Teaching and Learning in East Lyme

Hello everyone! This is the second and concluding part to our schools/education topic.

Living in these COVID times, education has had to greatly adapt to fit the demands of unexpected circumstances. I have aspired to be a teacher for a long time, so ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been fascinated by the education process. I have aspired to be a teacher for a long time, so I have been doing a lot of reflection on education and its importance, especially now when education as we know it has faced challenges.

I am so excited to share what I have learned regarding education in East Lyme over the years. For this entry, I referenced a very interesting 1916 report on East Lyme’s educational history written by Leon Mundall Forrin.

As touched upon in our last entry, before 1897, there were many different school districts in town, as each neighborhood managed its own school. This proved ineffective. With no common standards for success, untrained teachers were hired, the schoolhouses were in poor condition, and attendance was low. Essentially, there was very little public interest in school.

By 1916, however, East Lyme schools consolidated, and the state began to play a role in supervising and overseeing the education system. They instituted standards and training for all teachers. The women had to graduate from normal or two year universities, and the men (who only taught at the high school), had to be college graduates.

I found it interesting when I read that in 1915, teachers did not stay in East Lyme long, because once they had more experience, they went to larger schools with higher salaries. Nowadays, it is not uncommon for our teachers to be residents of East Lyme, even alumni.

Additionally, school supervisors and even state inspectors began to visit and evaluate schools. This is a common practice now. At least once a year, I see my school principal come in to observe one of my classes, and I do see supervisors from our town come in once in a while. I have even seen officials from schools across the world, such as China or France, come to visit our school and observe our education. It appears that evaluation of schools has become a necessary practice, but at the same time, we do not have state inspectors coming in everyday. Our education system has progressed so much that I believe there is now a necessary level of trust between state and district.

Speaking of which, I found it interesting that teachers seemed happy to have a curriculum entirely planned out for them by the state in 1916. This certainly set important educational standards for children across the board, so that no matter which school you went to, you were guaranteed the same learning experience. However, I have talked to my teachers who wish for a bit more freedom in the curriculum, especially once you reach high school level classes and some classes’ content are controlled by international companies such as the College Board.

Elementary and middle school teachers seem to have a bit more freedom to adapt to their students’ needs, which I believe is so necessary. As Forrin said in 1916, “there is the closest cooperation between teachers and students.”

In that quote, Forrin was actually referring to discipline in schools. He mentioned the use of corporal punishment such as flogging, which I found interesting considering that would never be allowed in today’s East Lyme schools. However, Forrin’s point was that that type of punishment was rarely used, as students were mostly well behaved, and when they weren’t, there was a mutual respect between teacher and student so that verbal warnings or conversations could happen. I believe that this has remained true, and it speaks highly of our schools that we do not rely on punishment to drive success, but instead, we instill good behavior and values.

In contrast to the 9 one-room schoolhouses East Lyme once had, by 1916 there were two larger schoolhouses, both of which we discussed in our last article: the Flanders School and the Niantic School. This was possible due to the transportation that began to be provided after more public involvement/interest was taken in schooling.

As we can see, a common theme of East Lyme’s educational past is our dedication to progress in the school system. In 1869, the population of East Lyme was 1,506, and 214 children on average attended school. The total expense for them in that year was $2,338. Teachers’ wages were $1,975 for that year. By 1910, however, population was 1,916, average school attendance was 227, and total expenses were $6,417. Teachers’ wages rose to $4,400. As demand grew, East Lyme met it. East Lyme seems to have always put much money into its schools, which is why, as Forrin said, “Private schools are not necessary, for the town furnishes suitable education for her pupils.”

In a time where people question if public schools should be replaced with private schools, or if in-person schooling should be replaced with virtual school, I believe that looking back on our history can give us some guidance to these questions. I believe we have invested so much money into public, in-person schools for good reason. Part of learning is the genuine connections students make with each other and their teachers, and public schools allow for more diverse connections to be made. I hope that whatever changes are made, we continue to inspire students to go out into the world and make a difference. That kind of inspiration all starts with East Lyme and Salem students learning from their teachers, whether in a small, one-room classroom, a middle school with kivas, or our current attempts via platforms such as Zoom to replicate that essential face to face interaction and insightful discussion.