A look back at the MACOS, Man A Course of Study project, an American humanities education program that was popular in the 1960's and 70's. It was based on the theories of Jerome Bruner, including inquiry teaching and learning, spiral curriculum, discovery learning, constructivist teaching and learning.
1. Saving MACOS
(Man: A Course of Study)
Lessons Learned & Future Work
Cathleen Galas
July 2014
Viewpoints Research Institute
2. Outline of Presentation
• US Historic Background
– Post WW II
– Post Sputnik
• Education Reform 1960’s
– Jerome Bruner
– MACOS
• Theories of learning (inquiry discovery, constructivist, spiral)
• Socio-Anthropologic Curriculum
• Former Teacher and Student Comments
• Controversy
• Looking back at MACOS, the controversy, effects on education,
Where do we go from here?
• Current US Education Reform Efforts
– Criticisms
– Common Core, Testing and Assessment
– Ed research studies by author– Whyville, River City, Galef SS on
Slavery, Discovery of New World
• Questions Remaining
4. Science: The Endless Frontier
"New frontiers of the mind
are before us, and if they are
pioneered with the same
vision, boldness, and drive
with which we have waged
this war we can create a
fuller and more fruitful
employment and a fuller
and more fruitful life."--
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
November 17, 1944
5. Roosevelt to Vannevar Bush:
“What can the Government do now and in the
future to aid research activities by public and
private organizations.”
6. President Roosevelt to
Vannevar Bush
Office of Scientific Research and Development
November 17, 1944
1. Make known our war effort contributions to
scientific knowledge
7. President Roosevelt to
Vannevar Bush
Office of Scientific Research and Development
November 17, 1944
1. Make known our war effort contributions to
scientific knowledge.
2. Fight the war on disease by supporting
medicine and related sciences.
8. President Roosevelt to
Vannevar Bush
Office of Scientific Research and Development
November 17, 1944
1. Make known our war effort contributions to
scientific knowledge.
2. Fight the war on disease by supporting
medicine and related sciences.
3. Aid public and private research.
9. President Roosevelt to
Vannevar Bush
Office of Scientific Research and Development
November 17, 1944
1. Make known our war effort contributions to
scientific knowledge.
2. Fight the war on disease by supporting
medicine and related sciences.
3. Aid public and private research.
4. Discover and develop scientific talent.
10. Response to Roosevelt
1945
Dr. Vannevar Bush,
Director of the Office
of Scientific Research
and Development,
responded to
Roosevelt with the
report,
“Science the Endless
Frontier”.
11. For the War Against Disease
• The responsibility for basic research in
medicine and the underlying sciences, so
essential to progress in the war against
disease, falls primarily upon the medical
schools and universities.
12. For the War Against Disease
• The responsibility for basic research in medicine
and the underlying sciences, so essential to
progress in the war against disease, falls primarily
upon the medical schools and universities.
• If we are to maintain the progress in medicine
which has marked the last 25 years, the
Government should extend financial support to
basic medical research in the medical schools and
in universities.
13. For Our National Security
• It is essential that the civilian scientists
continue in peacetime …. best be done
through a civilian-controlled organization
14. For Our National Security
• It is essential that the civilian scientists
continue in peacetime …. best be done
through a civilian-controlled organization
• the clear power to initiate military research
which will supplement and strengthen that
carried on directly under the control of the
Army and Navy.
15. And for the Public Welfare
• Basic scientific research is scientific capital
and to increase scientific capital:
–Train many men and women in science.
–Strengthen the centers of basic research
which are principally the colleges,
universities, and research institutes.
16. And for the Public Welfare
• Basic scientific research is scientific capital
and to increase scientific capital:
–Train many men and women in science.
–Strengthen the centers of basic research
which are principally the colleges,
universities, and research institutes.
• Provide for vigorous applied research both in
Government and in industry
17. And for the Public Welfare
• Basic scientific research is scientific capital and
to increase scientific capital:
– Train many men and women in science.
– Strengthen the centers of basic research
which are principally the colleges,
universities, and research institutes.
• Provide for vigorous applied research both in
Government and in industry
• Modify the procedures for recruiting,
classifying, and compensating scientific
personnel...
18. And for the Public Welfare
• Basic scientific research is scientific capital and
to increase scientific capital:
– Train many men and women in science.
– Strengthen the centers of basic research
which are principally the colleges,
universities, and research institutes.
• Provide for vigorous applied research both in
Government and in industry
• Modify the procedures for recruiting,
classifying, and compensating scientific
personnel...
• Increase the flow of scientific knowledge
through support of basic research
19. And for the Public Welfare
• Basic scientific research is scientific capital and to
increase scientific capital:
– Train many men and women in science.
– Strengthen the centers of basic research which are
principally the colleges, universities, and research
institutes.
• Provide for vigorous applied research both in
Government and in industry
• Modify the procedures for recruiting, classifying, and
compensating scientific personnel...
• Increase the flow of scientific knowledge through
support of basic research
• Aid in the development of scientific talent.
20. And for the Public Welfare
• Basic scientific research is scientific capital and to
increase scientific capital:
– Train many men and women in science.
– Strengthen the centers of basic research which are
principally the colleges, universities, and research
institutes.
