Ten Days That Shook the World of Education

Donald Parkerson is the Distinguished Professor of Teaching in the History Department at East Carolina University. He has published six books on the history of education with his coauthor, Jo Ann Parkerson.Jo Ann Parkerson is Professor Emeritus of Education at Methodist University. Previously she taught in the public schools and has published six books on the history of education with his coauthor, Donald Parkerson.

This cleverly engaging collection of biographical vignettes is a provocative text for lower-level undergraduate courses on the social foundations of education. Written in a highly accessible and direct style, this volume captures the popular impulse to regard history as the mark of particular dates and events. The contemporary relevance of its historical subjects is never far from the surface. Most important, the 10 subjects are wisely chosen and cover a substantial range, from key educational and social theorists (e.g., Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Dewey, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Horace Mann) to school builders and reformers (e.g., Joseph Lancaster, Emma Willard, and William McGuffey) to social activists (e.g., Thurgood Marshall and “the kids” of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida). The authors tell the story of how these “everyday people did extraordinary things to challenge injustice and facilitate educational change” (p. xi). Of course, in some instances their historical interpretation is contentious—e.g., many readers will take exception to seeing Lancaster’s schools as a boon to the working poor or McGuffey's Readers as expressing unimpeachable values. However, this contentiousness is precisely what will provoke and engage readers. Recommended. General readers and lower-division undergraduates.

• AcknowledgementsIntroductionJean Jacque Rousseau – The Philosophy of Modern Education, Spring 1762Joseph Lancaster – Teaching the Poor, January 1, 1978Emma Willard – Women’s Education, September 7, 1821Horace Mann – Father of the Common School, June 29, 1837William McGuffey – The Graded Reader, April 1, 1836John Dewey – Father of Progressive Education, January 13, 1896 W.E.B. DuBois – Equality of African American Education, January 1, 1903 Horace Mann Bond – A Challenge to Standardized Testing, March 1, 1924Thurgood Marshall – The End of Legal Segregation, May 17, 1954The Kids are All Right – Political Activism, February 14, 2018Ten Days that School the World of Education: ConclusionReferencesAbout the Authors