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Modernization

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Benjamin Ghise Modernization

Industrialism is one of the biggest advances in American history yet, considering that the evolution of American economy is intertwined with massive transformation in American values and culture. These changes in values and culture are referred to as modernization. Modernization is responsible for changing traditional ways that are part of the basis of how we live in today’s modern world. It allowed people to feel free to think, express themselves, make choices, and ultimately improve the individual’s way of life. The major changes from modernization were changes in education, emancipated women, modernism in religion, and transformations in leisure. Modernization in education began with two major changes to traditional education. They were setting for changes in formal education, which took place mainly in schools, and then privately organized lectures and institutes began to reach more people, mostly adults. There was an increase in public school attendance, but students were going to just get enough skills that would qualify them for the white-collar jobs that were up and coming. Some families would urge their kids to further their education beyond elementary school, so they could have greater option and choice in the future. Teachers also had a wider range of personal experiences, allowing students to break away from just learning about their own cultural traditions, and therefore allowing them to help them take part in a larger world of human thought and imagination. The next great step in modernization is the step toward greater autonomy for women. Omen making was the generally accepted position of women before this time, along with schoolteachers, since these were the socially accepted positions for women. Women were the ones in schools that played a major role in upgrading teacher education by organizing

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