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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

the industrial revolution and eudcation

Continued thoughts from last week...
I was discussing my thoughts on motherhood and the industrial revolution with my dad (a very smart man), and he pointed out to me the fact that because of the industrial revolution, women began to become educated - this led to multiple good things (including suffrage). I've heard over and over again that when women get education, the infant mortality rate and other health problems are reduced, the country profits economically, and good things happen. I then discussed this with my friend Stella, who pointed out that the Industrial revolution was the beginning of more education for women and men. So, I've been thinking about the society-wide implications of losing the relative independence and other benefits of an agricultural society and gaining specialization, technological progress and most of all education. I wonder how the Industrial revolution changed the upbringing of children in america - when agriculture was not only no longer the only option, but agricultural skills and culture became replaced with a different kind of atmosphere and a different kind of at-home education. I plan on doing some research to find out what early American education was like pre and post industrial revolution. My theory, though, is that the growth of education as we think of it now (general and not necessarily directly related to a job or career) probably didn't start to come into its own until a long while after this period in history. I think that the industrial revolution probably did have a  significant role in the United State's path towards public education as we know it today, but I also think that there must have been multiple societal steps beyond specialization and the boom of factory work. I don't know what those steps or influences could have been, so again, I plan on doing more research. To my (few ( : ) readers - any comments or ideas?

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