The Father of American Education

Britanie Rivera

Learning Targets

Readers will be able to explain Horace Mann's contributions to American Education.
Readers will be able to list Horace Mann's six principles of education.
Readers will be able to describe how Horace Mann influenced the path to becoming an educator.

(Wikipedia)

Horace Mann

American public schools were established by Horace Mann. An advocate of public education, he believed that students should have access to universal education free from discrimination (Cremin, 2023).

Imagine This

You are a state politician. All around you, you see students being denied a proper education in private schools, and the pre-existing public schools, common schools, that you helped establish are failing (Baines 2006). Something has to change. What do you do?

Career

Horace Mann began his adult life as a lawyer and then later a politician. Just as his political career was peaking, he accepted a position within a state board of education (Baines 2006). Mann felt that proper education would solve many of society's problems, such as poverty, ignorance, and crime (Baines 2006). He utilized this new position to enact reforms in the public school system. Mann wrote a column titled the Common School Journal (which soon became a movement) and spoke to groups about his vision for reforms (Cremin 2023). He developed six principles of education.

Principles of Education

Click the left and right arrows to see Mann's six principles.

With his principles, Horace Mann explained why education should be accessible, that it should be inclusive, and that a proper education system begins with the adequate training of its teachers.

Fast Facts

Horace Mann helped establish the Massachusetts State Hospital for the Insane, which was the first public institution for the mentally ill (Baines 2006).
Mann helped develop teacher training colleges (Baines 2006).
Horace Mann was the first president of Antioch College, one of the first colleges to allow admission to students regardless of race and gender (Baines 2006).

Conclusion

Horace Mann reformed the American education system to allow all students to have a proper education. His vision and his actions changed education for the better, and are what led to him being known as the Father of American Education.

Antioch College

Quiz

What were Horace Mann's six fundamental principles?

a) Create, evaluate, analyze, apply, understand, and remember.

b) Lack of education is a threat to our nation, universal education must be paid for by taxes, equal education, secular education, democratic education, and trained educators.

c) Perennialism, social reconstructivism, essentialism, progressivism, existentialism, and teacher-centered.

d) Private education, religious teachings, pastors and nuns as teachers, single-sex schools, segregated schools, mandatory uniforms.

According to Horace Mann, which person is best suited to be a teacher?

a) Alex: He got his teaching license from a vending machine in Vegas.

b) Connor: He majored in education, dropped out his junior year, and never completed his certifications.

c) Jenny: She attended a college in which she majored in education, completed her certifications, and passed her Praxis.

d) Sister Mary: She is a nun. She has no experience with teaching or children.

Answers

References

Baines, L. (2006). Does Horace Mann still matter? Educational Horizons, 84(4), 268–273. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42923671

Cremin, L. A. (2023). Horace Mann. Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Horace-Mann

Horace Mann. (2023, September 27). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Mann

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