Anti-intellectualism In American Education

The results of the 2016 presidential election generated public discussion about America's anti-intellectual tradition because many believed that the victory of Donald Trump represented a resurgence of anti-intellectualism in American politics.Even though several scholars have noted America's long-lasting antagonism towards intellectuals and their lifestyle,literature around anti-intellectualism and its connections with American history is quite limited,let alone its relations with the development of education.Although some scholars,like Richard Hofstadter and Aaron Lecklider,did inquire into America's anti-intellectual past from the educational perspective,the links between anti-intellectualism and the evolvement of American education have been largely overlooked or underestimated by scholars so far.So this paper attempts to embark on this gap and make some tentative explorations in anti-intellectualism and American education.This paper intends to examine the definition of anti-intellectualism in the realm of education and explore whether this anti-intellectual propensity had any manifestations in American educational history.This study conducted a vertical and horizontal analysis.Two kinds of methods were employed in this paper,including historical review and case analysis.To be more specific,historical review was used to grasp the venation of American education and the method of case study helped sample selection and the analysis of cases.The research questions of this paper included:How can anti-intellectualism be defined in American education?How is anti-intellectualism manifested in major American educational reforms?To answer these questions,the definition of anti-intellectualism was discussed at first.The author found that as a republic proud of its democratic and practical origin,the United States has held a suspicious attitude towards intellectuals,especially those who believe in the ultimate value of knowledge and truth.These "traditional intellectuals" has to suffer public distrust because of their inherent connections with aristocracy and priesthood.Therefore,the term "anti-intellectualism" emerged as a term generalizing the enmity towards intellectuals.It generally refers to the belligerent attitude and perceptions towards intellectuals or intellectual pursuits,concerns,or points of view.In history,the anti-intellectual disposition permeated varied aspects of American society,such as in religion,in politics,and in media.However,the author finds that anti-intellectualism is not hostile to the educational development.Anti-intellectual proponents never deny the power of knowledge and the necessity of public education.They merely distain those knowledge and academic pursuits of no practical significance.What they expect is a public education that embodies the principles of egalitarianism and utilitarianism.Egalitarianism means that education should first be inclusive and universally accessible to every citizen of the U.S.Each individual deserved equal opportunities in education that would achieve the maximum development of one's potential.Utilitarianism suggests that both individual and the public ought to benefit from education.Individuals should obtain usable skills and form democratic character through educational experience while society gain impetus for economic growth,democratic development and alternative solutions to the social ills.Through the research on American education history,the author is convinced that egalitarianism and utilitarianism are two primary expressions of anti-intellectualism.An overview of American educational history is provided to facilitate the following analysis of anti-intellectualism and its connection with American educational development.In retrospect,four major reforms played significant parts in the evolvement of American education.The first groundbreaking reform is the common school movement from the 1830s until the 1870s.Leading reformers aimed to achieve educational universality and egalitarianism by providing free education for children all over the country,especially for the poor and the alienated.The second major reform is the progressive education movement from the 1890s to the 1920s,which promoted diversified curricula and professional administration to adapt education to the rapid societal development.The third decisive moment is the life adjustment movement in the 1940s and the 1950s.This reform relied on the curriculum reform,increasing the proportion of practical subjects in particular,to better prepare the students to assume their future roles as a home member,a worker and a citizen.Civil rights movement in the 1960s is the last major reform in American education.It focused on secure educational equity for the ignored population,such as the poor,the black,female.These four tides had promoted radical shifts in the direction of American public education.The following chapter elaborated how anti-intellectualism was manifested in the development of American education.The author selected three important historical reforms in education to demonstrate American anti-intellectual mentality.The first reform is the common school movement from the 1830s till 1870s.A detailed analysis of the common school movement was conducted at first.By investigating the process,the propositions of the leading reformers,the reform objectives,the results,and the historical and educational influence of this reform,the author detected that this reform has an obvious anti-intellectual inclination.The objectives of the reform,offering equal educational opportunities for all social members and distributing the benefits of education to all citizens of a state,could be seen embodiments of egalitarianism in education.Some perceptions of Horace Mann,"Father of the Common School",also resonated with the creeds of anti-intellectualism.For instance,his views on nonsectarian morality and property and taxation all had a positive influence on eliminating educational inequality stemmed from different religious affiliations and class bias and enhancing educational egalitarianism.The second case is the progressive education reform originated from the 1890s.This paper believes that this movement embodies both expressions of anti-intellectualism.In the first place,this crusade manifests a disposition for egalitarianism.It strove for meeting different educational expectations of a diverse population.There were two groups of educators pushing for the reform,namely,administrative progressives who argued for the centralization of school governance to protect the interests of the majority and pedagogical progressives who focused on enriching high school curricula to attract and benefit more people.The author suggests that the progressive movement could be interpreted as a crusade for egalitarianism because all advocates aimed to offer every pupil "a fair chance to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for success in a specialized,credential-oriented society"through public education(Tyack and Hansot 111).Secondly,this reform also displays a utilitarian preference.One signature measure taken in this reform,the curricular differentiation,dividing public high schools curriculum into three different tracks,academic,vocational and commercial.In the author's opinion,this measure illustrates that the purpose of schooling transformed from moral and citizenship education into economic growth-oriented education.Utilitarian course that would facilitate the integration of new workers into the wage-labor system and the modern corporate life gained an exclusive space for itself in the high school curriculum in this reform.The purpose of education began to drift away from the academic tradition and became increasingly diverse and secular.Similar to the second case,the third reform also embodies the two primary expressions of anti-intellectualism at the same time.The life adjustment movement,the author thinks,reflects the egalitarian and utilitarian ideals in American education.On the one hand,the goal of this reform rested on cultivating students' equal life-adjustment competence and providing equal opportunity to fulfill their potential.The enrichment of curriculum and the demise of intellectual standard were all steps to realize educational egalitarianism.On the other hand,the "functionality" principle of this movement demonstrates its utilitarian propensity.It attempted to train the "unfortunate majority" in class to be qualified "home members,workers and consumers,and citizens"(Hofstadter 343).This movement witnessed another round of shrinkage in traditional academic curriculum and the ascent of utilitarian curriculum.Liberal education was replaced by curricula of direct-use value,such as English for communication skills,science for daily enjoyment,business for wealth accumulation.The author argues that the life adjustment movement mirrored the utilitarian pursuit of anti-intellectualism through providing more subjects of utility to the youths,retaining and helping the so-called "uneducable" students in public high schools,and reducing the amount of intellectual courses.In conclusion,the main argument of this study is that the essence of anti-intellectualism echoed with the evolvement of American education.Anti-intellectualism has two major implications in public education,namely the pursuit of egalitarianism and the faith in utilitarianism.These two expressions of anti-intellectualism can be located in the major reforms in American educational history.A detailed analysis of these transformational reforms demonstrates the fact that there have been latent links between the ideology of anti-intellectualism and the development of American public education.This study intends to argue that the importance of anti-intellectualism in advancing educational reforms has long been underestimated by the academia.It is very likely that anti-intellectualism had constructive influences on the development of American education to a certain degree.