t62

Collingr, Ellcworth. An Etpeilment with a pmjett

Macmillan Company, 192J.
Curriulum. New york:
mne
D-ewey, John. Expericttte antl Education.
lg38; New york: Collier Books. :

fjlratrick, William H. Eluntion for n Changiryp Ciailiniion, New york:

M.rcnrllhn ('orrrprny, lo:o.
Thc hundationt of Mtthd. Ne*n york; The Mrcmiltan Company, 1925.
*-, Philosophy of Edaeaition, New yorkr
The Macmillan Cornpany, 195I,
-. 'nc &ojccl Mcthod. New york: CULTURAL RECONSTRUCTIONISM
Teachers College press, 192.1.
-...-. A Reconthue!il Thnr,v o!lhr Edumliw prarcsr.
New york: Bureau qf,
-,
Publications, Teachers Collcg;, C"lurrbi;'U;;;*;i;;r;
Rug6; Harold O. and Ann Shumaker.
The Chilrt.Cutred Srlool. New yorhr
World Eook Co., 1926.
Tenenb:.um, Samuel, William-lyrd
KitWtrkl: Trail Bldztr in Educotion. New
York: Harper ancl Brothers, 1951.
nth'il k ?rosr*siut Educntion? New york;
Ui;1iil",'^::1eton.' Thc John Day
Cultural Reconstructionism, one of the more modern educational phi-
losophies, sharply contrasts with the conservative positionr of Essen-
tialism and Perenni:lism, which ate retarded by Reconstructionists as
reflective theories that mirror inherited social patterns and values, The
Reconstructionists assert that schools and educators should originate
policies and prograrns which will bring about the reform of the social
order. Teachers, they say, should deliberately use their power to lead the
young in programs of social engineering and reformation.
Cultural, or Social, Reconstructionists claim to be the true succe66org
of lohn Dewey's Experimentalism. While he never ioined the Recon-
structionict ranks, Dewey did emphasize the necessity of reconstructing
both personal and social experience, He also stressed the social nature
of education, Seizing upon Dewey's emphasis on the rcconsttuction of
experience, Reconstructioniste stress the social reconBtiurtion of experi-
ence and apply it to the reconstruction of the cultural heritage,
Although Social Reconstructionists such as William O. Stanley and
Theodore Brameld differ on certain aopects of their philosophical posi-
tion, they and other Reco,nstructionists agree on such basic prtimises as:
(1) all philosophies, including educational ones, are culturally based and
grciw out of specific cult'rral patterns which are conditioned by living
at a given time in a particular place; (2) culture, as a dynamic Process,
is growing and changing; (3) man can shape and refashion his culture
so that it prgmotes the optimum possibilities for human growth and
development.r

l.Examplcr of Relonttructionict education l PhilosoPhy: Theodore BremeH, Totnrd e

kcoattttctcd Philwophy ol Educelion. Ncw Yorkr Holt, Rlnchart & Winston, lnc., 1956; and
Wiltirn O. Stanlcy-, ilucaloa ul fuel lnhgrehla' Ncw Yorh Burcau of Psblicrtionr,
Terchcre Collcgt, CqlumUe Unlversil)r. 1953.

t6J
 164 Cu I tu ra I Recon
s
For the Reconstructionists, educational philosophies are products of
their age an.1 are contextual to given cultural environments. Rather than
being abstract or speculative exercises, phik,sophies are programs of life
and of socializing that should guide huma r conduct. As a program of
action, an edt,cational philosophy should direct man to a better r,r'ay of
life.
Social Reconstructionists view the present age as one which is beset
by a severe cultural crisis which is a consequence of man's inability to
reconstruct his values in terms of the requirements of modern life. Man
has entered the modern technological and scientific age with a set of
values derived from the rural, pre-industrial past. To resolve the crisis,
man needs to examine his culture and to find therein the viable elements
that can be used as instruments to resolve the present crisis. If man
examines his heritage, deliberately plans the direction of change, and
carries out his plan, he will construct a new social order. lt is the school,s
task to encourage the critical exarnination of the cultural heritage and
find the elements that can bc instrurnental in the needed reconstruction.
CULTURAL CRISIS
As a philosophical position, I{econstructionism asserts that modern man
is living in an age of profound.rnd sevcrc crisis cngendcred by his
unwillingness to face tlr.: major task of cultural reconstruction. The
symptoms of cultural crisis arc many. For cxample, there. are great
viriations in ccononric lcvcls oI lifc, While,: Iew pcople live ln wealth,
the vast majorityof people are doonred to strugg)e for survival at.r level
of subsistence that borders on dire poverty. ln the United States, large
numbers of people. especially Black, Spanish-speaking, and Appala-
chian Americans, have been victimized by decades of poverty. 6n the
international scene, two-thirds of the world's people are barely surrviv-
ing. While some feast, others 6tarve. ln an age of science, the Recon-
structionist regards the contradictior.r bctweerr wealth and poverty to be
a residue of the prescientific era.
The worlC is still plagued by war. The tong war in Viet Nanr, the
continuing hostilities between Arab and Israeli, thc tcnsions between
the Soviets, the Chincse, and thc Anrcricans are symptomatic of a past
which is archaic but still with us. [n an age of thermonuclear destruc-
tion, military conflict with the threat of escalation into worldwide holo-
caust is an ever-present danger which jeopardizes man,s continued
existence on this planet.
Further, the Reconstructionist can point to a myriad of unresolved
conflicts and tcnsions and to the wastc of human talcrrt. Such problems
as the population explosion, environmental pollution, and the recur_
rence of violence are symploms of ihe crisis of our age.
lrut lionism
Cu llurn I Rttuns I r ut t iotrism t65
The root of the crisis lies in the fact that the theoretical, the religious,
and the axiological dimensions of life are disconnected Irom the reality
of life conditions. Man's own creative genius has developed scientific
and technological instrunrents that are dynamic, liberating, and con-
tributory to further change. At ihe same time that the dyn,amic forces
of scicnce and technology have ch.rngcd man's materiirl environment,
we still cling to an idealized past that seeks to preserve the slalus quo.
CULTURAL RECONSTRUCTION
The Rcconstructionists believe that modern society .rncl modern man's
survival are intimately related. To cnsure human survival and to create
a ntorc satisf ying corpor.lte civilization, rn.ln must bccorne a social engi-
neer who is able to plan the course of change and direct the dynamic
instruments of science and lechnology to achieve the desired goals. A
Reconstructionist education is onc that cultivates (1).r sense of con-
scious disciimination in the examination of the cultur,rl heritage; (2) a
commitment to work [or deliberate social reformation; (3) a willingness
t6 develop a planning mentality which is capable of plotting tl'e course
of cultural revision; (4) the testing of the cultural plan by enacting
programs of dcliberate social reform.
Reconstructionists believe that all social reform arises in ex.sting life
conditions. Students are expected to de6ne the maior problems facing
mankind. A sense of conscious discrimination mc,rns tlrrt the student
is capable of recognizing the dynamic forces of the present. It also means
that he is equally able to detect the beliefs, customs, and institutions
that impede cultural renewal. Those values that dominate merely be-
cause thcy arc customary must bc discardcd. Thc nror.tl and idr-'ological
culture is saturated with values that are residues of the prcscientific and
pretechnological age. Bigotry, hatreds, superstitions, and ignorance
must bc idcnti6cd and discarded.
Although the Reconstructionists have not defined with precision the
new society that they wish to create, some of its dimensions might be
mentioned. It is likely to be one in which science will be used as a
humane instrument; it is Iikely to be one which is corporate and in
which all men equally share the good things of life; it is likely to be one
that is international in scope.
COUNTS' DARE THE SCHOOLS BUILD A NEW SOCIAL ORDER?
A clear statement of the need for educational involvement in resolving
social problems was made by George S. Counts in Dare lhe Schools Build
a New Social Order?, which was published in 1932. Although Counts did
not formally identify with those who called themselves Social Recon-
 166 Cu I lu ra I R ercnslructionism
structionists, an an.llysis of his educ.rtional theory is useful in clarifying
some of the themes that are central concerns of contemPorary Recon-
structionist philosophers. Ceorge S. Counts has contributed Sreatly to
American education. As .r social .-rnd educational philosopher, as one-
tinle Reconstructionist ndvocate, as expert on American and Russian
cducntion, as President of the Anrerican Federation of'Teachers from
Lg3g lo 1942, as uicnrtrer of the Educrtional Policies Commission from
7936 lo L942, and as teacher educa tor at the Universities of Washington,
Chicago, Yale, and Teachers College of Columbia, his impact on Ameri-
can education has been that of a searching scholar and frequently 6ery
critic. Among his many books are The Principlcs of Educalion, Setordary
Etluutiovr and Industrialism, The American Road lo Cullure, The Social
Foundalions of Education, The Prosperls of Ameriean Democracy, Eduntion and
lhe Promise of America, Education and American Cioilization, and Education
and lhe Foundations ol Hunan Freedom. His message to American teachers
duri.rg the Depression of the 1930s is frequently recounted in the his-
tory of American education. In 1932, he asked the teachers of the nation
the still .rnanswered question, "Dare the Schools Build a New Social
Ordc:?" His question crcatctl a fcrnrcnt which is still apparent for thosc
committed to the theory and practice of education in the schools of the
United itates.
