Patriotic Education in America during the Last Years of World War I

Abstract

  ʻWar and educationʼ appears to be one of the most significant subjects even today. Since the Japanʼs surrender in 1945, educators in Japan have repeatedly been reminding us of the theme, referring to the militarist education during the Asia-Pacific War. In line with their constant efforts, I would also like to approach the theme from a slightly different angle. In this article, I focus on the patriotic education in America during the last years of World War I, believing that unless we know how education in the United States was reorganized during wartime, we cannot fully grasp the impact of war on education.

  In 1918, School Life, a magazine for educators, was first published. It was a sort of a bulletin cooperated with the U.S. Office of Education, and from the very first issue onwards, articles with a wartime theme were prominent. In the same year, a publisher in Chicago compiled an English textbook called The Spirit of Democracy, the purpose of which was, as mentioned in the preface, “to give their pupils the prose and verse certain to make them more loyal and intelligent patriots.” In spite of the nationwide appraisal of the “spirit of democracy,” however, racial prejudice never went away.

  In terms of the subject, it should be noted that this paper is a sort of introduction to my article ʻEducation in Wartime Americaʼ published in the previous issue of English Usage and Style.