Maxwell, William H.

William H. Maxwell (1852–1920), an Irish immigrant, rose to become city superintendent of schools, greater New York, in 1898. He arrived in the United States at the age of 22 and found work as a journalist with various New York City newspapers. As a reporter and later as managing editor of the Brooklyn Times, he developed an interest and concern for public education. Maxwell then taught briefly in evening high schools and in 1882 was elected associate superintendent of Brooklyn schools.

For the next quarter of a century, Maxwell served as a big-city superintendent in Brooklyn and New York City. He was of a generation of educators who combined leadership with both scholarship and public service. In his annual reports and presentations to the National Educational Association, he wrote about all aspects of school and district leadership. Among the many reforms he helped introduce to New York City's schools were the need for kindergartens; summer schools; physical education; elective courses, including music, singing, and cooking; teaching reforms in reading and writing; responsibilities of principals; pupil progression; teacher and administrative certification; remedial education; special education; school lunch program; the efficient use of school facilities; and a professional code of ethics.

Maxwell fought against the lack of adequate funding and corruption that permitted political bosses to hire teachers. He sought to hire better trained teachers, selected for their qualifications. He argued vigorously against scientific management (i.e., the cult of efficiency) and its excessive demands for data-driven decisions that turned teachers into bookkeepers. He opposed teaching that was dull, mechanical, routine, and where the child was burdened with a load of matter to be memorized at home—long lists of names without meanings or words without connections. He feared that principals were turning teachers into machines by demanding that they do everything exactly as prescribed. Maxwell called on superintendents to step in and secure to the classroom teacher that reasonable liberty of thought and action. According to the historian Raymond Callahan, few educational leaders of this time dared to speak out as vociferously as Maxwell did against big business and local politicians and the direction being taken by school leadership.

Maxwell attributed weaknesses in curriculum and instruction to two factors: (1) teachers were not as well educated or trained in pedagogy as they should be and (2) in the absence of interesting subject matter, teachers required students to memorize dry and useless details in order to fill up the prescribed school day. In contrast, Maxwell proposed curricula based on children having a progressive knowledge of the outside world. His emphases were on real-life experiences, solving problems, and invention. He also pushed for subject matter to be taught thematically. As for principals, they should use their entire time during school hours to inspect and supervise teaching and do all of their record keeping outside of the regular school day.

Although Maxwell did not succeed in every aspect of his reform agenda, he was successful not only in changing the physical structures of schools to include fine architecture and roof playgrounds but also in addressing what he perceived to be the evils of poverty in which so many of the immigrant children lived.

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