Virtual Commons - Bridgewater State University

"The Sons of Bridgewater"

Effective teacher training and preparation is widely recognized as key in raising student achievement. The normal school movement was one of the first concrete approaches to the preparation and training of public school teachers in the nineteenth century in the United States. The influence of the vision of teaching and learning of Nicholas Tillinghast, the first principal of Bridgewater State Normal School between 1840 and 1853, and of the “sons of Bridgewater,” students of Tillinghast who became normal school principals across the United States is notable. The struggles and challenges of educators, specifically school administrators in the nineteenth century were unique in particular ways. Tillinghast and his followers were subject to political, economic, social, and philosophical discord that influenced and confounded their ability to thoroughly prepare future teachers, and thus impacted the education of the nineteenth century American public school student. Sadly, but clearly, the echo and lack of resolution regarding similar issues remain with us in the twenty-first century. The normal schools, which were regionally influenced as they were established across the United States, were an unrecognized, yet significant factor in the evolution of teacher education programs. This paper will examine the work of Nicholas Tillinghast and the sons of Bridgewater, their significant impact on the spread and evolution of the normal school movement, and the important role they played in professionalization of teaching.