Historical Foundations of

Education
Mr. Mark Steven A. Pandan
Faculty, HNU CoEd
References

• Ornstein, A. C., & Levine, D. U. (2008). Foundations of Education.

Houghton Mifflin Company.
• Alastre-Dizon, (). Foundations of Education. PNU LET Reviewer:
Professional Education.
Historical Foundations of Education

• World Roots
• Key Periods in Educational History
• Major Educational Theorists, to CE 1600
• Pioneers of Modern Teaching
• Education in the Philippines
Bases of Comparison

• Historical Group or Period

• Educational Goals
• Students
• Instructional Methods
• Curriculum
• Agents
• Influences on Modern Education
Key Periods in Educational History

World Roots, Section 1

Periods

• Early
• Medieval
• Modern
Early Conceptions of Education

1. Primitive Education - Education for Conformity

• Aims: To survive and to conform to the tribe to which they belong
• Contents: Practical and Theoretical Education
• Methods: Tell me and show me, trial and error, enculturation,
indoctrination
• Proponents: Primitives
Preliterate societies 7000 BCE–Students To
teach group survival skills and 5000 BCE

• To teach group survival skills and group cohesiveness

• Children in the group
• Informal instruction children imitating adult skills and values
• Survival skills of hunting, fishing, food gathering; stories, myths,
songs, poems, dances
• Parents, tribal elders, and priests
• Emphasis on informal education to transmit skills and values
Early Conceptions of Education

1.2. Oriental Education - Education for the Preservation of Social

Stability
• Aims: To impress traditional ideas and customs in order in maintain
and perpetuate the long established social order
• Contents: Moral and Theoretical TrainingMethods: imitation,
memorization
• Proponents: Orientals (Chinese, Indians, Egyptians)
China 3000 BCE-CE 1900

• To prepare elite officials to govern the empire according to

Confucian principles
• Males of gentry class
• Memorization and recitatation of classic texts
• Confucian classics
• Government officials
• Written examinations for civil service and other professions
Confucius 551-478 BCE (Chinese)

• Developed ethical system based on hierarchical ordering of human

relationships and roles; emphasized order and stability through
subordination.
• Human beings need the order of a highly stable society in which
people accept the duties that come with their station in life
• Education prepares people for their sociopolitical roles by cultivating
reverence for ancestors and traditions; curriculum of ancient Chinese
classics and Confucius’ Analects; highly selective examinations.
• Confucianist ethics shaped Chinese culture for centuries, creating a
value system of enduring importance.
Egypt 3000 BCE-300 BCE

• To prepare priest-scribes to administer the empire

• Males of upper classes
• Memorizing and copying dictated texts
• Religious or technical texts
• Priests and scribes
• Restriction of educational controls and services to a priestly elite;
use of education to prepare bureaucracies
Judaic 1200 BCE to present

• To transmit Jewish religion and cultural identity

• Children and adults in the group
• Listening to, memorizing, reciting, analyzing, and debating sacred
texts; reading and writing for literacy
• The Torah, laws, rituals, and commentaries
• Parents, priests, scribes, and rabbis
• Concepts of monotheism and a covenant between God and
humanity; religious observance and maintaining cultural identity.
Early Conceptions of Education

1.3. Greek Education - Education for the Development of Individuality

• Aims: To promote individual success and welfare through the harmonious development
of the various aspects of human personality
• Spartan: To develop a good soldier in each citizen
• Athenian: To perfect man (body and mind) for individual excellence nended for public usefulness
• Contents:
• Spartan- Military and physical training
• Athenians- Liberal education
• Methods:
• Athenian- Principle of individuality
• Spartan- Competition and rivalry
• Proponents: Greeks
Greek 1600 BCE-300 BCE

• Athens: To cultivate civic responsibility and identification with city-

state and to develop well-rounded persons
• Male children of citizens; ages 7-20
• Drill, memorization, recitation in primary schools; lecture,
discussion, and dialogue in higher schools
• Athens: reading, writing, arithmetic, drama, music, physical
education, litera- ture, poetry
• Athens: private teachers and schools, Sophists, philosophers
• Athens: the concept of the well- rounded, liberally educated person
Socrates 469-399 BCE (Greek)

• Social and educational iconoclast; tended toward philosophical

idealism and political conservatism
• Human beings can define themselves by rational self-examination
• Use of probing intellectual dialogue to answer basic human
concerns; education should cultivate moral excellence.
• Socratic dialogue as a teaching method; teacher as a role model
Plato 427-346 BCE (Greek)

• Philosophical idealist; socio-political conservative.