• Provide for vigorous applied research both in
Government and in industry
• Modify the procedures for recruiting, classifying, and
compensating scientific personnel...
• Increase the flow of scientific knowledge through
support of basic research
• Aid in the development of scientific talent.
• Create a permanent Science Advisory Board
21. WE MUST RENEW OUR SCIENTIFIC
TALENT
The training of a scientist is a long and expensive
process…
If ability,
and not the circumstance of family fortune,
determines who shall receive higher education
in science,
then we shall be assured of constantly
improving quality at every level of
scientific activity.
22. A PROGRAM FOR ACTION
by Vannevar Bush
• The Government should accept new
responsibilities for promoting the flow of new
scientific knowledge and the development of
scientific talent in our youth.
– Undergraduate scholarships
– Graduate fellowships
23. A PROGRAM FOR ACTION
by Vannevar Bush
• The Government should accept new
responsibilities for promoting the flow of new
scientific knowledge and the development of
scientific talent in our youth.
– Undergraduate scholarships
– Graduate fellowships
• I recommend that a new agency for these
purposes be established. Such an agency should
be composed of persons of broad interest and
experience, having an understanding of the
peculiarities of scientific research and scientific
education.
24. A PROGRAM FOR ACTION
• The Government should accept new
responsibilities for promoting the flow of new
scientific knowledge and the development of
scientific talent in our youth.
– Undergraduate scholarships
– Graduate fellowships
• I recommend that a new agency for these
purposes be established. Such an agency should
be composed of persons of broad interest and
experience, having an understanding of the
peculiarities of scientific research and scientific
education. (Creation of NSF)
25. Post WWII:
Continuing Debate about Quality of Education
• Admiral Hyman Rickover and Arthur Bestor
became critics of John Dewey’s ideas and
progressive education.
• Critics of education wanted back to
fundamentals, back to basics, back to drill and
memorization, and back to facts was pushed
as reform.
• (Cremin, 1961; Ravitch, 1983).
26. Soviet Union launches Sputnik
Спу́тник-1
• October 4, 1957
• First artificial Earth
satellite
27. Post-Sputnik
• Sputnik highlighted the
fact that the Soviet Union
had beaten the US into
space
• The launch made it clear
that the Soviets had the
technology to launch
nuclear bombs at the US.
• The US responded to the
security threat by
targeting education
An illustrated post card celebrating the
launches of Sputnik I and II, in 1957.
The card reads: 4 October, the USSR
launched Earth's first artificial satellite.
3 November, the USSR launched
Earth's second artificial satellite.
• http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2011/10/07/54-
years-after-sputnik-where-do-things-stand/
28. 353 Days After Sputnik
November 21, 1957:
The President’s
Science Advisory
Committee is created
November 7, 1957:
President Eisenhower
appoints James R.
Killian as the nation’s
first Science Advisor
November 3, 1957:
Sputnik-II launched
October 4, 1957:
Sputnik-I launched
29. 353 Days After Sputnik
March 5, 1958:
House establishes
committee to create
civilian space agency
February 7, 1958:
Defense Advanced
Research Projects
Agency established
February 6, 1958:
Senate establishes
Special Committee on
Space and
Aeronautics. Senator
Lyndon B. Johnson
named Chairman
January 31, 1958:
Explorer-I launched
30. 353 Days After Sputnik
October 1, 1958:
NASA begins to
develop a human
space exploration
program
September 2, 1958:
President Eisenhower
signs National
Defense Education
Act, providing funds
for math and science
education
July 29, 1958:
President Eisenhower
signs National
Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Act
April 2, 1958:
President Eisenhower
and Congress
strengthen and
expand National
Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics
http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2011/10/07/54-years-after-sputnik-where-do-things-stand/
31. Sputnik Education Crisis
• Sputnik made clear to the
American public that it was in
the national interest to
change education, especially
mathematics and science.
• public demand for a federal
response in funding was
unusually high
• Congress passed the National
Defense Education Act in
1958--an infusion of more
than a billion dollars.
32. Funding Impact
• Congress increased the National Science
Foundation (NSF) appropriation for 1959 to
$134 million, almost $100 million higher than
the year before.
• By 1968, the NSF budget stood at nearly $500
million.
34. Classroom Impact
• In classrooms,
educational tools began
to change.
• Lab kits and overhead
projectors were added,
and educational films
became part of the
curriculum.
35. Classroom Impact
• In classrooms, educational
tools began to change.
• Lab kits and overhead
projectors were added, and
educational films became
part of the curriculum.
• Social reform efforts led to
the equalization of access to
education and the creation
of new courses to prepare
children to become
effective citizens.
36. JFK Call for a New
America
• In 1961, John Kennedy
announced that the torch of
American idealism had been
passed to a new generation.
37. JFK Call for a New
America
• In 1961, John Kennedy
announced that the torch of
American idealism had been
passed to a new generation.
• He called on Americans to join in
a self-sacrificial campaign to
explore a new frontier: they
would fight “tyranny, poverty,
disease, and war itself.”
•
38. JFK Call for a New
America
• In 1961, John Kennedy
announced that the torch of
American idealism had been
passed to a new generation.
