Education Innovators vs. "Makers" of Public School

After a recent first look through two websites that discussed education innovators and "makers" of public school, I initially thought yes, Horace Mann, John Dewey, Booker T. Washington and Deborah Meier are all great individuals who have greatly impacted public education. I also questioned how Andrew Carnegie, John D.  Rockefeller and Henry Ford had anything to do with education. Sure they were great business men and leaders of their industries, but how were they “makers” of public school. After further research I realized that both groups of people had a huge influence on education.

I really feel that Horace Mann was great innovator for public education. I think that he started what has since been built on, and is what we now have today. He thought that it was essential to have a group of people who oversaw the state’s public education and established the state board of education. He also placed importance on trained teachers and established training institutes for them.  Mann also thought that education was important enough to increase the school year from just a few months to 6 months.

After doing a little research I found that Henry Ford was not only the “master of the assembly line” but also the “father of industrial education”. He created the Henry Ford Trade School, which you can find out more about here . He took a very hands on approach to education to prepare students for the real world. I feel that Henry Ford was a great maker of education by trying to create “well-rounded adults”.  He tried to get his point across by using multiple ways of teaching, something that is now valued and sought after in today’s teachers.  

When I think about innovators, I think of someone who is updating something and making it more modern. Looking at the list of innovators, I feel that they were all great for their time; they took what they knew about public education and tried to modernize it for the better. The difference in the two is that the ‘makers” created something new, they didn’t just change or update something, they produced a new way to do things.  I think that both groups of people influenced public education for the better.