The School in American Society

The Changing Social Context of Education Norton (34) identified many of the major factors and trends in contemporary society and appraised their educational implications. He dealt with the changed and changing climate of opinion; freedom of thought and scientific inquiry; the advance of technology; technology, manpower, and education; population growth and composition; expansion and centralization of government; centralization and bigness in education; the United States and the international scene; and social change and educational adaptation. A number of studies dealt with values in American culture. Gillin (14) pointed out that anthropologists have made no systematic and comprehensive study of the culture of the United States; anthropological data on our culture have been derived in the main from "community studies" which do not exhibit the total culture adequately. Gillin presented a tentative list of values which he regards as characteristic of our total culture and a list of values which he regards as characteristic of the major regions of the country. Spindler (40) found what he regarded as fundamental shifts in the core values in American culture. On the basis of his own and other studies, he indicated the shifts that are taking place from "traditional values" to "emergent values." The transformation which American culture is undergoing has brought "disjunctions and conflicts" within individuals and between groups. He concluded that the bitter attacks on schools and education and the confusion and conflict within the ranks of educators