• He called on Americans to join in
a self-sacrificial campaign to
explore a new frontier: they
would fight “tyranny, poverty,
disease, and war itself.”
• They would send American
ambassadors of good will around
the world, and they would land a
man on the moon.
39. JFK Call for a New
America
• In 1961, John Kennedy
announced that the torch of
American idealism had been
passed to a new generation.
• He called on Americans to join in
a self-sacrificial campaign to
explore a new frontier: they
would fight “tyranny, poverty,
disease, and war itself.”
• They would send American
ambassadors of good will around
the world, and they would land a
man on the moon.
• Kennedy called on Americans to
create a new America.
40. 1963 Lyndon Johnson
expanded Kennedy’s social
and economic vision
• Vowed to win the war against
poverty and build a “Great
Society” that elevated the poor,
cared for the elderly, and offered
educational opportunities to all.
41. 1963 Lyndon Johnson
expanded Kennedy’s social
and economic vision
• Vowed to win the war against
poverty and build a “Great
Society” that elevated the poor,
cared for the elderly, and offered
educational opportunities to all.
• Pushed through Congress one of
the most ambitious and extensive
legislative agendas in history:
Medicare, Medicaid, VISTA, Head
Start, federal college
scholarships, Office of Economic
Opportunity.
42. 1963 Lyndon Johnson
expanded Kennedy’s social
and economic vision
• Vowed to win the war against
poverty and build a “Great
Society” that elevated the poor,
cared for the elderly, and offered
educational opportunities to all.
• Pushed through Congress one of
the most ambitious and extensive
legislative agendas in history:
Medicare, Medicaid, VISTA, Head
Start, federal college
scholarships, Office of Economic
Opportunity.
• Johnson, the US Congress, and 43
million people (61% voters) gave
Johnson an enormous mandate in
1964 believed that they were
creating a new America.
46. US National Education Reform
1960’s
After Sputnik, for the first time, the US
government made a major investment in
curriculum development for K-12 classrooms.
The hope was to train future scientists who
would help the country reach the moon before
the Communist empire.
48. Constructivist Theory
Discovery Learning
• Learning is an active process.
• Learners construct new ideas and develop
new beliefs based on what they ALREADY know
and have already learned.
• Learners make decisions, transform
information, and base hypotheses relying on
their cognitive structure.
49. Teacher’s Role
• Inquiry learning (questioning)
• Discovery learning (help students develop
ideas)
• Socratic learning (active dialogue)
• Spiral curriculum: revisit basic ideas
repeatedly until learner has full understanding
• Facilitate learning process
51. 1964:
Bruner takes leave of absence from
Harvard to develop
MACOS (Man a Course of Study)
with curriculum writer
Peter Dow.
52. Creating Post-Sputnik Studies
Thirty social science teachers,
psychologists, and anthropologists
meet to create a curriculum to teach
young children about humans through
the study of animals and simple
human cultures.
53. MACOS Questions:
–What is human about human beings?
–How did they get that way?
–How can they be made more so?
54. MACOS
• Socio-anthropological approach
• Stimulate curiosity
• Focus on inquiry and discovery
• Began with the idea that if children were taught how to
understand human behavior, they would be more likely
become better adults.
• To teach children about a different race and allow them to
equate their understanding of that race with their own in
the hope of eradicating racism and ethnocentricity.
• Help children think like social scientists.
• Attempted to promote scientific literacy.
56. A Course of Study
Man: A Course of Study
consists of books, films,
posters, records, games
and other classroom
materials.
More importantly, it
consists of a set of
assumptions about man.
www.macosonline.org/course/
57. “Chain of Life”
The entire history of a living thing
• Simple lifespan
• Nurturing
• Troop societal context
• Inate and learned
behavior
• Man’s lifespan
• Man’s interaction with
other lifeforms
• Salmon
• Herring gull
• Baboons
• Netsilik Inuit
• Reindeer
• seals
63. Baboons: 18-30 days
• Animals of the Savannah
• Field Notes
• The Baboon Troop: Family
Structures
• Baboon Communication
• Photomural, Sounds, Map
• Films: Animals of
Amboseli, Baboon Troop,
Young/Older Infant, Jane
Goodall
• http://www.rfwp.com/pages/wp-
content/uploads/2011/06/Man-A-Course-of-Study-
NCAGT-2012.pdf
65. A Foundation: 42 days
http://www.rfwp.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Man-A-Course-of-Study-NCAGT-2012.pdf
66. The Netsilik Eskimo
• Naturalistic observation
through film
• Supported by literature,
activities, and plays
(The True Play, Building
a Skin Sled)
Kablonka, a Netsilik from 1903-05
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netsilik_Inuit
67. The Netsilik Film Series
A benchmark of visual
anthropology that captured a year
in the life of an Inuit family living in
the remote Canadian Arctic,
reconstructing an ancient culture
on the cusp of contact with the
outside world.
68.
69.
70. At the Inland Camps: 30 days
• The World of the
Netsilik: Life at a Stone
Weir
• The Hunting Way of
Life: Life at the Caribou
Hunting Camp in Early
Autumn
• Netsilik Families: Life at
a Fishing Camp
71.
