Horace Mann's Legacy
Common school movement
The things Horace Mann changed are still important today. He is still known for the schooling itself because he had many requests in the system. One of the things he changed was the whole educational system because the schools at that time in the United States were low educated. He also made a concept called "No Child Left Behind" which means that all kids have the same chance of getting a good education. Horace Mann did a drastic change in children attending to school. In his years as a boy only about 55% of the children were attending at a school. Now about 91% of all children in the United States are attending at a school. Another thing he changed was how long the children would stay at school. He argued that they should be at school for longer. Thanks to him schools now days are about 7 hours a day.
Kindergarten
When Horace Mann went to Europe he realized that the younger kids were better at school because they weren't under extreme pressure. He and another teacher started introduce the idea of kindergarten. It was supposed to make the small kids learn in a playful way and not putting them under extreme pressure. They also argued that women should teach more. Studies showed that women were easier in teaching smaller children. Later more than half the teacher for younger students were women.
Payment
The government argued that teachers were overpaid. Horace Mann wrote an article about that teachers are not overpaid, neither underpaid. In his article he points out that teachers have to work a lot on have to buy all the material for themselves from their own pocket money.
Common school movement
The things Horace Mann changed are still important today. He is still known for the schooling itself because he had many requests in the system. One of the things he changed was the whole educational system because the schools at that time in the United States were low educated. He also made a concept called "No Child Left Behind" which means that all kids have the same chance of getting a good education. Horace Mann did a drastic change in children attending to school. In his years as a boy only about 55% of the children were attending at a school. Now about 91% of all children in the United States are attending at a school. Another thing he changed was how long the children would stay at school. He argued that they should be at school for longer. Thanks to him schools now days are about 7 hours a day.
Kindergarten
When Horace Mann went to Europe he realized that the younger kids were better at school because they weren't under extreme pressure. He and another teacher started introduce the idea of kindergarten. It was supposed to make the small kids learn in a playful way and not putting them under extreme pressure. They also argued that women should teach more. Studies showed that women were easier in teaching smaller children. Later more than half the teacher for younger students were women.
Payment
The government argued that teachers were overpaid. Horace Mann wrote an article about that teachers are not overpaid, neither underpaid. In his article he points out that teachers have to work a lot on have to buy all the material for themselves from their own pocket money.