ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the post-war controversy over progressive education, a seed-time for what has become an ongoing crisis over schooling, during what has called the “long fifties.” The post-war educational crisis “dramatically influenced the substance” of educational reforms and developments in the United States. A popular rhetoric of “fear and schooling” transformed the school from a symbol of hope to a symbol of fear in the public imagination. The red scares of the 1920s and 1930s had similar effect, though they wielded little influence over the direction of the curriculum. In the postwar era, a chill settled over discussion of controversial issues, and by the late 1950s, the pendulum in education had swung so that government set a course to ensure an academic curriculum emphasizing disciplinary knowledge. The United States emerged from World War II as an industrial giant and as the unquestioned world leader. The curriculum reform movement that emerged was driven by fears of a perceived external threat.