72. On the Ice
• The Dangers of
Winter
• The Hunting Way of
Life in Winter
• The Winter Camp:
The Individual and
the Group
• The Long Gaze
73. MACOS in the US
• The curriculum took a year out of the normal curriculum
• Was taught in 47 states in elementary and middle schools
in the U.S. and reached approximately 400,000 students.
• Used film in an innovative way and won several awards,
including the American Educational Publishers Institute
award, an American Film Festival award, two CINE Golden
Eagle awards, and an Emmy Award (1971).
• Funded by the National Science Foundation and the Ford
Foundaton.
http://libguides.ioe.ac.uk/content.php?pid=477171&sid=3908259
75. Lloyd Tredwell
Former MACOS teacher
“Just came across this site and am thrilled to see the idea
is still alive. I was one of the first to teach MACOS to
fifth graders.... To this day my finest teaching was done
during this time in my life.
MACOS reached the unreachable student.
True learning took place that I have not seen before or
since. The American education system...might not be
the mess it is today if MACOS and programs like it were
in wide spread use.”
October 7, 2010
http://www.macosonline.org/?page_id=23
76. Lloyd Tredwell
Former MACOS teacher
“MACOS developed in students a respect for life at all
levels. Students learned to respect themselves and the
importance and value of what each student in their class
had to offer regardless of their ability.
For the teacher, to see how much the students grew...
truly brought forth the passion and fire that made us
want to be teachers in the first place. American education
has certainly taken giant steps backward since that time.
Just imagine what could be done with this course today
with the technology we have at our finger tips.”
October 7, 2010
http://www.macosonline.org/?page_id=23
77. Dr. Gary G. Pears
Former MACOS Teacher
“…considering just how to examine some of the concepts in
the Psych 2/ 3 High School course, I was reflecting on what
had a significant impact on me in my educational journey.
It was MACOS that I had trained in at Uni and Teacher
Training. I had access to some parts of the Course when I
taught it ion the G&T program all those years ago and most
recently went to our local Western Australian Unis to find that
their MACOS Materials were “missing”!!
Interestingly, one Teacher Training Resource Library said that
they had ‘let it go” because it was, “… to difficult for teachers
to understand and deliver”!!!
A very insight into the teacher selection and training programs
I feel!”
June 30, 2011
http://www.macosonline.org/?page_id=11&album=all&gallery=3&pid=28
78. UbuRoivas
Former MACOS Student
“Hey, we did MACOS in my primary school in
Sydney - it was probably my favourite part of
the day, and I hold it at least partially
responsible for me wanting to study secular
humanist, culturally relativist
liberal arts at university.”
September 25, 2011
http://www.metafilter.com/107770/Man-A-Course-of-Study
79. Laurel Rech
Former MACOS Student
I had this curriculum in 1971 when I was in 5th grade and
to this day it was one of the best educational experiences
with it’s balance of creative activities and analyses.
Using the same format to study different life forms
provided a framework to discover and draw conclusions
about other man made and natural subjects.
I still remember creating a big savanah with a tribe of
baboons, predators and food/water source. I wish my
children had such well thought out curriculum now.
March 10, 2010
http://www.macosonline.org/?page_id=11&album=all&gallery=3&pid=28
80. Christina Ellis
Former MACOS Student
I had this curriculum in 1972, I was in a Mulit-level
class (5th, 6th and 7th Graders) in Phoenix, AZ.
To me it was one of the best educational
experience I have ever had.
Our class worked at our own pace and I found
myself doing more assignments than I ever had
before, we were also graded on the work that we
did not the assignments, per curriculum master
sheet, that we didn’t do.
September 8, 2010
http://www.macosonline.org/?page_id=11&album=all&gallery=3&pid=28
81. Elizabeth Ten Dyke
Former MACOS Student
While sitting in my first doctoral seminar in cultural
anthropology (now 20 years ago), the professor asked us why
we had chosen to pursue this course of study.
I sat, puzzled, having never really thought about the question
before, then it dawned on me–because of MACOS. The
learning experiences I had had in fourth grade were so
compelling I remember them to this day.
They strongly influenced my perceptions of the social
sciences in general, anthropology in particular, and my
decision to pursue, and complete, a Ph.D. in cultural
anthropology.
December 29, 2010
http://www.macosonline.org/?page_id=11&album=all&gallery=3&pid=28
83. MACOS Reach in US Schools
By 1975,
17,000 elementary schools
in 47 states
were using the MACOS curriculum.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1999/05/19/36nsf.h18.html
84. The Controversy
“The first sign of impending trouble appeared in
Lake City, …Florida (population 10,000), in the
fall of 1970. Shortly after school opened in
September, Reverend Don Glenn, a Baptist
minister who had recently moved to Lake City
visited his daughter’s sixth-grade class at the
Minnie J. Niblack Elementary School and asked
her teacher for copies of the MACOS materials”
(Dow 1991, p.178).
http://www.nas.edu/sputnik/lappan3.htm
85. Realistic segments of curriculum
came under attack
• One film segment taught about Netsilik
Indians in the Canadian Arctic and their
practices of infanticide and mercy killing to
preserve their culture by killing unwanted
babies and abandoning the elderly on
icebergs.
• Rev. Don Glenn charged that MACOS was
teaching a "hippie-yippie philosophy”.
