A review of histories, studies, and various writings was made in order to form a concept of the nature and extent of the child study movement in an effort to discover how the emphasis upon the child centered movement of the past is now influencing the training which the public school teacher of tomorrow is receiving. In studying the general background of education, it was found that the emphasis of early education was not centered upon the individual within a society, but upon group conformity. It was further noted that as social advances were made, man realized the need for some system of organized education.
Through reviewing the field of educational literature, it was found that many common or public schools came into existence after about 1350. These schools were devoted to the task of giving instruction in reading and writing the vernacular language. These schools were mentioned as a means of showing that a number of important social changes were factors which influenced the development of a pattern which later became the public schools which are found in America today.
Mention was made to the three separate viewpoints of education which were characteristically classified into the colonies of New England, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. By dividing the colonies into these three groups it was possible to see that the early education of America had many facets rather than one common cultural and social origin.
The control of schools and of education was noted to have been placed in the hands of the people of individual States through the tenth amendment to the Constitution. Thus, education became a matter of the States during the early years of the nation's history.
Although each State controlled its own schools and set the patterns for the underlying emphasis of those particular schools, all of the States shared the characteristic of devoting little major emphasis to the systematic investigation of child nature. It was not until about 1880, when Granville Stanley Hall was at Clark University, that the scientific study of child nature and development was pursued in the United States. Emphasis of this newly started movement centered the attention of educators upon the notion that the child was a slowly developing personality, demanding subject-matter and method suited to his stage of development. This new conception of teaching was that of directing education instead of hearing recitations and "keeping school." This movement focussed attention sharply on the child, his nature and needs.
While the scientific study of children was conducted by a variety of individuals and groups, it was possible to infer within limits that there was a degree of continuity throughout the movement. Therefore, a criterion was compiled consisting of fifteen points which characterized the child study movement.
A review was conducted of the current (1959-1960) course offerings in professional studies in education of seven schools. These schools, the State supported schools in Virginia which offered courses in professional education to undergraduate and/or graduate students who are preparing to teach in either elementary or secondary schools, were:
1. The College of William and Mary
2. Longwood College
3. Madison College
4. Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia
5. Radford College, Woman's Division of Virginia Polytechnic Institute
6. The University of Virginia
7. Virginia State College.
Considering the schools individually, a careful study of each course description was prepared. Appendices "A" through "G" contains the courses and course descriptions of the schools which were considered for this study. These course descriptions were studied with regard to the previously mentioned criterion of the child study movement. It was noted that many characteristics of the child study movement were present in the descriptions of the current course offerings.
In this manner, it was possible to discover a list of current course offerings which reflect characteristics similar to those of the child study movement. It was also noted that several generalized areas existed among the overall course offerings. These generalized areas within the current course offerings which seemed to reflect major emphasis and repetition in appearance were:
1. Child growth and development
2. Mental hygiene
3. Educational tests and measurements
4. School-pupil guidance
5. Principles and problems of instruction
6. Reading difficulties
7. The teaching-learning process.
It would, therefore, seem to follow that there is an influential element of the child study movement in certain current course offerings of the Virginia training institutions of today. / M.S.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/110276 |
| Date | January 1960 |
| Creators | Umholtz, John Leighmann |
| Contributors | Education |
| Publisher | Virginia Polytechnic Institute |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Text |
| Format | 106 pages, 2 unnumbered leaves, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | OCLC# 21378962 |
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