Story of School Episode 1

                The fact that most teachers in the 1800s were females took me by surprise.  Most of the history classes I have taken over the years suggested that men would go to school to be taught what they have to do to fulfill their gender roles.  However, I can say that it made sense the more I thought about it, especially considering the male to female ratio for Elementary Education classes here at UMF.  One of my male friends is an Elementary Ed major and he has told me that on numerous occasions, he has been the only male in classes.

                It wasn’t terribly surprising that the most elite were the only ones to attend college, but I did find the comparison to modern day colleges interesting.  In our society, it is almost impossible to find work without at least a bachelor’s degree.  Since higher education has become a goal for almost every social class, one would expect more financial equity in our country.  That expectation is clearly wrong.

                Jefferson being an advocate of education didn’t surprise me, but pairing this documentary with some assigned reading for EDU 362 gave me greater insight.  The reading discussed the misconception that Jefferson was in favor of every man being treated equally.  It is surprising that Jefferson could advocate public education for everyone, while still owning slaves and treating them as inferiors.  The fact that he had numerous children with his slaves is well known.  This is a good example of how history’s heroes are as flawed as the rest of us.