Foundations of Education

2.  Celebrationist historians…see the brighter side of
historical events
 Liberal historians…focus on conflict, stress,
inconsistencies
 Revisionist historians…learn more by studying what
has been wrong than what has been right
 Postmodernist historians…see history through the
unique lenses of social class, race, ethnicity,
gender, age

3.  List important early educators in the
world
 Detail major educational
accomplishments of the early Eastern
societies
 Analyze the life of the colonial school
teacher
 Articulate the roles government played
in colonial America
 Analyze how an understanding of early
American history informs today’s teacher

4.  Informal education…all peoples have cared for
their children and prepared them for life
 Hindu and Hebrew education…how to live a good
life
 Chinese education…Lao-tszu and Confucius
 Egyptian education…education provided for
privileged males
 Eastern civilizations developed education prior to
Western civilizations, for the most part

5.  The Age of Pericles (455-431bce), city
states in Greece
 Sparta, from 8 to 18, boys were wards of
the State…education to develop
courage, patriotism, obedience,
cunning, and physical strength (little
intellectual content)
 Athens, heavily stressed intellectual and
aesthetic objectives

6.  Socrates…the Socratic method: a way of
teaching that centers on the use of
questions by the teacher to lead
students to certain
conclusions…Socrates’ fundamental
principle, “Knowledge is virtue.”
 Plato…Republic recommendations for
the ideal society…three classes of
people: artisans, soldiers, philosophers

7.  Plato… “A good education is that which gives to
the body and to the soul all the beauty and all the
perfection of which they are capable.”
 Aristotle…a person’s most important purpose in life
is to serve and improve humankind…Aristotle was
scientific, practical, and objective…had the
greatest influence on thinking through the Middle
Ages
 Females and slaves did not possess the intelligence
to be educated. (Plato and Aristotle)
 All paid employment absorbs and degrades the
mind. (Aristotle)

8.  In 146 BCE the Romans conquered
Greece, many of the advances of the
Roman Empire inspired by the enslaved
Greeks
 Between 50 BCE and 200 CE, an entire
system of schools developed
 Quintilian (35-95 CE) described current
practice and recommended the type of
system needed in Rome…very
humanistic

9.  Roman Catholic Church the greatest
power in government and education (by
476, the fall of the Roman Empire)
 The Dark Ages…earthly life as nothing
more than a way to a better life
hereafter
 Charlemagne (742-814) valued
education, and found Alcuin (735-804)
and focused on the seven liberal arts
(trivium and quadrivium)

10.  Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) “more than any other
person helped to change the church’s views on
learning”…rooted in the ideas of Aristotle, led to
the medieval universities, formalized scholasticism
(the logical and philosophical study of the beliefs
of the church)
 The East had no dark ages. Mohammed (569-632)
led a group of Arabs from northern Africa into
southern Spain…spread slowly throughout Europe,
significant advances in science and mathematics

11.  Renaissance and Reformation
 Renaissance represented the protest
against the dogmatic authority of the
church over social and intellectual
life…revival of classical learning called
humanism
 Reformation represented a reaction
against corruption in the church which
kept most people in ignorance

12.  Formal beginning in 1517…ninety-five theses of Martin
Luther…his disagreements with the Church
 The Church believed its duty was to pass on the correct
interpretation of the Bible to the laity…Luther thought each
should interpret for self, and thus individual education was
important…to attain salvation
 Luther’s coworker in education, Philipp Melanchthon, stressed
universal elementary education…education should be
provided for all regardless of class, compulsory for both
sexes…state controlled and state supported

13.  Ignatius Loyola(1491-1556), to combat
the Reformation, began the Jesuits in
1540…established schools to further the
goals of the Catholic Church, were
involved with teacher training from early
on
 Comenius (1592-1670),wrote many texts,
first to use illustrations, writings based on
science
 John Locke(1632-1704) tabula rasa

14.  Descartes(1596-1650), laid the
foundations for the modern period and
rationalism
 Reason is supreme, the laws of nature
are invariable, truth can be verified
empirically
 Frederick the Great (1712-1786), leader
of Prussia, friend of Voltaire, interested in
better training for teachers

15.  A period during which developed the idea that
common people should receive at least a basic
education as a means to a better life
 Rousseau…most important educational work, Emile
(1762) about the liberal education of
youth…naturalism, education must be natural not
artificial “…we ascribe too much importance to
words. With our babbling education we make only
babblers.” Children are born good but corrupted
by society

16.  Pestalozzi (1746-1827) Swiss educator who put
Rousseau’s theories into practice… educators from
all over the world came to view his schools…unlike
most teachers of his time, he felt students should be
treated with love and kindness
 Herbart (1776-1841) studied under Pestalozzi,
organized the educational
psychology…preparation, presentation,
association, generalization, application
 Froebel (1782-1852), kindergarten, social
development, cultivation of creativity, learning by
doing…women best suited to teach young
children

17.  Southern Colonies…in 1619, twelve years
after the founding of Jamestown, slaves
brought to the South for cheap
labor…two distinct classes of people
emerged, a few wealthy land owners
and many poor workers, mostly
slaves…landowners hired tutors to teach
their children

18.  Various national and religious
backgrounds, so they did not agree on a
common school system…each
established their own religious schools,
many received education through
apprenticeship

19.  Settled mainly by the Puritans
 People lived close to one another,
shipping ports established, industrial
economy developed
 Old Deluder Satan Act(1647)…required
towns to provide for the education of
youth…the Massachusetts laws of 1642
and 1647 became the model for other
colonies

