Educational Reforms: Ideas of Horace Mann, Bishop John Hughes, and Benjamin Rush

The essay discusses the reform ideas of Horace Mann, Bishop John Hughes, and Benjamin Rush in relation to educational reforms. It highlights the contributions of each reformer towards the expansion of public education and the establishment of a universal public education system. The essay also emphasizes the importance of education in establishing security for all nations and promoting democracy.

Running head: EDUCATION
Educational reforms
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction- Educational reforms refer to the objective that is directed towards bringing
about a change in public education. Historically, there have been different educational reforms
due to differences in the motivation of the major reformers. The key goal of education reform is
to accomplish the desire of educational reformers of making public education accountable for
developing high stakes, in relation to different curriculum standards (Hargreaves et al., 2014).
The essay will discuss the reform ideas of Horace Mann, Bishop John Hughes, and Benjamin
Rush.
Horace Mann- Horace Mann was responsible for championing educational reforms that
resulted in an expansion of public education that was sponsored by the state in the 1800s. Early
public school based curriculum was grounded on theories of strict Calvinism and placed due
focus on teaching different moral values to the people. Despite the abundance of free public
education in New England, education in the South most commonly took place in homes, in the
presence of tutors and/or family members. Horace Mann of Massachusetts was responsible for
leading the common-school movement. The primary objective of this movement was to advocate
for local property taxes that played a crucial role in financing public schools (Pacheco, 2013).
Furthermore, Mann also elaborated on strengthening positive reinforcement, rather than
punishment. Mann proposed that bringing children of different classes together in ‘common
schools’ would enhance common learning experience. Thus, Mann wanted to provide an
opportunity to less fortunate students for their advancement in the social scale. This was
followed by the introduction of the age-grading system that categorized different subdivisions for
formal learning (Fraser, 2016). Mann argued that establishment of a universal public education
was imperative in turning the unruly children of the nation to judicious, disciplined republican

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citizens. His thoughts helped Mann gain widespread approval from the modernizers and led to
the establishment of public schools.
Bishop John Hughes- John Hughes was the first Archbishop of Archdiocese of New
York, and was commonly referred to as ‘Dagger John’ for his catholic practice and aggressive
personality. His primary work focused on developing active campaigns on the behalf of all Irish
immigrants. He endlessly worked towards securing support from the state for parochial schools.
He advocated for the construction of such institutions that will be affiliated to religious
organizations and would comprise of curriculum that covers religious educations, besides secular
subjects namely, mathematics, science, and language. However, he received little or no success
in this regard. Further protests were also made against use of King James Bible in Public School
Society that operated all New York City schools (Schoenig, 2013). He considered use of the
King James Bible as a direct attack on the constitutional rights of the Catholics related to double
taxation. The Catholics were subjected to twice payment of taxes, one for the public schools, and
other for the parochial schools (Fraser, 2016). Failure to gain support made him formulate the
independent Catholic school systems in New York. Subsequently, the Third Plenary Council of
Baltimore made the parochial school systems an integral part of Catholic Church's organization,
two decades after his death.
Benjamin Rush- Benjamin Rush was a politician, physician, humanitarian, social
reformer, and educator, besides founding the Dickinson College. He is considered as an
important leader of the Revolutionary movement and frequently spoke about education. In 1786,
he produced a sketch of education, with the hope that it will be able to attain the demands of
democracy. Besides Madison and Adams, he had the belief that proper education was
responsible for establishing security of all nations. This made Rush write the mammoth essay

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titled "Thoughts Upon the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic” (Runes, 2013). He also
proposed new education models for elite women that comprised of vocal music, English
language, sciences, dancing, history, bookkeeping, and moral philosophy. He was also
responsible for educating an estimated 3,000 medical students, who later constructed the Rush
Medical College. He also advocated for presence of supreme regard for US in all citizens,
coupling duty with certain republican principals, and establishing a uniform education system
that would meet the critical idea of citizenship. Rush also stated that reconstruction of education
must not halt with school procedure formal reformations (Halchin, 2018). He promoted for
extension of education reconstruction into youth amusement, and enhacing spirit of democracy.
It was further elucidated that the conventional school curriculum that had formerly stressed on
Latin and Greek language, required to be substituted by a language that would right away
function.
Conclusion- To conclude, the one constant factor for different educational reforms
comprised of the idea that minor modifications in the education system will bring about greater
social returns in the health, wellbeing and intelligence of all citizens. Thus, education reform has
taken several appearances and directions. All through history and the current day, the
significance and techniques of education have altered through disputes over what experiences
lead to an educated personality or a knowledgeable society.

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References
Fraser, J. W. (2016). Between church and state: Religion and public education in a multicultural
America. JHU Press.
Halchin, L. E. (2018). And this parent went to market: Education as public versus private good.
In School Choice In The Real World (pp. 19-38). Routledge.
Hargreaves, A., Lieberman, A., Fullan, M., & Hopkins, D. W. (Eds.). (2014). International
handbook of educational change: Part two (Vol. 5). Springer.
Pacheco, D. (2013). Moral enterprise: Literature and education in antebellum America. The
Ohio State University Press.
Runes, D. (2013). The selected writings of Benjamin Rush. Read Books Ltd.
Schoenig, J. (2013). Parental choice, Catholic schools, and educational pluralism at the dawn of
a new era in K-12 education reform. Notre Dame JL Ethics & Pub. Pol'y, 27, 513.