Chapter I: Preface

There is a growing conviction among those engaged in training teachers that the History of Education must justify itself. It is believed that, if this subject is to contribute to the professional equipment of the teacher, its material must be selected with reference to his specific needs. Antiquarian interests and encyclopædic completeness are alluring and may in their place prove praiseworthy and valuable, but they do not in themselves supply any definite demand in the training of teachers. The greatest services that the History of Education can perform for the teacher are to impel him to analyze his problems more completely and to throw light upon the school practices with which he is himself concerned. By presenting a series of clear-cut views of past conditions, often in marked contrast to his own, it should make him conscious that the present educational situation has to a large degree been traditionally received, and it should at the same time especially help him to understand the origin and significance of current practices.

In this way a study of the History of Education will disrupt the teacher’s complacent acceptance of the present, and will enable him to reconstruct his ideas in the light of the peculiar conditions out of which the education of his times has sprung. Whenever historical records do not assist in such an analysis and synthesis of present day problems, they may be frankly dismissed from discussion. This conception of the subject, I have myself, with much reluctance, come to accept. My own regard for the classics, philosophy, and general history as college disciplines has caused me to view with apprehension any disposition to curtail their scope. It now seems clear, however, that the modern tendency to emphasize the functional aspects of the History of Education is both necessary and wise. The present work, therefore, is not a mere condensation of my _History of Education in Three Volumes_, but has been very largely re-written from the new angle.

In the first place, I have sought to stress educational institutions and practices, rather than theories that did not find embodiment in the times. This has led to the omission of much that is unessential or more strictly related to philosophy, general history, or literature. For example, even the immortal work of Plato and Aristotle has been epitomized; the entire subject of mysticism and most of scholasticism have been dropped; the masterpieces of such pure theorists as Rabelais, Montaigne, and Mulcaster, are barely mentioned; and the various historical epochs are given only so much detail as may be needed to form a social setting for the educational movements of those periods.

Secondly, it has seemed to me that our present problems in education can best be analyzed through a knowledge of the practices that have developed in modern times. Hence, while this book includes an account of all educational endeavor from the day of primitive man to the present, somewhat more than one-half the material is connected with the last two centuries. Even the attractive period of Hellenic activity and the fascinating stories of monasticism and of chivalry have been reduced to a minimum. But, though most of the changes in the earlier half of the work are in the nature of shortening, or have to do with more immediate connections, some topics, notably the development of commerce and cities (Chapter XI) and the analysis of formal discipline (Chapter XVI), have seemed to be so closely connected with subsequent progress as to deserve more adequate treatment.

Finally, since this book is intended chiefly for teachers in the United States, I have believed it most helpful to give considerable space to the discussion of American education. The account of each educational movement has included at least an attempt to trace its influence upon the content, method, and organization of education in the United States, while three chapters have been devoted exclusively to the rise of educational systems in this country.

My indebtedness for many valuable features in this book is heavy. The idea of an _Outline_, which appears at the beginning of each chapter, was first suggested to me by the _History of Modern Elementary Education_ of Dean S. C. Parker of the College of Education, University of Chicago, although I have adopted a different explanation of its value. Professor Parker also read through the manuscript and sent me a general estimate of it. Professors J. H. Coursault of the University of Missouri, A. J. Jones of the University of Maine, W. H. Kilpatrick of Columbia University, A. R. Mead of Ohio Wesleyan University, and A. L. Suhrie of the West Chester (Pennsylvania) State Normal School, have all read the manuscript through with exceeding care and furnished me with numerous corrections and criticisms, both particular and general. Professor T. H. Briggs of Columbia University suggested a number of improvements in the chapter upon Present Day Tendencies in Education (XXVII). The chapter upon the Educational Influences of the Reformation (XIII) has been relieved of several inaccuracies, and possibly of some Protestant bias, through the assistance of the Rev. Benedict Guldner, S. J., of St. Joseph’s College, and of Brother Denis Edward, F. S. C., President of La Salle College, Philadelphia. I have also, as usual, been greatly aided by my wife, Helen Wadsworth Graves.