86. Allegations against MACOS
Glenn claimed that the materials advocated sex
education, evolution, pornography, gun control
“hippie-yippee philosophy,”
and Communism.
http://www.nas.edu/sputnik/lappan3.htm
87. Allegations against MACOS
Glenn claimed that the materials advocated sex
education, evolution, pornography, gun control
“hippie-yippee philosophy,”
and Communism.
A local radio station supported his broadcast of
four hour-long programs criticizing MACOS…..
He warned that MACOS was a
threat to democracy.
http://www.nas.edu/sputnik/lappan3.htm
88. Continued MACOS Criticism
“The state is attempting to
assert control over the thought
life of children… attempted to
indoctrinate young children into
the teachings of humanism….
Humanist values are being
taught in the schools through
such methods as “values
clarification.” All of these things
constitute an attempt to wean
children away from biblical
Christianity.”
[Christian Broadcasting Network]
http://savageminds.org/2005/10/28/eskimos-and-%E2%80%9Chippie-yippee-
philosophy%E2%80%9D-an-interview-with-asen-balikci/
Pat Robertson was among the new
“televangelists” of the “New Right” that came to
cultural and political prominence in the late
1970’s and early 80”s.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/58e.asp
89. Criticism Momentum
• Growing attacks on MACOS over several years
• Full scale Congressional debate in both houses in 1973
• NSF launched an internal and audit of fiscal management.
• Audit revealed nothing, but damage was done
• Dow quotes the former acting assistant director for science
education(of NSF), Harvey Averch,
• “It was the worst political crisis in NSF history.”
• Congress voted to halt funding for MACOS in 1975.
• MACOS stopped being used by most school districts and
soon disappeared completely.
(Dow 1991, p. 229)
http://savageminds.org/2005/10/28/eskimos-and-%E2%80%9Chippie-yippee-
philosophy%E2%80%9D-an-interview-with-asen-balikci/
90. Criticism Effect
In 1975,
the opponents both in and out of Congress
had sufficient clout to force Congress
to stop funding MACOS
and all educational reform.
http://savageminds.org/2005/10/28/eskimos-and-%E2%80%9Chippie-yippee-
philosophy%E2%80%9D-an-interview-with-asen-balikci/
91. Looking Back at MACOS, the
controversy, and the Effects on
Education
92. US Education Reform Effects
• Decade of little education activity at NSF (1975-85)
• Education Directorate was downsized to an Office with
a skeleton staff and few programs.
• Outcry for a federal role in education finally overcame
the conservative politics of the Reagan presidency.
• In 1985 a Directorate for Science and Engineering
Education was established within NSF.
• 1985 Level of funding for education efforts was not
anywhere near the commitment of Congress to NSF
education activities during the height of the curriculum
development efforts of the 50s and 60s.
93. THROUGH THESE EYES
by Charles Laird, National Film Board of Canada
https://www.nfb.ca/film/through_these_eyes
2004, 55 min. Available free online at url above.
94. Peter Dow
MACOS Curriculum Writer
• Insider's account of post-Sputnik days of
federally funded scholar-led curriculum
innovation and of the ensuing controversy
that undermined MACOS.
•MACOS demonstrated the power of
student-directed learning or alternative
strategies for stimulating inquiry and of non-
didactic approaches to instruction.
•The experience of designing and
distributing the course also taught the
innovators hard lessons about educational
politics and the economics of American
textbook development and publishing.
95. MACOS in the UK
• The UK also went through a crisis in education due to the unfairness of the
selective system of education (grammar vs. secondary modern) and the 11+
examinations that determined the future of young children and which caused a
great deal of unhappiness among the growing middle class.
• Under Harold Wilson’s leadership, the economy was buoyant and for the first time
more was spent on education than on defense as the government realized the
importance of educating the young for the future of the country.
• The government’s investment in education resulted in 1,800 new secondary
schools being built in England and Wales from the mid-60s onwards.
• The benefits of child centered education were discussed widely and this resulted
in the rise of many subject and age specific curriculum development projects. The
60s are generally considered the ‘Golden Age of Curriculum Development’.
• The promise of secondary education for all was fulfilled and the school leaving age
was finally raised to 16 in 1972.
• A comparable program to MACOS was the Humanities Curriculum Project which
was developed under the auspicious of the Schools Council (established in 1964 by
the Secretary of State for Education and who took responsibility for curriculum and
examinations) which was a powerful body dominated by teacher representatives.
• http://libguides.ioe.ac.uk/print_content.php?pid=477171&sid=3909250&mode=g
96. MACOS in Australia
• Rona Joyner led a coalition of fundamentalist
Christians
• They took offense to the MACOS primary school
program in Queensland, Australia.
• Joyner believed “Children don’t go to school to learn
to think.”
• Joyner saw MACOS as an attempt to socially
engineer children into dangerous social views, and
ultimately into socialism.
• Although the government initially resisted, the
MACOS program was finally abandoned in 1976.
• http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/interventions/qld_abortion.ht
m
97. Now?
The United States officially ended its shuttle
program after 30 years.
"The space shuttle changed the way we view the
world, the way we view the universe," he told
NASA mission controllers. "America's not going
to stop exploring. Thanks for protecting us and
bringing this program to a fitting end.”
