Eminent historian David Labaree describes a gradual shift, over the last two centuries, in Americans’ beliefs and attitudes about the goals of public education. At its founding, our school system was designed mainly to serve the public good, conceived at the time as an effort to create a unified citizenry. By the early 20th century, the schools were understood to serve the public good by developing human capital. More recently, though, the public aims of schooling have faded from view, as Americans have come to see education mostly as a private resource.

Labaree, D.F. (1997). Public goods, private goods: The American struggle over educational goals. American Educational Research Journal, 34 (1), 3981.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI
Labaree, D.F. (2010). Founding the American school system. In Someone Has to Fail: The Zero-Sum Game of Public Schooling (pp. 4279). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Google Scholar
Lynd, R.S., Lynd, H.M. (1929). Middletown. New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace and World.
Google Scholar
Mann, H. (1841). Fifth annual report to the Massachusetts Board of Education. Boston, MA: Board of Education.
Google Scholar
Smith, A. (1776/1976). An inquiry in the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Google Scholar
View access options

My Account

Welcome
You do not have access to this content.



Chinese Institutions / 中国用户

Click the button below for the full-text content

请点击以下获取该全文

Institutional Access

does not have access to this content.

Purchase Content

24 hours online access to download content

Your Access Options


Purchase

PDK-article-ppv for $5.00

Article available in:

Related Articles

Citing articles: 0