Horace Mann's Dual-Education System

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The American school system, an old, outdated practice, that has followed the same basic concepts and philosophies since Horace Mann became the Massachusetts Secretary of Education in 1837 (Biography.com). However, some other countries, such as Germany have opted for a less “Factory Style” of education, and have proven worth switching to. The American school system is outdated, ineffective, and should be replaced with a dual-education system. A dual-education system is one in which the trades, woodworking, plumbing, electrician, and many others, are favored equally as well as higher education jobs, such as doctors, engineers, and others (Wymann). This system splits the schooling system at the ninth, and tenth grades, where students can determine if they want to continue to pursue higher education, or if they would rather opt out and go to a trade school. However, even if they go to a trade school, they can still go to university if they decide that is what they want …show more content…
American education forces all children, no matter if they want to do or not, into pursuing higher education, and casts a shadow on the children who drop out because they weren’t cut for higher education. In doing this, the American school system tends to demoralize these children, leading to a higher rate of poverty, dependence on welfare, and involvement in crime (Rumberger). These children, though not cut out for higher education, are far from useless, and dumb. They just aren’t encouraged to find jobs in the trades in America, because these jobs are made out to be jobs for people who are failures. In the dual-system, these jobs are encouraged, because no matter what happens, they will be a steady line of work, and they pay well. This means that in the dual-system, the country will have ample amounts of both jobs from higher education, and jobs from