NR Hine pp138-157 annotations

Chapter eight - "The Invention of High School"

Justification for going into the history of the American High School: "Without high school, there are no teenagers." p139

Favorite quote from this chapter: "The principal reason high schools now enroll nearly all teenagers is that we can't imagine what else they might do." p157

Hine talks about the morphing of education from the early 1800s to 1894 (when the Harvard Committee of 10 set standards for all American High Schools, changing them forever). Influence of parents' wishes on schools is addressed and explained (everyone wants their child to receive an education equal to that of elite children). 1828 Labor Movement is summarized. Booker T. Washington and the new freedom of education for ex-slaves. Dependence on textbooks is explained (too many subjects offered and too few teachers). 1860s began the idea that students would have to fit the school's schedule, instead of vice-versa. The new irrelevance of the junior high school. Schools become standardized and become a prep for college rather than a prep for life. 1862 Morrill Act - Land Grant colleges start to take the place of high schools because high schools did not properly educate youth in the Midwest. This is what lead to colleges having such an influence over high schools. Schools become a form of police/social control.

Most important idea: because of standardization of the high schools, not all kids' needs were getting addressed. Kids were made to fit into the schools' needs (the colleges' needs).