• Human beings can be classified on the basis of their intellectual
capabilities.
• Reminiscence of latent ideas; music, gymnastics, geometry,
astronomy, basic literary skills; philosophy for ruling elite of
philosopher-kings.
• Use of schools for sorting students according to intellectual
abilities; education tied to civic (political) purposes.
Aristotle 384-322 BCE (Greek)

• Philosophical realist; view of society, politics, and education based

on classical realism.
• Human beings have the power of rationality, which should guide
their conduct
• Objective and scientific emphasis; basic literary skills,
mathematics, natural and physical sciences, philosophy
• Emphasis on liberally educated, well-rounded person; importance
of reason
Isocrates 436-388 BCE (Greek)

• Rhetorician; oratorical education in service of self and society

• Humans have the power to use speech (discourse) for social and
political improvement.
• Rhetorical studies; basic literary skills; politics, history, rhetoric,
declamation, public speaking
• Use of knowledge in public affairs and in political leadership;
teacher education has both content and practice dimensions.
Greek 1600 BCE-300 BCE

• Sparta: to train soldiers and military leaders

• Male children of citizens; ages 7-20
• Drill, memorization, recitation in primary schools; lecture,
discussion, and dialogue in higher schools
• Sparta: drill, military songs, and tactics
• Sparta: military officers
• Sparta: the concept of serving the military state
Early Conceptions of Education

1.4. Roman Education - Education for Utilitarianism

• Aim: lo educate the Roman youth for realizing national ideals
• Content: Physical training (martial arts, use of war weapons)
• Methods:
• Elementary—memorization, imitation
• Secondary—literary exercises, intensive drill on speech, grammar
• Proponents: Greeks
Roman 750 ВСЕ-СЕ 450

• To develop civic responsibility for republic and then empire; to

develop administrative and military skills
• Male children of citizens; ages 7-20
• Drill, memorization, and recitation in primary schools; declamation
in rhetorical schools
• Reading, writing, arithmetic, Laws of Twelve Tables, law, philosophy
• Private schools and teachers; schools of rhetoric
• Emphasis on education for practical administrative skills; relating
education to civic responsibility
Quintilian CE 35-95 (Roman)

• Rhetorician; oratory for personal gain and public service

• Certain individuals have the capacity for leadership, based on
their disposition, liberal knowledge, and oratorical skill.
• Basic literary skills; grammar, history, literature, drama,
philosophy, public speaking, law.
• Role of motivation in learning; recognition of individual
differences
Medieval Conceptions of Education

2.1. Christianity - Education for Humanitarianism

• Aim: To develop socially responsible individuals who possess all the
virtons of brotherly love
2.2. Monasticism - Education as Spiritual Discipline/ Moral Discipline
• Aim: To achieve eternal salvation
2.3. Scholasticism-Education as Intellectual Discipline
• Aim: To support the doctrine of the church by rational argument
Medieval Conceptions of Education

2.4. Chivalric – Education as Social Discipline

Aims: Training for a life of high ideals/standards
Training for knighthood centered on the rudiments of love, war, and
religion
2.5. Guild
• Aim: Prepare children for the requisites of commerce and industry
2.6. Saracenic Education
• Aim: Application of scientific facts to the affairs of daily life
Arabic CE 700-CE 1350

• To cultivate religious commitment to Islamic beliefs; to develop

expertise in mathematics, medicine, and science
• Male children of upper classes; ages 7-20
• Drill, memorization, and recitation in lower schools; imitation and
discussion in higher schools
• Reading, writing, mathematics, religious literature, scientific studies
• Mosques; court schools
• Arabic numerals and computation; reentry of classical materials on
science and medicine
Medieval CE 500-CE 1400

• To develop religious commitment, knowledge, and ritual; to prepare persons for

appropriate roles in a hierarchical society
• Male children of upper classes or those entering religious life; girls and young women
entering religious communities; ages 7-20
• Drill, memorization, recitation, chanting in lower schools; textual analysis and
disputation in universities and in higher schools
• Reading, writing, arithmetic, liberal arts; philosophy, theology; crafts; military
tactics and chivalry
• Parish, chantry, and cathedral schools; universities; apprenticeship; knighthood
• Established structure, content, and organization of universities as major institutions
of higher education; the institutionalization and preservation of knowledge
Hildegard of Bingen 1098-1179 (German)

• Medieval abbess; Christian spirituality and natural medical

science.
• Human beings need spiritual development and natural knowledge
• Women should have a multidimensional education in religion,
nature studies, and music.
• Teacher as mentor and guide to the individual’s spiritual, natural,
and moral development.
Aquinas CE 1225-1274 (Italian medieval
theologian)

• Christian theology and Aristotelian (realist) philosophy.

