The University Guide

The Rationale Behind Secondary Education Today

One hundred and fifteen years ago, a scholarly group of men released the Report of the Committee of Ten. The Report of the Committee of Ten was a comprehensive document detailing the spirit and substance of secondary school education. Twenty five years later, in 1918, the Committee’s thorough and cohesive report was refuted by the Department of the Interior Bureau of Education in a proclamation titled Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education. Though not overtly stated, the Cardinal Principles was a contested response and re-direction to the Report of the Committee of Ten. While the Committee sought to enable and empower all students through education, the Cardinal Principles aimed to train boys and girls in prescribed roles and set values that would perpetuate the status quo. This article will discuss the polarity between the Committee of Ten and the Cardinal Principles as a contest between educating the student, and training the student.

The Committee of Ten wanted to enlighten the “immature mind of the school student”, (J.M. Taylor, 1894, p. 194) namely, both boys and girls, with an education that would last a lifetime. The Committee aimed to do this through a “continuity of study”. This “continuity of study” would develop in two ways. First, the “school student” would receive an in depth education in nine “principal fields of knowledge” and their respective auxiliary subjects. (The Committee of Ten: Main Report, Section 46, 1893) Secondly, the Committee having a concern for a student’s complete education and knowing only a small proportion of students would stay to the end of secondary schooling at eighteen years of age, wanted also to have this continuity of study commence in the elementary grades with the introduction to the nine “principal fields of knowledge”. For the Committee, it was vital to develop “all mental habits, which the adult will surely need …before the age of fourteen.” (The Committee of Ten: Main Report, Section 16) Ultimately, the Committee of Ten believed that educating the student meant opening the intellect to thought and knowledge. (The Committee of Ten: Main Report, Sections 46 – 50) The Committee believed that this development of the intellect was the main purpose of education.

In response to the Committee’s view of education, the Cardinal Principles boldly retorted “its protest against any and all plans” of the Committee of Ten’s “formalism and sterility” because it resulted in “divorcing vocation and social-civic education.” (Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education, Chapters V – VII, 1918) The writers of the Cardinal Principles presented seven principles that were intended to re-organize secondary school education from the Committee’s intellectualism to “vocation” and “social- civic education”. These seven Cardinal Principles would replace formalized, developmental academic knowledge with training in life tasks, and, moral values for boys and girls.

By eradicating pedagogy and curriculum that would allow students to think in the abstract and replace this with training in concrete life skills, the writers of the Cardinal Principles hoped to maintain and sustain the current American economy and democracy. A boy was to be equipped with the ability “to secure a livelihood for himself and those dependent on him…” (Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education, Principle 4 Vocation, Section 7) A girl was to be trained in the “household arts…because of their importance to the girl herself and to others whose welfare will be directly in her keeping.” (Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education, Principle 3, Worthy home membership, Section 6) With boys and girls trained to employ their proper places in society, it was expected that the American economy would prosper.

Of equal importance in secondary school instruction, was the immersion of boys and girls in moral values. These values were expected to “permeate the entire school –principals, teachers, and pupils”; this infusion of moral values would shape the primary ingredient needed in a democratic society, namely, “Ethical character”. (Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education, Principle 7, Ethical character, Sections 9 & 10) For the writers of the Cardinal Principles, without the seven cardinal principles, secondary education was frivolous and wasteful since it did not prepare boys and girls for “the needs of life”. (Ravitch, 2000. p. 129)

While the Committee of Ten was intent on intellectualizing the student; the Cardinal Principles was fixed on training the student. The Committee of Ten believed, given an education, a student would develop the thinking processes necessary to make right decisions in adulthood. The writers of the Cardinal Principles held an opposing view. They believed that only through practical rote skills and values could the “right attitude”, “sterling character”, and “right principles” guarantee the right workings of adulthood. (Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education, Chapters I – XX)

The effects of the Cardinal Principles are imbedded in the systems of education today. It is the skills and training that a student garners by the end of Secondary School which are of most importance; not the development of his or her independence of thought. Given the turbulent times of today, it is debatable if the Cardinal Principles of ninety years ago can ensure an American society that is secure and sustainable tomorrow.

References

Elliot, C. W. (1893). Report of the Committee of Ten. Retrieved October 23, 2007 from http://tmh.floonet.net/books/commorften/mainrpt.html

National Education Association. (1918) Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education.Retrieved October 23, 2007 from

http://tmh.floonet.net/articles/cardprin.html

Ravitch, D. (2000). Left Back, A Century of Battles Over School Reform. New York:Simon & Schuster.

Taylor, J. M. (1894). The Report of the Committee of Ten. The School Review 2(4), 193-199. Retrieved October 23, 2007 from http://www.jstor.org/journals/ucpress.html.

25 Responses to “The Rationale Behind Secondary Education Today”