Curriculum practice by Merriam at the University of Missouri Elementary School: Focus on the School Studies "Stories"

Abstract

J.L. Meriam was appointed to the University of Missouri in 1904 and guided experiments as the principal of the University of Missouri Elementary School for about 20 years from 1905 to 1924. These experiments were investigated by John Dewey and Evelyn Dewey and subsequently featured in School of Tomorrow. Meriam created a curriculum that is very different from traditional school programs divided into subjects. The curriculum created and implemented by Meriam consisted of four studies: "observation," "play," "stories," and "handwork." Despite the fact that Meriam created a curriculum that excluded traditional subjects in this way, graduates of the University of Missouri Elementary School outperformed public school graduates in terms of their marks and the ages.

However, there is little prior research on Meriam’s experiments. Therefore, clarifying the details of the curriculum implemented by Meriam is an urgent issue. In this study, we elucidated a part of the curriculum focusing on "stories," one of the four studies in the curriculum developed by Meriam. Meriam was aware of the problem in education at the time of many students not attending school. Truant students lived indolent lives outside school, engaging in delinquency.

Many adults also led indolent lives after work, indulging in immoral forms of leisure. In order to break through the current state of society, Meriam needed to teach children how to spend their leisure hoursat school. Meriam focused on reading during a period of leisure. Reading can be enjoyed while also acquiring knowledge from a wide variety of worlds. Reading can also be enjoyed while learning culture. Therefore, Meriam placed "stories" as part of the curriculum with the main purpose of fostering an attitude of reading for enjoyment.

However, without the guidance of a teacher, children only read the type of books they like. Meriamstated that teacher guidance is essential to keep children interested in a wide variety of books. Meriam encouraged children to become interested in a wide variety of books by having the children introduce books to each other.

Through "stories," Meriam sought to achieve character development tomake the children better, happier, and more competent through a school education that helped children to adjust themselves to real life. Then, he positioned the "stories" in the curriculum to broaden the scope of that adjustment. Meriam also emphasized that children should acquire culture through reading during the "stories" time. These efforts by Meriam, attempting to acquire knowledge and culture simultaneously even while being a child- centered curriculum, are surely a valuable example of their time.