• Human beings possess both a spiritual nature (soul) and a physical
nature (body)
• Education should be based on human nature, with appropriate
studies for both spiritual and physical dimensions.
• Teacher as moral agent; education related to universal theological
goals; synthesis of the theological and philosophical; basis of
philosophy used in Roman Catholic schools
Renaissance CE 1350-CE 1500

• To cultivate humanist experts in the classics (Greek and Latin); to

prepare courtiers for service to dynastic leaders
• Male children of aristocracy and upper classes; ages 7-20
• Memorization, translation, and analysis of Greek and Roman classics
• Latin, Greek, classical literature, poetry, art
• Classical humanist educators and schools such as the lycée,
gymnasium, and Latin school
• An emphasis on literary knowledge, excellence, and style as
expressed in classical literature; a two-track system of schools
Erasmus CE 1465-1536 (Dutch Renaissance
humanist)

• Christian orientation; the educator as social and intellectual critic.

• Human beings are capable of profound achievements but also of
great stupidity.
• Education for a literary elite that stressed criticism and analysis
• Role of secondary and higher education in literary and social
criticism; emphasis on critical thinking
Modern Conceptions of Education

3.1. Reformation
• Aim: Religious moralism
• Content: Physical education, Character education, Math, History,
Science
• Methods: Memorization, religious indoctrination
• Proponent: Martin Luther
Reformation CE 1500-CE 1600

• To instill commitment to a particular religious denomination; to cultivate general

literacy
• Boys and girls ages 7-12 in vernacular schools; young men ages 7-12 of upper-class
backgrc 80/556 u schools
• Memorization, drill, indoctrination, catechetical instruction in vernacular schools;
translation and analysis of classical litera- ture in humanist schools
• Reading, writing, arithmetic, catechism, religious concepts and ritual; Latin and Greek;
theology
• Vernacular elementary schools for the masses; classical schools for the upper classes
• A commitment to universal education to provide literacy to the masses; the origins of
school systems with supervi- sion to ensure doctrinal conformity; the dual-track school
system based on socioeconomic class and career goals
Luther CE 1483-1546 (German Protestant)

• Protestant theological orientation; salvation by faith and individual

conscience
• Human beings are saved by faith; individual conscience shaped by
scripture and Reformed theology
• Elementary schools to teach reading, writing, arithmetic, religion;
secondary schools to prepare leaders by offering classics, Latin,
Greek, and religion; vocational training
• Emphasis on universal literacy; schools to stress religious values,
vocational skills, knowledge; close relationship of religion,
schooling, and the state.
Modern Conceptions of Education

3.2. Counter-Reformation
• Aim: Religious moralism
• Content: 4R's (religion included)
• Methods: adheres to the view that nothing exists except in the mind of
man, the mind of God, or in a super or supranatural realm
• reviewing the previous lessons
• repetition for mastery
• memorization with understanding
• use of textbooks
• Proponents: Christian Brothers, Jansenists, Jesuits
Modern Conceptions of Education

3.3. Education as Training of the Mind / Formal Discipline

• Aims:
• To train the mind through rigorous exercises in order to develop intellectual
capacities
• To form character (mental, physical and moral)
• Contents: Classical Languages and Math; Physical (vigor of the
body) mental (mental power) and moral (good conduct)
• Methods: Formal sensation, memory and reasoning, Drill method
• Proponent: John Locke
Modern Conceptions of Education

3.4. Rationalism
Aim: To enable man to think for themselves
Contents: philosophical/scientific knowledge, ethics and morality
Methods: critical analysis, application of reason
Modern Conceptions of Education

3.5. Naturalism
• Aims: To develop the individual in accordance with the laws of
human development and to preserve the natural goodness of man
• Contents: Holistic education (physical, moral,
intellectual)Proponent: Jean Jacques Rousseau
Modern Conceptions of Education

3.6. Education for Patriotic Citizenship/Nationalistic Conception

• Aim: To develop military preparedness and aggressiveness for the
preservation and glorification of the State
• Content: Social Studies
• Methods: Practical
• Proponent: John Locke