Social Reconstruction: The Controversy over the Textbooks of Harold Rugg.

N

27

Academic Freedom; Activism; Attitude Change; Controversial Issues (Course Content); Curriculum Development; Democratic Values; Educational History; Educational Objectives; Educational Philosophy; Elementary Secondary Education; Political Attitudes; Public Opinion; Social Change; Social Studies; Teacher Role; Textbook Evaluation; Values

The paper examines the controversy over the use of Harold Rugg's textbooks in the social studies curriculum during the 1930s and 40s. The first section discusses the philosophy of social reconstruction maintaining that teachers and students should be in the forefront of social change. Rugg's major contribution to social reconstruction was a serious and sustained attempt to design a total curriculum. Section II presents Rugg's rationale for his approach, derived from the educational, social, political, economic, and aesthetic experiences he had at Teachers College, Columbia. Two of Rugg's textbooks are analyzed in section III. "Changing Civilizations in the Modern World" employs narrative style and extended quotations to stress communality and interdependence among industrialized nations. "The Conquest of America; A History of American Civilization: Economic and Social" stresses geographical factors in history and the class base of American society. Rugg's advocacy of a planned, cooperative economy and society, as exemplified in the two texts, caused his work to be labeled un-American. Section IV presents a history of the controversy over the use of Rugg's textbooks in the public schools. References are included in the document. (Author/DB)

1977

ED137190