The emergence of elementary citizenship education: Insights from Iowa’s rural schools, 1910–1935

ABSTRACT

This study examined how U.S. entry into World War I and related pedagogical reforms of the early twentieth century impacted elementary social education at a local level. Analysis of state curriculum guides, records from the collection of a rural school educator, report cards, and daily attendance registers for four counties indicated that elementary citizenship education emerged as a stand-alone subject area in Iowa’s rural schools following World War I. While the “Civics of Iowa” was taught as part of the history curriculum prior to World War I, after the war civics became part of a larger framework for citizenship education. However, at a time of increasing nationalism, Iowa’s rural schools taught citizenship in a way that privileged a local, relational approach centered on the home, school, and community. Findings from the study illustrate how rural schools kept pace with national trends in social education despite not yet embracing the integrated field of “social studies.”

KEYWORDS:

• Citizenship
• Iowa
• rural schools
• social education
• World War I

Acknowledgments

The researchers would like to thank the Center for the History of Rural Iowa Education and Culture (CHRIEC) and especially Nathan Arndt, Assistant Director and Chief Curator, for his time and expertise in navigating the collection. Additionally, the efforts of undergraduate and graduate students who helped pull and reshelve archival material were greatly appreciated.

Notes

1. For the sake of brevity, hereafter these will be referred to as the 1913 guide, 1921 guide, and 1928 guide, respectively.

2. Hutchinson is her maiden name; Jacobs is her married name. For the sake of brevity, we will use Hutchinson throughout the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this research was generously provided by the University of Northern Iowa College of Education Summer Research Fellowship and the University of Northern Iowa Graduate College Summer Research Fellowship.