Horace Mann is the author of the Six Principles of Common Education.
In 1838, he began publishing a biweekly journal for teachers called the Common School Journal and gave several speeches to civic organizations. His twelve yearly reports to the board covered a wide variety of pedagogical topics while arguing in favor of public education and outlining its issues.
He concentrated on the issues in public schools in this publication. His main points revolved around six core ideas:
- ignorance and freedom cannot coexist;
- the state must fund the education system to combat ignorance;
- schools must accept students regardless of background;
- a non-sectarian philosophy should be adopted, according to which politics and religion have no bearing on education;
- education must exist in a society that promotes choice and free will, and
- education must be provided by professionally trained teachers.
Mann faced fierce opposition to these ideas, including clergymen who despised nonsectarian schools, teachers who denounced his pedagogy as disrespectful of classroom authority, and politicians who opposed the board as an improper intrusion on local educational authority. Nevertheless, Mann's ideas were eventually won over.
