Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemChristian socialism and education: an analysis of Christian socialist thought with particular reference to education as represented in their journals Politics for the people, The Christian socialist and The Journal of association, 1848-1852( 1977)This thesis examines the theological, social and economic theories of Christian Socialism as expressed in the journals Politics for the People, The Christian Socialist, and The Journal of Association. Particular attention is paid to the type of education for which these theories formed the basis. To set the more detailed study in perspective, the thesis suggests some reasons for the appearance of Christian Socialism in mid nineteenth century England, and gives a brief history of the personalities and programmes in the movement. In his theology of hope, Frederick Denison Maurice, the acknowledged leader of the Christian Socialists, produced an idea which was fundamentally optimistic: the existence of a loving caring God gave man the courage to believe that he was not condemned to a mean and meaningless existence. The relationship of all men to God the Father was the basis of their views on economic reorganization which can only be described as socialist in a very loose sense of that word. The Christian Socialists brought to the questions of economic misery, crime and education a specific theological perspective. The idea that the actions of an individual may be attributable in part to his upbringing, his identification with a social class and its expectations, and the lack of hope which characterized so many of the English 'working-class of the time was not new to radicals such as Robert Owen but it was not an accepted attitude of the establishment whether legal or clerical. Nor was Maurice's theology generally accepted, even in the Church of England, of which he was a prominent member. The Christian Socialists advocated political and social reform. For enduring and basic improvement however, they looked to the improvement of the individual citizen through the development of his inherent physical, intellectual and spiritual qualities. Such an education they believed would create a society based on the principles of mutual respect and love, and as a consequence of that change, the contemporary society based upon destructive competition would be replaced by one based on constructive cooperative production. Their expectations of education, however praiseworthy, were largely unrealistic.
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ItemAn evaluation of aspects of the proposition by Professor G.H. Bantock that "ultimately education both formal and informal is concerned with cultural transmission"( 1976)This thesis explores both the meaning and the application of. Bantock's assertion. Firstly, the notion of 'culture' is examined. I3antock identifies two common interpretations of the word: the anthropological and the Arnoldian 'pursuit of excellence.' He claims that his understanding is somewhere between the two. However, an analysis of his works shows that his thinking for education is far more identifiable with the Arnoldian idea of culture as what people should do, than it is with the anthropological notion that culture is what the people do. The meaning of I3antock's assertion about education's 'ultimate concern' is then examined with respect to his recommendations on curriculum. Bantock usefully distinguishes between 'cognitive' and 'affective' learning. Yet this distinction is not as sharp as one might expect: the criterion of the rational - or cognitive - as the arbiter limits his recommendations affecting curricula. If education is to be transmitted, this entails a discussion of how the transmission is to take place. �3sntack rejects 'discovery methods' as a mesas to transmit cultural values. The validity of his rejection is disputed both on the grounds of his failure to perceive the structure underlying discovery methods and the motivation of these methods. Transmission has to be undertaken by someone: thus, the role of school and not - school is examined, and the role of the teacher is explored. The former is affected by the whole area of the responsibility of the educator to his society; the latter is complicated by the fact, not explored by Bantock in any depth, that the teacher himself is necessarily involved in the wider community. lf cultural transmission is to be seen as the ultimate concern of education, then other claimants need to be described and assessed. The thesis examines the claims of self-realization, social improvement and social .usefulness, and proceeds to examine what claim cultural transmission knight have against other claims. The thesis examines the contribution which cultural transmission has over and against other claimants: its complementary nature, its sense of continuity with the past and for the future, and its dynamic spirit are explored. Finally, the thesis seeks to assess the contribution of G. H. Bantock to educational thinking. Negatively. there is a criticism of his failure to recognise the pluralistic nature of modern society, and his tendency to over-simplify the attitudes of those with whom he disagrees. But, positively, he does draw attention to the need for educational discourse to identify aims, his open-ness to a changing society, and his identification that the decisions affecting education are less and less in the hands of educators.
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ItemThe educational ideas of Walter Lippmann( 1973)Walter Lippmann was primarily not an educationalist but a political commentator and a writer of books on questions of political philosophy raised by the processes of American and international politics. His thought on education emerged from his deliberations and must be seen in their context. His writing career of over fifty years may be seen in terms of an evolving response to what he called "the acids of modernity". By this he meant the dissolution of the old traditional order, the rejection of the ideas of social and political hierarchy, the sacred authority of institutions, and out of this the development of more democratic, secular and human institutions and relationships. Prior to World War I he enthusiastically endorsed this process, but the experience of the War deeply affected his assumptions about the nature of man and ease with which society could be reshaped for the better. At first he attributed the malaise he saw to the inability of the people to gain access to the facts necessary for effective government. He moved on from this, in A Preface to Morals, to examine the basis for a morality which would enable the orderly functioning of a democratic society. During the 1930s he was mainly concerned with the economic issues of the New Deal, but in The Good Society he articulated what he saw to be the foundation stone of a democratic order - the rule of law based upon an appreciation of the essential dignity and inviolability of man. It seems clear from his writings that the fundamental issues which he raised were ontological in nature. However, because Lippmann was primarily concerned with sustaining the conditions of civility and freedom without returning to the belief systems which inspired them, he did not face the issue squarely. He developed a "civic theology" in The Public Philosophy having the show of truth necessary to sustain a political order rather than answers to the questions of the nature of truth and reality. The same evolution from optimistic progressivism to apprehensive conservatism is evident in Lippmann' s educational thought. Initially he argued that there were no fixed bodies of knowledge which should be passed on. Instead the curriculum should be shaped by the child's own needs and interests. But as he became pessimistic concerning the essential goodness of man and saw that the traditions of freedom and civility were being threatened, he trenchantly criticised the progressive movement for its failure to pass on the essential western culture through the assumptions, ideas, values and methods of the academic disciplines. Lippmann' s chief contribution was that he raised the central issues, but the value of his answers was weakened by his failure to face squarely the questions of the nature of reality and truth and how a free society could be based on that truth.