HISTORY OF EDUCATION NOTES

THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING HISTORY OF EDUCATION

Introduction
'In this lesson, we shall discuss the importance of studying history of education to a
teacher or teacher-to-be. To do that we need to clearly understand the meaning of the
terms "history", "education", which will help us in understanding the term "history of
education. We shall then discuss the aims and benefits of studying history of education
and the scope of this unit.
Definition of History, Education and History of Education
Historians as have defined history:
 The record of all past human experience, showing how groups of people are and how
they came to be. It is concerned with political, social, economic, scientific and
technological factors and events, which have shaped the growth and development of
mankind.
Education has been defined by some educationists as:
 The total process by which human abilities and behaviour is developed; or the
organized and continuous instruction aimed at imparting knowledge, skills, attitudes
and understanding necessary for full participation in life. Education is also see n as a
social process through which a member of a society achieves individual growth and
development and social competence, carried out in selected and well-defined
institutional settings.
History of Education could be defined as:
The study of the past development of educational systems, theories, practices and
institutions within the general historical framework of political, social, economic,
scientific, technological and cultural changes that different societies have gone through
over time.
Reasons for Studying History of Education
Having defined what we mean by History of Education let us now find out the
importance of this subject to teachers or teachers-to-be. History of Education is studied
for the following reasons:
(a) Improving the quality of education
The study of the past educational experience has many lessons that can be used to
improve present educational theory and practice. The problems and challenges we face
in our education today are not unique; others have faced the same problems and
attempted solutions with varying degrees of success or failure. We can adopt their
successes and avoid their mistakes in attempting to improve our education. History of
education is rich in both failures and breakthroughs for us to run away from or copy,
respectively.
(b) Strengthening the professional competence of the teacher
A proper study of the history of education affects the way in which teachers or student
teachers conduct their personal and professional activities. The subject contributes to
strengthening both by encouraging the teacher to examine, evaluate, accept or modify
the cultural heritage; and to become an educational critic and agent for intelligent
cultural transmission and change, rather than blindly accept the educational status quo,
ideas, practices and unchallenged claims. In other words, an examination of educational
theories and practices in their historical context encourages teachers to adopt a critical
attitude towards present theories and practices.
(c) Understanding our own educational systems better.
The past illuminates the present. History not only teaches what education is, but also
where it came from, why it came to be, and what it is bound to become in the future.
History of education is a narrative of the origins, growth and development of
educational institutions, methods, concepts, aims, curricular, theory and practice without
which they would appear new, unexplored, and untried to us in the present world.
History of education thus helps us to appreciate the road traveled by education to reach
where it is today.
(d) Making comparisons within a historical perspective
History of education helps one to draw comparison of the origins and development of
several different ideas, practices and theories of education in different societies. In that
way it can help one to formulate better ideas, patterns and principles and provide a
larger perspective. It may also enable one to draw from and act imaginatively using a
broader range of humanity than that represented by a single cultural experience. Apart
from drawing a comparison in the evolution of educational ideas, one is also able to
show the development of a particular theory and practice in historical context, and
demonstrate the particular conditions out of which such a theory or practice arose and
the specific purpose it was intended to serve.
Making comparisons within a historical perspective enables one to use the power of
contextual study to introduce innovation by formulating new and better questions,
generating fruitful hypotheses and initiating unexplored lines of inquiry.
(e) Satisfying intellectual curiosity
History of education is like other areas of knowledge, with its own body of knowledge
and conventional methods of acquiring this knowledge. Human beings, and no less
teachers and teachers-to-be are possessed with the inherent desire or curiosity to explore
and know what education is, where it came from, and where it is going. Studying history
of education satisfies this inmate desire. One need not go beyond this reason to justify
the study of history of education.
(f) Developing powers of thinking.
The fruitful study of history of education compels us to train and exercise all our aspects
of intellectual activity, excites curiosity and the spirit of inquiry, disciplines the faculty
of reason, and cultivates the arts of self-expression and communication. Historical study
is also basic to cultivating the attitudes of the mind that characterize the educated
person, the habits of skepticism and criticism; of thinking with broad perspective and
objectivity; of distinguishing between the good and the bad in human experience. The
historical study of education gives one the discerning eye to give shape, form,
organization sequence and interrelationship and relative importance of ideas.
(g) Exposing one to knowledge in other disciplines.
Historians of education must always go beyond the confines of their discipline to fully
understand the nature of the phenomena they study. They particularly need to be
acquainted with the social sciences such as sociology, psychology, philosophy and
comparative education, which can be used in a mutually enriching way to analyze
important educational ideas. Though scholars in each discipline may operate from their
own particular perspective, they must of necessity all draw from the well of history,
which contains the raw record of human experience, and sets the context of events in a
time continuum within which other disciplines must operate. The study of history of
education thus exposes one to knowledge in other social sciences and humanities, which
are engaged in the study of human affairs.
ractitioners.
The Scope of History of Education
The scope of the History of Education embraces the description, elaboration and analysis
of the formal, informal and non-formal aspects of education. The formal aspect of
education refers to the institutionalized form of learning found in educational insti tutions
or schools of varying levels and organization which societies establish to be agents for
the specific purposes of transmitting skills, knowledge and values. The informal aspect
refers to the total cultural and educative context into which individuals are born, grow up
in, and reach maturity. Through the process of enculturation, individuals acquire the
cultural tools they need to be useful and acceptable members of their society such as
language, artistic skills, attitudes, values, morals, and so on. Informal education agencies
include the family, the church, the mosque, the shrine, both mass and electronic media,
the state, and peer groups. All these socialize individuals and sustain them in the roles
that are accepted in society.
Learning within the informal sector may occur spontaneously or in a planned manner.
Included in the informal sector are the philosophical, intellectual, theological, political,
aesthetic, economic, technological and artistic patterns that make up the entire cultural
experience of a group of people. The group defines the levels of competence to be
acquired for effective participation by the individuals.
The non-formal aspect or third channel of education refers to planned educational
activities and programs that exist outside the highly formalized institutional school
structure. This sector is usually needs oriented, targets a particular out-of-school group of
people, is flexible in terms of time-tabling, age and is, not competitive. It is of essence
highly utilitarian and diversified to meet the needs of the beneficiaries. It is not structured
in levels. Examples of the formal, informal and non-formal education would be the 8-4-
4, African Indigenous Education, and Adult Literacy Education, respectively.
In the context of both formal, informal and non-formal education processes, history of
education in this unit will deal with the foundations of modern education since the
ancient times in selected regions in the World, Hebraic-Christian Education, Islamic
Education, the Renaissance, Reformation and Counter-Reformation, Modern Movements
in Education from the 17th Century to the Present, African Indigenous Education, and the
development of Western Education in Africa with special reference to Kenya, from the
colonial to the post-colonial periods.

