Please visit http://www.answers.com/topic/horace-mann for the biography of Horace Mann
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*Horace Mann. Answers.com. Biographies, Answers Corporation, 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/horace-mann, accessed November 28, 2012.
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We don't get from here to anywhere we want to go without learning first what is required. In which case, what is required is information , the desire to proceed, the ability to adapt with changing circumstances, and the necessity of means to move forward. Now I don't pretend to be able to manufacture desire in another, in so much as each of us is weighing our own self interest, motivated by moving toward some ideal way of living or away from an unpleasant turn. I have not seen any man or woman yet who would chose to run into a burning building rather than away from it, with the exception of those compelled to douse it.. Although this is exactly what happens when ignorance prevails. Nor have I noticed anyone seeking out water to drink, being so deprived, who would not conjure up some way of acquiring it and devote all of their immediate energies to do so, given the emergency. I don't maintain that I have any sway over the abilities of people as they find themselves to have at their disposal, each of us being unique in upbringing and physical talents. Nor would I say that any Joe or Jane, as family relation, neighbor, or total stranger have had any influence on the decisions made by previous generations regarding their inheritance or current status in society. The great equalizer when it comes to getting on from here successfully, assuming you are not constantly running away from fire or deprived of water, is education. Without it we are all much like balloons that are blown here and there depending upon the wind for guidance, Or like fish (not in schools) who are at the mercy of currents and the rise and fall of tides for their survival. Notice that no one rails against general education, excepting extremists, as no one speaks out against liberty, especially their own, excepting the misinformed. Presently we have religions that forbid education of girls in some parts of the world as a means to limit their participation in society. We have certain political systems with highly educated citizenry being denied access to world opinion, free expression, and dissemination of information. We have new and old regimes holding onto power by brute force. We have vast regions of the world inhabited by people who were excluded from the technological advances of modern times, facing malnutrition if not starvation, difficult access to drinking water, susceptibility to disease, and living no better than people did 500 years ago. And we have increasing numbers of public school students in the most advanced areas allowed to drop out of school, not seeing the advantage or profit in it. Even the wealthiest places are matched tenfold by those without means of advancement or any hope of improvement. Are we leaning forward or turning our backs? The biggest factor in who you are and your lot in life besides your age, race, and sex is where on this earth were you born. And since you didn't have much say in that, the next overriding factor is income, which is highly correlated (depending upon which fish bowl you happen to be swimming in) to education. This blog is about poetry but it is also about aspirations and the advancement of access to books and libraries and archives and news and information and an education network.. The toward those ends, I believe everyone should be acquainted with Horace Mann, known as the father of free public education, and a contributor to our current mandatory secular school system. This is a man who gets married in a bookstore used by the great literary figures of that time., and greatly improves the system of educating teachers.*
Please visit http://www.answers.com/topic/horace-mann for the biography of Horace Mann . *Horace Mann. Answers.com. Biographies, Answers Corporation, 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/horace-mann, accessed November 28, 2012.
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AuthorRon Alan -Maryland, The States Archives
November 2021
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