The Story of School Part II: 1900-1950

It was very interesting to see what schools were like in the 1900’s. While I was watching the movie, I found myself thinking back to my own students from my practicum class. The different between students in the early 1900’s and now, in my mind, is discipline. Students were expected to sit still in their seats, pay attention, and do their work. Consequences were much different too. I have a feeling that many students were motivated in school to avoid disappointment from their parents. Now, many parents are not very concerned with their child’s performance in school. It’s amazing how teaching techniques have improved drastically while the expectations have, in my opinion, decreased. I was also interested to see how the history of schools has shaped today’s schools. Schools now seem like a mixture of many different teaching ideas. For instance, physical activity, interest-based classes are still in schools today, but so are standardized tests and ranking students. I think that all the improvements that have been made are wonderful, I believe that one of the biggest change that still needs to be made is an improved attitude toward education.