In American classrooms of the Nineteenth Century, the holy trinity of pedagogy consisted of drill, memorization, and recitation. Students were expected to recite long lists of facts and rules, as well as prodigious passages of literature and poetry. Distinctions between the curriculum of the new public high schools and the private grammar schools existed, but the primary Faustian bargain was this: The student is to show up knowing the assigned material. Knowledge of the assigned material guarantees promotion to the next grade. How, when, and with whom you learned the material was a private matter for the student, so students, provided their parents were not too overbearing, could exercise autonomy in learning new material. In many cases, privacy was intimately connected with study, as study typically required the student occupy a quiet, separate, well-lit place in the evening, "in the books."

Recall at this time a young man of 14 could supplement a middle-class family's income by 20-33%, and household chores and responsibilities were far more onerous then, particularly for agricultural families or independent business-owners, which constituted a majority of the population. Writings from the period show feuds between school administrators and parents about the excessive obligations of study.

1. Development of The Assignment 2. Electronic Monitoring 3. The Future of Regimented Learning

-- JoeBruner - 30 Jun 2018