History of Adult and Community Education- Simmons

Formal Adult Education in the 1930s

Linda A. Simmons

Ball State University

Linda Simmons	Commented On

Introduction
Formal adult education, also known as higher education, is conducted in institutions of higher learning as a continuation of primary and secondary education. Historically, colleges in America were founded to train young men in theology to serve as ministers of the church (Wynn, 1977). Some colleges have remained small, specializing in one particular field of education. However, by the late 19th century, universities had emerged as assemblages of colleges which provided training for many professions such as law medicine, dentistry, engineering, theology, and teaching (History, 2017).
The purpose of universities is to create, disseminate, and apply knowledge. This occurs through the functions of research, instruction, and service, respectively (Wynn, DeYoung, & Wynn, 1977). Adult education falls primarily in the category of the dissemination of knowledge. Because institutions of higher learning were already well established prior to 1930, this paper will provide a summary of higher education at that time before addressing social trends and programs during the 1930s and the philosophical ideas behind them.

Higher Education in 1930
Over a million students attended college in the United States in 1930, 56% of which were men and 44% of which were women. At this time colleges were largely non-integrated (Mayer, 1960), and less than 3% of college students were African American, most of which were in teacher training at land-grant colleges. One hundred twenty-two thousand bachelor’s degrees, 15,000 master’s degrees, and 2,300
doctorates were awarded in 1930. Most graduate programs could be found at universities (Thelin, 2017). Institutions which were providing formal education fell into two categories: public and private.
As a result of compulsory education laws being passed in every state by the year 1918, state systems of schools were already in place from first grade through college level (Wynn, DeYoung, & Wynn, 1977). A network of teachers’ colleges, 4-year upgrades from normal schools, had been established in each state to meet the mushrooming demand for teachers. State universities provided liberal higher education and professional training (Good, 1960). Land-grant colleges, such as Texas A&M, originated as a result of land allotments by the federal government to the states for the development of farming, homemaking, and engineering education. In conjunction with these land-grant colleges, agricultural experiment stations, labs, shops, and county extension agencies were set up (Good, 1960). These colleges were administered by the states, being governed by the three branches of state government and state boards of education (Wynn, DeYoung, & Wynn, 1977). They also received some support and oversight by the Federal Office of Education and were required to match federal funds with state funds (Good, 1960). Many land-grant and teachers colleges were absorbed by the state universities. In addition to state-run schools, a few universities and an increasingly large number of junior colleges were being established by city school systems. Junior colleges especially became popular providers of low-cost vocational training (History, 2017).
Private colleges and universities continued to be numerous, having been legally protected from state control since 1816 (Meyer, 1972). These institutions of higher
education, including the Ivy League schools and a variety of parochial colleges, continued to provide “diversity in curriculums; instructional styles; intellectual, philosophic, or religious convictions; economic and political theories; and educational policies and practices” (Wynn, DeYoung, & Wynn, 1977, p. 188). As a result of the liberalization of most U. S. seminaries and of the missionary movement in the early 20th century, many Bible colleges including Moody Bible Institute and Friends Bible College (now Barclay College), provided higher education to train conservative pastors and missionaries (Gangel & Benson, 1983).
Social Trends and Issues in the 1930s
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries comprised a period of great social change. There was an immense expansion of knowledge, experience, communication, rapid travel, and population migration from rural areas to the cities (Boyd, 1966). A general dissatisfaction with traditional educational methods existed during this period. Much classroom teaching was stagnant, done by rote, drill, and “cheerless meditations” (Meyer, 1972) in an authoritarian manner (Thut, 1957). Many schools, overwhelmed and overcrowded due to high immigration, allowed for little originality or creativity. Professors “trained in the classics and mathematics made dreary teachers” (Quick, 1896). In addition many people were demanding a more practical approach to education which would prepare them for a variety of vocations.
Humanism, the religion that puts man rather than God at the pinnacle of the universe, was increasingly becoming more prevalent in American society. The culture war between Christianity and humanism was especially pronounced in the realm of
education. Most early schools in this country had been based on religious and ethical ideals, on the premise that a body of absolute truth was foundational to education. Many modern educators, however, rejected those concepts. They believed that society was evolving (Wilds, 1942), and they, as the intellectual aristocracy with superior education or training (Thut, 1957), were wanting to guide that process (Wilds, 1942). On the other hand, the Bible college movement which produced hundreds of colleges throughout the United States provided an alternative to the humanistic trend in public education (Gangel & Benson, 1983).
Political and economic factors affected the trends in educational institutions as well. In the midst of the Great Depression, people turned to government for relief. Huge government-sponsored social programs were set up to provide jobs and other help to struggling families. Government was seen as the “great fixer,” of which public education would play a great part. There was an increasing emphasis on social issues and the importance of socialization. Secular science was set up as a god, with optimism that science would do away with disease, poverty, and other social ills. (Thut, 1957). “Whereas the conservative educator had honored the conclusions of reason and/or revelation as truths in the citadel of learning, the new liberals designated the findings of the empirical sciences and direct experience as truth” (Dupuis, 1966, p. 99).
Another trend in formal adult education in the early 20th century was its rapid expansion, even during the Great Depression (Thelin, 2017). Although the overall number of colleges and universities did not increase during the 1930s, college enrollments continued to increase. In the United States between 1910 and 1950, bachelor’s degrees increased from 37,000 to 432,000; master’s degrees increased from
2,100 to 58,200; and doctorates increased from 440 to 6,600 (History, 2017). The number of small liberal arts colleges continued to grow during this decade, however (Thelin, 2017).

