Alice Miei and Democratic Schooling: An Early Curriculum Leader’s Ideas on Social Learning and Social Studies

Alice Miei and Democratic Schooling: An Early Curriculum Leader's Ideas on Social Learning and Social Studies Elizabeth Anne Yeager University of Florida Alice Miel, a nationally prominent curriculum development scholar-practitioner at Teachers College of Columbia University for some three decades (1942-1971), frequently has been overlooked in research on the nature and evolution of the curriculum field and the progressive education movement. Furthermore, her contributions have been overlooked even as attention to women in the curriculum field and in educational history has risen. This study addresses this oversight. Miel became a leading figure in the curriculum field largely on the basis of her progressive-era advocacy and practice of democratic social learning as a primary goal of schooling in the United States. This study explores major influences on her ideas, her understandings of democratic concepts and principles, and her application of these concepts and principles both in her own college classroom and in her research on childhood education. It also explores Miel's notions of the elementary school social studies :urriculum and situates those notions within the context of the "conventional wisdom" of her day regarding a disciplinecentered curriculum. In a broader context, this study contributes to the body of curriculum history scholarship. According to Kliebard (1992), for example, curriculum history often deals with the relationship between social change and changing ideas and contains significant social and cultural artifacts of knowledge that have become embodied in the curriculum of schools. Davis (1976, 1977) characterizes curriculum history as a reflective enterprise for curriculum workers that contributes to their understanding of present courses of study and of the professional field by lending a framework for thoughtful deliberation of what the schools should teach. With these observations in mind, Miel's work may be understood as both artifact" of curriculum history and as mindful reflection, situated within a particular social and historical context, on democratic meanings and processes. Biographies of Caswell, Taba, Tyler, Schwab, Kilpatrick, Rugg, Bobbitt, Zirbes, Stratemeyer, and others have yielded significant insights. In addition, Seguel's study of early curriculum leaders (1966) constitutes an important theoretical contribution to the field. The study of Miel's life and work adds to this body of knowledge. Major Themes of Miel's Work Several themes emerge readily in Miel's body of work. First, Miel advocated the development of democratic behavior as the ultimate goal of American schooling. Second, she applied theories of social learning and her own ideas about democratic principles and processes to specific areas of the elementary school curriculum, particularly to the social studies. Third, she emphasized that the creation of a democratic social learning environment involved an array of participants, including students themselves, in individual schools and communities. Fourth, she articulated aspects of cooperative learning and other democratic procedures available to teachers. Moreover, as this study shows, Miel's work on democratic social learning was a scholarship of the practical; indeed, practitioners constituted her audience. She did not pigeonhole her work, nor was she narrowly or sharply focused on a single issue or concern. Her work on democratic social learning and the elementary school social studies curriculum clearly exemplified connections and relationships of people, of ideas, and of varied situations. Miel, Democracy, and Democratic Social Learning: Influences Miel never adhered dogmatically to a precise definition of democracy. She believed that, although certain fundamental ideas were embedded in the term, its meaning—like that of curriculum—must be developed and nurtured by people who professed it. She also conceived of democracy as more than a system of government. For her, it was a unique way of living and thinking (Miel interview, 1994). Miel's interpretation of democracy was developed in the context of the Franklin D. Roosevelt era. As a staunch liberal Democrat, she greatly admired Roosevelt throughout her life (Miel interview, 1994). In terms of Miel's understanding of democracy in practice, especially her own opportunities for democratic participation in educational settings, she benefited from her early association with Stuart Education and Culture Fall, 1996 Vol. XIII No. 2 8 ELIZABETH ANNE YEAGER Courtis, professor of educational philosophy at the University of Michigan, and from her experiences in the Ann Arbor (Michigan) public schools with Otto Haisley...