Education in the Forming of American Society

by Bernard Bailyn

In a pungent revision of the professional educator's school of history, Bailyn traces the cultural context of education in early American society and the evolution of educational standards in the colonies. His analysis ranges beyond formal education to encompass such vital social determinants as the family, apprenticeship, and organized religion.

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Genres: Education

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Bernard Bailyn is an American historian, author, and professor specializing in U.S. Colonial and Revolutionary-era History. He has been a professor at Harvard since 1953. Bailyn has won the Pulitzer Prize for History twice (in 1968 and 1987). In 1998 the National Endowment for the Humanities selected him for the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government's highest honor for achievement in the humanities.

Reviews

[Stephanie Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This an academic review of education history by a Harvard professor, written in the 1960'sto highlight needs and opportunities for academic study. It's interesting to me because Bailyn is a historian and he recognized the main problem with the history of education: there is an enormous amount of education history that is evangelical in nature, and not a lot of detached analysis. From its very beginnings, our views of the education system have been managed by the people who created that system and were working very hard to create a specific public perception of it. They work from a set of positive assumptions about the teaching profession and the important role school plays in creating an equal and democratic society. As such, there is a huge need for histories and research that look at reality.
This was very validating and useful to me. He also commented on existing works (pre-1960's), confirming my opinion of some of them and letting me know about others I'd never encountered. In some cases, I wanted more of his opinions about specific works he mentioned. I wished the first part of the book, where he talks about the missionary nature of existing histories, was longer and more in depth, but that would have made it a different book.

[Tommy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mainly bibliography

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this in Education 26: The History of Education in America: The Quest for Educational Equity with Professor Binswanger.

[david · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like hid idea that education is the way we transfer culture from one generation to the next.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice review and bibliography related to informal education in American history.