1.+The+Setting

“In an era when there was a heightened perception of a world in the making, one in which older values were disintegrating and new ones emerging to take their place, (those) [the] status aspirations and frustrations [of the main interest groups] became all the more acute and urgent.” (Kliebard, 2004, p. 289) @http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/The_galaxy
 * It is the time between 1893 and 1958 – the end of a century and the turbulent beginning of a new one that will impact American society. Structures and values that have been taken for granted and provided security and stability for a long time will be reshuffled. The world is in an upheaval, leaving the future uncertain. A series of devastating events such as two world wars and the Great Depression will carry tragedy and loss to homes across America. Advances in technology, which further speed up industrialization, bring along the emergence of mass transportation and mass communication. New mobility and job opportunities in fast growing urban centers break the chains that held together extended families for centuries. As social and economic ills such as rising unemployment rates, high numbers of school dropouts and a loss in international competitiveness of the American economy, emerge, the people are looking for new leaders, turning more and more towards educators and schools. Propagated by various leaders and their disciples, suddenly the curriculum is seen as a potential remedy to all maladies. A hope spreads like wildfire that with the teaching of the right subjects, the next generation will not just be prepared for life but save the future of the American people. But what is the right curriculum? Each of the main interest groups will claim to hold the key to the answer. And so the struggle begins… **

 “Behind the words and actions of the leaders of the interest groups lay the hopes and fears of millions of Americans who were troubled by an uncertain world and who found a certain promise and comfort in ideas about how the curriculum should be redesigned.” (Kliebard, 2004, p. 291) NEXT