20.  Dame schools, writing schools, charity
schools
 Colonial colleges: Harvard (1636),
William and Mary (1693), Yale (1701),
Princeton(1746), King’s College (1754),
College of Philadelphia (1755), Brown
(1764), Dartmouth (1769), Queens
College (1770)…heavy emphasis on
theology and the classics

21.  Monitorial schools (1805), in New York City,
economical way to teach the masses…one lead
teacher with lots of helpers among the older and
better students…closed by 1840 because seen as
not worth the cost
 Horace Mann (1796-1859), leading proponent of
common elementary schools, the forefather of the
contemporary public school
 Massachusetts in 1852 passed compulsory
attendance laws…by 1900, 32 other states did
likewise

22.  Latin Grammar Schools…strictly college
preparatory, must know Latin and Greek for
college admittance
 American Academies… Benjamin Franklin in
Philadelphia among the first to prepare young men
for employment through practical studies…an also
enrolled women
 High Schools…replaced the academies, were
financially more in the reach of the masses

23.  Northwest Ordinance (1785 and 1787)
…encouraged the establishment of
schools, set aside the sixteenth section of
each township to be used for
educational purposes
 Morrill Land Grant (1862)…to provide the
vocational educated that was needed
 Smith-Hughes Act (1917)…high school
vocational education

24.  Hornbook
 New England Primer
 Blue-Backed Speller
 Slates
 McGuffey’s Reader

25. Why is it important?
Because the application is your first chance
to present your skills to the employer.
 Read the entire application form before
you start filling it out. Read the
instructions carefully and follow them
exactly.
 Remember that employers often judge
the appearance of an application as a
clue to the quality of your work.

27. General Tips:
 Be honest in your answers.
 Have all the information on hand that you might need to fill out an application,
such as a personal data sheet and resume… we’ll get to those
 Fill out the form neatly and accurately.
 Apply for a specific position, rather than entering "anything" or "open" for the
desired position.
 Leave no blanks.
 Write "Does Not Apply" (or "N/A" for Not Applicable) in the space if the question
does not apply to you.
 Explain lengthy gaps in your work history, for example, "attending school."
 Read and check the application for completeness before turning it in to the
employer.

28. Tips for applying in person:
 Greet the receptionist politely when requesting or submitting an
application. The receptionist's first impressions are often passed
along.
 Use blue or black ink pens.
 Bring your own pen (or complete app. ahead of time)
 Print clearly and legibly.
 Be sure to sign and date the application.
 Mail or turn the application into the correct person or place.
However, today most companies are asking
applicants to apply online.

29. Tips for applying online:
 Have your resume available in electronic form to
attach or paste into the appropriate fields.
 Choose a time when you can complete the process
from beginning to end (can take up to one hour).
 Be prepared for system crash- save answers as you go
ICE so you don’t have to start over.
 Proofread- mistakes and typos are not any more
acceptable online than they are on paper.

30. (1) Personal Data Sheets:
PDS are useful tools that help you fill out an application. You do
NOT turn this in to the employer. Keep your fact sheet up to
date for future job searches. Items on PDS include:
 Employment history including company names, addresses,
telephone numbers, and dates of employment
 Volunteer work history with community organizations including
organization names, addresses, telephone numbers, and dates
of service
 Personal references including names, addresses, and
telephone numbers
(2) Resumes….

31. What is a resume?
A brief written account of background, work experience, and
professional qualifications (that use SPECIFIC examples). The
objective of your resume is to get you an interview, and the
interview will get you the job (hopefully)!
Sample Resume
 Typically submitted to employer with the application.
 Historically, resumes were printed professionally on nice stock
paper. However, today most employers are wanting
electronic versions (like Microsoft Word and PDF).

32. Dos and Don'ts
 No errors! Use spell-check, proofread, AND
have others look over it.
 Use perfect punctuation, grammar, and
spelling to demonstrate you are able to
communicate effectively.
 Be concise. Employers typically scan
resumes quickly. Save the detail for your
interview.

33. Items to include:
 Contact information
 Objective statement
 Education
 Work (or Professional) experience
 Special skills

34. An important thing to remember when you
are first assembling your resume is to be
specific when it comes to your
experience and qualifications.
Examples:
Food server (becomes) 
Provided friendly and efficient customer service by accurately
taking food orders and delivering in timely manner.
Grant writer (becomes) 
Procured over $22,000.00 in federal and state funds by writing 3
grants in a 15 month period.

35. In a sea of resumes, how do you make
your stand out?
1) Tailor the resume to the position- You would be surprised
how many people send out a “one size fits all” resume.
2) Make it you- ask yourself, “does this document convey
what I want it to convey about me?”
3) Ask for constructive criticism- a fresh pair of eyes can do
your resume a world of good
…which brings up our next point

36. Prepare and Practice
Prepare: your answers to typical interview
questions
Practice: saying your responses out loud.
Using a friend or family member can
help

37.  Be on time (and by this, we mean 5-10 min. early)
 Make eye contact
 Firm hand shake
 Stay calm
 Speak audibly and clearly
 Practice good posture and be conscious of your body
language
 Know and avoid your nervous habits (EX: Do you
constantly pull at your neck collar? Do you say “like” or
“umm” a lot?)

38. Follow Up
Always follow up with “thank you” note to
show your continued interest in the position.
 If you interviewed with more than one
person, send note to each interviewer.
 Interviewers tend to prefer old fashioned,
hand written notes. So, no “thank you”
emails!