Parents and Schools: The 150-Year Struggle for Control in American Education, by William W. Cutler
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Parents and Schools: The 150-Year Struggle for Control in American Education, by William W. Cutler
Best Ebook Online Parents and Schools: The 150-Year Struggle for Control in American Education, by William W. Cutler
Who holds ultimate authority for the education of America's children—teachers or parents? Although the relationship between home and school has changed dramatically over the decades, William Cutler's fascinating history argues that it has always been a political one, and his book uncovers for the first time how and why the balance of power has shifted over time. Starting with parental dominance in the mid-nineteenth century, Cutler chronicles how schools' growing bureaucratization and professionalization allowed educators to gain increasing control over the schooling and lives of the children they taught. Central to his story is the role of parent-teacher associations, which helped transform an adversarial relationship into a collaborative one. Yet parents have also been controlled by educators through PTAs, leading to the perception that they are "company unions."Cutler shows how in the 1920s and 1930s schools expanded their responsibility for children's well-being outside the classroom. These efforts sowed the seeds for later conflict as schools came to be held accountable for solving society's problems. Finally, he brings the reader into recent decades, in which a breakdown of trust, racial tension, and "parents' rights" have taken the story full circle, with parents and schools once again at odds.Cutler's book is an invaluable guide to understanding how parent-teacher cooperation, which is essential for our children's educational success, might be achieved.
Parents and Schools: The 150-Year Struggle for Control in American Education, by William W. Cutler- Amazon Sales Rank: #2036061 in eBooks
- Published on: 2015-05-01
- Released on: 2015-05-01
- Format: Kindle eBook
From Publishers Weekly Historian and school director Cutler has examined PTA minutes and local publications from the mid-19th century to the present to write an intimate history of the ambiguous and symbiotic relationship between home and school. This is in many ways a story about gender and classAand, eventually, race. "Schools often had to fight the perception that they taught children to disrespect their families," but often educators and reformers "agreed that many parents could no more be trusted with their children's health than with their education." Immigrant and working-class parents in particular have been distrusted: Cutler shows how some social workers have been unapologetic in "wanting the school to reform the family." After WW II, the schools tried to build trust and communication with the home and, Cutler argues, "paid a high price for not living up to expectations." The reciprocity between home and school broke down as the larger society went through upheavals, and the PTA came to be seen as part of the failing system. (Although Cutler points out that "fathers' clubs were not at all uncommon in the early history of home and school associations," the principal work of the PTA has always been carried out by mothers: "men were often made to feel unwelcome.") With the "demise of the intimate social networks that used to bind the home to the school," strife and strikes increased through the 1970s. Now, Cutler warns, parents and teachers must "become more realistic about what can be reasonably expected from their cooperation" to avoid repeating a "cycle of failure." (June) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
About the Author William W. Cutler III is professor of history emeritus at Temple University. His research focuses on the relationship between education and American culture.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful. makes an important point By A Customer There is no issue of more importance to more Americans than the state of education, where it is going, and how it might be redirected. Obviously, historical perspective is one part of our grapplings with that issue.Unfortunately, this book has a very narrow scope. The author usually uses the word "school" to mean "public school," so he has very little to say about private or parochial education, or the home-schooling movement.Still, he makes an important point. The public school establishment, administrators and teachers alike, constitutes in many ways a distinct social class, with its own view of the world, and a view that is at odds with the views of many parents. Thus, conflicts between parents and teachers, even on some seemingly trivial points (how much homework? what kind of Christmas decorations should be allowed) is necessarily a political struggle.The public-schooling establishment sees itself as the bearer of some high altruistic apolitical virtue. But that attitude is just one political fact among others.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Wealth of information on the history of education By Nancy B. Driscoll Fascinating reading on the history of education - especially the interplay between home and school. The rise of the PTA, educators' belief that they should train people to be better parents, government's assumptions about the role of education in society, who really know best, all make for an interesting exploration of a complex subject. The book is sometimes a little hard to follow as the author moves back and forth in time frequently rather than taking a strictly chronological approach. Overall a very useful contribution to understanding the continuing struggle between home and school.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Bravo! An excellent examination of an important subject. By M. D. Levin This book is extremely well-researched and well-written. It is of particular importance today with the public schools being attacked from every angle. By looking at today's issues with the historical perspective presented by Dr. Cutler, one gains deep insights into the purpose of public schools and their importance in American society. Dr. Cutler's ability to take a vast amount of research and to present it in a very readable format is a credit to his writing skills and scholarship. It should be read by all teachers, administrators and anyone researching issues in public education.
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