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The Obedience Factory

A. C. Applebee, L. N. Combe · 2026

Abstract

Modern compulsory schooling traces its structural origins to the Prussian Generallandschulreglement of 1763, a system designed explicitly to produce obedient subjects for the state. Imported to the United States by Horace Mann in 1843 and subsequently adopted worldwide, the Prussian factory model — age-graded classrooms, bell-scheduled periods, teacher-centred instruction, compliance-based assessment — remains the dominant paradigm of public education in 2026. This paper examines the historical origins, structural persistence, and evidentiary basis (or lack thereof) for this model. We review evidence from six domains: (1) the documented history of Prussian state schooling and its American importation; (2) Bryan Caplan’s signalling model of education’s economic returns; (3) Harris Cooper’s meta-analytic evidence on homework; (4) comparative evidence from Finland’s autonomy-based system; (5) experimental and quasi-experimental evidence from Montessori and Reggio Emilia approaches; and (6) the adolescent mental health crisis and its temporal correlation with educational intensification. We further review the Australian NAPLAN regime as a case study in the perverse incentives of standardised testing, and the evidence base for play-based learning as a developmentally appropriate alternative.

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