Introduction
In the 19th century, America was experiencing post-colonial regime, by that time, women were suppressed in the society and denied access to formal education. Women were not allowed to attend Formal School to access education. Education was for men and boys who attended most learning institutions that were built. Recently, scholars analyzed women’s education during the 19th century. Grossman (1998) in his book achieving educational equality: Assuring all students an equal opportunity in school argued that in the 19th-century girls were not accorded the same education as boys 1 . Both boys and girls were to attend “dame schools”.
Dame schools were to prepare boys for town schools whereas it prepared girls to assume house responsibilities. The school was swayed by home instruction’s English model for children in small groups that were led by a woman in a home. The woman taught girls how to perform household chores. Few girls who graduated joined town schools while the majority of the girls were to stay at home and do house chores 2 . Grossman (1998), also observed that education institutions beyond dame schools were private, segregated by sex and it was exclusive to wealthy people in the society.
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During the 19th century girls were prohibited from attending schools when they were allowed to join town school, they did so at a different time of the day or when boys were away from school like holidays or summertime. Moreover, Carlton (1908) observed in his book Economic influences upon educational progress in the United States that the growing economy created the need for literacy. Women were involved in family business. This condition made it necessary for equal opportunities 3 .Women had to know basic accounting to manage business hence created the need for girls to access education. The authors of the books mainly focused on the challenges that girls in 19th century faced, the steps which women did to address the impotence of girl child education and the first institution which accepted coeducation among boys and girls. In this essay, I will focus on women versus education in the 19th century in the USA.
Women versus Education
“ At the close of the 18th century, most boys in colonial America attended “dame schools,” defined as a school influenced by the English model of home instruction for small groups of children usually led by a woman in her home. (Tyack & Hansot, 1990).” As stated by Tyack & Hansot (1990), the question of feminine inferiority was brought out by the education issue and the universe’s natural order. Many individuals supported the idea that submissiveness, virtue, and innocence were the positive qualities of womanhood. The individuals who made arguments against women getting education thought that the mind of a woman had limited capabilities 4 . The creation of dame schools happened in the kitchens of old women in the public. During this time, women recognized themselves as teachers in the colonial America. These dame schools were used in preparing boys for admission to the schools in town that till the 19th century, women were not permitted to be present. Finally, when girls were allowed to join the schools in town, they usually went to school at different times than the boys. At other times, these girls attended school when the boys were not attending.
Tyack, & Hansot stated that “Within 10 to 20 years of the arrival of the Mayflower, Massachusetts colonists had established town schools.” The educational system in Massachusetts has its origins in the Protestant Reformation that deliberated education vital for every person. Tyack, & Hansot (1990) assert that the colonists in Massachusetts established town schools. Moreover, Harvard College and a Latin grammar school were also established 5 . Additionally, increased need for literacy was created in the American colonies. Mostly, women in the colonial era mainly involved themselves in commerce and family businesses. Due to this, it led to equality for women and men in the educational process.
Merging of Women and Men Institutions
An academy movement was established in the 1800s and were led by Mary Lyon, Catherine Beecher, and Emma Willard. The purpose of the academy was to offer a domestic education, literacy and moral education for young women. Grossman (1998) asserted that in the mid-1800s, the small number of individuals in the western territories made coeducational a viable and co-economical option to institutions with a single gender. Due to this, the colleagues of the male colleges emerged as affiliates 6 . Associations with universities like Brown, Harvard, and Columbia enabled women to take part in the educational chances that men afforded in these institutions. Catholic Church played a major role in the Academy, by 1860, it had increased to 3 million creating the need for church-sponsored education hence the number of female teachers increased. The academy movement led to an establishment of the first women’s college. In late 19th century, Institutions merged to form affiliates. These affiliations allowed women to participate.
Women were mostly supervised closely and kept apart from men in these institutions. As the 19th century came to an end, some other universities permitted women to register in their degree programs. Even though single-gender institutions for women started to emerge, many public institutions had become primarily coeducational. However, coeducation did not protect equal education opportunities. Women with resilient academic records were needed to take home economics or domestic science. Even though the role of women in the society expanded, women were concentrated into occupational selections in the mid-1960s. Grossman (1998) stated that “in 1918, the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education made a case for the creation of a two track system: one track steered students, primarily males, toward college preparatory coursework, and the other track provided vocational training.” Grossman went on to assert that “For White, Black, and other minority girls, the vocational track was encouraged.”
These choices were narrowed to motherhood, nursing, secretarial and teaching. Grossman (1998) states that in 1972 after the Title IX has passed, it turned out that discrimination in public schools due to gender in the treatment of students, school athletics, admission, career counseling and financial aid was illegal 7 . After the Women’s Educational Equity Act had been passed in 1974, support was offered in assisting schools in the enrollment of girls in athletic programs, science, and math. Teachers were offered more training to enable them to be aware of gender bias in pedagogy and curriculum. A statement given by Grossman (1998) states that “Furthermore, teachers believed that both sexes benefit equally from single-sex education in terms of a greater sensitivity to sex differences in learning and maturation.”
Conclusion
Currently, more than five hundred public schools in the U.S. are at the moment offering gender-separate learning opportunities. Moreover, there are researched being conducted to ascertain the long-term outcome and effects of these programs. Many teachers stated that girls did well in school by; having better academic behaviors, good peer interactions, they were orderly and were on their best behaviors in single-gender environments. Additionally, teachers ascertained that both men and women gained an equal advantage from single gender education. This is regarding a greater sensitivity to differences in sex in maturation and learning. When viewing the history of educational experiences for women in the U.S., it is revealed that anticipations for women in learning institutions have been unlike than expectation for boys. Women were raised knowing that limited and specific roles such as teaching and nursing were meant for them, but currently, they have more options
Bibliography
Grossman, H. Achieving educational equality: Assuring all students an equal opportunity in school . Springfield: Charles C. Thomas Publisher, Ltd. (1998 ).
Carlton, F.T. (1908). Economic influences upon educational progress in the United States, 1820-1850 .Madision University of Wisconsin.
https://archive.org/stream/economicinfluence00carl/economicinfluence00carl_djvu.txt
Tyack, D., & Hansot, E. (1990). Learning together: A history of coeducation in American
schools . New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
1 Grossman, H. Achieving educational equality: Assuring all students an equal opportunity in school . Springfield: Charles C. Thomas Publisher, Ltd. (1998 ).
2 Grossman, H. Achieving educational equality: Assuring all students an equal opportunity in school . Ibid.
3 Carlton, F.T. (1908). Economic influences upon educational progress in the United States, 1820-1850 .Madision University of Wisconsin.
https://archive.org/stream/economicinfluence00carl/economicinfluence00carl_djvu.txt
4 Tyack, D., & Hansot, E. (1990). Learning together: A history of coeducation in American
schools . New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
5 Tyack, D., & Hansot, E. (1990). Learning together: A history of coeducation in American
schools . New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
6 Grossman, H. Achieving educational equality: Assuring all students an equal opportunity in school . Springfield: Charles C. Thomas Publisher, Ltd. (1998 ).
7 Grossman, H. Achieving educational equality: Assuring all students an equal opportunity in school . Springfield: Charles C. Thomas Publisher, Ltd. (1998 ).