During the blcak Dcprcssion cr.r of thc 1930s m,rny cducntors felt that
Ant:rican schools hacl failcd to cclucatc citizcns who wcre preparcd to
understand and solve the problems of massive unemployment and eco-
nomic dislocation. Thc Reconstructionist cducators believed that the
school should not only transmit thc cultural heritage and develop intel-
lectual habits, skills, and knowledge, but also should restructure the
social order in light of the changing needs of modern tife. Both podium
and press resounded with the debate cver the function of the schools.
Traditionalists saw the school as an instrument of cultural preservation
or a6 .rn institution which was ptrrely intellectrral. In contrast, the Re-
constructiorrist held that educators were responsible for building new
social patterns which would blend the new and the old into a viable
cultural synthesis.
ln the 19,50s and continuing into the early 1970s, the currents of social
discontent w,ere directed with force against American public schools,
their administrators, and their teachers. This disconterrt was not
directed.solely toward the educational system but was part of a iarger
dissatisfaction with the quality of American life. In particular, the per-
plexing problems of poverty, cultural deprivation, and racial diocrimi-
nation that'Counts talkcd atrout tlrirty years ago are still unresolved.
Some of the problems of poverty and deprivation and some of the
sources of discontent can be traced to America's social and economic
167
Cu I tu ral Reconsl r uetionis m
situation. ln many respects, President Johnson's War on Poverty was
reminisccnt of Presidcnt Rooscvclt's Sccond lnaugur;rl Address of lqfl
and the words:
ln this nation I see tcns of r rillions of its citizens--a substarrtial Part of its
whole population-wlio .tr this vcry rilonront .rrc qlcnicd thc S,icatcr part of
what the verl' lowest stand, rds of today call the necessitics of life' I se'r
millions of families trying to live on incomes so meaBer that the Prll of
family disaster hangs over them day by day. .. . I s€e one-ihird of a natiorr
ill.lrouscd, ill-clud, and ill.nourishcd.
-fhc problems of
The arguments of Counts have come alive again.
poverty and discrimination have not been solved*at least not for all
Americans. A large segment of the American populatiorr is culturally
I
deprived-the inadequately educated, the poorly trained, and the un-
ski[ed, For the culturally and technically disadvantaged, the problems
of economic survival have never really been solveo, despite suburban
aft'luence, emphasis on Programs for the gifted, and the sPace-age aP-
proach to education. The promise of American life is still blurred by the
complexities, the confusions, and the disintegration of a society which,
while massive, is not yct a "great society."
Contemporary discontent seems to have rekirrdled leconstructionism
in education to thc dcgrce that the Rryorl lo lfu Boarl of Educalion' Cily
of Chicago, by the Adisory Panel on lnlegration of the Pultlk Schook' ot
March 31, 1964, read:
l
The individual does not live in isolation from socicty, .uld while the school
ministcrstohiswcll-bcin8itmustcontributethcrcbytolhcstrcnSthand
integrity of the social order-thc nciglrborhor.rd, thc city, tlrc st'ttc' and th':
natiin. By its effect upon his attitudes and actions, the state of his
knowledje, his rationil capacities, and the levcl of his skills' it incvitably
determin-es the character of society, its Political integrity, its economic
stability and prosperity, its solirlarity of purpose, and its general moral
strengti.. Not less important, the school is the chief determinant of'the
quifiiy una character of the culture and the community' lJpon !t' more than
.'"V oift., institution or function of society, depends the tharacter of the
,nortd in which the Present ten€ration must live and into which future
generations will be born' What goes on in the schoolroom and laboratory
personal and social life' the things
irofoundly affects the whole quality of
men livu by, the values they cierish, and the ends they seek
lt can nrafe
thedifferencebetweenalifethatisfullandmeaningfulandonethatis
empty and meaningless.z
A^Rcporl lo the Boad o/
2. Thc Advisory Panel on Inte6ralion of the PublicSch.ooLs'
ia,iiitiff t,i'ektion of thc Pubic Schook-Chirr3o' March 31' 1e64' P 25'

I6B Cu I lu ra I Recons
ln much the same vein, the survey by Havighurst, The Public
of Chicago, states in regard to urban education:
The public school may be active o, passivc in this situation. They will be
passive if the "four walls" school philosophy prevails. ln this case the
schools will do as good a job as possible for all kinds of studente within the
school, and will stay out o[ any direc] involvement with community
renewal programs, lf they are passive, and follow the "four walls"
prinr:iples, the effort at community renewal will probably fail.
If the public schools are active, they will adopt the "urban community"
school philosophy, They will cooperatc actively with the effort being made
to achieve social and urban renewal in Chicago by the public and private
agencies.'
These statements seem to be Reconstructionist and once again ask the
question "Dare the Schools.Build a New Social Order?"
Eduulion For An Age of Crisis For Counts, the great conflicts and crises
of the twentieth century were symptomatic of an age of profound
transition and rapid change. Acute cultural disintegration occurred as
Amr,rica lnoved be tween two vcry diflercnt soci.ll patterns. The older,
agrarian, neighborhood community was displaced by a rapid rush inio
a mode of life which was highly complex, industrialized, scientific, and
te;hnological. From a loose aggrcgation of relatively self-contained ru-
ral households and neighborhoods. the nation, under the impetue of
industrialization, eyolved into a mass society characterized by minute
structural and functional differentiations. While these rapid changes
r:,ppeared to be prirnarily material; social, moial, political, economic,
religious/ and aesthetic life was also affected.
Change is not intrinsically crisis generating. Rather, crisis occurs
when man is unprepared to cope with, order, and harmonize the pro-
cesses <rf change, Counts feared that our educational systems, ai all
levels, fail to equip man, both cognitively and attitudinally, to deal with
the changes occurring in the cultural or qual:tative area of life. Thc crisis
is further complicated because changes occtrr multitaterally. Alterations
in one area a;celerate changes and compound crjses in other dimensions.
Because of man's difficulty in reconstructing his environment rationally
and efficiently, turmoil and maladjustment characterizes periods of pro-
found adjustment.
3. RobcrtJ,Havighurst,ThePublicSchoolsofC,icago,ASurwyFarthegoerlolEducation
ol lfu Cily o/ Chicago. Chicago, Thc Bo.rrd of Edu,.riiorr of rhc Ciry of Chicago, 1964. p.
370.
il -': -l
I f.' t'l
rrIMi
I
lrurli on isnt
Schools
C u I I u ra I R econs I ru rl ion is n: 169
Counts'analysis draws heavily on thc cultural lag thcory. Cultural lag
occurs when man's pr.tctical invcntive'ness outdistances his moral con-
sciousness and social organization. The crisis in institutional arrange-
,ncnts results from a whole scrics of maladjustments between inherited
ideas and customs, on the one hand, and matcrial-tcchnological innova-
tions on the other. ll
One of the most serious dislocations is economic, where inherited
values associated with economic individualism impiede thc development
of a planning, cooperatinB, and coordinating socioecononric order. The
Reconstructionist distinguishes a planning society from a planned soci-
ety. In a planning society, the social desi6n is never really completed but
is continually refashioned by man's creative intelligence. Today efforts
at urban community renewal and an integrated society are often
blocked by reluctance to reconstruct inherited institutional forms and
ideas, such as the neighborhood school pattern or tlre very concept of
the urban community itself. In the international realm, the invention
and development oF thermqnuclear weapons have affected military,
economic, political, and even psychological behavior. However, inher-
ited concepts of national sovereignty have inhibited development of
controls over these new instruments of power. Even though nuclear
weapons systems possess the capability of massive destruction, ade-
quate controls rcmain to be developed.
'l'o Counts, the crucial educational problem is the need to formulate
a philosophy of education that can Prepare educators to deal with social
crisis and cultural lag by reconstructing ideas, beliefs, and values in light
of changing conditions. ln Dare thc Schools Build A Ntw Sorial Order?,
Counts challenged:
I would consequently like to see our profession come to grips with the
problem of creating a tradition that has roots in American soil, is in
harmony with the spirit of the a3e, recqgnizes the facts of industrialism,
appeals to the most profound impulses of our people, and takes into
account the emerBence of a world society.'
American education's task is two-fold: (1) reconstruction of the theo-
retical for.rndations based u;,on the American cultural heritage; (2) :he
experimental development of school practices which would enahle man
to deal with Problems of acute cultural crisis and social disintegration'
Since education is always relative and particular to a given society,
American education is a product of its unique heritage' For Anrerican
{. George S. Coun ls, Derc lfu Schwls Build A Nru Social Ory'rrl New Yorkr The fohn Day
Company, lnc.. 1932. PP. 17-18.
llll1
170 Cu I lura I Rccons lr uclionism
education to serve broad social needs, these needs must be examined
in
the light of inherited traditions. Then these traditions can be recon-
structld i.r view of social problems. In Th'Sodal Foundalions tf Edurulion'
Counts began with the statement:
The historicll reccrd shows that education is always a function of time'
and its
fl"c", und circumslances. In its basic philosophy, its social objectives'the
prog..^ of instruction, it inevitably reflects in varying proportions,
e*piriencu., the conditions, and the hopes. fears, and aspirations of a
puiti.ul"r people or cultural group at a particular time in-history" '
Education ai a whole is always relative, at least in its fundamental Parts'
to some concrete and evolving social situation.!
