Secularization of Public Education

Changes in Focus.

Education had always been linked with religion in Western culture. After World War II, however, educators became more interested in secular issues and concerned themselves with teaching democracy and other sociological ideas. Secularization became widespread, although there was much protest from religious communities. The debate over the role of religion in American education was long-standing, and it was made greater by the impact of the war. Although many American universities have their roots in a particular religious institution, most had become secular by the twentieth century. Curricula in American public schools up through the 1920s usually included Bible study and religious instructional practices that drew objections from progressives. After the war progressives pointed to the success of Fascist indoctrination (such as the Hitler Youth) and the Holocaust to argue that religious instruction was...

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