Education through history: an overview

Introduction
In our first lesson, we defined history of education. We went further to discuss why you
need to learn history of education. We finally looked at the scope of this subject. In this
lesson, we are going to have an overview of the development of education through
phases in history in the context of the course prescribed for this unit.
Man and Education in pre-historic period.
Man has existed in some form on this planet for between 0.5 million and 1 million years.
Between 500,000 and 75,000 years ago, the tools man made became refined. 75,000 to
20,000 years ago, there were rapid strides in human culture. Art and expression took
place. From 10,000 to 8,000 years ago, there were even more rapid developments than
before: complicated buildings were constructed; man produced his own food rather than
simply gathering wild fruits. Indeed, man developed gestures, signs and symbols to
convey ideas and communicate. Between 6,000 and 5,000 years ago man invented
writing. Education thus became an institution. Significantly, when pre-historic man
began to control his environment rather than submit to it human culture took familiar
forms, somewhat recognizable to-day. Between 4,000 and 3,000 years ago, man
improved skills in commerce. Ironically war consolidated the cities into large empires.
Early civilization emerged when man began to control and manipulate the environment
to satisfy his everyday needs. Man discovered fire, water use and produced his own food.
The agricultural revolution changed every aspect of mans’ life: material things, the socio -
political institutions, habits, customs and ideas. The ability of symbolic representation set
in enabled man to communicate. Pictographic and ideographic writing then replaced the
oral communication of the sacred tradition and laws.
The holy tradition and laws, pictographically and ideographically represented were to be
the very first text books and curriculum which were reinforced within the institutions an d
schools and education became and institution.
What is civilization?
Civilization is a human enterprise or activity with man endeavouring to create and order
rising beyond the level of a mere animal.

The earliest homo-sapiens came from Africa, therefore the origin of all human beings
and civilization are traced to be in Africa. The fluvial valley or Middle Eastern Asia also
content to the birth place of man and civilization.
In the fluvial valley, man settled and became organized into families, clans and tribes.
Hunting and fishing developed into specialized trades. Some farmers become traders and
artisans. Villages on trade routes become towns. Man improved skills in commerce and
communication. With increased agricultural and wealth centralization theocra tic
government arose to functionalize agriculture and emerging economy’s. Works of art,
science and theology developed.

Early Societies and Education

The way in which early societies educated their young and thus how future generations
were educated is a milestone in cultural history. Thus, the education and cultural
antecedents are significant, for present values are rooted in those of the past. Inevitably,
there is all the reason for being made aware of the main avenues of action in ancient
times. This demands knowing and understanding the ideals that shaped ancient
education, together with the men that laid them down, including the policies and
practices that were set to realize them.
Our emphasis on the study of education in ancient times lies in those societies whose
influence has become more or less a permanent feature of their approach to education.
This is because the present Kenyan education system emerged out of these formal
systems of education. Indeed our education has since independence largely developed
along western lines. The Egyptian education of about 4,000 BC aimed to foster a proper
understanding of religion and vocational skills that were needed for trade and agriculture,
and mathematical and geometrical skills for surveying and measuring out plots which
were flooded annually by the Nile.
The Chinese education of 2,000 years ago sought to preserve the past, their education
concerning itself with human relationships, order, duty and morality. The greatest
Chinese philosopher was Confucius (557 BC-479 BC). The Hindus, on their part,
endeavored through their education to prepare themselves for the life to come and
maintain the caste system. The Jewish education was immensely coloured by religious
faith, an attitude towards their national1 history, a sense of godly appointed mission.
The Greeks were the first to realize that society can be best enriched, by development of the
talents and personalities of the individuals which make up the society. They were also the
first to recognize that the preservation of the status quo alone "vas inadequate, but rather
that education of the individual society was to progress and grow. Socrates (469-399 BC),
Plato (428-348 BC) and Aristotle (386-322 BC) tried to find the solution to the problem of
developing a stable society which also fostered the creative talents and freedom of the
individual within it. Consequently, from Greece the model for the educated citizen was
transplanted throughout the Hellenist World.
The Roman's part was to absorb the spread of Hellenistic culture rather than to remodel it
entirely into some higher cultural synthesis. Their acquisition of Greek learning was to be
highly selective; they left out many structural elements and modified others. Thus while
sharing Hellenistic attitudes, they still honored their tested traditions and tried to build a
formal educational system that sought to achieve two objectives; culture and utility. The
Romans were determined to produce decently educated men, both cultured and practical.
Their most in influential educational thinker was Quintilian (AD 35-95). Quintilian took up
questions of educational methodology, discussing problems of techniques and their
application.