Ella Flagg Young: The Practical Philosopher By Kelly Tompkins

“Ella Flagg Young was a prominent figure in the turn of the century activities which historians call 'the progressive movement.' … Her belief in democratic school administration, the inclusion of vocation and technical education in the common school curriculum, and the validity of sex education are widely shared educational values today. They were opposed stringently at the time. Despite the significance of Ella Flagg Young's life, career, and thought in American educational history, no adequate account is available.” -Joan K. Smith in Ella Flagg Young: Portrait of a Leader

Biography 1845 Young is born in Buffalo, NY 1855 Begins school at age Moves with Parents to Chicago 1860 Passes Teacher Certification Exams, enters Chicago Normal School 1862 Graduates at age holds a series of teaching and principal positions 1887 Young becomes Assistant Superintendent 1899 Resigns position as Assistant, goes to University of Chicago

Biography Part II 1900 Graduates with PhD Holds Professorship at U. of Chicago, works closely with Dewey 1905 Becomes Principal of Chicago Normal 1909 Accepts position as Superintendent of Chicago Schools 1910 Becomes President of National Education Association (NEA) 1915 Retires from education, maintains connection to NEA 1917 Works for Liberty Loan Committee, contracts influenza while touring 1918 Young at age 73 dies from pneumonia

Major Works Books: Isolation in Schools (1900) Ethics in School (1902) Some Types of Educational Theory (1902) Scientific Method in Education (1903) Young and Field Literary Readers (1916, coeditor) Editor of two journals: The Elementary School Teacher The Educational Bi-Monthly

Blazing the Trail for Women First female Superintendent of major city school – a unanimous decision Highest paid woman at her time ($10,000) First female President of male dominated NEA Fully supported by teachers (esp. women) Worked closely with other women reformers like Jane Addams which exemplified the power of women

Isolation in Schools Isolation in Schools outlines three types of isolation: Isolation of teachers Isolation of student from content and meaning Isolation of student from political and social self

Isolation of Teachers Isolation in Schools Part I Young argues that teachers are isolated by the separation of schools and grades, but more importantly teacher are isolated because they are not given the chance to work together and are not given the freedom to teach they way they would like. Young argues, “Isolation in any social organization means more than separation in space. It means deprivation of the exercise of inherent powers, both originative and constructive – negation. Cooperation means more than spontaneity in following another's lead; evolution of potential powers through reaction, initiated by the self and terminating in creative intelligence, is always involved in its operation” (44).

Isolation of Student: Content and Meaning Isolation in Schools Part II Ella Flagg Young argues for an education that is relevant to students, and that places content within its context. “The failure to distinguish sharply between the discriminating alertness of attention and the undistinguishing passivity of the mere repetition of words is due, probably, to the non-recognition of the activity of feeling, as well as of intellect, in the process of attention. … The characteristics of the I the ideal of attention it involves are isolation of the I individual attending from the content of that which he attends”. (58-59)

Isolation of Student: Democracy Isolation in Schools Part III Young argues that under the education system of her time, students and teachers became isolated from their potential as a citizen in a democracy. “The highest type of unification would be that which would send out into the world from the school boys and girls, young men and women, trained to clear thinking, active in their belief in a personal responsibility for the realization of the humanitarian idea underlying the form of government in which the American state is embodied. … For teachers and pupils to become parts of an 'incoherent homogeneity' is for them to lose in their school life that individuality which is the inherent right of every soul.” (92-93)

Walking the Walk Young had many philosophical and heady ideas about education, but she has a very practical side. The role of teachers is heavy in her writing. She sees student learning in its context. In Ethics in the School, Young plays out many of her theories using specific examples of the way teachers interact with their students. She often poses solutions to the problems she brings up like paying teachers more and giving them more freedom. She coedited the Young and Field Literary Reader, a series of texts spanning different grade levels to improve reading. She worked with other teachers and reformers in order to make change. She did not work in isolation. She had no ivory tower. She battled endlessly for raises and better working conditions for teachers, and she often succeeded.

Kelly's Opinion Ella Flagg Young was a strong and intelligent leader. Unfortunately, the five years she worked with Dewey have confined her to footnotes. Despite her 50 years working in the Chicago education system, Young is seldom looked at in her own right. Her philosophy often falls in line with his, but it is also distinctly different because the role of the teacher permeates everything. In fact in “Experimenting with Education: John Dewey and Ella Flagg Young at the University of Chicago,” Ellen Condliffe Lagemann argues that Young influenced Dewey just as much as Dewey influenced her, at least for the time they worked together. However, in my opinion, directly comparing her to Dewey is only pinning her to his shadows even more. She was an educational philosopher and power during the Progressive Era that deserves more than a footnote.

Sources Bain News Service. Ella Flagg Young. N.d. Bain Collection. Library of Congress. Web. 21 Aug (slide 1) Mrs. Ella Flagg Young. N.d. Bain Collection. Library of Congress. Web. 21 Aug (slide 7) Blount, Jackie M. “Ella Flagg Young and the Chicago Schools.” Founding Mothers and Others: Women Educational Leaders During the Progressive Era. Ed. Alan R Sadovnik and Susan F Semel. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, Print. (slide 5, 6) Lagemann, Ellen Condliffe. “Experimenting with Education: John Dewey and Ella Flagg Young at the University of Chicago.” American Journal of Education (1996): JSTOR. Web. 9 July (slide 12) Smith, Joan K. “Ella Flagg Young.” Women educators in the United States, Ed. Maxine Seller. N.p.: Greenwood, Print. (Slide 3, 4) Ella Flagg Young: Portrait of a Leader. Ames, Iowa: Educational Studies, Print. (slide 2)

Sources Part II Young, Ella Flagg. Ethics in the School. Chicago: University of Chicago, Google Book Search. Web. 21 Aug (slide 11) Isolation in the School. Chicago: University of Chicago, Google Book Search. Web. 21 Aug (slide 7, 8, 9, 10)