--Atlantis Mission commander Chris Ferguson, July 21, 2011,
after the landing of the last shuttle mission.
98. Current Space Exploration
Currently there are 6 people in space right now:
3 Russians, 2 Americans, and one German.
(check below for up to date status)
http://www.howmanypeopleareinspacerightnow.com/
99. Is the US behind?
• The caveat is –currently Russia has a
monopoly on human space travel to /
from the ISS.
• Russia charges the United States roughly
$63 million per seat on the their Soyuz
rocket ships. They guarantee seats for 12
American astronauts.
101. Criticisms of
Current Education Reform Efforts
“As a parent of two elementary students (first and third
grade) in Staten Island, NY, I witness daily the negative
impacts that Common Core and standardized testing,
under the guise of education reform, are having on them.
They come home each day and spend hours on
homework that makes little sense to them and absolutely
no sense in some cases to us, especially in math. Their
love for learning is squashed as more of an emphasis has
been placed on instructional scripts aligned to the
Common Core, test prep, and homework designed to
make them relive the torture they just went through in
school….. Shouldn't we be instilling a passion for learning
in each and every child?”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-sheninger/education-reform-destroying-
childhood_b_5235535.html
102. Criticisms of
Current Education Reform Efforts
• A Long Island school has
canceled its traditional
end-of-year
kindergarten show —
saying the children can’t
afford to take time off
from getting themselves
“college and career’’
ready.
• http://nypost.com/2014/04/28/kindergart
en-show-cancelled-so-kids-can-study-to-
be-college-ready/
103. HOW can we use the lessons
learned from MACOS for current
education reform?
104. HOW can we combine our
technological advances with the
lessons learned from MACOS to
affect education reform?
106. How much has CHANGED?
How much REMAINS THE SAME?
107. Questions remaining
• We learned that MACOS had high impact on
teachers and students.
• We learned that as a nation we are not
culturally ready; we are divided.
• What can we do to work with the culture in
the direction of the benefits of a curriculum
like MACOS?
108. Theoretical Foundations
MACOS
• Bruner, Jerome
• 1965 Man: A Course of Study (Occasional Paper No.
Three)
• 1966 The Growth of Mind (Occasional Paper No. Eight)
• 1966 Towards a Theory of Instruction. Harvard
University Press.
• Ethos: Journal of the Society for Psychological
Anthropology presents a special issue devoted to
Jerome Bruner – Vol. 36 Issue 1 (March 2008)
109. Controversy Over MACOS
• Conlan, John B.; Dow, Peter B.
• 1975 “Pro/Con Forum: The MACOS Controversy. The Push for a Uniform National
Curriculum [And] MACOS Revisited: A Commentary on the Most Frequently Asked
Questions about “Man: A Course of Study”. Social Education, 39, 6, 388-96, Oct 1975
• Dow, Peter Burton
• 1979 Innovation’s Perils: An Account of the Origins, Implementation, and Public
Reaction to “Man: ACourse of Study.”I Ph.D. dissertation, Administration, Planning, and
Social Policy, Harvard University.
• 1979 “MACOS: Social Studies in Crisis,” Educational Leadership, Vol 43, No.1, October,
1979.
• 1991 Schoolhouse Politics: Lessons from the Sputnik Era. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press
• 1998 “Revisiting MACOS: Problems and Prospects for Teaching Anthropology in the
Schools.” Seminar presented at the Department of Anthropology, Syracuse University, 2
December 1998.
• Smith, R.A., and J. Knight
• 1978 “MACOS in Queensland: The Politics of Educational Knowledge.” Australian
Journal of Education 22(3):225-48
• Woolfson, Peter
• 1974 “The Fight over MACOS—An Ideological Conflict in Vermont.” [Council on]
Anthropology and Education Quarterly 5(3):27–30.
110. Criticism and Evaluations of MACOS
• Caputo, Edward Mario
• Effects of “Man: A Course of Study,” an Experimental Social Science Course, Upon the
Achievement, Attitudes, and Anxiety of Impoverished Children in Selected Florida
Schools. Florida State University.
• Cort, H.R., Naomi H. Henderson, and Cheryl Jones.
• 1971 Approaches to Further Evaluation of Man: A Course of Study: A Final Report to the
National Science Foundation
• 1977 A Longitudal Study of Man: A Course of Study, Volume II: Quantitative Results
• 1977 A Longitudal Study of Man: A Course of Study, Volume III: Interviews
• Falkenstein, Lynda Carl
• 1977 Man: A Course of Study— A Case Study of Diffusion in Oregon. Ph.D. dissertation,
School of Education, Stanford University
• Ryan, F., and R. Wheeler.
• 1977 “The Effects of Cooperative and Competitive Background Experience of Students
on the Play of a Simulation Game.” Journal of Educational Research 70: 295-299.
• Tredwell, Lloyd, and David Zodikoff.
• 1975 “A Study of the Effects of Jerome Bruner’s Man: A Course of Study on Social
Studies Achievement in Fifth Grade.” Paper presented to the Asian American
Conference at the University of Massachusetts (December 6, 1974).
111. Contemporary Visions and Views
• Beaudet, François T.
• Personal page with extensive MACOS-related links, at the University of
Montreal.