A viable concePtion of the American cultural heritage in the twen-
tieth century would have to rest on two necessary conditions: (1) affir-
mation of the values embodied in the demooatic tradition; and (2)
recoBnition of the dominant reality of contemporary society-the emer-
gence of industrial civilization. Upon these two conditions, American
educators might fashion an educational philosophy that exalts socially
useful labor and might attempt fundamerrtal socia[ reconstruction. This
philosophy would havc to be bascd on a rational concept of cooperative
behavior in an essentially cooperative society. A cultural synthesis of
thc viable elements of thc dcmocratic heritage and the.requirements of
scientific technology would harness scientific and technological powers
for the realization of democratic ends that would Preserve indivitlual
integrity and achieve efficient and popular control of social and eco-
nomic mechanisrns. The reconstruction of a comprehensive educational
theory encompasses the entire range of hunran activiiies, Labor. income,
property, leisure, recreation, sex, family, government, public opinion,
race, nationality, war, peace, art, and aesthetics are subjects appropriate
to educational theory and practice.
When he challenged educators to fashion a cultural philosophy of
education suited to modern American Iife, Counts was also urying them
to assume the responsibilities and burdens of "educational statesman-
ship." Counts defined the statesman as a civilizational leader, a propo-
nent of vital ways and means, a man of ideas, and an initiator of broad
policy. For too long a time, teacher education has concentrated on me-
chanics and has neglected the major social and economic problems
facing modern society. As public servants, educators are obliged to
foster the greatest possible development of the capacities of citizens. In
assuming the responsibilitics for formulating educational philosophies
5, George S. Counts, The Sorial Fotnrlqlions ol Eluration. New York: Charles Scribner
Sons, 193{. p. 1.
Cullural Reconslruclionisn 171
and programs, the educational statesman is providing national leader-
ship. This responsibility involves the making of policy dr:terminations
based upon emergent ethical and aesthetic values in li6ht of natural
endowments, technological resources, the cultural herilag,c, and great
social trends.
Counts'educrtionrl statcsman is to assunlc thc task oi rcconstructing
the heritagc; upon this re':onstructccl lr,rritagc hc is to [ar,liion thc phi-
losophy and program of American education. Such a reconstructed heri-
tage would encompnss two basic thenres: the democr';rtic ethic and
emergent technology, Counts' conception of the demor;ratic ethic is
definitely and uniquely associated with the American experience. It
exalts the frontier and the popular democracy associated with Jackson,
the progressivism of Wilson, the [iberalism of Roosevelt, and the at-
tempts of a planning society as found in the New Freedom, the New
Deal, the experimentalism of John Dewey, and the historical relativism
and economic interpretations of Charles Beard. In emphasizing the
progrcssivc-liberal side of the American tradition, Courlts reiected the
more conservative ideas of Hamilton, Social Darwinism, econom.c indi-
vidualism, and rugged competitive capitalism. American democrrcy is
not only a political expression but is and should continue to be a product
of the combined economic, social, moral, and aesthetic forccs operating
within the heritage. Democracy must penetrate all areas of life; it rests
on an egalitarian social base. Only in a socicty of equals carr democracy
develop and flourish. Any economic, social, or political lttempt to sub-
vert the egalitarian foundations of American democracy shoulo elicit
vigorous opposition from the proponents of the demr;r:ratic heritage.
Inequalities of opportunity caused by wcalth, racc, color, or reliSion are
subvcrsive to the democratic ethic. Since the social life o[ industrialized
society is highly organized, the preservation of democracy rests on the
American community's capacity to rcconstruct institutir:nal life in har-
mony with the emergent technological civilization. ln l)are lhe Schools
Build A Neut Sotial Order? Counls said the reconstructcd democracy
should:
manifest a tender regard for the weak, the ignorant, and the unfortunate;
place the hcavier and more onerous social burdens on the backs of the
strong; glory in every triumph of man in his timeless urge to exPress
himself and to make the world more habitable; exalt human labor of hand
and brain a; the creator of all wealth and culture.s
A recenstructed philosophy and program of American education di-
& rectly relates to the rise of industrial civilization, a product of science
6. Counts, Dan th *hools Bvild A Nm Sotial Ordcr? p9. 4243
 172 Cullura I Retonslruclionism
and technology. The application of science to the modes and techniques
of life created a new cultural force-technology, which is "the art of
applying science and mechanics to the various departments of human
economy." Technology is a practical and purposeful instrument, a cre-
ative factor in cultural evolution, rnarked by emphasis on precise, or-
derly, and defined relationships. While its experimental methods
concern the practical application of knowledge, technology is not
confined solely to material products, discoveries, and inventions. It is
also a process, a method, of solving problems and of viewing the world.
Since technology applies science to life, the role of science in a recon-
structed educational philosophy should be examined. Counts saw
science as man's most accurate instrument and method of problem
solving. As the method of intelligence, science produces ordered and
precise knowledge. Giving man power, control, and freedom, science is
the greatest single force movint and shaping man,s environment. Defin-
ing scienre as "a method of organized and critical cornmon sense,,,
Counts elaborated on this methodr (l) the scientific method begins with
a hypothesis growing out of previous experience, knowledge, ancl
thought; (2) the hypothesis is tcstccl by a procese of accurate and ade-
quate observation employing the most precise instruments; (3) data are
compiled and the hypothesis prove d or rejected on the basis of empirical
arrd public verificatiori.?
In rommenting on science's potcntial as a cultural iristrument, Counts
examincd thc charactoristics .[ tcchnology-tlre applic.rtlon of 6cience
to the nrodes and techniques of lifc. Technology is rational,'funitional,
planful, centripctal, dynamic, and efficient. Technological ratidnality
rest6 on its freedom from tradition. When given free rein, it destroyi
traditional barriers to thought. Embracing a complex of immediateiy
relevant ideas and methods that serve human purpose;, technology
observes, inquires, and accurately and mathematically describes. As
quantltative reasoning terts the outcome6 of technology and predicts
their consequences, man's freedorn of action increases, As it occupies
larger areas of life, the inherent rationality of science will make deep
operational inroads into other social functions.
Since it is functional rather than purely abstract, technotogy,s basi_
cally rrtilitarian nature is demonstrated in the application of its findings
to man's physical world. Since it is planful, technology requires care-
fully formulated purposes, determination of directions, and conception
of ulans of action prior to their undcrtaking. Thc opcrational plans havq
to be definite and based.. positive knowledge oi the ends to be rear-
7. George S. Counts, Edurution and lhe promisc o/ Antrira. New york: The Nlacmillan
Company, 1946. pp. B7-Og.
Cu I lurn I Rcr onslr urlionisnt t /J
ized. The technolog,ical mode opposes an im,puJsive and capricious suL-
jectivism. The technological age rctluircs .r planning .rnd cooperating
society,
Technology is centripetal. Dominated by necessities uf rational de-
sign, it enters into adjoinir,',1 areas of life once ruled by haphazrrd and
chance operation. Drawinl' chaotic procedures within its ordered em-
brace, technology unites and arranges adjacent operations ;round a core
of rational planning. By its action and exploration, technology is dy-
namic. One invention or discovery initiates an ever-greater unending
cluster of new inventions and discoveries. The a:celoration of change
initiated by inventions and discoveries is not solely material; it has
spread intg nonmaterial culture and caused subsequent economic, polit-
ical, moral, and social alterations. The dynamic character of technology
has accelerated social change.
Effi ciency is technology's most pervasive characteristic. Technological
processes achieve the greatest possible end with the le.rst expenditure
of material and energy. Originating in the machine, the ideal of effi-
'ciency extends first to hunran labor and then throughout the entire
community. Technology places a premium on professional competence;
for without the expert knowledge of the spccialist, the cntire productive
mechanism might fall into disorder. As technolcgy advances, inexpert
opinion yields to trained intelligence.
