The third in a series exploring the educational ideal that shaped learning across Europe for centuries. Part 1 of this series traced the roots of the Seven Liberal Arts back to Ancient Greece and explored their central role in medieval Christian education. In part 2, we learned how the first three arts – Grammar, Rhetoric and Dialectic, known collectively as […]
The Seven Liberal Arts part 2: three roads to knowledge
The second in a series exploring the educational ideal that shaped learning across Europe for centuries. In the previous post I traced the evolution of the Seven Liberal Arts from their roots in ancient Greece to their maturity in the medieval Christian era. This time I will take a closer look at the first three Arts, Grammar, Rhetoric and Dialectic, […]
The Seven Liberal Arts part 1: tools for learning
The first in a series exploring the educational ideal that shaped learning across Europe for centuries. Its tempting to assume that the education of the past consisted of little more than rote learning and the 3Rs, served with a dollop of handed-down religious morality. Critical thinking is widely assumed in education circles to be a “21st century skill”. Yet during […]
Finally, a new book on the History of Education
An essential read for anyone interested in the roots and development of today’s education system If you’ve attended one of my talks, you’ll have heard me bemoan the conspicuous absence, from the shelves of actual and virtual bookshops, of any recent books about the history of education. To my knowledge the last overview for the general reader was published in […]
The day passes profitably: Robert Raikes and the Sunday school movement
An essay about the role played by the Sunday school movement in widening access to education in England and beyond. For more on the advance of mass education during the 18th and 19th centuries, look out for my chapter on the subject in the forthcoming History of Education (Routledge). Trouble on the Sabbath By the latter half of the 18th […]
Learning Through the Ages comes to Substack
The Learning Through the Ages newsletter has moved to Substack, the popular platform for independent writing, and is now available on email, online at learningthroughtheages.substack.com or in the Substack app. For new readers, I’ve been posting some highlights from this blog, including articles on: Look out for an all-new essay coming soon on the remarkable role that early Sunday schools […]
Learning what we don’t need to know
I was invited to discuss my essay The Liberating Power of Education this weekend at the second Buxton Battle of Ideas festival. The text of my introductory speech follows. The discussion that followed, with respondents Dr Adam Simcock and Dr Ruth Mieschbuehler and members of the audience, was recorded and should be available soon. For as long as people have […]
What do we mean by ‘the best that’s been thought and known’?
I was recently interviewed about my essay The Liberating Power of Education for a future episode of Dr James Mannion’s excellent long-form podcast, Rethinking Education. In the often intolerant and tribal world of educational theory and policy, James is to be commended for his willingness to explore differences of opinion in a generous and civil fashion. And we disagreed, civilly, […]
How we learned to teach ‘small children’
I have contributed two chapters to Routledge‘s History of Education, a primer for undergraduates which is due to be published in 2022. My chapters describe the development of liberal education from Ancient Greece to the Industrial Revolution and the arrival of mass education in England during the 18th and 19th centuries. With so much to cover and only so many […]
The Liberating Power of Education
I’m very proud to have contributed to the Academy of Ideas’ Letters on Liberty series of pamphlets, which has been doing a great job of showing what the much-devalued idea of ‘freedom’ can mean to us today. My Letter is a mini-history of education, which explores the tension between the recognition that knowledge is important and the fear of where […]