Historical Foundations of Education Chapter 7
Mar 31, 2015
Historical Foundations of Education
Chapter 7
Historical Lenses
Celebrationist historians…see the brighter side of historical events
Liberal historians…focus on conflict, stress, inconsistencies
Revisionist historians…learn more by studying what has been wrong than what has been right
Postmodernist historians…see history through the unique lenses of social class, race, ethnicity, gender, age
Learning Outcomes
List important early educators in the world Detail major educational accomplishments of
the early Eastern societies Analyze the life of the colonial school teacher Articulate the roles government played in
colonial America Analyze how an understanding of early
American history informs today’s teacher
The beginnings of Education
Informal education…all peoples have cared for their children and prepared them for life
Hindu and Hebrew education…how to live a good life Chinese education…Lao-tszu and Confucius Egyptian education…education provided for
privileged males Eastern civilizations developed education prior to
Western civilizations, for the most part
Western Education
The Age of Pericles (455-431bce), city states in Greece
Sparta, from 8 to 18, boys were wards of the State…education to develop courage, patriotism, obedience, cunning, and physical strength (little intellectual content)
Athens, heavily stressed intellectual and aesthetic objectives
Western world’s first great philosophers
Socrates…the Socratic method: a way of teaching that centers on the use of questions by the teacher to lead students to certain conclusions…Socrates’ fundamental principle, “Knowledge is virtue.”
Plato…Republic recommendations for the ideal society…three classes of people: artisans, soldiers, philosophers
Greek philosophers
Plato… “A good education is that which gives to the body and to the soul all the beauty and all the perfection of which they are capable.”
Aristotle…a person’s most important purpose in life is to serve and improve humankind…Aristotle was scientific, practical, and objective…had the greatest influence on thinking through the Middle Ages
Females and slaves did not possess the intelligence to be educated. (Plato and Aristotle)
All paid employment absorbs and degrades the mind. (Aristotle)
Western Education—The Romans
In 146 BCE the Romans conquered Greece, many of the advances of the Roman Empire inspired by the enslaved Greeks
Between 50 BCE and 200 CE, an entire system of schools developed
Quintilian (35-95 CE) described current practice and recommended the type of system needed in Rome…very humanistic
Education in the Middle Ages (476-1300)
Roman Catholic Church the greatest power in government and education (by 476, the fall of the Roman Empire)
The Dark Ages…earthly life as nothing more than a way to a better life hereafter
Charlemagne (742-814) valued education, and found Alcuin (735-804) and focused on the seven liberal arts (trivium and quadrivium)
The Revival of Learning
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) “more than any other person helped to change the church’s views on learning”…rooted in the ideas of Aristotle, led to the medieval universities, formalized scholasticism (the logical and philosophical study of the beliefs of the church)
The East had no dark ages. Mohammed (569-632) led a group of Arabs from northern Africa into southern Spain…spread slowly throughout Europe, significant advances in science and mathematics
Education in Transition (1300-1700)
Renaissance and Reformation Renaissance represented the protest against
the dogmatic authority of the church over social and intellectual life…revival of classical learning called humanism
Reformation represented a reaction against corruption in the church which kept most people in ignorance
The Reformation
Formal beginning in 1517…ninety-five theses of Martin Luther…his disagreements with the Church
The Church believed its duty was to pass on the correct interpretation of the Bible to the laity…Luther thought each should interpret for self, and thus individual education was important…to attain salvation
Luther’s coworker in education, Philipp Melanchthon, stressed universal elementary education…education should be provided for all regardless of class, compulsory for both sexes…state controlled and state supported
Education in Transition
Ignatius Loyola(1491-1556), to combat the Reformation, began the Jesuits in 1540…established schools to further the goals of the Catholic Church, were involved with teacher training from early on
Comenius (1592-1670),wrote many texts, first to use illustrations, writings based on science
John Locke(1632-1704) tabula rasa
Modern Period (1700 to present)
Descartes(1596-1650), laid the foundations for the modern period and rationalism
Reason is supreme, the laws of nature are invariable, truth can be verified empirically
Frederick the Great (1712-1786), leader of Prussia, friend of Voltaire, interested in better training for teachers
Emergence of the Common Man
A period during which developed the idea that common people should receive at least a basic education as a means to a better life
Rousseau…most important educational work, Emile (1762) about the liberal education of youth…naturalism, education must be natural not artificial “…we ascribe too much importance to words. With our babbling education we make only babblers.” Children are born good but corrupted by society
The Emergence of Common Man
Pestalozzi (1746-1827) Swiss educator who put Rousseau’s theories into practice… educators from all over the world came to view his schools…unlike most teachers of his time, he felt students should be treated with love and kindness
Herbart (1776-1841) studied under Pestalozzi, organized the educational psychology…preparation, presentation, association, generalization, application
Froebel (1782-1852), kindergarten, social development, cultivation of creativity, learning by doing…women best suited to teach young children
Colonial Education
Southern Colonies…in 1619, twelve years after the founding of Jamestown, slaves brought to the South for cheap labor…two distinct classes of people emerged, a few wealthy land owners and many poor workers, mostly slaves…landowners hired tutors to teach their children
Middle Colonies
Various national and religious backgrounds, so they did not agree on a common school system…each established their own religious schools, many received education through apprenticeship
Northern Colonies
Settled mainly by the Puritans People lived close to one another, shipping
ports established, industrial economy developed
Old Deluder Satan Act(1647)…required towns to provide for the education of youth…the Massachusetts laws of 1642 and 1647 became the model for other colonies
Types of Colonial Schools
Dame schools, writing schools, charity schools
Colonial colleges: Harvard (1636), William and Mary (1693), Yale (1701), Princeton(1746), King’s College (1754), College of Philadelphia (1755), Brown (1764), Dartmouth (1769), Queens College (1770)…heavy emphasis on theology and the classics
Toward Universal Elementary Education
Monitorial schools (1805), in New York City, economical way to teach the masses…one lead teacher with lots of helpers among the older and better students…closed by 1840 because seen as not worth the cost
Horace Mann (1796-1859), leading proponent of common elementary schools, the forefather of the contemporary public school
Massachusetts in 1852 passed compulsory attendance laws…by 1900, 32 other states did likewise
Secondary Schools
Latin Grammar Schools…strictly college preparatory, must know Latin and Greek for college admittance
American Academies… Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia among the first to prepare young men for employment through practical studies…an also enrolled women
High Schools…replaced the academies, were financially more in the reach of the masses
Federal Involvement in Education
Northwest Ordinance (1785 and 1787) …encouraged the establishment of schools, set aside the sixteenth section of each township to be used for educational purposes
Morrill Land Grant (1862)…to provide the vocational educated that was needed
Smith-Hughes Act (1917)…high school vocational education
Teaching Materials
Hornbook New England Primer Blue-Backed Speller Slates McGuffey’s Reader