The evolution of educational theory / by John Adams.

  • John Adams
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The evolution of educational theory / by John Adams. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    mass of knowledge of a general kind that is supposed to be common to all intelligent people. There must be this fringe of Humanity if people are to maintain the amenities of life. But relief will no doubt be found in the introduc- tion here of division of labour. People will not be called upon to pretend to be grounded in all the humanities as at present—to know the ancient classics, to be familiar with literature ancient and modern, to have a mastery of two or three modern languages, to be well acquainted with the drama, and to have an adequate command of the technique of criticism in art and music. The serious study of these subjects will no doubt in the future as in the past demand a great expenditure of time, and those only who start with the advantage of wealth will be able to afford the necessary time, except in the case of those who master those subjects as professional crafts. There may thus always remain, in a sense, the distinction between the educated and the uneducated classes, only this cleavage of society will not coincide with that permanent cleavage represented by the other pairs that are contrasted in the quotation from Mr. Kidd. In particular, the educated classes will not corre- spond to the governing classes. The fact is that the very terms are here misleading. As the matter has been presented above, the contrast is not between the educated and the uneducated, but between the instructed and the uninstructed ; with the further limitation that the instruction is confined to certain subjects of no practical but of high conventional value. The distinction between education and instruction with which this book started has remained prominent throughout, and meets us again at this last stage. Democracy will claim, and will no doubt receive, perfect equality in the matter of higher education, and when this comes about it will be true to say that the distinction between the educated and the unedu- cated classes has disappeared, since all will have an education suitable to the state to which their inclinations and capa- cities have called them. There will remain as before the distinction between the cultured and the unculttired classes
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