Distance Art Education: The Federal School and Social Engineering in the United States, 1900 to 1925

National Art Education Association. 1916 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191. Tel: 703-860-8000; Fax: 703-860-2960; Web site: http://www.NAEA-Reston.org

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Intelligence; Industrial Education; Art Education; Intelligence Tests; Commercial Art; Mass Media; Curriculum; Program Descriptions; Educational History; United States History; Politics of Education; Educational Environment; Educational Trends; Educational Philosophy; Correspondence Schools; Correspondence Study; Social Bias; Stereotypes; Socialization; Hidden Curriculum; Values; Critical Theory; Proprietary Schools; Track System (Education); Vocational Education

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The Federal School was a correspondence art school in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the early 20th century. At that time, scientific methods changed the organization and practice of commercial art training and industrial education, which included correspondence courses from the Federal School. Standards of intelligence were determined with intelligence testing, and students were tracked into vocational or professional programs depending on their scores. The Federal School contradicted itself as it promoted stereotypes in which intelligence correlated to race, ethnicity, and sex roles. The same stereotypes appeared in the curricula of the Federal School, making it a part of the larger configuration of education and mass media that socially engineered cultural production. (Contains 9 footnotes.)

As Provided

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2010

EJ867987