Historical Foundations of Education

Chapter 7

Historical Lenses

Celebrationist historianssee the brighter side of

historical events
Liberal historiansfocus on conflict, stress,
inconsistencies
Revisionist historianslearn more by studying what
has been wrong than what has been right
Postmodernist historianssee 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 todays teacher

The beginnings of Education

Informal educationall peoples have cared for their

children and prepared them for life
Hindu and Hebrew educationhow to live a good life
Chinese educationLao-tszu and Confucius
Egyptian educationeducation 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
Stateeducation to develop courage,
patriotism, obedience, cunning, and physical
strength (little intellectual content)
Athens, heavily stressed intellectual and
aesthetic objectives

Western worlds first great

philosophers
Socratesthe

Socratic method: a way of

teaching that centers on the use of questions
by the teacher to lead students to certain
conclusionsSocrates fundamental
principle, Knowledge is virtue.
PlatoRepublic recommendations for the
ideal societythree 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.
Aristotlea persons most important purpose in life
is to serve and improve humankindAristotle was
scientific, practical, and objectivehad 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 EducationThe 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 Romevery 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 Agesearthly 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 churchs views on
learningrooted 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 Spainspread 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 liferevival 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 1517ninety-five theses of Martin

Lutherhis disagreements with the Church
The Church believed its duty was to pass on the correct
interpretation of the Bible to the laityLuther thought each
should interpret for self, and thus individual education was
importantto attain salvation
Luthers coworker in education, Philipp Melanchthon, stressed
universal elementary educationeducation should be provided
for all regardless of class, compulsory for both sexesstate
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
Rousseaumost 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

Rousseaus theories into practice educators from
all over the world came to view his schoolsunlike
most teachers of his time, he felt students should be
treated with love and kindness
Herbart (1776-1841) studied under Pestalozzi,
organized the educational psychologypreparation,
presentation, association, generalization, application
Froebel (1782-1852), kindergarten, social
development, cultivation of creativity, learning by
doingwomen best suited to teach young children

Colonial Education
Southern

Coloniesin 1619, twelve years

after the founding of Jamestown, slaves
brought to the South for cheap labortwo
distinct classes of people emerged, a few
wealthy land owners and many poor workers,
mostly slaveslandowners hired tutors to
teach their children

Middle Colonies
Various

national and religious backgrounds,

so they did not agree on a common school
systemeach 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), Kings 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 massesone lead
teacher with lots of helpers among the older and
better studentsclosed 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 lawsby 1900, 32 other states did
likewise

Secondary Schools

Latin Grammar Schoolsstrictly 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 studiesan also
enrolled women
High Schoolsreplaced 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
McGuffeys Reader