Technology places great power in human hands. Like science, tech-
nology is a neutral instrument that can serve hum.rne and enriching
purpoEes or be an inetrument of ruthless exploitation. In a nuclear age,
it is an instrument of liberation or of destruction. This pbwerful i.rstru-
ment is not a mere additive to civiiization, A culture is not an aqgre9a-
tion of discrete, separate items; it is rather a systern of relationships
which respcnds to interior and exterior stresses and strains and continu-
ally alters social p.rtterns. The technological age requircs continual re-
constructions of the economy, society, education, government, and
morals or civilization.s
Counts' examination of American civilization affirmed two essential
strains: an equalitarian democratic ethic and the emergence of a scien-
ti6c-indus'irial-technological society. These two strains are elements in
a reconstructive synthesis that has become tha basis c'f a civilizational
philosophy fqr American education. Counts refused to predetermine
the contours of the needed new social order. Rather than rigidly formu-
late the desired shape of the future democracy, he prr:ferred that social
planning be open-ended and experimenta[. The American people would
shape their own destiny, using their own elastic dem:cratic temPera-
E. Counts, Social Foundalions o/ Educatioa. pp.7o-73.
 Cu I ru ra I R eons lrutlionism I r5
174 Cu ltu ra I Recons t ruc li on is m

ment. lnrpatient ,a,ith custonrary authority, Americans in their west' to be constantly aware of
educative social institutions, educators have
ward movement have transformed a ho,;tile wilderness into an
the changing functions and structures of the society which determines
hospitablc environment. Americans are ready to experiment, to iudge upon schr:oltng lacks reality
its task. An educirtionat tt uorf Uusea solely
by ionsequences, and to compromise. Counts wrote that the course of *'at school' while important' is onlv one
.;i;i;;it;r; Counts felt the
to "build a new
American democracy depends on the ability of the people: of many cultur.rl ug"ncics' Wlt"n hc asked eclucators
was urging educators to examlne the culture and
social order," Counts
To learn from experience, to define the problem, to formulate a program of the democratic
;il;;t,;;;t"social forces u"nd !'oupt which exemplif v
Although educators
action, to discover, appraise, and marshall the apparent and latent, the .iiii. i. the light of emergent teihnoiogical tren'ls othcrr;' "cducational
can not reform society ;iii;;i
actual and potential resources of Anrerican democracy.e the Jupport'of
buiijinS' 'r-ncw s.(rcly Whilc this
statcsmcn" can providc lcalcrship in
oiiginution' it differs from the reflective
THE SCHOOL AND CULTURAL RECONSTRUCTION is a limited type of educationui
;;;; ;;;i i;id, ,h"t *tt ttr'ooi tr'ould merelv mirror societv' Mere
In formulating a viable educational philosophy, the Reconstructionist po*Juittonomic
-tp"cial and pressuie groups can domi-
reflection means that
philosopher gives careful attention to the school as a cultural rgency' naie the school for tntit'o*n interests' Courrts' educational
However, caution is exercised so that the school's potentiality as an the "ro" *ott' philoso.phv,'of tho school"' which
i;;;r; il;;poses only with schooling and
instrument of reconstruction is not exaggerated. It is necessary to distin- asserts that educators ttto'ii Ut concerned
guish between education and schooling. Education is more informal and should ignore social issues'
refers to the tot.rl proccss of enculturation. The school is a specialized ', In outlinin8 . d"*o."t-it educational Frogram' Counts emphasized
social agency which was establishcd to bring children into group Iife t*; ;;i;; ;biectives; (r) Jeuelopment of democratic habits' disposi-
through the deliberate cultivation of certain socially preferred skills, and insight for intelli'
tions, and loyalties; tzl ttq'Liiion "f knowledge
knowledge, and values. in attJt'uiic-society' Publii cclucation is to develop
gent particiPation
Counts bclicved tlrat Arncricans h.rve not rccognized thc diffcrerrccs in.the individual; allegiance to
a feeling of competency and udequacy
loy'rlty to the demo-
between education and schooling. They have identified the school with r.r*." Iq"rri,y,irotttuit ooJ, dig;ity;and worth; integrity and
progress and regarded schooling as an unfailing solution to all problems, cratic methodorosv of aisiu;'ion] t'ititit'' and decision;
However, world crises multiplied during the Period of the greatest ex- fo' talent' traininS'. and character'rr
scientific spirit; and
pansion of schooling. Instcad of dirccting social change, the school was "'ptti
Counts attackea tnt aoti'iuts of educational
impartiality and neu-
driven aimlessly by rxternal forces. The immature American faith in the i"ott'ot't complctc obiectivity All education
,rriiir'*i,.t dem;nd the
are necessarv
power of schooling derived from a notion of education as a Pure and ;; :;il;;; io .."ut" beliefs and values' Some criteria
o"tpttt" of educational goals' subiects' matcri'
independent quality isolated from social, political, and economic con- to guide the selection
flicto, This rrncritic:l attitude inhibits the seribus examination cf educa- als, and mcthocls, At no poini .nr,
thc school assumc contplete neutrality
tio.r's moral and social foundations. Altnough Americans associate ;nd at tlrc samc timc b" t";;;;;i; tunctioninS'.rcality Counts empha-
is biaseJbecaust it has fotm'a1!
education solely with democracy, history has demonstrated that an sizcd that cvcrv educatio;;i;;;;;;tt
appropriate educatlon exists for every society or civilization. In the substance, Pattern and '''it"'
uJ"ttion and loyalty' [:or every society'
twentieth century, totalitarians have proved extremely adept at using t^a aiui"tii" education The piimary obliga-
there is an appropriate
underlying assumptions and
tion of Americ,n educ'tol]ili" ti'"fy
education to promote their particuiar ideologies. German education un- the
direction to the schoor'
i'"''"rn*ri'"ent and participation,
der the Nazis and Soviet education under the Communists demonstrate ffi;;;;;:;;i;;;;"t into social it masters
that the school can serve many masters. As each n.* g"n.ru,,orl"is brought
this transmission
Some edr,cators, including many pro8ressives, erroneously believe ,".i",y.' ti,rrt,'ttno*t"igt''na ittit"att'.Without
perishes' The rclcase of humun
and perpctuation, trte parlic'iar
that the school i$ capable of reconstructing society without the support society
of other social institutions. Since the school is only one of several ou,c"*';
,r-.; ra"-,t T A * * " R"' ;;c''* il ;t-'*; l;n^
9. Cmrge S. Counts, The Prospccts ol Americea Democrecy. New York: The John Day 'JLir';;tt t' nrs, Thc Sthoob can Tcarh Dtmotarv New York; The lohn Dav com-
Comprny, lnc.. 1938. pp. 350-51 ,li
p4nY, Inc., 1939. PP r6-17
 176 Cultural Reconslrucfionism
energy occurs, not by freeing the individual from traditir.rn, but by
irrtroducing him to a vital and growing tradition. Counts said:
The real que5tion, therefore, is not whether some tradition will be irnposed
by intent or circumstance upon the coming generation (we may rest assured
that this wil.l be done), but rather what particular tradition will be imposed.
To refuse to face the task of selection or the fashioning of this tradition ls
to evade the most crucial, difficult, and important educational responsi-
bility.rl
In affirming the democratic and equalitarian values, Counts urged
educators to emphasize the areas of the heritage which foster shaied
experience or cooperative activities. The curriculum shoutd include
broad areas of social and technological knowledge and should investi-
gate the real problems of modern life. A generation of Arnericans who
can actively seek to solve the problems oF reconstructjng democracy in
light of the needs of a technological society is needed.
In urging the commitment of educators to the fostering of democratic
values, Counts challenges both the traditionalists and the child_cen-
tered progressives. The traditionalists stress education as purely intel-
lectual and rrntouched by social problems. For them, the school is to
cultivate intellectual har:its, skills, and knowledge. ln the pure pursuit
of pure knowledge, the school is not to engageln economic, pnlitic"l,
and social controversy,
In addition to opposing educational traditionalism, Counts takes issue
with the child-centered progressive educators, He attacks the notions of
some progressives who encourage the possibility of a completely neutral
school in which the child is never imposed upon but is conrpletely free
to develop according to his own natur€ and interests. Counis held that
only as a member of society, participating in a culture through use of
cultural instruments, can the child grow thiough experience, As a cul_
tural participant, the child is imposed upon by the iulture and in turn
imposes uDon the culture.
CONCLUSION
Counts considered education to be the highest form of statesmanship.
The process of education requires the ransmission of a viable culturil
heritage to the immature members of society. Educational statesman-
ship involves the formulation of such a hcritage in terms of philosophy
and program. Such a philosophy of education of necessity t u, to UL
7'2. Geotge S, Counts, "Theses
on Freedom, Culture, and Social planning and Leader-
ship," Natioael Ed*alion Assoriation prcudings. Z0 (lgJZ), p. Zag,
Cu I lu ru I Recons tructi on ism
composed of the elements of democracy and tcchnology, These cultural
elements have to be deliberately imposed by thc school. As education
is a process of reconstructioh, the task of formulation is nevcr finished
and never completed, [:ut is a part of rn open-ended experimental
process which continues as long as change in man's environment con-
tinues. Since human history is the record of change over time, marr's life
on this planet is the record of on-going :econstruction of expcrience. As
such, the task of the school is always the building of a new social oider.
SELECTIONS
Ceorge 5. Counls
George S, Counts was born on December 9,1.889, near the town of
Baldwin, Kansas, where he attended the local pub,lic schools, He re-
ceived his undergraduate education at Baker University, in Baldwin,
and received the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1911. He began graduate
wolk at the University of Chicago in 1913 and was awardcd a Ph.D. in
Education in 1916.
Counts began his teaching career in 1911 as a teacher of science and
mathematics in the Sumncr County High School in Wellinl;ton, Kansas.
From 1912 to 1913 he served as principal of the public high school in
Peabody, Kansas. After receiving his doctorate, Counts served as head
of the education department of Delaware College in Newark, Delaware.
In 1918 he taught at Harris Teachers College in St. Louis; irr 1919, at the
University of Washirigton; and thcn joincd thc faculty of Yalc Univer-
sity in 1920. He became a member of the faculty of Teachers College,
Columbia University, in 7927, and taught thcrc until rctiring in 1955.
After his retirement from Teachers College, he taught at the University
of Pittsburgh, thc Univcrsity of Colorado, Michigan Statc University,
Northwcstern University, and Sr.ruthern Illinois Univcrsity.
Professor Cor.rnts has concentratcd his scholarly efforts and teaching
in the social, cultural, and comparative foundations of t:ducation. In
1925 he was a member of the Philippine Educational Survey Commis-
sion. In 1927 and again in 7929 he visited the Soviet Union to study
educational and social change. In 1946 he was a member of the Educa-
tional Mission to Japan to advise on the reconstruction of Japanese
education after World War IL
Among Professor Counts'numerous works on social and educational
theory are: fie Seleclive Character of American Secondary Educntion (7924),
The Social Composilion of Boards of Education (7927), Srhool and Socitly in
Chicago (1,925), The American Road lo Culture (1930), The Souiet Challenge
lo Atrerica (193L), Dare thc Schools Build A New Sorial Order? (1932), The
 178 Cu I I u ra
Social Foundations ol l:dufition (l*a), Tfu Prospt:cts of American Demo(nttv
(7935), The Schools Can Teach Dcmocracy (t939), The Edurution of Frec Mtn
in Amtrirun Democrary (1939), Eduution and lhe promke o/ Amcrirn
(1.946), Educalion and Ameridn Ciuilization (t9SZ), The Challcnge o/ Sovitt
Eduration (1957), and Eduetion and the Foundations of Human Frecdotr
(1e62)
ln Dare the Srhools Build A Nau Socinl Orrler? Counts urged educators
to devote their energics to formulating a phitosophy and program of
cducation that is .rdcquate to the needs of a technological civilization.
