Liberty in Education Historical Analysis

intimacy in nurture Historical AnalysisSepideh Pourmanzourinejad approachThe programme in Ameri keister higher direction has always been low debate and clear up since the beginning. Prescribed curriculum in which the students had to study true pre-defined courses was the basis of colonial colleges for m each years. Later, the emergence of nonappointive placement proposed by Charles Eliot became a creative educational study in higher education in the U.S, and broadly substituted the old prescribed curriculum. Liberty in learning written by Eliot, in defense of elective governance, is star of the around important historical documents in the write up of Ameri goat higher education. This name provides a brief analysis of the document by focusing on different aspects and putting it in its historical context to get to a better understanding of its significance.Date, origin and the author of the documentLiberty in Education is a historical document originally written by Ch arles William Eliot in 1885. Eliot was a highly successful leader in the case of higher education. He was the president of Harvard University for forty years (1869-1909). His significant talents and acquaintance both as a teacher and administrator as head as his observations of European universities provided him with insights toward proposing an effective elective system instead of a undefiled curriculum. He originally outlined the idea of elective system in an 1885 speech. In fact, it was a debate with McCosh, president of Princeton, on the base of curriculum. Later, he published it in a book named Educational reform Essays and addresses (Eliot ,1898). However, the copy that we have at hand is a reprint of the special source in a book which collected a series of primaries The History of Higher Education second edition, edited by Lester Goodchild and Harold Wechsler (1997). thick of the documentCharles Eliot proposed the concept of elective system and found it an inevitable tempo in transforming a college into a university. In colonial colleges, a analogous prescribed curriculum was offered which finally gave the same degree to all of the students. Eliot argued against this classical curriculum as providing superficial and elementary knowledge and maintained that trio things should be added to a college to make it a successful university in which the students can flourish the mostElection of studies Due to the natural differences in gracious minds and bodies, each student should have the freedom to choose his own courses of studies ground on his individual interests, natural inclinations and intellectual capacities. According to Eliots observations and experience, the best old age to start giving the students liberty in education is eighteen. academician eminence in special lines of studies The university must provide the students with opportunities to win distinction in special subjects and also offer honors through an effective elective system. This can lead to advanced instruction and creates enthusiasm both in instructors and students. lift a sense of self-governing instead of imposing strict pr pull downtative disciplines on the students A universitys moral purpose should be to teach students to abstinence through a sense of personal freedom.ContextEliot took office at Harvard University in 1869, which was a favorable time to transformation and reform as the Civil War was a real catastrophe in American life. On the other hand, the cumulative industrialization in the United States afterward the Civil War required the American college to solve the problem of preparing students to establish engineers, physicians, businessmen, chemists, and administrators. Many insightful Americans realized that the old-style American college required basic modernization with a quite different curriculum. Consequently, Eliot responded to the needs of the people and the demands of the society and introduced elective system to the highe r education.The immediate and the historical significanceDuring the time of Eliots presidency, Harvard became one of the greatest universities of the world under the elective system and it finally surpassed well-known universities such as Johns Hopkins in the field of graduate work. The elective doctrine helped transform the American college into university and moved the student-professor relationship from an adversarial to a collaborative skill one (Rudolph, 1962). A major historical impact of the elective system was the formation of rude(a) curricular expansions in the twentieth century. It inspired the origination of majors, tutorials, honors, independent study, general education, field studies and comprehensive exams. Furtherto a greater extent, it resulted in a big amount of knowledge advancement as it established opportunities for both students and professors to moil in their interests in greater depth.Language and flavorThe document is a kind of argumentative writing a nd the author has a defensive and ingratiatory attitude toward the work as he tries to defend the advantages of the elective system over a classical curriculum and aims to convince the audience to imagine in that. It is written in a language that is clear abundant to comprehend. Eliot avoided using complicated specialized words which need to be defined. He proposed the principle in a totally confident and purposeful tone by providing reasons for his claims.Publisher or sponsor and alterationsThe document does not depend to reflect any publisher or sponsors point of view as it only reflects Eliots point of view regarding the necessity to shift toward an elective system. The authorized document does not contain any alterations or editions since it is a reprint of the original source.Missing information and triangulationThe document does not include any information regarding regulations for the freedom in choices of studies. Here is a list of some(a) other resources which can help the reader make a more comprehensive sense of the existing documentCarpenter, H. C. (1951). Emerson, Eliot, and the elective system. New England Quarterly, 13-34.Denham, T. J. (2002). A Historical Review of Curriculum in American Higher Education 1636-1900.Denham, T. J. (2002). The Elective System or Prescribed Curriculum The Controversy in American Higher Education.Eliot, C. W. (1898). Liberty in education. Educational reform Essays and addresses, 125-48.Eliot, C. W. (1907). Academic freedom. Science, 1-12.Phillips, D. E. (1901). The elective system in American education. The Pedagogical Seminary, 8(2), 206-230.ConclusionThe development of elective system has been such an important event in the history of American higher education that facilitated the transformation of the college into university. It shaped a new form of studies to the students and attracted a lot of attention in the past and even in todays educational world. The analysis of the document and the historical researc h nigh that reveal a true significance made by Eliots elective system. However, there still exist debates and discussions over the supremacy of prescribed curriculum or elective system which continue to create new horizons.ReferencesEliot, C. W. (1898). Liberty in education. Educational reform Essays and addresses, 125-48.Goodchild, L. F., Wechsler, H. S. (1997). The History of Higher Education. ASHE Reader Series. Pearson habit Publishing, 200 Old Tappan Rd., Old Tappan, NJ 07675.Rudolph, F. (1962). The American college and university A history. University of atomic number 31 Press.