4).
The innovations in technology that followed the Industrial Revolution also served to shift the emphasis on education for agricultural jobs to more skilled positions as demand for these workers increased (Frye, 1999). In other words, as American society changed, so too did the requirements for American education and the process can be seen to be mutually reinforcing and iterative by Frye's observations concerning the effects of these trends on U.S. society during this period in American history. In this regard, Frye notes that, "With the change in types and numbers of occupations and their focus in towns and cities, other elements of the social structure also changed. Residence patterns, family structure, inheritance traditions, property holding, and other structures departed markedly from patterns in the immediate past" (1999, p. 15). Therefore, just as the American educational community helped to create the new American social sphere, this larger society in turn served to determine what educational programs and pedagogical approaches would be best suited to provide workers with the new skill sets needed in the 20th century. This process is illustrated by Frye's observation that, "Physical mobility, immigration, internal migration, access to status roles, and other changes consequent to these structural changes produced social stress. Like other social institutions, education reacted to this stress and developed an ideology and program to deal with it" (1999, p. 15).
Other changes that were taking place in the larger American society that would have an eventual but profound effect on education included an increasing competition for class mobility and higher status and these trends were further amplified by the processes of industrialization that took place during the first half of the 20th century. According to Frye, "This status competition gave rise to demands for education as a form of certification in occupational competition. Status competition affected educators directly as well and influenced the relationship among staff in high school, junior college, and university" (1999, p. 16).
These social trends not only resulted in changes to the curricular offerings of American schools, they also helped to shape the pedagogy during this period of U.S. history as well. In this regard, Frye points out that, "The general recognition by public and educators that access to occupations and social mobility were closely tied together in the new economy led to rapid growth in all levels of education. The desire of secondary educators to broaden the services of the high school and the desire of university leaders to serve only 'select' groups of students created a place for a new educational institution within the system" (p. 16). Likewise, the manner in which these social changes affected educators themselves was a significant force during this period in American history. Indeed, Frye adds that, "Among educators themselves, career opportunities, status competition, and professional prestige played no small role in the attitudes of secondary educators, junior college staff, and university officials" (1999, p. 16).
Not only was there increasing value placed on status and social mobility during this period, it became increasingly apparent that the public schools were the appropriate place to effect these desirable changes in education in ways that would benefit the larger American society as well. In this regard, Frye adds that, "Industrial and commercial growth and the consequent need for training and education dominated the thinking of many twentieth century educators. It was widely understood that an effectively trained labor force was critical to economic growth" (1999, p. 16). Moreover, the powerful effect of these social forces on educational philosophy is explicated by Frye's conclusion that, "This view produced a human resources model among American educators who debated policy. It affected the thinking of elementary, secondary, and higher education officials" (1999, p. 16).
Clearly, then, the foregoing is a salient example of how social forces influenced educators during this period in American history, but the influence became especially pronounced during the second half of the 20th century. According to Kaminsky (1999), American educators in the 1950s built on the priorities established during the past 20 years or so to formulate an optimal mix of reforms that would create better schools and better trained teachers who were capable of responding to the changing needs of the American workplace by providing young learners with the new skill set they needed to compete effectively. In this regard, Kaminsky reports that, "In the 1950s educational...
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