F. P. G.

CONTENTS

_PART I_

ANCIENT TIMES

CHAPTER I

PAGE

THE EARLIEST EDUCATION 3

The Value of the History of Education. Its Treatment
in This Book. Primitive Education. Oriental
Education. India: Its Religion and Castes. The Hindu
Education. Effect of the Hindu Education. India as
Typical of the Orient. Jewish Education.

CHAPTER II

THE EDUCATION OF THE GREEKS 11

Progressive Nature of Greek Education. Spartan
Education: Its Aim and Early Stages. Training in
Youth and Manhood: Results. Old Athenian Education:
Its Aim and Early Training. Training for the
Youth. Effect of the Old Athenian Education. Causes
and Character of the New Athenian Education. The
Sophists and Their Training. Their Extreme Individualism.
The Reactionaries and the Mediators. The
Method of Socrates. Plato’s System of Education for
the Three Classes of Society. The Weakness of Plato’s
System. His Influence upon Educational Theory and
Practice. Aristotle’s Ideal State and Education. The
Permanent Value of His Work. The Post-Aristotelian
Schools of Philosophy. The Schools of Rhetoric. The
Hellenic Universities. Extension of Hellenic Culture.

CHAPTER III

THE EDUCATION OF THE ROMANS 32

Roman Education Amalgamated with Greek. Early
Education in Rome. The Absorption of Greek Culture.
The Ludus. Grammar Schools. Rhetorical Schools.
Universities. Subsidization of Education. Decay of
Education. Influence of Roman Education.

CHAPTER IV

THE EDUCATION OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS 42

The Ideals of Early Christianity. Early Christian
Life as an Education. Catechumenal Schools. Amalgamation
of Christianity with Græco-Roman Philosophy.
Catechetical and Episcopal or Cathedral Schools.
Influence of Græco-Roman Culture upon Christianity.
Rise of the Monastic Schools.

_PART II_

THE MIDDLE AGES

CHAPTER V

THE MONASTIC EDUCATION 53

The Middle Ages as a Period of Assimilation and Repression.
The Evolution and Nature of Monasticism.
Benedict’s ‘Rule’ and the Multiplication of Manuscripts.
Amalgamation of Roman and Irish Christianity.
The Organization of the Monastic Schools. The
‘Seven Liberal Arts’ as the Curriculum. The Methods
and Texts. Effect upon Civilization of the Monastic
Schools.

CHAPTER VI

CHARLEMAGNE’S REVIVAL OF EDUCATION 60

Condition of Education in the Eighth Century.
Higher Education at the Palace School. Educational
Improvement in the Monastic, Cathedral, and Parish
Schools. Alcuin’s Educational Work at Tours. Rabanus
Maurus, Erigena, and Others Concerned in the
Revival.

CHAPTER VII

MOSLEM LEARNING AND EDUCATION 65

The Hellenization of Moslemism. Hellenized Moslemism
in Spain. Effect upon Europe of the Moslem
Education.

CHAPTER VIII

EDUCATIONAL TENDENCIES OF SCHOLASTICISM 69

The Nature of Scholasticism. The History of Scholastic
Development. Scholastic Education. Its Value and
Influence.

CHAPTER IX

THE MEDIÆVAL UNIVERSITIES 74

The Rise of Universities. The Foundation of Universities
at Salerno, Bologna, and Paris. Bologna and
Paris as the Models for Other Universities. Privileges
Granted to the Universities. Organization of the Universities.
Course in the Four Faculties. The Methods
of Instruction. Examinations and Degrees. The Value
and Influence of the University Training.

CHAPTER X

THE EDUCATION OF CHIVALRY 83

The Development of Feudalism. The Ideals of Chivalry.
The Three Preparatory Stages of Education.
The Effects of Chivalric Education.

CHAPTER XI

THE BURGHER, GILD, AND CHANTRY SCHOOLS 88

The Rise of Commerce and Industry. Development
of Cities and the Burgher Class. The Gilds and Industrial
Education. Gild Schools. Burgher Schools. Chantry
Schools. Influence of the New Schools.

_PART III_

THE TRANSITION TO MODERN TIMES