Counts'greatcst contribution to philosophy of educatitn is his concept
that education ariscs in the context of particular civilizations. Irr the
selection that follows, Counts writes that American education is
a prod-
uct of its own unique cultural context. After examining the tradiiional
Acrerican faith in the power of education, he cails for the deveropment
rr:", conception of civilization and of education.
:t :
our grc,rt i.lcrcst irr crluc,rti.rr lr,rs stirrutatcd.r vast.rm.u.t of
discussion, research, and experimentation throughout the period
our history as.r nation. But becausc of our gencral and persistent
failure to probe decpty into the nature of education as a morar
and
social undertaking, nruch of this activity has bccn rclativcly
futilo,
Althouglr wc lr.rvr: tlcvolopcd a gootl cr..lucation, an education
of
which we may be rightly proud, we have not developed a
truly
great education, an education which confronts
the realities of ihe
age, expresses the best in our heritage, and takes
full advantage of
our prospects. In educatjon we h.rve liyed [-elow the possibilitics
of
our civilization.
Dtrring thc currcnt century, with tlic cstablishnrcnt of rruntcrous
tcachcrs collcges and dcpartrnc^ts of cducatio^ irr our
universities,
we have devoted ant enormous amount of energy to the
rmprover.ent of education. Our Iiterature, bottr lay and professional,
is full of discussions of what is wrong with the sciool
and of
proposals to correct its we.tknesses, The shelves
of our libraries
groan under the weight of educational reports,
surveys, and studies.
New theories ,rnd experimcnts follow ona onoih., in an endless
strc.anr- This activity is by no n.rcans all lost
motion; it has
undoubtedly resulted in very consiclerable improvement
in the
conduct of the school. yet most of it deals with either the surface or
Reprinted by perrnission oI thc publisher from
ceorge s. Counrs, Edurqrion and Amcrican
Civili.ation. (New york. ro"cr,"., Cotius" i,i;r;o*i?;i, i, i".in"r,
Urriversity), pp. 29-40. Coltege, Columbia
I Retonslru cl ion i vt
Cu I tura I Reco ns I ru cl io tt ts n 179
the mechanics o[ the problem. Indcod, somc of the mo$t widely and
hotly discussed proposals for reform during our generation are little
more than nostrums which largely ig,nore the basic problcrn of all
cducational thought-tlre problcrn of tlrc rclation of education to the
nature and fortunes of our civilization in its historical a'rd world
setting. Three such propos.. ls have bcen prominently bel:ore us for
some time.
The first proposal acceptj the substance of tlie traditional program
and concentrates on the concept of mechanical efficiency. The
principles and philosophy of mass production. one of the truly
magnificent products of American genius in the field of industry, are
applied to the rearing of the young, The school system is regarded
as a gigantic automobile assembly line which at the upper levels
divides and subdivides in terms of desired models. It takes in the
children as raw material at one end, passis them on fri:m one
teacher er workman to another, and finally turns them out as
finished products, each leaving the school or factory freshly painted,
under his own power, and hitting on all cylinders. Varit .lttention is
of course Biven to thc perfection of thc machinery oF c(lucition, to
of
the integration of parts, and to the elimination of friction, to the
irnprovement of buildings and equipment, to the stancl;rrdizatiorr of
proccdurcs, to the invcntion of pcdagogical gadl;ets. to thc'
construction of tests and rating scalcs for both pupils arrd tcachers.
and to the keeping of records of all actions and transactions. Never
in the history of education has so nruch paper been uscd to so Uttle
rPosc'.
[) u
'l-his drivc for mcchanical cfficicncy has bccn unforturtatc, not
because efficiency is not desirable. The contrary is clearly the casc.
But efficiency is secondary to the cnds that arc to be served. It
seems probible that the transference to education of a conceptior, of
operation developcd in relation to the production of material things
is a fundamental mistake. Unfortunately, moreover, many of the
best minds of the profession have L,een engaged in the study of the
mechanics of education at a time when the consideration of its
substance has been imperative. Primary concentratien on school
efficiency during a period of cultural crisis and transforrnation is
both a form of escape and a way of compounding the troubles of
the age.
The second proposal seeks guidance in the interests and problems
of children. 'fhe presumption here seems to be that the child
achieves maturity through a process of spontaneous Seneration or
unfoldment which the adult world through its educattonal agencies
shduld merely guard and nourish. According to this view the child,
 180 C u I tu ra I Retons lr ut I ion t t nt
and not the teacher or the school, should play the decisive role in
shaping both the processes and the ends of education. The interests
and problems of boys and girls are agsumed to constitute a more
trustworthy guide than the experience and wisdom of their elders. lt
is argued, moreoveri ihat any positive interference by members of
the older generation is a form of imposition or indoctrination and ii
ccrtain to lead to frustration. Here undoubtedly is the most romantle
interpretation of human nature since Rousseau.
ln the proposal, however, there is an important insight. It
recognizes the psychological truth that interest is a condition of
effective and economical learning. The immediate concerns of the
young therefore should always play a large role in education. Like
the learning process and the "laws of the organism" generally, they
provide the limits within which the teacher must operate. But those
limits are known to be extremely wide. We must assume, if we ara
faithful to the findings of science, that children in their biological
inheritance are essentially the same in all times and places, among
all races and peoples, among all groups and classes. Yet their
interests vary greatly from epoch to epoch and from society to
society. Also they are extraordinarily fluid. The interest that a child
brings to school in the morning may be the result of the casual
conversation of parents at home, of a radio program devised to sell a
hair torric, of a moving picture produced with an eye on the box
office, or of some incident observed in the street or on the highway.
The responsibility of the school is, not to follow the interests of the
young, but rathei to assist in arousing and building worthy aftd
fruitful interests.
It should be recognized also that this proposal contains a treat
moral affirmation. In conformi..y with the democratic ethic, it affirrns
that the child is a person and that his pcrsonality should always be
treated with respict and regarded as precious. The historical record
of the treatment of the young by their eldere is full of horrors. The
liberation of boys and girls from the reign of adult tyranny and
ignorance is one of the marks of a high civilization. Yet respect for
the personality of the child is expressed more fully in an educational
program designed to develop a mature personality deserving respect.
"We see quite clearly," writes Bronislaw Malinowski, "why the
freedom of the child, in the scnse of letting him do what he wishes
and as he likes, is unreal. [n the interest of his own organism he has
:on6tantly to [:c trarnntclr.<l in ctlrrcation fronr lcts whrclr are
biologically dangerous, or which ale culturally useless. His whims,
his fits of idleness or disobedience must be gradualty curtailed,
Cu I lura I Recons lruc ticnism 181
formed, and translated into culturally relevant choices. There is also
no freedom in action except within the context of organized human
groups."
The third proposal 6nds the solution of the educational problem
in the study of the "one hundred great books" at the college level
and in preparation for their study in the lower schools. It must be
admitted at once that from the standpoint of the teacher this is the
most attractive proposal now current. It is the ideal answer of the
pedagogue to the truly vexing probleme confronting education. In
the 6rst place, it would give him a virtual monopoly over a special
body of knowledge. He would have no competitors. If he could only
convince the other members of society of the worth of this
knowledge, he would be in the enviable position of a long line of
ancestors reaching back to the shaman and the medicine man of
primitive society. In the second place, once having mastered the
"great books" he could pursue his calling for the rest of his life
without being disturbed by the issues of depression .rnd prosperity,
of war and peace, of tyranny and freedom, of the future of
civilization, He could withdraw from the world and dwell all his
ycars in a scholastic paradise. He could be fairly surc, morcover. that
only two or three books would be added in his lifetirne, that their
status would be uncertain for at least a century, and that anyway
they cou.ld not equal those written by thc "ancicnts" long ago.
The basic argument of the proposal seems to be that education is
essentially a process of mental training, that the great literary
classics are the 6nest product of the human mind, and that therefore
they are the best tools for the development of the rnind, As a matter
of fact, education is far more than mental training: il is first of all a
process 9f inducting the young into the ways, privile8es, and
responsibilities of a given society. Also, these classir:r;, precious as
they are, cannot be said without qualification to be the finest
products of the human mind: they scarcely rank above.r great livinl;
civilization, a system of democratic Sovernment, or even a fine
person who possibly nev, r read a single one of thern, Likewise, that
they are the best tools fo' the development of the mind is hardly
suppoited either by the history of education or by psyc.rological
investigation. Experience suggests rather that this is the surest road
rnan has yet discovered to formalism, sterility, and death in
rducation. Although the proposal properly directs attention to
certain sublime achie','ements of the mind of man, ernphasizes the
processes of thcught and reflection, and stresses endurint and
universal elements in the human heritage, it is fundamentally a
 t91 Cu II u ra I R
marrifestation of .rc.rclcnric nostalgia. It constitutes an attempt tL)
retirs, without sacrifico of 1.1lory, from the prcscnt troubled age.
Education Always Expres*s a Conrcylion o/ Ciuiliznlion. Education carr
never be a purely Jutonomous process, independent of time and
place and conducted accorJing to its own laws. [t is as much an
integral part of a civilization as an economic or a political system.
