The Importance of Being Urban: Designing the Progressive School District, 1890-1940 by David A. Gamson

Author:David A. Gamson [Gamson, David A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Incorporation of the “Most Advanced Educational Thought”

The third main principle of curriculum revision was that the most advanced educational research should be employed in Denver’s efforts at school reform. Newlon and Threlkeld felt that much of the initial work could be accomplished through the local organization. However, at some point in the work of each committee, Threlkeld explained, it was “extremely helpful” to have an external expert comment on the work. District leaders met this need by inviting to Denver one of the “leading research specialists in the country” to work with committees. Here again, Denver diverged from standard practice. These national experts, Threlkeld explained, did not come for the usual “general lectures or general discussions,” too often the approach to professional development. Instead, these specialists were invited at a time when the committee itself had already identified specific problems, when they were able to state their issues and concerns clearly, and when they had definite questions to ask. Even before their arrival, these curriculum specialists were informed about the progress of the committees, and once in Denver, they usually remained in Denver for several days. Afterward, they corresponded with the committees until the new course of study was ready for printing. This strategy, explained Threlkeld and Newlon, offered the opportunity for the “local staff to capitalize [on] the research work which has been carried on in many of our colleges, universities, and experimental schools.”106

Between 1923 and 1928, over thirty-five nationally prominent curriculum specialists visited Denver, many of them coming on several occasions. These targeted sessions would also have served to preserve resources, as the district spent money on outside consultation only when necessary. Among the visitors were some of the best-known educators of the day from the Lincoln School and Teachers College, the University of Chicago, and Harvard University, as well as practitioners from a range of city school systems including Rochester, New York, Shaker Heights, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.107 This kind of cross-fertilization with other progressive school districts and advice from national reformers created effective opportunities for the introduction of new practices, theories, and pedagogical techniques.

The ultimate goal of the Denver revision project had always been the development of a new and improved course of study; Newlon and Threlkeld often stressed that teacher professional growth was in many ways more important than the final curricular product. Although they emphasized the role that outside specialists could play in stimulating the thinking and growth of teachers, Newlon and Threlkeld’s esteem for teachers also meant that the opinions of the teachers sometimes trumped the stance of the experts, a rather remarkable attitude for the day. “A body of teachers who are teaching courses which they have worked out under guidance,” said Threlkeld, “will do better teaching even with courses that may not be the last word in every particular from every point of view of the expert if these teachers have worked them out and are earnestly trying to find out better ways.”108

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