Movers and Shakers in Education - Assignment Example

Moreover, Mann believed that teachers were in need of a formal education system beyond High School. Consequently, Mann was joined by other lobbyist for common schools such as Catherine Beecher. However, it is critical to mention that resistance to the common schools was evident from Roman Catholic adherents. To this effect, the opponent believed that nonsectarian common schools were against the precincts of Catholicism. However, the first common school was established in Massachusettes in 1839 following compromise and political consensus.

By the latter period of the 19th century, other states adopted common schools policies that evolved to what the contemporary public schools system. John Dewey (1916) Figure 2: John Dewey's philosophy on teaching John Dewey was epitomized as a prominent American philosopher and educational revolutionary whose ideologies contributed to reform in the social and education sector. In reference to education, Dewey is best known for his philosophies in education. To this end, John Dewey theorized education as the process of developing an individual’s capacities to which the person gains control over his/her environment and consequently fulfil his/her potential (Novak).

Consequently, John Dewey formulated four aims of education. Foremost, he believed that education is life whereby life itself was epitomized by education. Moreover, education is life was whereby the learner was focussed on the present scenario and not the future. Secondly, Dewey believed that education is experience. Consequently, he explained that education should be based in experience since it develops a new insight in the learner and replaces old experience. Third, Dewey believed that education was centred on the development of social efficiency.

To this end, he envisaged the school as a social institution designed to replicate the realities of the outer world. Fourth, Dewey believed that theory and practice should be conjoined in education. Consequently, thoughts or words should be precincts of teaching and learning. Moreover, Dewey envisioned a method of teaching through direct experience. This was whereby teaching was based on activities in direct connection with the child’s life. Evidently, John Dewey’s theory of experiential learning and child centred social theory contributed to the development of contemporary education practices in the 21st century.

Consequently, his education philosophies marked a shift from lecture based learning processes. The Case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954, 1955) Figure 3: The landmark ruling on the Brown vs. Board of Education The case involved the pertinent issue of racial segregation in public learning institutions. To this end, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Thurgood Marshal led a judicial campaign against the racial segregation of learners at school (“History of Brown v.

Board of Education."). The Brown vs. Board of Education was a consortium of five cases involving Briggs vs. Elliot, Gebhart vs. Ethel, Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Davis vs. Board of Education of Prince Edward County (VA) and Boiling vs Sharpe(“History of Brown v. Board of Education."). The facts underlying each case were divergent but were all connected based on the legality of government-sponsored segregation of students in public schools. Initially, the U.S District