The Great Contest”

The American Philosophical Society Education Prize of 1795 and the Problem of American Education

Bibliographic Data

ID11366169
AuthorsBlair Justice (0000-0002-5713-9543, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, corresponding author), Benjamin Justice
Year2008
Volume114
Issue2
Pages191-213
Publication date2008-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0195-6744 • E-ISSN: 1549-6511
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/524315
OpenAlexW2155946234
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited28

In 1795 America’s preeminent scholarly organization sponsored a contest for the best essay on education. The two winners have been canonized in the scholarship on early American educational thought. This essay refocuses attention on the great contest itself, not only seeking understanding of the works that it produced but also analyzing its intrinsic significance in American educational thought. While the great contest was a failure in its day, the essays it produced provide evidence of a decided lack of consensus about American education right from the start of the nation. The contest highlights key tensions in American educational research and policy: Should girls be educated the same as boys? Can religion be taught in public schools? Is higher education a right or a privilege? Should policy be made locally or centrally? Is there such a thing as an “American” education? The founding generation could not provide answers, but they did identify the enduring questions

American education · CONTEST · Pedagogy · Political science · Privilege (computing · Scholarship · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Catholicism and Religious Studies · Historical Education Studies Worldwide · Law · Public Administration

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