Social Studies / History
The country’s founders believed that schools were a proper means to encourage “religion, morality, and knowledge,” which were “necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind.” The framers of our government didn’t believe that encouraging religion in schools was unconstitutional. They believed the opposite. Only in recent decades have courts ruled otherwise.
When Ohio adopted its first state constitution in 1802, that document declared: “Religion, morality, and knowledge, being essentially necessary to the good government, and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of instruction shall forever be encouraged by legislative provision.”
At the university level in 1860, 262 out of 288 college presidents were ministers of the Gospel – as were more than a third of all university faculty members. In 1890, James Angell, president of the University of Vermont and the University of Michigan, reported that more than 90 percent of the state universities conducted chapel services, and many required regular church attendance in addition to chapel attendance. Well into the 20th century, this remained the practice of state universities.
Many of America’s early educational leaders were patriots who had been directly involved in the American Revolution. They understood that if America was to endure beyond the Revolution, then the principles on which she had been birthed, nurtured and developed must be successfully transmitted to future generations. It was for this reason that so many of them became directly involved in writing educational plans, authoring textbooks or starting universities. There were more universities established in America in the 10 years following the Revolution than in the 150 years before.
One such early educational leader was Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, who served in three presidential administrations. Dr. Rush helped found five colleges (three still exist today). He was a university professor, authored numerous textbooks, and was among the first Founding Fathers to propose nationwide public schools.
Like most of the Founding Fathers, Dr. Rush was a prolific writer; and one of his educational policy papers was titled, “A Defense of the Use of the Bible as a Schoolbook” (1791). Dr. Rush set forth nearly a dozen reasons why the Bible should remain the cardinal textbook of American education.
He correctly saw the Bible as the only sure means to prevent crime, for it dealt with the heart. He accurately forewarned that if America ceased to teach the Bible in schools, not only would crime increase, but great quantities of time and money would be expended fighting crime.
The New England Primer, the first textbook published in America, was originally printed in Boston around 1690 and was reprinted frequently over the next two centuries. Well into the 20th century, The New England Primer remained a common text from which American students learned to read. The Primer was the equivalent of a first-grade textbook.
Over two centuries, the cover page of the Primer changed, but the contents maintained three core elements: the “Rhyming Alphabet, Alphabet of Lessons for Youth, and Shorter Catechism.”
The New England Primer was reprinted by Benjamin Franklin for students in Pennsylvania. The fact that Franklin was directly involved with personally distributing such an overtly religious schoolbook might surprise many Americans today because Franklin is considered to be one of the least religious of our Founding Fathers. (While Franklin certainly is one of the least religious Founders, ironically, he was definitely more religious than many so-called devoutly religious individuals today.)
Franklin long demonstrated his overt support for teaching Christian principles in public education. In 1740, Franklin helped found the University of Pennsylvania for the explicit purpose of instructing youth in the knowledge of the Christian religion.
Not even Thomas Paine--probably the least religious among the American Founders--believed that public education should be so secular as to exclude religious and moral teachings. America’s first colonial educational laws, first federal laws, and declarations of many early American statesmen confirm the fact that the unique American approach to a successful education integrated religious and morals lessons with academic instruction. Subsequent textbooks demonstrate that this philosophy of education remained intact and unaltered for centuries.
The original successful philosophy of education clearly has undergone a radical revolution in recent years. It is a revolution caused not by citizen action or legislative interference but rather by judicial activism, with courts and judges suddenly prohibiting what has been permissible by law for centuries.
Apparently, today many are unaware of the massive, dramatic changes that have occurred in American education. Many are simply complacent about the changes. It is imperative that every citizen today be concerned and informed about the condition of education.
As educator Noah Webster long ago warned: “The education of youth should be watched with the most scrupulous attention….[I]t is much easier to introduce and establish an effectual system….than to correct by penal statutes the ill effects of a bad system…The education of youth….lays the foundations on which both law and gospel rest for success.”
Every citizen should exert the time and effort necessary to ensure that schools are teaching sound content and providing a good education, and that those who teach in classrooms – as well as those elected to school boards and legislatures – are individuals who respect, honor and embrace the time-tested principles of a sound education.
Imparting mere academic knowledge should never be a sufficient final objective for learning. A sound education should instill the three elements long proven to be the basis of a successful education: religion, morality and knowledge. These elements should be instilled not only in our schools but also in our homes, churches and communities.
For four centuries, the three essential elements of religion, morality and knowledge formed the basis of character and achievement. Experience and common sense demonstrate that these elements still provide a foundation that enable today’s students to be great leaders of the future. It is our responsibility to protect the proven educational philosophy that has made and kept America great. We must do everything we can to transmit that successful educational philosophy to future generations.
David Barton is president of Wallbuilders and the author of Drive Thru History America.
Sidebar
Thinking Outside the Books
By Sharon Coletti
Our students are growing up in a fast-paced, information age. Facts change faster than racecar tires at a pit stop. As quickly as students can “learn” the countries and capitals of Africa, those countries and governments change. Social studies textbook instruction focuses on memorization of names, dates, places and so forth – facts to be tested on regularly-scheduled tests. Yet studies have repeatedly shown textbook content is often out-of-date or blatantly incorrect, meaning that students are asked to learn information that may not even be true. In addition, if students merely learn facts to be regurgitated on tests, they remember very little.
Such “learning” then seems like an exercise in futility. I recently read that, “All of the information in the world today will be just 5 percent of the existing knowledge in the year 2050.” That’s staggering, and if it’s true, our current educational system is not preparing students for their futures.
So, what should we be teaching? We should be teaching students what they need to know: enduring skills that are applicable to both school and life. Students must be able to read, write, find information and express themselves verbally. They must be able to work well with others, make effective use of available technology, and think critically and creatively. In the real world, our students will be called upon to present ideas to their peers and collaborate to solve problems, and they will be expected to be self-tasking. These skills are what we should be teaching.
This is not to say that students do not need to learn facts, but fact recall should not be our instructional goal. In 1956, a team of researchers at the University of Chicago, led by Dr. Benjamin Bloom, identified six levels of learning, from knowledge-level to evaluative thinking.
Facts are an excellent vehicle for teaching thinking and other skills. According to Bloom’s model, thinking is hierarchical. Students must have knowledge to comprehend, understand before they can apply what they learn, etc. In order to evaluate information, they must therefore know, understand, apply, analyze and synthesize that information. In doing so, they become engaged, active participants in their learning, making them far more likely to remember what they’ve learned.
Still, such a change in educational emphasis is not easily achieved. It demands new materials and instructional approaches. In order to prepare students for life in the 21st century, we must overhaul our teaching methods to suit the times.
A long-time teacher, department chair, and curriculum and test developer, Sharon Coletti left the classroom six years ago to found the company InspirEd Educators, www.inspirededucators.com. Since that time she has authored 13 comprehensive social studies units.
