Education Then and Now
SUMMARY
 This history of education in New Hampshire begins with a discussion of the discipline, tools, and curriculum of the colonial school. The two main purposes of the colonial school were to produce adults who could read the Bible and to prepare students for the ministry. The Dame School is discussed, and different objectives for colonial girls and boys are compared.
Indian raids of the Revolutionary War had a negative effect on colonial education. Despite the setbacks in education elsewhere in the state at this time, Dartmouth College, which began as a school for Indians, continued to prosper. The end of the War allowed people to concern themselves with schools once again.
Pictures of various New Hampshire schools of the l800s are shown, and the growth in education from the one-room schoolhouse to the graded school is traced. The improvements and disadvantages of the schools of this period, as well as the increasing importance of transportation, are discussed.
Another important step in the growth of New Hampshire education was the establishment of post-secondary public institutions: Plymouth State College, Keene State College, and the University of New Hampshire.
The lesson ends with a look at education in New Hampshire today, with special emphasis on some of the problems in our schools and what to do about them.
OBJECTIVES
1. To present a history of education in New Hampshire from colonial to modern times.
2. To point out the differences of schools in the past with schools of today.
3. To make students more aware of some of the hardships encountered in schools of the past.
4. To point out some of the problems of education in New Hampshire today so that the students may consider some solutions for the future.
PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
1. Would you like to be a student in a colonial school? Why do you feel this way? What are your expectations for the future? What would your expectations be if you were a student in a colonial school?
2. Does anyone have a relative or friend who attended a one-room schoolhouse? Have them tell about it. Would you like to go to a one-room schoolhouse? Why or why not?
3. Perhaps someone has parents or grandparents with old textbooks. Bring in the books to compare with modern texts.
POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
1. Make a hornbook from wood or heavy cardboard and paint the letters on.
2. Discuss the difference between a colonial school's curriculum and the curriculum of a modern school. Which curriculum do you prefer?
3. Bring in some quills and ink, and let the students write a lesson with these tools. How would they like to do all their schoolwork with quill and ink?
4. Show the students the page from the New England Primer (included in this lesson).
New England Primer (1805)
New England Primer (1905)
Purchase a New England Primer ($3.50)
5. If there is someone in your town with a collection of samplers, invite them to bring some in to show the students. Perhaps some of the students would like to design and embroider their own samplers.
American Needlework in the Eighteenth Century - Metropolitan Museum of Art
Sampler Collection - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Sampler Collection - Cleveland Museum of Art
Sampler Collection - Old Sturbridge Village
6. What would it have been like to have the Revolutionary War or an Native American raid cancel school? What would you do when there was no school? Could that happen today? Could a war cancel your school? Why is it different today?
7. Would you have wanted to be a girl in colonial times when school was not considered important for girls? How would you have felt?
Colonial Education - National Women's History Musuem
8. Make a list of items in your classroom which would not have been found in your great-grandparents' classroom.
9. To help students understand how different 18th century schooling was and to better appreciate modern facilities and learning methods: turn off all the lights, especially on a dull day; rig up a bench and have two or more students sit on it quietly; have students wear their winter clothing, including mittens, while writing; have some students recite their lessons loudly and simultaneously while the rest of the class concentrates on reading and writing; dig out some "rules" such as "30 days hath September" and make the students memorize them, reciting them several times during the day; hand out half pieces of paper and insist that all written work for an hour or two must be done on that single sheet of paper. Ask students how they would feel about attending school like this daily.
10. The curriculum of the 18th century schools was simplicity indeed. It was often literally true that the three R's were the only subjects taught. Even spelling was not commonly taught until after the Revolution and the appearance of Noah Webster's spellers. Set aside several days (telling students your plans and reasons in advance) where nothing is taught except reading, writing and arithmetic. Ask students for their reaction to the experiment. Which of their omitted subject did they miss most? Were they bored with only three subjects? Today's America is much more complex than 200 years ago, so today's students must learn more things and take more subjects.
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VOCABULARY
- grammar school
- Psalter
- sampler
- Latin Dame School
- muskets
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- switch
- Old Testament
- missionaries
- birchbark
- hornbook
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- diverse
- quills
- New England Primer
- planetarium
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PLACES TO VISIT
- Lockehaven School, Enfield (19th century schoolhouse)
- Little Red Schoolhouse, Meeting House, Jaffrey.
WEB RESOURCES
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