to identify and challenge assumptions about schools.
Oh... this is such an interesting question! And what's even more interesting is different philosophies around the answer often depended on where the author. White women like Catherine Beecher? Support! Black women such as Anna Julia Cooper? Challenge! #sschat
#sschat A4: I noticed that many of the authors of the articles (ex: Washington Post, The Atlantic) were not saying where they heard about the "Factory Model" in education. It seems like people, including me, just take this as a fact--where is the primary source?
A4: this is my weakness, so much information out there, how do we keep up with what is accurate, valid and fact This is a new life skill that needs to be taught #sschat
Time for Q5! You probably predicted where this was going! Time for resource sharing! What resources can help you (or students) challenge what we believe to be true about schools? #sschat
One of my favorite education history books (I have many) is WOMEN'S TRUE PROFESSION by Hoffman. She pulls together primary sources by white teachers across the country and Black teachers in the North and South to give the reader a sense of what it was like. #SSchat
We so much want our students to do critical thinking, but so many of our large scale measures of academic achievement miss that mark. Do we need new "tests"? #sschat
*taps nose* That's the great challenge of the "Factory Model" myth (and yes, it's a myth). From Wikipedia (and I promise you can trust it, because I wrote it. Be sure to check the references in the last paragraph): https://t.co/wZCxhn2Cx7#sschat
#sschat A4: I noticed that many of the authors of the articles (ex: Washington Post, The Atlantic) were not saying where they heard about the "Factory Model" in education. It seems like people, including me, just take this as a fact--where is the primary source?
The transition from multi-age schoolhouses to graded classrooms happened at the same time as industrialization; perhaps the "factor model" is really just parallel evolution rather than a conscious choice? #sschat
A5: I just ask students to question, who wrote it, why, what are their motives? Did someone pay them? Why did they write the article? I use more current events. Sts have to decide what the media is or is not telling us. #sschat
#sschat I do not think we need new tests. If anything this is a great teachable moment to show that ideas we think our certain can be questioned and proven false. I plan on sharing this story with my students this year!
We so much want our students to do critical thinking, but so many of our large scale measures of academic achievement miss that mark. Do we need new "tests"? #sschat
The issue of tests in school is one as old as ... well, Jesus. A great book is the TESTING WARS by Reese about Boston's attempt to measure learning - in the late 1800's. It's fascinating and feels like it was written in 2018. #sschat
We so much want our students to do critical thinking, but so many of our large scale measures of academic achievement miss that mark. Do we need new "tests"? #sschat
A5: I love this, but would have to admit, this is a weakness of mine. Unless this refers to them researching a topic we are currently studying I don't do a whole lot of this. time for growth #sschat
Most standardized test fail to assess critical thinking skills. It is one thing to have "knowledge" it's another to know how to use and apply it. Knowledge should lead each of us to think about #possibilities#sschat
We so much want our students to do critical thinking, but so many of our large scale measures of academic achievement miss that mark. Do we need new "tests"? #sschat
I'll have to check that one out, but I'm going in skeptical. Harvard committees didn't have any pull over schools in NY, which developed a similar model to Mass. Thanks for sharing! #SSchat
In reply to
@classroomtools, @amboou1, @rogerschank
#sschat that is interesting. Do you have a resource that shows that? I would love to use that in part of my lessons when I teach the industrial revolution and compare it to life today.
Interestingly, the claim that kids don't need to know specific info b/c they can find all they need has been made repeatedly since the late 1800s. Well before internet!
Thanks #SSchat for a great conversation and letting me be a part of your community! I'm always happy to discuss ed history, share resources, and poke at myths about why we do what we do in school!
This has been a fun interactive #sschat with @JennBinis from @EdHistory101!
Wakelet archive coming soon.
Next Monday the whole moderator gang will come together like Voltron to discuss Current Events and What the Heck is Happening in the World and How Will We Try to Teach It?
Thanks so much to @JennBinis@EdHistory101 for hosting tonight's thought-provoking chat! Join the #sschat crew next week to discuss this summer's big news events & how to incorporate into courses.