• Laird, Charles
• 2004 Through These Eyes. Documentary produced with the National Film
Board of Canada.
• Lukethaus, Nancy C.
• 2008 “Putting ‘Culture’ Into Cultural Psychology: Anthropology’s Role in
the Development of Bruner’s Cultural Psychology.” Ethos 36(1): 46-59
• Ruby, Jay
• 2005 “Anthropology as a Subversive Art: A Review of Through These Eyes”.
American
Anthropologist 107(4):684–693.
• Wolcott, Harry F.
• 2008 “The Middlemen of MACOS.” Anthropology & Education Quarterly
38(2):195-206.
112. References
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man:_A_Course_of_Study
• (Hu)mans: A Course of Study, http://www.macosonline.org/
• MACOS: IOE LibGuides,
http://libguides.ioe.ac.uk/content.php?pid=477171&sid=3923878
• Through These Eyes by Charles Laird,
https://www.nfb.ca/film/through_these_eyes
• http://www.nas.edu/sputnik/index.htm
• http://www.nas.edu/sputnik/lappan4.htm
• http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1999/05/19/36nsf.h18.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960s#Science
• http://www.shmoop.com/1960s/summary.html
• http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/21/shuttle.landing/index.html?_
s=PM:US
• http://cupola.gettysburg.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&co
ntext=student_scholarship
This is part of a letter to Vannevar Bush, the then Director of the US Office of Scientific Research and Development in Washington DC
Between 1&2: Yet we find that the traditional sources of support for medical research in the medical schools and universities, largely endowment income, foundation grants, and private donations, are diminishing and there is no immediate prospect of a change in this trend. Meanwhile, the cost of medical research has been rising.
Between 1&2: Yet we find that the traditional sources of support for medical research in the medical schools and universities, largely endowment income, foundation grants, and private donations, are diminishing and there is no immediate prospect of a change in this trend. Meanwhile, the cost of medical research has been rising.
Before 1: The bitter and dangerous battle against the U-boat was a battle of scientific techniques - and our margin of success was dangerously small. The new eyes which radar has supplied can sometimes be blinded by new scientific developments. V-2 was countered only by capture of the launching sites.
We cannot again rely on our allies to hold off the enemy while we struggle to catch up. There must be more - and more adequate - military research in peacetime.
Before 1: The bitter and dangerous battle against the U-boat was a battle of scientific techniques - and our margin of success was dangerously small. The new eyes which radar has supplied can sometimes be blinded by new scientific developments. V-2 was countered only by capture of the launching sites.
We cannot again rely on our allies to hold off the enemy while we struggle to catch up. There must be more - and more adequate - military research in peacetime.
To create more jobs we must make new and better and cheaper products. We want plenty of new, vigorous enterprises. But new products and processes are not born full-grown. They are founded on new principles and new conceptions which in turn result from basic scientific research.
These institutions provide the environment which is most conducive to the creation of new scientific knowledge and least under pressure for immediate, tangible results. With some notable exceptions, most research in industry and Government involves application of existing scientific knowledge to practical problems. It is only the colleges, universities, and a few research institutes that devote most of their research efforts to expanding the frontiers of knowledge.
To create more jobs we must make new and better and cheaper products. We want plenty of new, vigorous enterprises. But new products and processes are not born full-grown. They are founded on new principles and new conceptions which in turn result from basic scientific research.
These institutions provide the environment which is most conducive to the creation of new scientific knowledge and least under pressure for immediate, tangible results. With some notable exceptions, most research in industry and Government involves application of existing scientific knowledge to practical problems. It is only the colleges, universities, and a few research institutes that devote most of their research efforts to expanding the frontiers of knowledge.
To create more jobs we must make new and better and cheaper products. We want plenty of new, vigorous enterprises. But new products and processes are not born full-grown. They are founded on new principles and new conceptions which in turn result from basic scientific research.
These institutions provide the environment which is most conducive to the creation of new scientific knowledge and least under pressure for immediate, tangible results. With some notable exceptions, most research in industry and Government involves application of existing scientific knowledge to practical problems. It is only the colleges, universities, and a few research institutes that devote most of their research efforts to expanding the frontiers of knowledge.
To create more jobs we must make new and better and cheaper products. We want plenty of new, vigorous enterprises. But new products and processes are not born full-grown. They are founded on new principles and new conceptions which in turn result from basic scientific research.
These institutions provide the environment which is most conducive to the creation of new scientific knowledge and least under pressure for immediate, tangible results. With some notable exceptions, most research in industry and Government involves application of existing scientific knowledge to practical problems. It is only the colleges, universities, and a few research institutes that devote most of their research efforts to expanding the frontiers of knowledge.
To create more jobs we must make new and better and cheaper products. We want plenty of new, vigorous enterprises. But new products and processes are not born full-grown. They are founded on new principles and new conceptions which in turn result from basic scientific research.
These institutions provide the environment which is most conducive to the creation of new scientific knowledge and least under pressure for immediate, tangible results. With some notable exceptions, most research in industry and Government involves application of existing scientific knowledge to practical problems. It is only the colleges, universities, and a few research institutes that devote most of their research efforts to expanding the frontiers of knowledge.
