The History of Education / Educational Practice and Progress Considered as a Phase of the Development and Spread of Western Civilization

by Ellwood Patterson Cubberley

CONCLUSION; THE FUTURE

We have now reached the end of the story of the rise and progress of man's conscious effort to improve himself and advance the welfare of his group by means of education. To one who has followed the narrative thus far it must be evident how fully this conscious effort has paralleled the history of the rise and progress of western civilization itself. Beginning first among the Greeks—the first people in history to be "smitten with the passion for truth." the first possessing sufficient courage to put faith in reason, and the first to attempt to reconcile the claims, of the State and the individual and to work out a plan of "ordered liberty"—a new spirit was born and in time passed on to the western world. As Butcher well says (R. 11), "the Greek genius is the European genius in its first and brightest bloom, and from a vivifying contact with the Greek spirit Europe derived that new and mighty impulse which we call Progress." Hellenizing first the Eastern Mediterranean, and then taking captive her rude conqueror, the Hellenization of the Roman and early Christian world was the result.

Then followed the reaction under early Christian rule, and the fearful deluge of barbarism which for centuries well-nigh extinguished both the ancient learning and the new spirit. Finally, after the long mediaeval night, came "time's burst of dawn," first and for a long time confined to Italy, but later extending to all northern lands, and in the century of revival and rediscovery and reconstruction the Greek passion for truth and the Greek courage to trust reason were reawakened, and once more made the heritage of the western world. Once again the Greek spirit, the spirit of freedom and progress and trust in the power of truth, became the impulse that was to guide and dominate the future. To follow reason without fear of consequences, to substitute scientific for empirical knowledge, to equip men for intelligent participation in civic life, to discover a rational basis for conduct, to unfold and expand every inborn faculty and energy, and to fill man with a restless striving after an ideal—these essentially Greek characteristics in time came to be accepted by an increasing number of modern men, as they had been by the thoughtful men of the ancient Greek world, as the law and goal of human endeavor. From this point on the intellectual progress of the western world was certain, though at times the rate seems painfully slow.

The great events which stand before, modern history—milestones, as it were, along the road to the intellectual progress of mankind in the recovery of the Greek spirit—were the revival of the ancient learning, the Protestant appeal to reason, the recovery and vast extension of the old scientific knowledge, the assertion of the rights of the individual as opposed to the rights of the State, and the growth of a new humanitarianism, induced by the teachings of Christianity, which has softened old laws and awakened a new conception of the value of child and human life. Out of these great historic movements have come modern scholarship, the inestimable boon of religious liberty, the firm establishment of the idea of the reign of law in an orderly universe, the conception of government as in the interests of the governed, the substitution of democracy and political equality for the rule of a class or an autocratic power, and the assertion of the right to an education at public expense as a birthright of every child. The common school, the education of all, equality of rights and opportunity, full and equal suffrage, the responsibility of all for the advancement of the common welfare, and liberty under law have been the natural consequences and the outcome of these great struggles to set free and quicken the human spirit.

The Peace of Westphalia (1648), which marked the close of a century of effort to crush human reason and religious liberty with violence and oppression, marked a turning-point in the history of the world. Though religious intolerance and bigotry might still persist in places for centuries to come, this Peace acknowledged the futility of persecution to stamp out human inquiry, and marked the downfall of intellectual medievalism. The work of the political philosophers of the eighteenth century, the establishment of a new political ideal by the leaders of the American Revolution, and the drastic sweeping-away of ancient abuses in Church and State in the Revolution in France, applied a new spirit to government, ushered in the rule of the common man, and began the establishment of democracy as the ruling form of government for mankind. The recent World War in Europe was in a sense a sequel to what had gone before. One result of its outcome, despite certain reactionary but temporary old-type governments that the near future may see set up in places, has been the elimination of the mediaeval theory of the "divine right of kings" from the continent of Europe, and the establishment of the democratic type of government as the ruling type of the future. Some of the nations for a time will be in a sense experimental, as shown on the above map, and even well-governed Germany must learn new forms and ways, but in time government of and by and for the people is practically certain to become established everywhere on the continent of Europe.

[Illustration: FIG. 239. THE ESTABLISHED AND EXPERIMENTAL NATIONS OF
EUROPE
The established nations are in white; the experimental nations shaded.
After a time Germany should become white also.]

Still more, the outcome of the World War would seem to indicate that democratic forms of government are destined in time to extend to peoples everywhere who have the capacity for using them. The great problem of the coming century, then, and perhaps even of succeeding centuries, will be to make democracy a safe form of government for the world. This can be done only by a far more general extension of educational opportunities and advantages than the world has as yet witnessed. In the hands of an uneducated proletariat democracy is a dangerous instrument. In Russia, Mexico, and in certain of the Central American Republics we see what a democracy results in in the hands of an uneducated people. There, too often, the revolver instead of the ballot box is used to settle public issues, and instead of orderly government under law we have a reign of injustice and anarchy. Only by the slow but sure means of general education of the masses in character and in the fundamental bases of liberty under law can governments that are safe and intelligent be created. In a far larger sense than anything we have as yet witnessed, education must become the constructive tool for national progress.

