Reading in the : History of Education

Contents: Preface. 1. The old Greek education. 2. Later Greek education. 3. The education and work of Rome. 4. Education during the early middle ages. 5. Influences ending towards a revival of learning. 6. The rise of the universities. 7. The revival of learning. 8. The revolt against authority. 9. Educational results of the protestant revolts. 10. The rise of scientific inquiry. 11. Beginnings of national education. 12. The American battle for free state schools. 13. Education becomes a national tool. 14. The psychological organization of elementary instruction. 15. The future. Bibliography.

"The education of the early Romans produced a nation of warriors and loyal citizens, but it inevitably tended to make them calculating, selfish, overbearing, cruel, and rapacious. They never possessed either lofty ideals or enthusiasm. Their training was best adapted to a small state, and became unsatisfactory when they had spread over the entire peninsula, from Rome and the Roman World. This classic of educational history surveys the evolution of teaching from humanity\'s primitive roots through the organization of Christian monastic schools in the middle ages to modern times. Aimed at educators but of interest to anyone fascinated by the course of human progress, this is the story of how social forces shaped the ever-increasing sphere of knowledge our ancestors sought to understand, how educational ideals and traditions both helped to form and were formed by the advance from nature to culture as the driver of civilization, and how systematic training shifted civic focus from the group to the individual. Egypt, Babylon, China, Persia, India, Greece, and Rome: the influence of all is explored, and the inestimable legacies of these ancient cultures on contemporary education frankly assessed.

Here are scholarly reviews of literature dealing with past and contemporary issues in public and private education, both nationally and cross culturally." (jacket)