The reading, The Progressive Era, 1890-1950, focused on the movement of education in the United States. The Progressive Era introduced five different strands of progressive school reform. The five strands of progressive school reform are: (1) administrative progressives, who sought consolidation management, (2) militant teachers, who sought a greater role for themselves, (3) child-centered curriculum reformers, (4) advocates of testing and measurement, (5) and lastly, political reformers who wanted teachers to help build a better society. I feel these strands of progressive school reform are essential to include when speaking on the topic of The Progressive Era. The reading included information on some of the strands of the progressive school and also focused on other influential people and historical events that in turn, is the reasoning for the schools in the United States today.
My learning community (LC3) decided to pick apart the reading and focus on key/essential aspects of the Progressive Era, which are the following topics: (1) What is progressivism in terms of school, (2) Why teachers should organize, (3) isolation in schools, (4) equal pay for equal work, (5) work democracy and school democracy, (6) and noteworthy people that played significant roles throughout the Progressive Era. Our learning community mainly focused on these categories, because the reading was divided into big subsections, each member of the group took a subcategory to focus on for their portion of the presentation.
My portion of the presentation was on the topic of teacher organizations and why teachers should organize. I introduced my topic by talking about Morgan Haley. Morgan Haley is the best known teacher advocate in the United States. Haley was the founder and leader of the Chicago Teachers Federation, which is a labor union that represents teachers and professionals whom are in the Chicago public schools system. The Chicago Teachers Federation fought for things like improved pay, benefits and a better job security. Margret Haley had a powerful voice, that the people heard and listened to. Haley goes down in history being known as the woman who spoke on behalf of teacher professionals. Haley spoke at the National Education Association, also known as the NEA, pertaining to teacher organizations. Haley found this necessary, because at the time, the education system was being overpowered by males in representing roles. In Haley’s time speaking at the National Education Association, she talked about increased salaries, getting better job security and pensions, overworking in overcrowded school rooms and the recognition of teachers as educators/professionals. Haley worked to inform the public by elevating the topics in a democratic image. The public did not think the school system needed improvement, so they saw no need for change. I found this as a key in the success and/or failure of public school systems. In summary, there is a lot of history that stems to today’s field of education that has occurred throughout history that have helped shape the United States schools the way they are today.
Presentation Link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/190EoohTzBje9REPn9h34cnwOqiiMVzAutevnnmXobgs/edit#slide=id.g616c6be785_0_5
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