A Comparative Study of Benjamin Franklin's and Noah Webster's Thoughts on English Education
In the late colonial and early national period,an important time for the transformation of American society,many famous people regarded education as important national and social affairs and took it as a means to realize their ideals of reform,among whom Benjamin Franklin and Noah Webster are prominent two.They not only share many similarities in spiritual quality,but also have obvious internal relations in their English education thoughts.They both reinvented English education by promoting the spelling reform of English language and further promoted the diffusion of knowledge and the shaping of morality by reforming English education.Their ideas of English education,on the one hand,were rooted in the cultural traditions and religious ethics of Britain and the colonies,inheriting and maintaining the traditional values.On the other hand,they broke with tradition and religion and embodied the secular and modern characteristics.The historical background of the American Revolution and the changes of the times also led to some differences in their ideas of English education.Franklin's concern about English education mainly stems from the perspective of the rising middle class,which is more manifested as"abandoning the past",aiming to use English education to popularize modern culture and knowledge and secular morality,so as to open up a channel for the promotion of the social status of the middle class.Whereas,Webster's focus on English education was mainly from the perspective of the state and the nation,and more manifested as"abandoning the British",using the American style of English education to popularize the knowledge of the United States and the virtues of the republic,creating conditions for the long-term stability of the new country.A comparative study of Franklin's and Webster's thoughts on English education not only helps to accurately grasp the basic characteristics of and the internal relations between the two,but also provides important clues for exploring the process of English education reform in the late colonial and early national America.Furthermore,it reflects an important aspect of the historical transformation process from the traditional Puritan British American colonies to a modern,secular and independent United States of America.
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