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An Education for All?

Introduction

An education is a significant avenue for both personal betterment and the improvement of society. Despite the undeniable benefits of an education, race, gender, and social status have often severely limited the educational opportunities available to entire segments of the population. In this lesson, students will learn about education for African Americans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, compare modern American education with that of previous centuries, and consider the importance of education in general.

Materials

Strategy

1. Divide students into small groups. Give each student a copy of the Background Information on African American Education. Have students read and discuss the information in their groups. Then, provide time for students to discuss the reading.

2. On an overhead transparency, display the Joseph Addison Quotation for students. As a class, read the quotation and answer the following questions:

  • What does the quotation mean?
  • Why might the author compare human beings to unpolished marble?
  • Who or what is the polisher?
  • How does education help people?

Explain to students that the quotation was written in 1711. Ask students to consider what they just learned about educational opportunities for African Americans in the 1700s and 1800s. Are they surprised to learn that so many years after the quotation was written educational opportunities for African Americans were still so limited?

3. Show students the Tuskegee Institute Photograph. Using the information on the Primary Source of the Month page, provide some background on the school, including when and where it was founded, its purpose, and the nature of its student body. Explain that the Tuskegee Institute was not typical at that time and represented an unusual educational opportunity for a few African American students.

Give each student a copy of the Daily Schedule Graphic Organizer. Explain that the information in the left-hand column summarizes the daily schedule followed by Tuskegee Institute students. Briefly review the schedule with the class and answer any questions students may have. In the right-hand column, have students list the schedule they follow during a typical school day.

Facilitate a class discussion in which students discuss and compare the two daily class schedules. Discussion questions may include, but are not limited to:
  • What are the similarities between the two schedules? What are the differences?
  • What, if anything, about the Tuskegee institute schedule surprises you? Why?

4. Have students look at the Tuskegee Institute Photograph again. Explain that the students in the photograph are in a science lab—just one of their possible daily class activities. Facilitate a class discussion in which students compare what is in the photograph with their school facilities.

Have students draw a picture of themselves participating in a typical activity during their school day. At the bottom of their illustration, have each student write a short paragraph explaining the activity shown in the picture and why they feel it is important. Provide time for students to share their work.

Lesson Extension

Have students conduct an oral history interview with a family member or neighbor to learn about their formal and informal education. Suggested interview candidates include those who attended:

  • School during the Civil Rights Era (1954–1970)
  • Private school
  • Segregated school
  • Parochial school
  • Home school
  • School on a military base


This lesson was written by Dee Albrinck, elementary school teacher, Hebron, Kentucky, and Ted Green, assistant professor, Multidisciplinary Studies, Webster University School of Education, St. Louis, Missouri.