This section will give 10 theorists that have made an impact on how the American Education system is to this day. These people have had completely different ideas on how to shape education as a whole and have had a big part on how it has adapted so far and for years to come.
John Dewey
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was a scientist and inventor. From a young age he was always interested in learning even though he didn't necessarily have good opportunities to go to school and learn. He learned through reading books on his own time. Franklin has invented spectacles, lightning rods, redesigned the stove, etc. When Franklin died, he wanted his money to go to academic scholarships for disadvantaged youth.
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Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States and the author of the Declaration of Independence. He dedicated his life to meeting the problems of educational opportunity, political and religious freedom. Jefferson believed that everyone should get some type of education and he knew that it was going to be an ongoing fight for even after his death. He spent most of his life laying the groundwork to ensure that the aspirations of a New America would come to be.
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Horace Mann
Horace Mann had a commitment to the Common School Movement. He believed that public schools was necessary for good citizenship. democratic participation, and general well-being of society. He attempted to acquire "modern" traits that distanced it from early Puritanism. His main goal was to open doors for everyone because in his eyes, education would fix everything else that was wrong.
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William McGuffey
William McGuffey was most famous for writing the ideal textbook for schools in the nineteenth century America, called The McGuffey Readers. As things were changing, a textbook came along that fit the culture, morality, and the patriotism of the institution and the times. McGuffey had the desire to teach Protestant Christianity.
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Frederick Douglass
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Frederick Douglass was an African American that had escaped slavery in Maryland and moved to Massachusetts. Douglass lived with a couple, and the wife would teach him things like the ABC's while her husband would tell her to not teach Douglass. He thought that slaves should not be educated and it opened Douglass's eyes to realize that white men can remove opportunities from black people. Although, Douglass was insistent that he would learn and he valued his literacy. Douglass believed that there should never be a barrier for a child to receive an education, especially if it is something that a child enjoys. This makes sense now because knowledge is power and everyone should have the chance to get an education.
Benjamin Rush
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Benjamin Rush was one of the people who signed the Declaration of Independence. He was interested in many social reforms and his top priority was the reform of American Education. He thought that education should be in line with American needs, and work along-side the principles of democracy. He wanted to make the education system in America better than any other education system around the world.
Noah Webster
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The Webster Dictionary was named after Noah Webster because he thought English was more important than Greek/ Latin so he made sure to work on defining words that Americans use so that everyone can speak the same and not have different variations. For example, he wanted to use spellings like "color" instead of "colour." Not only did he change the American language but he also fought for a strong federal government, universal education, and the abolition of slavery.
Booker T. Washington
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Booker T. Washington finished school and was one of the first African Americans to become a teacher. Washington encouraged all of his students to be self-reliant and hardworking while promoting social change through the individual rather than through political action. He claimed that African Americans could advance their social status through hard work without ending segregation.
Lewis Terman
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For most of Lewis Terman's academic career, he was affiliated with Stanford University. Terman advocated for intelligence tests that could classify large numbers of people. He published 'The Measurement of Intelligence' in which he introduced the Stanford-Binet intelligence test that became widely used in the United States to determine a person's "intellectual ability."