Eugene Davenport’s Education for Efficiency

Abstract

Philosophical research into the Smith–Hughes Vocational Education Act of 1917 has primarily centered on the arguments of Social Efficiency and Democracy and Education. Yet, there was a philosopher that stood for a middle ground of this debate, Eugene Davenport (1856–1941). He fought against legislation that betrayed his Education for Efficiency philosophy. Davenport wrote books and pamphlets about a national system of vocational education. Davenport and his Education for Efficiency philosophy was significant in the legislative battles for vocational education and represented an agricultural voice in the educational debates of the day.