Progressive education in microccosm : Knoxville, Tennessee, a case study

The purpose of this study was to determine the nature of pedagogical progressivism as it was manifested in the school system of Knoxville, Tennessee between World War I and World War II. Pedagogical progressivism, as part of the larger progressive education movement, reached its most prominent position of influence in the 1920s and 1930s. The pedagogical aspects of progressive education are defined in the study within the movement's historical and cultural contexts. To determine the extent and form of pedagogical progressivism within Knoxville's school system during the interbellum years, classroom practices in the schools during the interbellum years were examined for evidence of progressive methodology and curriculum.

Major secondary sources in the field of educational history, as well as journal articles and the works of progressive writers from the period, were used to provide a national context for local events. Information about the local social, economic, and cultural context was derived primarily from the two major histories of Knoxville. Primary sources-- superintendent's annual reports, minutes of the board of education, articles from the journal of the state teachers' association, local school material, and interviews with former teachers and students--provided the description of educational changes and pedagogical practices in Knoxville's school system during the interbellum years.

The study determined that pedagogical progressivism as it was manifested in the Knoxville City Schools was of a prescriptive nature and was supported primarily by an elite minority of school administrators and teachers and was most apparent in the wealthier suburbs of the city. Its implementation was limited and shaped by the conservative traditionalism of the dominant Appalachian working class and the lack of a large middle class in Knoxville, the hierarchical organization of the school system, and the lack of trained teachers. The study also revealed sources of support for progressive methodology within the school administration, a minority of the teachers, and in the wealthier suburbs. Its elite nature, however, contributed to its demise when its most important source of support, a general reform movement for improvement of the schools, dissipated at the end of the interbellum decades.