.[hc
vcry way in wlrich cducation is c<.rnccived, whcther its purpose
is tc free or enslavc the mind, is an expression oI the civilization
which it serves. The great differences in educational philosophy and
practice from society to society are due primarily to differences in
culture and civilization. Although all educational programs in the
world today, including our own, should embrace the conception of a
common hurnanity, no such program as a whole should be regarded
as an article of export either with or without the support of dollars
or machine guns.
Our American education has always expressed an interpretation of
our civilization. Many foreign visitors from Alexis de Tocqueville to
D, W. Brogan have dwelt at lcnl;th on this fact. "There is probably
no better place than a school-roon1," wrote.Francis j. Grund more
than a century ago, "to judge of the char;,cter of a people,,, He then
procecdcd to contr,lst Anrcrican ,rntl Ccrn ,rn education .rs follows:
"Who, upon entering an American school-room, and witnessing the
continual exercises in reading and speaking, or listelting to the
subiect of their discourses, and watching the behavior of the pupils
towards each other and their teacher, could, for a moment, doubt his
being amongst a congregation of young republicans? And who, on
entering a German academy, would not be struck wjth the principle
of authority and silence, which refleets the history of Cermany for
the last half dozerr centuries? What difficulty has not an American
teacher to maintain order amongst a dozen unruly little urchins;
while a German rules over two hundred pupils in a class with all
the ease and tranquillity of an Eastern monarch?,, He concludes his
discussion with the warning directed beyond the Atlantic that ,,it
would only be necessary to conduct some doubting European
politician to an American school-room, to convince him at once that
there is no immediate prospect of transferring royalty to the shores
of the New World."
Sir Charles Lyell, lamenting the undisciplined character of
Anerican children, made a like observation: ,,Many young
Americans have been sent to school in Switzerland, and I have heard
their teachers, who found them less manageable than English or
Swiss boys, maintain that they must all of them have some dash of
cronslru cl ioni s nt
Cullu rn I Rucnsl ruc I ionist t8J
wild [ndian blood in thcir veins. llnglishnrcn, on t]rc c)Lhcr hand,
sometimes rttribute the same character to republican irrstitutions."
Our education today expresses a conception of our civilization.
-[his
it does in spite cf our heavy borrowing from othcr, tirnes and
places, in spite of the lag behind the movement of events .and
conditions. It expresses a conception of our civilization, however
prrtial or Iimitcd, in cvery p.rrt of itr progranr*iJr its co,rtrolling
purposes and in the extension or limitation of opporturrities, in the
rrchitecture of the school and in the subiects of study, in the
rnr:thods of instruction and in thc fornrs of nrotivatiorr. in thc
activities of the pupils and in their social relations. in the status of
the teacher, in the patterns of administration, and in thc relations of
the school to the local community and the state. ln sinrilar fashion
the education of every other country is seen to be a crcature of its
civilization. The more the civilization differs from our own the more
obvious is this relationship.
It must bc emphasized, however, that organized and deliberate
education does not reflect a civilization. Nor is it derived auto-
matically through a process of assembling and .,nalyzing data.
Always at the point where an educational program comes into being
definite choices are made among many possibilities. And these
choices are made, not by the gods or the laws of nature, but by men
and wonrcn working both individu.rlly and colloctivcly--.by men and
women who often do not quite know what they are doing-by rnen
and women who are moved by all of those forces and considerations
that move them in cther realms of conduct, by their knowledge and
understanding, their hopes and fears, their purposes and loyalties,
their views of the world and hurnan destiny. I)rcsumrbly a given
society at any time, therdfore, might formulate and adopt any one of
a number of educational conceptions or programs. ear-h of which
would obviously be an expression of a conception of its civilization.
But each would also be stampcd by thc special qualitics of the ,men
and women who framed it. These men and women in turn would be
authentic, though not exclusively authentic, products of their
civilization.
The formulation of an educational program is thus a creative act,
or rather a long series of complex creative acts. It is a threefold
process embracing analysis, selection, and synthesis. lt always
involves choice among possibilities, and even decision as to what is
possible. It likewise involves the affirmation of values and the
framing of both individual and social purposes. Inevitably education
conveys to the young responses to the most profound questions of
life-.-questions of truth and falsehood, of beauty and ugliness, of
 t 84 Cultural Rcconslructionism
good and ezil. Thcse affirmations nray bc expressed in what an
education fails tc do as well as in wh.rt it does, in what it rejects as
well as in what it adopts. ln its organ;zed phases it is deliberately
designed to make of both individual and society something which
otherwise they would not and could not become. The launching of
an educational undertaking is therefore a very serious business. It is
one of the most vital and responsible forms of statesmanship. It
throws whatever power it represents to the support of one rather
than another conception of civilization, And in so doing it supports
one rather than anothcr conception of man.
A Greal Edutalion Always Erpresses a Greal Conception o/ Ciailization.
There is no quick and easy road to a great education. There is no
simple device or formula for the achievement of this goal. Such an
education cannot be derived from a study of the process itself, nor
can it be found in the interests of children or in iny number of
"great books." It can come only fronr a bold and creative
confronting of the nature, the values, the conditions, and the
potentialities of a civilization. An education can rise no higher than
the conception of civilization that pcrvades it, gives jt subitancc, and
determines its purpose and direction.
At this point thc democracics
.rrc challcnged by the totalitarian
states and movements of our time. In each case the leadership has
formu_lated a conception of lifc and destiny of great powcr and
appeal. That the charnpions of human freedom cannot accept any
one of them and must in fact repudiate them all is of course taken
for granted. The Fascist conception of a master race or people
destined to rule the world under a divinely appointed leader is too
horrifying to contemplate. Likewise the Cornmunist conception of a
revolutionary elite dedicated to the task of liberating all oppressed
peop.les, thrrrugh the medium of dictatorship and violencc,
icrror and
fraud, cannot satisfy us. But we should reaiize before it is too late
that the totalitarian conceptions have shown themselves in our time
to, pocsess vast power to arouse and enlist the energies and loyalties
of the young. If the democracies are to triumph in this struggie for
the nrinds and hearts oI men, they will be compelled to der"iJe from
their civilizations conceptions of equal power.
At no time in our history have we as a people recognized clearly
the obvious and fundamental truth that a greit education for
America must express a great and authentii conception of our
civilization. Individuals now and then, to be sure, have caught a
glimpse of this truth. It was grasped most generally perhapi in the
heroic period of our national history, in the later years of the
C u I tura I Recons lruc lion ism 185
eighteenth century that marked the launching of the Ilepublic.
The American Philosophical Society, founded in 7743 and led
successively by Benjamin Franklin, David Rittenhouse, and Thomas
Jefferson, offered a prize of one hundred dollars in 1796 for the best
cssay outlining a "Syster r of libcral Educaiion and litcrary
instruction, adapted to the genius of the Governmerrt of the United
States." Some of the bes: minds in the countiy tool: part in the
contest. The essays presented were fresh and original. obviously
reflecting a consciousness of the historical significance of our bold
venture in popular government. Unfortunately, though they
constituted one of the high points in the history ol r:ducational
thought in America. ihey seem to have had little efl:c,ct on the
practices of the period,
During the nineteenth century the idea of the devclopment of an
education expressing a great conception of our civilization appeared
from time to time. But curiously enough, excapt for rn occasional
native social radical, the proposals came generally either from
'foreign travelers or from n.rturaliz-cd American citizcns, probably
because they could see the novel and challenging fcatures of our
institutions more clearly than those who were familiar with tl'rem
from birth, Of the visitors from abroad, as we h.rvt: rroted, George
Combe wrs most articul:rtc. Of Anrcric.rn citiz-cns by choice
Francis J. Grund and Francis Lieber, both of German origin, were
outstanding. But in the middle of the century a Connecticut-born
educator, Edward D. Mansfield, author .rnd public s(rvnnt, in his
Amrrican Edurnlion advanced something of the argurnent of the
present volume. []ere is the substance of his thought:
If America lras presented any thing new to the world, it is a new form of
socicty; if she has any thing worthy to proserve, it is thc principles upon
which that society is instituted: hence it is not a Grecian or a Roman
education we nccd-it is not onc conccived in China, Pcrsia, or France. On
the contrary, it must have all the characteristics of the American mind,
fresh, originrl. vigorous, enterprising; embarrassed by no artificirl barriers,
and looking to.r finrl conquest over tlrc l.rst obstacles to thc progress of
hum.rn improvcnrent.
In the present century, amidst a vast amount of irrelevant,
superficial, and escapist educational discussion, research, and
experimentation, the question of the relation of education to
civilization has slowly forced its way into the arena. More than a
generatiorr ago, in 1899, iohn Dewey published his School nnd Sodety.