Educators and Programs in the 1930s
The greatest revolution in formal education at this time was spearheaded by John Dewey through his “progressive education.” After obtaining his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1894, Dewey began to seek to reform the field of education at the University of Chicago. In 1904 he joined the faculty of the Teachers College of Columbia University where it “became the heart of the American liberal educational movement” (Dupuis, 1966, p. 160). By 1930 it was the largest institution in the world for training teachers. By 1953 one third of all presidents and deans of teacher colleges in America were graduates of Columbia. Dewey influenced the philosophy of education at all levels, desiring to solve social problems through the educational system (Marcy, 2013). In addition to his teachers’ college work, he was a prolific speaker and writer, his most influential book being Democracy and Education (Meyer, 1972). He helped found the Progressive Education Association and the American Civil Liberties Union, and was an original signer of the Humanist Manifesto in 1933 (Marcy, 2013).
John Dewey was among those who embraced humanism, materialism, and Darwinian evolution, being an avowed atheist and avid follower of evolutionist Thomas Huxley. He rejected any form of supernaturalism (Gangel & Benson, 1983) and believed in the inherent goodness of mankind (Marcy, 2013). He stood against “ecclesiastical and pedagogical authoritarianism” and advocated student-centered
education and “self-control through understanding” rather than through external discipline (Gangel & Benson, 1983, p. 298). His logic was based on the ever-changing human endeavors of science rather than his science being based on logic (Clark, 1960).
Dewey recognized that education involves the communication of knowledge and wisdom from one generation to the next (Ozman & Craver, 1990). Dewey’s progressive education promoted “the development of intellectual, moral, and aesthetic capabilities through social interactions” (Gangel & Benson, 1983, p. 299). It was highly experiential and included the elements of interaction, activity, interest, discussion, experiment, and problem solving in the process of learning. He reasoned that students must have a felt need, analyze the difficulty, explore alternative solutions, experiment, and act based on scientific principles. Curriculum should be student-centered rather than instructor-centered. A love of learning should be fostered rather than knowledge forced upon the student (Gangel & Benson, 1983). Democracy carried out in the classroom meant that the instructor was simply a facilitator in the decision-making process of the students. Rather than external control being placed upon the unbridled behavior and “evil” tendencies of the student, self-discipline should be fostered through considering consequences and “following through on a chosen course of action in spite of obstacles, confusion, and hardships” (Dupuis, 1966, p. 153).
William Kilpatrick, another professor in the Teachers College of Columbia University during that time, promoted Dewey’s philosophy and methods of education. He made Dewey’s principles clear to many who sat in his classes (Meyer, 1972).
William Bagley, also a professor at Columbia University, countered progressive education in the late 1930s. He was in the forefront of Essentialist Education. Even
though he commended progressive education’s efforts to make school an enjoyable and profitable series of learning experiences, its condemnation of parrot-like learning, and its activity program, Bagley criticized its lack of systematic study, respect for the teacher, and discipline in the classroom. Bagley’s Essentialist Education program focused on the fundamentals – reading, writing, arithmetic, history, and English. He also emphasized discipline and obedience. He believed the quality of education had gone downhill since progressive education became popular, and that the negative results outweighed the positive (Meyer, 1972, p. 499).

