Compulsory Education In Chicago

Before the Hull-House era, the neighboring community of Chicago’s West Side showed an increasing demand for education. Compulsory education was not yet required in Chicago, which made education not a top priority for many families. Hull-House sought to change the corruption in the school system by providing a free alternative learning experience for everyone. Hull-House created programs where both children and adults could learn through different activities, clubs, and events. Not all of those who participated or lived at Hull-House were immigrants; people who were natural-born citizens were also involved in the activities and programs. Many of the program curriculums were centered on the idea of teaching immigrant children aspects of American …show more content…
Americanizing immigrant children was one of the main goals for Chicago schools, so that teachers could teach every student under one curriculum where there was no segregation between English and non-English speakers. The lack of capable teachers to provide a multicultural education was one of the greatest problems in Chicago’s public education system. It was a daunting and almost impossible task for teachers to be able to teach English speakers and non-English speakers in the same environment. In many cases, immigrant children would fall behind, or all of the teachers time would be focused on helping the non-English speaking children; therefore, English speakers were not learning or being challenged because the teachers could not manage the clearly defined segregation in the classroom. During the progressive era, there were severe shortages of teachers who had the capabilities to teach a student who did not speak English. The few teachers who were capable were pushed away from teaching to other professions because of the lack of funding for English language learning classes. Overcrowded schools resulting in deteriorating …show more content…
There were many programs to help immigrants’ transition to American culture. Some of transition programs that were available are as followed: citizenship classes, English language classes, and vocational training. The classes aimed to aid in immigrants adapting, but while fully respecting and preserving their varying cultures. The programs did not aim change people into Americans, but they rather supplemented families with the knowledge of the way of life in America. These were programs that were not available in the public school system, which appealed to many because one could go to Hull-House to learn and to better transition to the new way of life. Hull-House provided many programs for the younger generation. Some of the most popular programs included were a nursery and