From this volume and subsequent works by the santc author and
 186
Cullural Reconslruclionism
from the studies of American civilization by Ch.:rles Cul tu ra I Rrconslr urlionisnr 187
A. Beard and
others, therc stem6 a vigorous nrovcment for cducational
reforrn and
reconstruction. Increasingry attention has been given We shall begin this task in the present volumc with.r brord
to tl.re rore of
the community and the culture in the educatiorial inquiry into the historical and geographical bases of our civ.ilization.
process, to the
importance of-relating the school and a, educaiionar Without getting lost in details, we shalI strivc to scr forth the great
agencies to the
life cf society in more recent years, probibly because and profoundly characteristic strands of our heritalle which seem to
:li:1"9 .And
or tnc cns,.s facing mankind and frec institutions, we
have become have rncaning for the emerging agc. The rcsulting synthesis will of
more and more conscious of the value and
meaning of democracy course embrace elements of faitlr and affirmation as well as elements
for education. But unfortunately much of our discussion
has tended of fact.
cither toward the abstr.rct and ihe universal or
toward the
irnmediate and the local. At its best our approach
has been
incomplete and partial. The time has arrived
to r.tr,u our thought
about education to the whole sweep Witliam O. Stanley
"^d
,;l;;;." of our American
civilization-it6 history, its finest traditions, William O. Stanley, who was born in Sedalia, Missourj, in 1902, re-
and its promise.
ii, frur.nt condition,
ceived the bachelor's degree from Baker University in 1936 and the
Doctorate of Philosophy from Columbia University in 1951. He taught
We Must Procetd Witltoul Dclay to Deoelop at Columbla University and the University of lllinois. During his career,
n Great Conceplion o/ Our
Ciuilizatiotr.. The age now uniolding.
age of our history. V/e face dcep
i;'r;p;r;i, the most critical Professor Stanley has been a consistent proponent of the Social Recon-
troubles at homc, powerful structionist philosophy of education. In the following selection, Stanley
revolutions and counterrevolutiors examines the theme of educational confusion and crisis.
ub.<r"d, unnr"a"aanaaa
responsibirities in the worrd, a future
or
for gooci and evil. In the decades "rr*r1'rliirress possibirities
transformed into some form of totrf "i;r;;;;;*;racy may be
itarian als-poii'sm or it may Nevertheless, no thoughtful educator can deny the patent truth of
march from triumph to triumph ana
futiii gLi""rrv and nobly the the most serious, if not the most vociferous, criticism that has been
historic promise of Arnerrca.
Our first responsibility as educators is urged against American education-that it is a patchwork of
loundations of fact a living to formulate on the unrelated subjects containing within itself neither a unified
and .f,"ff."gi.g'.o^..0,,"" of American
civil,izetion. We must ask ourselves intellectual outlook nor a consistent system of moral values. It must
in .tt ,iU.rnurl what is to be the
of our democracy. Only when ;; h;;;';;*ered be admitted that a candid examination of educational practices will
11ur1e
questlon, and answered it.magnificerrtly this
,^a-pr*.*"lly, will we be reveal with startling clarity that the public school has no unifying
in a position to draw the broa-d purpose or objective, and that it rarcly, cxcept in an isolated course
people in.the.coming years.
If *"";;x;
cun 6nd "tgrli'"a"cation for our
"i *:;;;r, or if we 6nd a here and there, makes any attempt to develop in its students either a
mean and feebie answer. our social or personal philosophy. Instead, it is marked by a bewildering
education, h"*.*r".m.iently
be conducted, wiil at r:est b" it may
find, a narrow, exctusive, ,^a
*.dio;;;';;; And if we variety of more or less 'rnrelated, and often conflicting, obfeqtives
ure.i"J ""i"ro]*a. operating through a multitude of discrete courses or subjects,
li-,l1,Tr_--*e
""r*."',iiilr,e into
to regard th. d;,;[;;;"i'"i^i,ii,.. of the
the De;pite the severity r,,f this indictment of American education, it
mrghtrest power of the earth
history. We must fashion a. conception
u, on. of th" f;;;;;
tragedies of is merely the expression of the common judgment. From the
o[ civilizaiion that will layman's point of view, Dorothy Thompson asserts that education is
respect the rights of all nations
..a .i.*pi"n','h.';;rr. of human
liberty at home and before.the *orla characterized by "too little intellectual discipline and too much
SuJt l'.on.u'ption ,touta information about too many things, wholly outside the frame of ;.ny
provide the source of an educatio"'f"rifr"'a^.rr.'""r|
would prepare them to air.h".gu pnopt" tf,ut standards or point of reference," "Student thought," she continucs,
*ith i;;;ff;'rLngth the heavy "is for the most part of an ephemeral and superficial nature. They
responsibilities which history r,-r. pi...J ir-^fr'." i'i.i, shoulders.
Reprinted by permission of the publisher from William O. Stanley, Edurslion and Sotial
lattgration. (New York: Teachers College Press, O 1953, by Teachers College, Columbia
'University), pp. 19-2s.
 188 Cu I lura I Reconsirur ! ionism
189
Cu ltura I R ron sI ru cI ion i srt
know a great deal about a treat many things. But their education or the
has given them neithcr a pcrsonal nor a social philosophy." inertia, and timidity of the educational profession"'
;;;;;;;; influence" of some philosoph.ical or. educational theorv
Miss Thompson's strictures are confirmed by the sober judgment
of able students of American life. A great American president and *lth *hl.h we do not agree. But to yield to this inrl:ulse is to
obscurc both thc extclrt and thc gravity of
thc crisis which confronts
scholar, Woodrow Wilson, observed as early as L907 that "with all
our teaching we train nobody . . . with all our instructing we educate ,tiuri*n education and to conceal the basic causcs that have
nobody;" and James Truslow Adams, easily one of America's most -
created it
distinguished historians, has recorded as an obvious historical fact: bn. f..t is clear- 'fhe present corrdition in educatiorr is no: of
due

to ir.f. of disciptine in the public school, to the inaclequacies

or
Education, by which we had thought to keep the electorate competent for any educational method, or to thc complacencyr igrtorance
self-government, was breaking down because we had no scale of values and i"Jo*pa,.n.u of the educational profession Nor can it be cured
the
no real objective irr our cducational system. For the masses, at best, it had ;;;;iy Li more subiect matter or bv greater cmphasis upon education' as
become a confused jumble of "book learning" that gave them neither values rnurtaiy of subiect matter. The confusion in Amerit:ln
to strive for nor that knowledge and intellectual training which might have ,h. ;;;; discussion has revealed, is not a confusion in the
purposes
bcen of help in understanding the complexity of the forces with which they ,n"tioat or Procedures of teaching but of the fundarnental
had to deal intelligcntly. of the complaint against the public school is
oi.a"..r,o". The heart
are not
ihat it does.not embody a way of life, that its activitics
guided by any consistent system oI intellectua.l.a,nci nloral
The professional cJucator is, if anything, even more caustic. One values'
may rcnd from the pen of ablc. scholars, who have devoted their lnJ ti,rt it dou, not instill in its students an .rbiding faith in any
Iives to thc cause of cclucation, th.rt the school displays "a sorry social or personal PhilosoPhY'
l''ave for
confusion of purposes;" that it "undertaket to provide a 'good' The recorcl, nroroovcr, clcirly clcnronstrntes th'1t t:tlucators
fully u*0,. oi the gravity of this criticism' and that
edueation, withorrt ,rrry clcitr ntrlion of wlr,rt such ctlucntion worrlcl some time bcen
which
be like if it could be had;" that tlre "most ,triking fact about the it,.y t.ru rnaclc pcriistcnt cffort to tle'rl with thc sittr'rtion
if in thc history o[ ccluc.tli.rr has there becn
higher learning in America is the confusiorr that besets it;" that .jrol",l it. I(.rrcly, cvcr,
of edrrcation'
"everywhere in Western civilization education is in a state of . ,rao,., interesi in the social purposes and functiorrational criticism'
confusion;" that "no sound or consistent philosophy, thesis, or fu'r' .u,-rri rrore tharl a iccadc 'r flood of cclrr<
principle lies beneath the American university today;" that "by any
"t.Uly
di.gnosis, artd irescriptron }ras pourcd in an cver--irtrtcasir'g volun e
aspcct of
reasonable audit secondary education for the masses is bankrupt;" fr<-rmthc printing prcsscs of thci nalion' No signific'rrrt'
practicc been ignored but cven a cursory
and that "the outstanding characteristics of educational philosophy eclucational theory or has
vast literaturc will rcvcal that the 8ro'rtcr part of it
in the present generation have been euperficiality, fickleness, and rcvicw of this
education' "Il
instability." Clearly, as Professor Dewey hae said, ,,the problem as lrn b."n primarily concerned witlr the social ends ofpick up a
to the direction in which we, shall seek for order and clarity in ;"; ;;;; sc.rrcelv possible," writes one student"'tosornc reference to'
education" has now become "the most important question facing pr"f.t"."rL of education without finditrg
lournit
to society and
education and educators today." ii no, u feature article on, the relation of the schoolr;
Not unnaturally, the public and even some professional the processes of social change "
while it has
educators have become impatient with this state of affairs. But the Unfortunately, this prolon'ged and intense discussion'
served to reveaisignificant difference,s and to clarify
achievement of order and clarity in education, as an able observer of undoubtedly
yet' in a formulation of :he
the contemporary educational scene has wisely suggested, will not i,opor,on, issues, has not culmiiated' as
which has either commanded general
be materially advanced by mere indictments unless the indictment ;;;;i ;"rp.r"s of education
contrary' it has been
penetrates to the heart of the condition responsible for the confusion ionsent or released concerted action' On the
bv a multitude
in thorrght and in practice which characterizes American education. ;;;;.;;;;i il u n*t J ai'"rgent Proposals and
exposed deep cleavages of
-
It would be easy, as it is natural, to place the primary blame upon ;;ir;;;";;;;unter claims which ha"e
both the
"the mediocrity of educational leadership," "the incompetency, the in the public u"J in tht profession' respecting
"pf^i"., and intellectual principles which should underlie
U'rri.
"to*f
 5
190 Cu ltura I Rrons truclionism
Cu I turs I Recons I rur lion ism t91
cducational ordcr and trrc sociar c^crs which tr.rat order shourd serve.
