Effective Citizens

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Noah Webster made a unique contribution to America’s educational system. According to Johnson (2002), it was Webster’s belief that our newly independent nation needed a distinctive language and government (p. 75). With its publication in 1783 and its use nationwide, Webster’s Blue Back Speller standardized American spelling, thus creating the distinctive language he advocated for. Soon after the introduction of the Blue Back Speller, spelling bees, enjoyed by youth and adults alike, became standard practice throughout the nation. Webster also “recognized the importance of education for promoting nationalism” (p. 69), and his role in standardizing our language played a significant role in helping all American students to become effective citizens who now felt connected to each other through the common bond of language.

If we jump ahead to the next century, we see the influence of persons such as Horace Mann and other crusaders for the common (public) school. According to Johnson (2002), Mann was discouraged by what he saw as a “moral decline of U.S. society,” and he felt that, in addition to ensuring that all students practice and learn the three R’s, the purpose of the public school was to provide the best education possible in order to “provide moral guidance to the masses” (p. 79). I would agree that it is important for schools to provide an environment that promotes high moral character. But what exactly are our responsibilities? Do we teach sex education in our health classes, or do we avoid this controversy and leave the teaching of this subject to the parents? Do we teach Internet safety, or do we simply ban access to certain technologies? In a letter to his sister, Mann stated his desire for every child to become “a noble citizen” (p. 84). The challenge is determining the public educational system’s role in helping our students to become noble (or effective) citizens.

The 20th century brought us John Dewey, another icon in the educational community who is known for his stand on the role of democracy in education. Dewey (1937) maintained that the democratic process isn’t just something to be discussed in schools; it must be practiced (p. 340). We often talk about democracy, and we may model it ourselves, but unless students have the opportunity to practice it in a meaningful way, they are less likely to become truly effective citizens.

What is the purpose of education? I believe that the purpose of education is to help our students to become effective citizens. The three educational leaders highlighted above were proponents of different perspectives, but together these viewpoints incorporate a larger picture of how to achieve this goal. Joseph Needleman (2006) quoted these wise words from Walt Whitman:

I say the mission of government, henceforth, in civilized lands, is not repression alone, and not authority alone, not even of law, nor the rule of the best men, but higher than the highest arbitrary rule, to train communities through all their grades, beginning with individuals and ending there again, to rule themselves. . .
This is the purpose of education.

References
Interview with Joseph Needleman.(2006). In Speaking of Faith from American Public Media. The Religious Roots of American Democracy. Retrieved February 3, 2006, from http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/democracy/index.shtml

Dewey, J. (1937). Education and Social Change. In F. Schultz, (Ed.), Sources: Notable Selections in Education (3rd ed., pp. 333-341). Guilford: McGraw-Hill/Duchskin

Johnson, T. W. (2002). The District School and Noah Webster’s United States from Historical Documents in Education (pp. 67-78). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Johnson, T. W. (2002). Horace Man and the Common School Crusade from Historical Documents in Education (pp. 79-86). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

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