To create more jobs we must make new and better and cheaper products. We want plenty of new, vigorous enterprises. But new products and processes are not born full-grown. They are founded on new principles and new conceptions which in turn result from basic scientific research.
These institutions provide the environment which is most conducive to the creation of new scientific knowledge and least under pressure for immediate, tangible results. With some notable exceptions, most research in industry and Government involves application of existing scientific knowledge to practical problems. It is only the colleges, universities, and a few research institutes that devote most of their research efforts to expanding the frontiers of knowledge.
The Government should provide a reasonable number of undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships in order to develop scientific talent in American youth. The plans should be designed to attract into science only that proportion of youthful talent appropriate to the needs of science in relation to the other needs of the nation for high abilities.
The Government should provide scholarships in order to develop scientific talent in American youth.
The plans should be designed to attract into science only that proportion of youthful talent appropriate to the needs of science in relation to the other needs of the nation for high abilities.
The Government should provide a reasonable number of undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships in order to develop scientific talent in American youth. The plans should be designed to attract into science only that proportion of youthful talent appropriate to the needs of science in relation to the other needs of the nation for high abilities.
The Government should provide a reasonable number of undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships in order to develop scientific talent in American youth. The plans should be designed to attract into science only that proportion of youthful talent appropriate to the needs of science in relation to the other needs of the nation for high abilities.
It was visible all around the Earth and its radio pulses were detectable. The surprise success precipitated the American Sputnik crisis and triggered the Space Race, a part of the larger Cold War. The launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments.
“Our movies and television programs in the fifties were full of the idea of going into space. What came as a surprise was that it was the Soviet Union that launched the first satellite. It is hard to recall the atmosphere of the time.
—John Logsdon, former Director of the Space Policy Institute at The George Washington University.
Conflicts between the two reform movements, an overabundance of innovations, and shrinking financial support eventually brought the era to an end. Some innovations did take root, however, including the use of behavioral objectives, the application of research techniques in curriculum development, the decentralization of decision-making, and the development of new types of instructional materials.
Overhead proj photo is at North Carolina State University in the 1960s. http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2013/02/vision-learning-history-classroom-projectors
Conflicts between the two reform movements, an overabundance of innovations, and shrinking financial support eventually brought the era to an end. Some innovations did take root, however, including the use of behavioral objectives, the application of research techniques in curriculum development, the decentralization of decision-making, and the development of new types of instructional materials.
Overhead proj photo is at North Carolina State University in the 1960s. http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2013/02/vision-learning-history-classroom-projectors
Conflicts between the two reform movements, an overabundance of innovations, and shrinking financial support eventually brought the era to an end. Some innovations did take root, however, including the use of behavioral objectives, the application of research techniques in curriculum development, the decentralization of decision-making, and the development of new types of instructional materials.
Overhead proj photo is at North Carolina State University in the 1960s. http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2013/02/vision-learning-history-classroom-projectors
A soldier crawls on the ground during the Vietnam War; The Beatles, part of the British Invasion, change music in the United States and around the world. Centre, L-R: John F. Kennedy is assassinated in 1963, after serving as President for three years; Martin Luther King Jr. makes his famous I Have a Dream Speech to a crowd of over a million; millions participate in the Woodstock Festival of 1969. Bottom, L-R: China's Mao Zedong puts forward the Great Leap Forward plan; the Stonewall Inn, site of major demonstrations for gay and lesbian rights; for the first time in history, a human being sets foot on the Moon, in the Moon landing of July 1969.
The New Right was a combination of Christian religious leaders, conservative business bigwigs who claimed that environmental and labor regulations were undermining the competitiveness of American firms in the global market, and fringe political groups.
Another linchpin of the conservative backlash was the Christian Right. Since the 1950s, members of the evangelical Christian denominations increased fivefold. By the mid-1970s, over a quarter of adult Americans identified themselves as born-again Christians.
The Christian Right had many faces. Fundamentalists such as Jerry Falwell believed in a literal interpretation of the Bible. Pentacostalists such as Pat Robertson claimed the Holy Spirit communicated directly with people on a regular basis.
New Right leaders were highly organized and understood the potential of mass telecommunications. built massive databases containing the names and addresses of potential financial contributors and regularly solicited funds. In 1979, Jerry Falwell formed the Moral Majority, Inc. This group and hundreds of others raised money to defeat liberal senators, representatives, and governors. They sought to control school boards on the local level to advance their conservative agenda. Ronald Reagan freely accepted contributions from the New Right on his way to the Presidency in 1980.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/58e.asp
An American elementary school program from the 1970s, Man: A Course of Study (MACOS), looked to the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic to help students see their own society in a new way. At its core was The Netsilik Film Series, an acclaimed benchmark of visual anthropology from the National Film Board that captured a year in the life of an Inuit family, reconstructing an ancient culture on the cusp of contact with the outside world. But the graphic images of the Netsilik people created a clash of values that tore rifts in communities across the U.S. and revealed a fragile relationship between politics and education. A fiery national debate ensued between academic and conservative forces.
hrough These Eyes looks back at the high stakes of this controversial curriculum. Decades later, as American influence continues to affect cultures worldwide, the story of MACOS resonates strongly.