The great needs of the modern world call for the general diffusion among the masses of mankind of the intellectual and spiritual and political gains of the centuries, which are as yet, despite the great recent progress made in extending general education, the possession of but a relatively small number of the world's population. Among the more important of these are the religious spirit, coupled with full religious liberty and tolerance; a clear recognition of the rights of minorities, so long as they do not impair the advancement of the general welfare; the general diffusion of a knowledge of the more common truths and applications of science, particularly as these relate to personal hygiene, sanitation, agriculture, and modern industrial processes; the general education of all, not only in the tools of knowledge, but in those fundamental principles of self-government which lie at the basis of democratic life; training in character, self-control, and in the ability to assume and carry responsibility; the instilling into a constantly widening circle of mankind the importance of fidelity to duty, truth, honor, and virtue; the emphasis of the many duties and responsibilities which encompass all in the complex modern world, rather than the eighteenth-century individualistic conception of political and personal rights; the clear distinction between liberty and license; and the conception of liberty guided by law. In addition each man and woman should be educated for personal efficiency in some vocation or form of service in which each can best realize his personal possibilities, and at the same time render the largest service to that society of which he forms a part.

The great needs of the modern world also call for that form of education and training which will not merely impart literacy and prepare for economic competence and national citizenship, but which will give to national groups a new conception of national character and international morality and create new standards of value for human effort. National character and international morality are always the outgrowth of the personality of a people, and this in turn calls for the inculcation of humane ideals, the proper discipline of the instincts, the training of a will to do right, good physical vigor, and, to a large degree, the development of individual efficiency and economic competence. Moral and religious instruction, as it has been given, will not suffice, because it does not reach the heart of the problem. No nation has shown more completely the utter futility of religious instruction to produce morality than has Germany, where the instruction of all in the principles of religion has been required for centuries.

The problem of the twentieth century, then, and probably of other centuries to come, is how the constructive forces in modern society, of which the schools of nations should stand first, can best direct their efforts to influence and direct the deeper sources of the life of a people, so that the national characteristics it is desired to display to the world will be developed because the schools have instilled into every child these national ideals. Many forces must coöperate in such a task, but unless the schools of nations become clearly conscious of national needs and of international purposes, become inspired by an ideal of service for the welfare of mankind, substitute among national groups competition in the things of the spirit—art, architecture, music, sports, education, letters, sanitation, housing, public works, and such applications of science as minister to health and happiness—for competition in the creation of material wealth, the piling-up of armaments, the extension of national boundaries, and the present overemphasis of a narrow nationalism, and direct the energies of coming generations to the carrying-out of this new and larger human service, nations must inevitably fail to reach the world position they might otherwise have occupied, destructive international competition and warfare will continue, and the advancement of world civilization and international well-being will be greatly retarded thereby.

In this work of advancing world civilization, the nations which have long been in the forefront of progress must expect to assume important roles. It is their peculiar mission—for long clearly recognized by Great Britain and France in their political relations with inferior and backward peoples; by the United States in its excellent work in Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines; and clearly formulated in the system of "mandatories" under the League of Nations—to help backward peoples to advance, and to assist them in lifting themselves to a higher plane of world civilization. In doing this a very practical type of education must naturally play the leading part, and time, probably much time, will be required to achieve any large results. Disregarding the large need for such service among the leading world nations, the map reproduced on the opposite page reveals how much of such work still remains to be done in the world as a whole. "The White Man's Burden" truly is large, and the larger world tasks of the twentieth century for the more advanced nations will be to help other peoples, in distant and more backward lands, slowly to educate themselves in the difficult art of self-government, gradually establish stable and democratic governments of their own, and in time to take their places among the enlightened and responsible peoples of the earth.

[Illustration: FIG. 240. THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS OF THE FUTURE Transition peoples are shaded; dependant and backward peoples black. The "mandatories" of the "League of Nations" will be in the black areas, and will have to be carried by the nations which have made the most progress in civilization and shown in the highest sense of responsibility for the welfare of peoples that have come under their care. The black areas reveal "The White Man's Burden" of the future.]

At the bottom of all this work and service lie the new human-liberty conceptions first worked out and formulated for the world by little Greece, In time the ideas to which they gave expression have become the heritage of what we know as our western civilization, and the warp and woof of the intellectual and political life of the modern world. As a result of the Industrial Revolution, and of the new political and commercial and social forces of our time, this western civilization, using education as its great constructive tool, is now spreading to every continent on the globe. The task of succeeding centuries will be to carry forward and extend what has been so well begun; to level up the peoples of the earth, as far as inherent differences in capacity will permit; and to extend, through educative influences, the principles and practices of a Christian civilization to all. In establishing intelligent and interested government, and in moulding and shaping the destinies of peoples, general education has become the great constructive tool of modern civilization. A hundred and fifty years ago education was of but little importance, being primarily an instrument of the Church and used for church ends. To-day general education is an instrument of government, and is rightfully regarded as a prime essential to good government and national progress. With the spread of the democratic type the importance of the school is enhanced, its control by the State becomes essential, its continued expansion to include new types of schools and new forms of educational opportunities and service a necessity, the study of its organization and administration and problems becomes a necessary function of government, while the training it can give is dignified and made the birthright of every boy and girl.