A Historical Study of Biology Education in American High Schools: Focusing on the Early Stages of Subject Formation

Abstract

Changes in the aims, objectives, contents of learning, and teaching approaches in American high school biology from the late 19th century to the early 20th century were examined in this study. Typical textbooks and publications of those days, as well as literature concerning historical research of American science education, were used for the analysis. Biology was traditionally thought to have been introduced into the high school curriculum in the early 20th century, however this study clarified that it had already been introduced as a subject much earlier, in the 1880s. It was divided into two sections, based on the above examination. The following points of view which characterize each term were identified: a change in learning objectives from preparation for more advanced learning to preparation for life; a change from two branches of botany and zoology to three branches, with physiology added to them; an increase in content related to the human body and daily life; an addition of new content related to tobacco and alcohol; a change from inductive anatomical experimentation to deductive demonstrative experimentation; and the adoption of seasonal sequences. These changes were interpreted to have been influenced by such factors as development of public health, people’s perception of tobacco and alcohol, the spread of eugenic thought, the academic maturity of biology as a scientific discipline, reports and recommendations from academic societies, relationships between high schools and universities, students’ needs, and school management, among others. Future tasks to extend this research should include an investigation into the process and factors influencing the historical transition of the biology curriculum since 1920.