THE SCHOOL, CURRICULUM, AND COMMUNITY: A CASE STUDY OF THE INSTITUTIONALIZING OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF PHILADELPHIA, 1876-1918 (PENNSYLVANIA)

This is an historical study that traces the development of the industrial education movement in the Philadelphia public school system from 1876 to 1918. The study specifically examines some of the political, social, and economic dynamics that surrounded the institutionalizing of the various reforms associated with the industrial education movement. Traditional historical research methods were utilized in the study. Documentary materials, newspapers, manuscript collections as well as other primary and secondary sources were utilized. The study particularly focuses upon the activities of various educational reform organizations like the Public Education Association, the Civic Club of Philadelphia, and the Child Labor Committee. The role of the school superintendent within the industrial education movement is also considered. In this regard, the administrations of James MacAlister, Edward Brooks and Martin Brumbaugh are examined.;The historical analysis reveals that the industrial education movement in Philadelphia was not an isolated or single-issue movement. It was interrelated with a number of other educational reform issues that were associated with progressivism. Issues like compulsory attendance, child labor legislation, and the centralization of school governance were all a part of the progressive reform agenda along with industrial education. All of these reform proposals were related to the redefined role and function of the school and public education that were held by the progressives. These educational reform issues were in turn linked to a wider set of political and social reform proposals for municipal government. As a consequence, the industrial education movement was caught up in the political struggle that was taking place between the progressives and the "Organization," Philadelphia's entrenched political machine. The directions in which the industrial education movement in Philadelphia evolved were shaped by this struggle.