There
were common characteristics shared by these colonies:
1.
Religious Education; its major aim was personal salvation
2
Education was centered on social class, dual
system or class system. The children of
workers should have minimal primary education, they learned the 4 R's (reading,
writing, arithmetic, and religion
3
With the
exception of few Schools, education was only for boys
4
Most
children in colonial times received their education through informal means such
as the family, the farm, and the shop.
Changes
in educational philosophy and curriculum came about in this era as well. In 1901, John Dewey wrote The Child and the
Curriculum, and later Democracy and Education, in which he shows concern for
the relationship between society and education. Dewey was a philosopher,
psychologist, and educator.
His
philosophy of education focused on learning by doing rather than rote
memorization. He criticized the old education system which keeps students
busy. From Dewey’s educational
philosophy came the emphasis on experience, activity, and problem-solving that
helped to reshape our thinking about education and schooling.
Maria
Montessori opened her first school in 1907.
Maria Montessori was credited with developing a classroom without walls,
manipulative learning materials, teaching toys, and programmed
instruction. Many considered her to be
the 20th century's leading advocate for early childhood education.
Anna
Freud, Jean Piaget, Alfred Adler, and Erik Erikson studied under Montessori and
made their own contributions to education and child psychology
The
civil rights movement and technology change the face of the 20th century
classroom.
In the
1990s, the computers invade the classroom around the world and now it the most
important part of the curriculum.
In
short history is the foundation of the modern curriculum
