The History and Philosophy of Education

760 Pages·1965·29.926 MB·English

by  Mehdi Nakosteen

£ ;|:r.‘Jit
Mehdi Nakosteen, Ph.D., Cornell University, is Professor
of History and Philosophy of Education at the University
of Colorado. He previously taught at the University of
Denver, Colorado State College of Education, and the Uni­
versity of Hawaii. Professor Nakosteen holds memberships
in leading educational societies and is author of several
books on the philosophic, scientific, and religious aspects of
education.
THE HISTORY AND
PHILOSOPHY OF
EDUCATION
¡ 4 ^
MEHDINAKOSTEEN
University of Colorado
THE RONALD PRESS COMPANY • NEW YORK
Copyright © 1965 by
The Ronald Press Company
AU Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced
in any form without permission in writ-
ing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 65-12757
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Joseph Carl
Alan Richard
Robert Anthony

PREFACE
This book traces the development of educational theory and prac­
tice in Western tradition, particularly in the United States. It indi­
cates and elaborates upon the influences of the Eastern and early
Christian cultures in the development of Western education, and
places the contributions of these various ancient cultures in their
proper perspective.
Any evaluative analysis of the history of educational theories should
be made in the setting of the history of educational practices that
have given rise to them or have constituted testing grounds for their
validity. A critical survey of the history of educational practices, on
the other hand, should view them, at least in part, as responses to edu­
cational theories that have sustained and directed them. This con­
sideration of the interplay between theory and practice is the basis
upon which the contents of this text are organized.
The student of the history of educational theory and practice should
keep his eyes keenly focused on educational problems and issues con­
fronting us today that have also confronted other peoples and cultures
for the past three thousand years. How effectively this is done would
depend largely on two basic factors—the background from which these
issues and problems are studied, and the attitude with which their
theoretical premises are valued.
The questions at the end of each chapter are intended as much for
further study of the main themes of these chapters as for evaluation
of materials covered in them. Since the text is written for those stu­
dents who are training to teach or engage in other educational ac­
tivities, as well as those already serving the American educational
enterprise, the questions, research and study topics, and selected ref­
vi PREFACfi
erences are designed to help these students and practitioners to think
deeply on educational problems and issues of immediate concern and
significance.
The author wishes to acknowledge the kindness of the following
publishers for granting permission to quote from works they have
published: American Book Company, History of Educational Thought
by Robert Ulich; Houghton Mifflin Company, The History of Educa­
tion by E. P. Cubberley; The Macmillan Company, A History of Edu­
cation During the Middle Ages and the Transition to Modem Times
by Frank P. Graves; Prentice-Hall, Inc., The History and Philosophy
of Education: Ancient and Medieval by Frederick Eby and Charles
Flinn Arrowood; Routledge and Kegan Paul, Ltd., Education and
Society in Modem Germany by R. H. Samuel and R. Hinton Thomas,
edited by Dr. Karl Mannheim; Russell and Russell, Inc., Educational
Theory of Jean Jacques Rousseau by William Boyd; Los Angeles
Times Syndicate, Letters of the Presidents series; University Tutorial
Press, Ltd., A Short History of Educational Ideas by S. J. Curtis and
M. E. A. Boultwood; University of Colorado Press, History of Islamic
Origins of Western Education by Mehdi Nakosteen; Yale University
Press, A History of Russia (revised edition) by George Vernadsky.
The author also extends his sincere thanks to Professor Harl R. Doug­
lass for his sustained encouragement and counsel in the progress of
this text, and to Frances Nakosteen for many helpful suggestions and
typings of the manuscript.
Mehdi Nakosteen
Boulder, Colorado
January, 1965
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
Introduction
Part I: ANCIENT EDUCATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE,
1000 B.C. TO A.D. 500
1 Why a History of Educational Theory and Practice?
Civilization, Culture, and Education, 9 • Values in Histori­
cal and Theoretical Study of Education, 13 • The Pattern
of the Text, 19
2 Ancient India . . . . . . . .
Social and Theoretical Foundations of Indian Education, 23 •
The School System, 29 • Curriculum, 32 • Methods of
Teaching and Learning, 34 • Buddhist Educational Ideals,
35 ' Three Educational Classics, 36 * Summary and Evalu­
ation, 38
3 Ancient Persia . . . . . . . .
The Significance of Persian Education, 43 • The Pre-Alexan-
drian Period, 44 • Post-Alexandrian, or Sassanian, Educa­
tion, 49 • Psychological and Educational Theory, 51 • Mith-
raism, Zoroastrianism, and Manichaeanism and Their Sig­
nificance for Western Educational Theory and Practice, 53
4 The Contributions of the Ancient Hebrews
Contributions of Hebrew Educational Theory and Practice,
60 • Hebrew Society, 63 • Theoretical Foundations of He­
brew Education, 65
vHi CONTiNTS
CHAPTER PAGE
5 Greek Ideals and Practices . . . . . . 71
Early Greek Education, 71 • Two Educational Ideals: Sparta
and Athens, 73
6 The Greek Theorists 91
The Social and Metaphysical Foundations of Greek Educa­
tional Theories, 91 • Conservatives, Radicals, and Middle-
of-the-Roaders, 92 • The Individual-Social Doctrines of Soc­
rates, Plato, and Aristotle, 95
Part II: THE HELLENISTIC ERA
7 The Middle East and Rome . Ill
The Hellenistic Era and Education, 111 • The Academy of
Jundi-Shapur, 115 • Classical Backgrounds of Muslim Learn­
ing, 120 • Roman Education, 122
8 The Early Christians . . 131
Jesus the Master Teacher, 133 • Early Christian Schools, 141
• Monasticism and Education for Moral and Religious Disci­
pline, 529-1400, 141 • Christian Education and the Liberal
Arts, 146
Part III: THE MIDDLE AOES
9 The Feudal System and Its Influences 155
The Meaning of the Term Middle Ages, 155 • The Political
Setting, 156 * Cultural Foundations of Medieval Education,
157 • Education in Western Europe Under Charlemagne
and King Alfred of England, 159 * Education Under the
Feudal System, 162 • Evaluation, 167
10 Medieval Theories . . 170
St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, 170 • Medieval Mys­
ticism, 174 * Scholasticism and Education, 180
11 Muslim Learning and Western Education« . 191
An Overview, 191 • Important Translators and Their
Works, 194 • Translations of Muslim Works and Expansion