It is,.of course, precisely this failure to achieve substantial consensus nature of the casc, is to shapc the ideals, the aspirations, and the
that has prevented significant educational reform. The urgent conceptions which underlie social and political actiorr. All education,
nccessity for such reform is clearly understood by therefore, consciously or unconsciously, implies some social
a large-proportion
of American teachers and schoor administrators; what is- not philosophy, and promotes in effect, if not in intunt, one political
ciear is
the nature of the reform required and the direciion which ideal rather than anoiher.:To say that deliberate education d"res, and
it should
take. Under such circumstances there is but little cause of ncccssity must, embod.y within it somc conccption of public
for surprise,
however much there may be for regret, that both teachers wclfarc,tncl tltai it inva:iaL,ly irrtluccs (.rr-rr:,rching soci.rl and
and
administrators, confronted as they ire with a multitude political consequences is not to assert that the public school is. or
of
conflic_ting philosophies and a host of divergent proposals, should bc, controllcd for narrow political cnds. In a democracy, at
have
terded to seek a degree of order and securily in ihe lc.rst, the cxact revcrse is true. But it does imply that fqndanrental
traditional
routines of school life. questions ns to the prrrposes which the school shall serve and the
The crux of the problem raised by the persistent criticisms kind of character which it sceks to build cannot be wholly separated
of
American education, therefore, is to be found in conflicting from the major problems of social policy which dominate the society
conceptions of the type of character that the in which the school exists.
."chool shorrlJ seek to
develop and of the kind of personal ona ,ociri-ftllosophy Hence, the dcfinition of thc cnds of cducation is not nrqrcly an
tfrut ii-
should undertake to encourage. This fact i, higft intellectual and a moral problem; but in its wrdest and most
indicates that the primary educational problem"
,re.li*"i, i", i,
of our tirnes is the inclusive sense it is also a social and a political problem. Mo;e than
confusion and conflict with respcct to ihe basic .two thousand years ag.o Plato and Aristotle recoSnized, as a
intellectual and
moral norms of pubric education. It indica,es, fund.rmental principle of statecraft, that the adaptation of education
arso, that the first task
of the student of educltion.rl philosophy i, to cliscorcr to the form of government is everywhere the best guarantee of the
tlre cause of
this dcep-seatcd clcavagc in fhc vcry fourrJ.rtion permanence of constitutions. This principle ha: subsequently been
of educational
thought. fully confirmed by the great masters of education and political
A prcl;narrt clrro ro trro s.rrrcc,f this crisis in cducation.rl science alike, including that remarkable generation of political
to be found in thc f,rct th,rt ultirn.rtciy, as l)rofessor thcory is
philosophers and statesmen that Iaid the foundation of our nation.
[Jcnne has
brilliantly argued, thc bcarcr of cducation.rl authority Conscqucntly, no society will bc, nor.c.rn any socicty afford to be,
is not the
sclroolmastcr, but thc corrmunity. Thc, contours indifferent about the underlying and controlling conceptions which
of cducation arc
inevita.bly nrolded by tire.culturc of the corrrmunity determine the education of its children, The de6nition of the 6nal
which it serves;
its p.hilosophy ar,d objectives are invariably framej objectives of education in any socicty, therefore, is not, and will not
with reference to
the ideals, the aspirations, and the nceds be, left to the exclusive determination of professional educators.
embedd.a in,to curture.
Nor is it necessary to seek very far to 6nd ,r.,. Further, the educator is himself the produci of a culture, typically
To educate is to act, and to aci involves troth
,"rr"", for this fact.
preie.en..s una of the society in which he functions as educator. No more than
conse(luences. since the preferences which other men has he escaped its pervasive and molding influence.
it embodies and the
consequences whjch it entails are necessarily Undoubtedly, as with other men, the cultural pattern is, in detail,
reflected in the
of,those.subiected ro its discipline, oJr..iio. (whatever reflected through the glasses of his personal and occupational
:!ri:,:r
else rt may be) is inescnp.r_bly a moral undertaking. experience. but he shares in common with all other rnembers of his
political as well as a moral affair. For the public
It is, moreover, a
sihool is a social society the aspirations and ideals, the standards of judgment and
irrstitution not only in the sense that it is ,"p;;.i;; methods of thought, and the ways of thinking, acting, and feeling
and maintained
by the state but also in the more forcible s"ise which form the core of the culture that has nourished him. His
thui the moral and
intellectual choices inhcrcnt in education are conceptions of the nature o[ education and of the purposes which it
inevitably social choices
en tail. sign ifi ca n r social and potiii.rr should serve, therefore, while undoubtedly conditioned by the
;1,Tl^
ulnmarety, ::::r:.lily
the toundations of the state rest upon the
consequences.
history and tradition of his profession and by his personal and
charaCier of
its citizens; and to mold the character of tf,u occupational experience, are shaped by the common standards and
yor.g; by the very
conceptions of his culture. Indeed, since these standards and
 192 Cullural Reconslrurtionism
Cu llu ra I Recons I ruc I ion is m 193
conceptions necessarily form thc basic structure of his mind, he will
almost invariably interpret both the educational tradition and his competing Broup interests and perspectives have in l,rrge measure
personal experience in terms of his cult,rre inheritance. ln the last replaced the unity of persuasion and outlook characteristic of the
analysis, as noted above, the controlling ends of education are not nineteenth-century local community.
determined by professional educators. But if the educational It may be readily admitted that these argumcnts do not
profession were granted unlimited freedorn to shape the obiectives conclu$ively dcmr:nttratc tlrc cxistcncc of widcsprc;ril confusion and
of education, their formulation would reflect the basic conception of conflict in the b.rsic nornrativcs oI the Anrerican pcople. Ihey do,
standards, and values of their society. however, suggest that the educational philosopher or statesman
Hence, it may be confidently asserted. as a necessary corollary of interested in the establishment of an integrated and consistent
the principle that educational philosophies are rooted in the culture system of educational objectives must seriously. cxplore the
of a particular people, that there will be little doubt or confusion hypothesis that the present confusion in education is the reflection
about the fundamental purposes of education in a society that of confusion and conflict in the intellectual and moral foundations
posse6ses a clearly defined and commonly accepted standard of of public policy. They suggest, also, that if the hypc,thesis is
public welfare. In such societies, the basic objectives of education confirmed, order and clarity in education, pending the development
are a66umed and taken for granted, not debated and questioned. of : new social consensus, can be obtainec) in our tirnc only as the
There may, indeed, be no dearth of educational problems and school undertakes to deal, in some way, with the nrajor confusions
controversies but these controversies will rarely, if ever, centrally and conflicts in the basic normatives of the Americln people.
involve the underlying and controlling ends of education.
n babble of voices concerning the fundamental purposes of
education, therefore, is an almost certain indication of deep-seated
social confusion and conflict. Thc implication is clear. The root cause FURTHER READING
of the patent confusion in American education, in all probability,
nrust be sought in a wider and dccper confusion in the social, moral, Brameld, Tlieodore . Toward a Rcronslructed Philosophy o[ frlurntion. New York:
[]olt, Rinclr.rrt, & Winstorr, Inc., 1956.
and intellectual perspcctivcs of the American people.
This hypothesis is reinforced by another consideration. For it must Counts, Ceorge S. Thc Ameriran Road to Cullure: A Social lnttrpretation of Edura-
lion in lk Unitill Slnlps. Ncw York: Tlrc John Dly Conrprny, lnc., 1930.
bc admitted that the Amcrican public school, cxccpt possibly for the
niaeteenth century Iiberal arts collegc with its ideal of the Christian .--...-,-.. Dnrr lhL -Srhoolt Buill A NLu' Sorirl ()nlrt? Ncw York: Thc John Day
gentleman, has never consciously inculcated a way of life,. But that Company, lnc,, 1932.
is simply tc say that the American public school, until recently, has Edwalion and Amerkan Ciuilizalion. New York: Burcau of Publicat;ons,
been primarily a peripheral institution concerned l,r,ith the imparting Teachers College, Columbia Univcrsity, 1952.
of special knowledges and skills, leaving fundamental education in -.
-------. Elurulion anl lhe Fonnltlion:; o/ I luuau lrlrlorn. ['itts[,urgh: Univcrsity
the hands of the community, the church, and the home. This of Pittsburgh Press, 1962.
-l-Irc.
arrangement, while probably never wholly satisfactory, undoubtedly .-_-.- The Prospecls of An riran Dunorrncy. New York: fohn Day Com-
functioned reasonably well as long as the American community pany, lnc., 1938.
embodied a unified and consistent social and personal outlook. The -...---, Tfu Srhools Cnn Tt, rh Druotnry. Ncw York: Thc Jotrr Day Company,
very fact that the public school is now persistently criticized on lnc., 1939,
every hand because it has failed to develop in its students a Tfu Sodal Foundalions o/ Educnlion. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons,
consietent personal .rnd social philosophy is, in itself, powerful 1934.
evidence that the community, church, and horne are no longer -.
Cutek, Cerald L. Thc Educational Theory of Ceorge S. Counls. Columbus, Ohio:
successfully performing this essential task. This conclusion, iu its Ohio State University Press, 1970.
turn, is confirmed by the fact, cited elsewhere in this text, that Stanley, William Q. Educalion and Social lntegralion. New York: Bureau of Publi-
cations, Teachers College, Columbia University. 1953.
'Except incidentally, as in the case of tlre moral content of the Mccuffey reader