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Curriculum overview
The Academy of Philadelphia was founded to provide a classical education
with a modern twist. An advertisement at the time of its opening in January
of 1751 offered teaching in the following areas:
- writing, arithmetic, and mathematics (merchants' accounts, geometry,
algebra, surveying, gauging, navigation, astronomy, drawing in perspective,
and other mathematical sciences)
- natural and mechanical philosophy
- Latin, Greek, English, French and German, history, geography, chronology,
logic and rhetoric
The
curriculum represented a divide between the majority of the trustees and
Benjamin Franklin regarding the nature of the education to be provided.
Because the majority of the board had received classical educations, they
favored a similar curriculum for the new school. Franklin on the other
hand, had a revolutionary idea: he favored an education that stressed
practical skills that would serve students regardless of what line of
work they took up. Thus, Franklin advocated the teaching of all classes
in English, with an emphasis on mathematics and natural philosophy (science).
By the late 1750's William Smith, the first provost, introduced more elements
of classical education, but Franklin's practical curriculum was not abandoned.
Schools and Courses
The Academy and College were broken down into a number of smaller units
that the trustees called "schools." The trustees used the word
"school" to refer to a specific teacher (master), his assistants
(tutors or ushers), his classroom, and the curriculum taught in the room.
Academy students enrolled in one school at a time: the English School,
Mathematics School or Latin School. College
students were enrolled in the Philosophical School.
Additional instruction was often provided in the various schools as was
seen fit. In accord with Franklin's interest in the teaching of modern
languages, John Mathias Cramer was hired to teach French and German from
1753 to 1755; but after that the trustees saw no need to employ such a
teacher. Writing masters were found in various schools; for example, the
Trustees minutes record the employment of Constable and Donaldson in 1755,
and Hugh Williamson in the Latin School only in 1756.
- "English School"
Franklin's idea of an "English School" curriculum formed
the basis of this school into the Revolutionary era. The curriculum,
as laid out by Franklin in his "Idea
of the English School, Sketch'd out for the Consideration of the Trustees
of the Philadelphia Academy," progressed as follows:
- First (or lowest) Class - English grammar; spelling,
reading Croxall's Fables and little stories
- Second Class - Reading, with proper emphasis
and modulation; Spectator recommended; meaning of sentences; grammar
- Third Class - Speaking properly and gracefully;
elements of rhetoric; "Rollin's Ancient and Roman Histories"
and English history used as readers; "natural and mechanic
history," as in Spectacle de la Nature
- Fourth Class - Composition, boys to write letters
to one another, penmanship, ethics, history, geography, use of maps
and globes
- Fifth Class - Letter writing, essays in prose
and verse, logic
-
Sixth (or highest) Class - History, rhetoric,
logic, moral and natural philosophy - all these continued; reading
and explaining the best English authors, as Tillotson, Milton,
Locke, Addison, Pope, Swift, "the higher papers in the Spectator
and Guardian," and "the best translations of Homer,
Virgil and Horace, of Telemachus, Travels of Cyrus, etc.
William
Smith's 1762 Account of College, Academy and Charitable School
provides a glimpse into the evolution of this curriculum. After the
University of the State of Pennsylvania
was created in 1779, the contents of the curriculum remained essentially
the same; however, the classes were renamed so that the highest class
became the "First" class.
- Mathematical School
The
Mathematical School was prominent for a number of reasons. During
Penn's early years, the combination of Enlightenment thought and the
practical needs of colonial life led to considerable public interest
in both pure and applied mathematics. The Mathematics School's stress
on practical studies certainly measured up favorably when held to
Benjamin Franklin's yardstick of utility. Many students whose education
would not include College were interested in practical mathematical
skills to prepare them for careers as surveyors, navigators, clerks,
mechanics and bankers. The trustees' were able to attract a number
of excellent mathematical masters, beginning with Theophilus
Grew.
In general, the curriculum included arithmetic, merchants' accounts,
geometry, algebra, surveying, gauging, navigation, astronomy, and
drawing in perspective. Theophilus
Grew's 1753 textbook for his students in the Academy described
four levels to be taught:
After the establishment of the College, mathematics became an important
part of the College curriculum - inWilliam
Smith's natural philosophy, Ebenezer
Kinnersley's interest in electricity, and David
Rittenhouse's genius for applied mathematics. There are some indications,
after the first decade, of a narrowing of the range of mathematics
taught in the Academy's Mathematical School. Grew himself was promoted
to a professorship in the College, and the curriculum of the Mathematical
School focused more and more on basic arithmetic and writing skills.
- Latin School (also known as the Grammar School)
Until
the formation of the College in 1755, our knowledge of the Latin School
curriculum is not specific, but it is certain that Latin School masters
were hired on the basis of their ability to teach Latin and Greek
languages, history, geography, chronology, and rhetoric as well as
speaking, writing and understanding of English. Francis
Alison also probably taught arithmetic, Euclid's elements, practical
branches of mathematics and logic, and moral philosophy.
After the 1755 formation of the College, the Latin School became
the preparatory school for the College. By 1762, Provost William
Smith included the Latin School as part of the College, but attendance
in this school did not lead to a college degree. Boys in the Latin
school were the same age as the boys in the English School, but had
already learned the rudiments of English and arithmetic. The liberal
arts curriculum of the Latin School prepared them for entrance into
the College. In effect, the Latin School was a connecting link between
the Academy and the College.
In
1762 William Smith described four levels in the Latin and Greek School:
- First form or stage - included grammar and conjugation,
vocabulary, and beginning of writing in Latin. Readings were Senentiae
Pueriles, Cordery, Aesop and Erasmus. English writing, reading and
speaking were continued as well.
- Second stage - included Latin grammar, exercises
and writing. Readings were Selectae e veteri Testamento, Selectae
e Profanis Auctoribus, Eurtopius, Nepos, and Metamorphosis.
- Third stage - included geography and chronology
as well as exercises and writing. Readings were Metamorphosis (cont.),
Virgil with Parsody, Caesar's Comment, Sallust, Greek Testament.
-
Fourth stage - included review of Virgil, reading
of Horace, Terence, Livy, Lucian, and the beginning of Xenophon
or Homer.
The content and progression of classical studies continued much the
same into the 1790s. A handwritten summary
of the curriculum (shown above) and the weekly course schedule
(shown at the right) for the Latin School break the same readings
and skills into seven rather than four stages, but the end result
is the same. Grammar progressed from simple to complex grammar, with
Greek being added in the last two stages. Readings began with Aesop's
fables and eventually included Ovid, Caesar and Virgil. Writing was
included at each stage.
For a student's view of the Academy School, see the memoirs
of Alexander Graydon, who entered the Academy in 1760 and left
in September of 1766, at the age of fourteen.
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