This chapter examines the perennialist tradition behind Horace Mann and the Common School Movement. It details the rise of normal schools and the development of a common pedagogy and curriculum. It questions exactly how common was common in the public schools, opening up questions regarding the treatment of historically marginalized populations. It concludes with a discussion on the educational legacies of this period and recommendations for further reading.

1. 1.

   Horace Mann, “Introduction”,Common School Journal 3, no. 1 (January 1841), 15.

2. 2.

   William H. McGuffey,The Eclectic Second Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1836), 4–5.

3. 3.

   James Carper and Thomas C. Hunt,The Dissenting Tradition in American Education (New York: Peter Lang, 2007).

4. 4.

   Lawrence Cremin,Republic and the School: Horace Mann on the Education of Free Man (New York: Teacher’s College Press, 1957).

5. 5.

   W.E.B. Dubois,The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches (New York: Dover Books, 1994).

6. 6.

   Charles Glenn,The Myth of the Common School (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1988).

7. 7.

   Colin Greer,The Great School Legend: A Revisionist Interpretation of American Public Education (New York: Basic Books, 1972).

8. 8.

   Floyd P. Jorgenson, “The American Faith in Education.”History of Education Journal 4, no. 1 (1952), 11–17.

9. 9.

   Carl Kaestle,Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society 1780–1860 (New York: Hill and Wang, 1983).

10. 10.

    Christine A. Ogren,The American State Normal School: “An Instrument of Great Good” (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).

11. 11.

    David Roediger,Working Toward Whiteness: How America’s Immigrants Became White, The Strange Journey from Ellis Island to the Suburbs (New York: Basic Books, 2006).

12. 12.

    Booker T. Washington,Up from Slavery: An Autobiography (New York: Dover Books, 1995).

Authors and Affiliations

1. Gillham Hall 5000-C, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA

   Edward Janak

Corresponding author

Correspondence toEdward Janak.

Reprints and permissions

© 2019 The Author(s)

Policies and ethics