Conclusion
The formal educational system in the United States has changed very slowly over the centuries, following rather than setting societal trends. Classroom teaching became, in many cases, stuck in a rut of stifling methods and authoritarian attitudes. By the turn of the 20th century, many people were ready for change. Over the next 50 years, John Dewey revolutionized the philosophy and methods of education in America by training others to implement them in schools across the country.
Some of the changes were beneficial. Instructors learned to be more attuned to the needs of their students. Education became more engaging and practical. Students learned to problem-solve rather than simply parrot their instructors.
The changes have not all been positive, however. Learning has tended to take second place to socialization. Public educators are not allowed to discipline their students as in generations past, spending much of their time keeping order rather than in actual teaching. Despite the continued decline of illiteracy in the United States
among those 14 years old and over (U.S., 2017), standardized tests such as the ACT show that the overall academic level of students decreased during the 20th century. The lack of drill in areas of basic knowledge hinders many students from succeeding in higher education, to which the increasing need for basic adult education attests. For example, many students have not memorized their basic arithmetic facts (addition and multiplication), so they struggle with competence in college mathematics courses. One student even insisted on accommodation for her disability – calculator dependence!
The most profound loss, however, is the sense of purposelessness in modern public education. Subjects such as history, literature, art, science, and mathematics have been stripped of eternal meaning, giving students a sense that both they themselves and what they have to learn is unimportant, and fostering a careless attitude toward learning. In not only discarding the poor educational methods of his day, but also the prevailing belief in absolutes and the authority of a loving Creator, Dewey and most of our modern educational system have “thrown the baby out with the bathwater.” Many families have turned to home schooling or Christian schools to recapture what has been lost at all levels of formal education. There is nothing more motivating in the educational process than to see deeper meaning and purpose in every subject we learn and to recognize the part we play in God’s eternal plans.

Areas	Summary
Introduction	The definition and purpose of formal adult (higher) education are given here, along with a statement of the outline of this paper.
Higher education in 1930	The state of higher education in 1930, both public and private.
Issues and trends through the 1930s	Higher education was expanding rapidly, even during the Great Depression. There was widespread dissatisfaction with current educational methods. The trend in both government and education was toward socialism and the prominent philosophical bent was becoming humanistic. Many conservatives sought modes of education other than public.
Educators and programs	John Dewey’s Progressive Education, based on humanistic and atheistic philosophy, revolutionized education in the U.S. It gained widespread acceptance through his professorship at Columbia University. His program of experiential education was implemented all over the United States. William Bagley criticized Dewey’s methods, instead implementing his Essentialist program which was based on many of the fundamentals of education that Dewey had rejected.
Conclusions	The basic philosophy of education in the U.S. was drastically changing in the 1930s. Even though some changes in method were productive, lack of discipline and a moral and religious foundation has taken a great toll on the quality of public education over the years, leaving a void of eternal meaning and purpose.

References

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