As part of a class assignment, students select a moment (it could be a policy, court case, a piece of legislation, a research finding, an incident, a book, etc.) that, in their view, was significant in shaping education policies or practices during the twentieth century. These class assignments are organized by decade and included in this web site, along with contributions by the instructor and links to other webpages. New entries are added regularly.
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Call for entries: If you would like to submit an entry or suggest a link to a webpage to be added to this compilation, please send it to dschugurensky@oise.utoronto.ca.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
In the early 20th century, the ideologies and direction of America began to change. Following World War I began the progressive era - a time for advancement, improvement, and the future. This progressive thought was also taken into education. One of the significant events of the 1920's which helped alter the politics of education was people call the Scopes 'Monkey Trial'.
In the mid-1920's many states in the South passed laws which prohibited the teaching of evolution in the classroom. In an attempt to challenge this law George W. Rappelyea offered support to any teacher who would disobey this law -- a proposal taken up by John Scopes. So Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution, and Rappelyea had notified press from around the world to come and observe this event. Clarence Darrow, Scopes' attorney, was determined for the jury to find Scopes guilty so that he could appeal it to a higher court, in hopes of finding the law unconstitutional. When Darrow was not allowed to call expert witnesses to testify about evolution, he called William Jennings Bryan, the prosecuting attorney. Darrow ended up making Bryan contradict himself and his Christian beliefs, bringing the public sentiment to Darrow's side. In the end, the court found Scopes guilty, and it was appealed. The appeals court overturned the previous conviction on a technicality, preventing Darrow from challenging the validity of the law. Still, the long term effects were done.
This court case marked a change in the people's thinking, or at the very least made it obvious that the public education system was different from that of the nineteenth century. This case challenged the separation of church and state in the schools, a subject that was hardly debated before. Evolution, a secular theory denying the existence of God as the creator of the universe, was being taught and its teaching was being accepted by not only the policy makers, but moreover, the public. New ideologies, especially those which were scientifically oriented, were being taught to students. This challenge of the existence of God and the Christian belief was controversial and epitomized by this case.
Though the direct effects of this case were minuscule- since the law was actually never challenged or overturned (Scopes being freed on a technicality), this was the beginning of a great many changes when it comes to the separation of church and state. Prayer in schools became challenged and abolished, and other activities, teachings, or events having to do with the church or religion have become controversial. Ironically, in present day schools, evolution is taught in the sciences classes, and creationists are now the ones trying to get their ideology to be taught in schools. This trial was the beginning of the scientific and secular knowledge, as opposed to the religious and faith oriented knowledge.
The 1920's and 1930's was a period of minor transitions. It was a time which brought about the end of progressivism, but continued the move toward science-oriented schooling, not religious schooling. These two decades were not necessarily a period which brought about famous or immense changes, but it was a period which began the minor changes which would lead to the modern educational system. The events of these years were a beginning to some of the drastic changes that would occur decades later.
The Scopes 'Monkey Trial' is an example of the attitude of this period. The twenties was the end of the progressive movement -- a move toward the future, not the fast. Though insignificant in bringing about any political or educational reform, it did much that would affect future educational policies. It was reflective of the twenties which moved against the traditional, and toward science and technology. This can be seen with the widespread use of the radio, and the advent of the first "talkie" or talking movie. Lindbergh, also made his first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic at this time. Even in culture this anti-tradition can be seen in the modernist, impressionist, and surrealist art.
During the twenties and thirties many new ideas arose which would later lead to other significant world events. Women were given the right to vote, which spurred the equal rights movement decades later. The idea of equal education for minorities began to surface in the Gaines v. Canada, in Missouri and the Lemon Grove incident in Southern California -- an event that became a precedent for Brown v. Board of Education Topeka in the 1950's. And, the Scopes 'monkey trial' also set precedent for many other challenges which brought the idea of separation of church and state, especially in the educational system, under question, primarily in the latter half of the twentieth century. School prayer and again the teaching of evolution in schools are among the examples of the debates that continue even throughout the 1990's.
Source:
Prepared by: Jenny Lee.