Erika Streett-Lawrence

INT 308
Dr. Montgomery-Assignment I

The articIe, Interdiscipinarity in United States Schools: Past, Present and

Future by Veronica Boix Mansilla and Yves Lenoir introduced the four periods of
early American education: Assimilation, Adjustment, Access and Achievement
which are examined in regards to the views and ideas for integrated or
interdisciplinary education.
The first period, Assimilation (1900-1920), challenged the early educational
module which was the study of the classics to preparing students for business,
mechanics and engineering trades. In 1852, the Massachusetts Compulsory
Attendance Statute made public school a requirement for all children from eight
to fourteen years old and students had to attend a school for at least twelve
weeks. The goal of schools was to offer a universal curriculum which in turn was
to create good citizens, unite society, and prevent crime and poverty. With the
arrival of a large number of immigrants between 1890-1920 parents viewed
education as a means of success, Americanization and the formation of
citizenship values and virtues. The idea of Assimilation for newcomers was to
ultimately prepare students for life in America through a basic language laden
curriculum. Integration in this era focused more so on determining what course

of studies would be the most beneficial to students based upon human self
preservation. It ensured a great understanding of food production, steam engine
and furnace efficiency, railways and carpentry, money markets or war. This
included knowledge of biology, mathematics, and physics where on the other
hand, poetry and the arts were considered less important in the educational
realm. Both vocational and academic options were introduced and considered
legitimate educations. This meant a student could focus on core academic
concentrations if interested in furthering their education or on shop or domestic
concentrations. Ultimately, this era prepared students by relating and intertwining
topics in each curriculum to ensure the application of each in everyday life
situations.
The rise of the second era, Adjustment (1920-1954), basically ended the
Assimilation project and considered it to have been completed. The interests and
talents of the child were beginning to be recognized and developed. The focus of
this era was to not only nurture the childs intellectual development, but also their
social, emotional, physical and spiritual growth. More tests were implemented to
measure and track intellectual growth. Curricular shifts were made towards the
arts and music and projects inside and outside of school. The period focused on
the push to inspire individuality through the integration of experience. The
graduation rate increase exponentially due to students remaining in school due to
lack of jobs. Because core courses like chemistry, physics, algebra and history

become optional during this period, the majority of these students lacked the
knowledge required for continued education so they then required a curriculum
emphasizing virtue above knowledge. Tests used for military entrance were now
being used to group students into academic, vocational and general tracks,
offering a more personalized education. This was considered the implementation
of academic interdisciplinarity. Teachers were to not only present a subject, but
also relate it to the growth experience of the child. The point was to find a
meaningful correlation between all subjects. The student was to take the
practicality of all subjects learned to develop and form an understanding through
daily life experiences, thus making the process naturally integrative.
Social Studies was now included in the curriculum due to the merging of history
and government. An eight year study concluded that students who had been
introduced to this style of teaching got better grades and demonstrated more
intellectual drive when compared to those who were not exposed to the same
teachings. By the end of this period the lack of academic achievement became a
growing concern for parents and the public.
Access is the third era discussed and this era lasted from 1954-1983. Three
main issues were dominate during this time- racism, which fued to school
segregation, low academic scores for most and little to no academic
opportunities for low income students. The era mostly focused on creating
programs for the less fortunate in hopes of trying to bridge the gap. The Civil

Rights Movement assisted in this goal by integrating schools so that all children
would have access to the same educational opportunities since it was assumed
that white children were offered a better education. This also presented the
opportunity to add programs for the handicap, gifted children and females versus
to only the elite and non-handicapped. Although this program access was
provided, it was widely known that these programs were not being closely
monitored.
As historic movements in society and social order were underway, educational
curriculum changes were also being made. It became apparent that other
countries were surpassing us educationally and at a vigorous pace. This fact
sparked and change in the focus of education back to primarily math, technology
and science. The abrupt shift of the academic focus back to more of a
disciplinary one proved to lack the interest and preparation of the student,
teachers and culture. Experience was now being overridden by required
independent core course studies. At the same time important questions about
who we are and our overall existence could not be ignored. This newfound
exploration meant that the curriculum had to also focus on biological
endowments versus learned cultural behavior. There was a belief that
knowledge could be taught to children of all ages as long as it was done based
on the appropriate consideration of the childs developmental stage.

While the access era provided opportunities through the use and access of
various programs, not all children could benefit from them because the new
housing options available only reinstated school segregation due to zoning. Due
to the new lack of access, new, special programs were added to schools to
provide additional or more personalized instruction. Toward the end of this era,
there came great scrutiny of these programs and how they were being run as
there was still an obvious gap in equality and excellence among minority and
high income populations.
The last of the eras is the Achievement Era (1983-Present) and there were
some definite concerns regarding American educational standards. The system
was failing our students academically. For the most part, students had the
option to select their own educational development and had lowered their own
educational standards by opting for classes focused mainly on personal finances,
bachelor life and health. The failure of the students to take advantage of the
more advanced courses became the main factor in the failure of the system as a
whole. The concern was that Americas children would not be compete
academically with students from countries such as Japan, Russia, Europe,
Canada, etc. There were concerns about an over emphasis on technical and
occupational studies which left very little time to study the arts and those skills
that enrich daily life, help maintain civility and develop a sense of community- in
essence, those same interdisciplinary approaches as described in the afore

mentioned Adjustment Era. Academics scholars believed that understanding

how people learned required more than reviewing their conditioned behavior;
they were now deemed it important in understanding the cognitive process in
learning of individuals. They found that although students could repeat
information that was learned, they incapable of retaining the information and
better yet incapable of applying to everyday life. If this were to change,
educators had to change minds through deliberate instruction. This would prove
to reshape Americas society as business leaders were now seeking well
educated individuals due to education being considered good for economic
growth and for the financial well-being of learners. As the purpose of schooling
was being redefined so was the measure of educational equality. Due to the
soaring development of state standards in the 1990s, the federal initiative, Goals
2000, a number of disciplinary communities were sought after to assist educators
what mattered most in regards to learning. Their subsequent reports offered
information about key conceptual concepts such as what students should know
and what they should be able to do in areas such as reading, mathematics,
science, history and the arts. This started the implementation of standardized
testing which was being used once again to measure student achievement
however, the capacity to think flexibly and insightfully with disciplinary knowledge
remained at the discretion of teachers and schools. Interdisciplinary curricula
remained as the most commonly used school-based initiatives. There were new

demands on education due to the creation of the internet giving rise to a new
digital age which required readdressing educational demands.