A student's history of education

by Frank Pierrepont Graves

Henry VIII’s Revolt and Its Effect upon Education.—In England a revolt from the Church likewise occurred. Due to personal reasons. This also may have been due in part to the investigative spirit of Northern humanism, but the immediate cause of the breach was the desire of Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547) to control the national Church, that he might divorce his wife, and there was at first little change in doctrine. Once in ecclesiastical power, Henry began in 1536 to confiscate the monastic lands and property, and enlarged the scope of his operations until he had suppressed a large number of monastic, cathedral, collegiate, hospital, and other schools. During the reign (1547-1553) Suppression of grammar schools. of his successor, Edward VI, the acts of suppression were extended to chantry and gild foundations, and it is estimated that, of the three hundred grammar schools that had come down in England from the Middle Ages, but few were not destroyed under Henry and Edward. Some, however, remained by the terms of the parliamentary acts of suppression, and popular sentiment caused others to be refounded. And during the reign of Elizabeth (1558-1603) and of the first two Stuart kings (1603-1649) these foundations were greatly increased out of royal funds or through the philanthropy of wealthy men. All of these schools, as we have seen ([p. 118]), following the example of St. Paul’s, adopted the Northern ideals of humanism and furnished a curriculum of classics and religious training. The latter became based, of course, upon the teachings of the Church of England.

Foundation of the Society of Jesus.—We may now turn back to the Mother Church and see what efforts she was putting forth in behalf of education during the period of Protestant revolts. Both before and after the time of Luther there were reformers inside the Church who wished to improve its practices without changing its administration, but the Catholics in general felt it their chief duty to crush the Protestant heresy and recover the ground they had lost. This resulted in a number of religious wars, in which both sides displayed great bitterness and cruelty. But a more effective and constructive instrument in advancing the interests of Catholicism was the organization of the ‘Society of Aimed to strengthen the authority of the pope. Jesus.’ This order was founded by Ignatius de Loyola (1491-1556) in 1534. He persuaded six fellow-students at Paris to join with him in devoting themselves to the conversion of the heathen, and to strengthening the authority of the pope. Six years later, after considerable opposition, the new order was recognized by the pope and began to add rapidly to its numbers. The Jesuits have always striven first through missionary labors to extend Catholic Christianity throughout the world, and then by means of schools to hold their converts and educate all peoples to papal allegiance.

Organization of the Jesuits.—The organization of the Society of Jesus was outlined in its Constitution. This fundamental document of the order received its final revision shortly after Loyola’s death, but the Ratio Studiorum, The Constitution and the Ratio Studiorum. which was an expansion of Part IV of the Constitution and described the educational administration in detail, was not finally formulated until 1599. It thus summed up the experience of the Jesuit schools during more than sixty years. The administration of the society has always been of a military type. Loyola had originally started upon the career of a soldier, and did not believe that any system could be effective unless it were based upon implicit obedience to one’s official The ‘general,’ superiors. At the head of the order is the ‘general,’ who is elected for life and has vast administrative powers. As the society spread, the countries that came under its control were divided into provinces, and at the head of ‘provincial,’ the Jesuit interests in each of these districts is the ‘provincial,’ who is appointed by the general for three years. In each province there are various colleges, whose presiding ‘rector,’ and other officials. officer, or ‘rector,’ is chosen for three years by the general, but is directly responsible to the provincial and reports to him. Similarly, within each college are ‘prefects,’ immediately subordinate to the rector, but selected by the provincial; and under the inspection of the prefects are the ‘professors’ or ‘preceptors.’

The Jesuit Colleges.—The Jesuits have never engaged in elementary education, but have required that pupils know how to read and write before being admitted to any of their schools. This may have been brought about in the first place by the fact that the number of their teachers was limited, or that the public elementary school was just coming to be regarded as of importance, and secondary education of the humanistic type was everywhere The lower colleges are secondary and humanistic, dominant. The Jesuit educational organization has, therefore, consisted of ‘lower colleges’ with a gymnasia course, and of ‘upper colleges,’ which are of university grade. Boys are admitted to the lower colleges at from ten to fourteen years of age, and spend five or six years there. The first three classes were at first devoted to a careful study of Latin grammar, and a little of Greek; in the fourth year a number of the Greek and Latin poets and historians were read; while the last class, to which two years were usually given, took up a rhetorical study of the classical authors. Only slight variations in the with curriculum largely unchanged. curriculum have ever been allowed since the Ratio Studiorum was issued, until the revision in 1832. In that year work in mathematics, natural science, history, and geography was added in the lower colleges, but the classics still compose the body of the course.

The full course of the upper colleges lasts seven or nine years,-the first three in ‘philosophy,’ followed by The upper colleges furnish training in ‘philosophy’ and theology. four or six in theology. The training in ‘philosophy’ now includes not only logic, metaphysics, psychology, ethics, and natural theology, but also work in algebra, geometry, trigonometry, analytics, calculus, and mechanics, and such natural sciences as physics, chemistry, geology, astronomy, and physiology. A successful completion of the course leads to the degree of Master of Arts. After the course in philosophy, most of the Jesuits teach in the lower colleges five or six years before going on with the work in theology. In the theological course four years are devoted to a study of the Scriptures, Hebrew, and other Oriental languages, together with Church history, canon law, and various branches of theology. After this one may elect a further training of two years, to review the work in philosophy and theology, and to prepare a thesis. After a public examination and defense of his thesis, the successful candidate is awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Hence a complete Jesuit training will take from eighteen to twenty years, and a member of the order may be from thirty to thirty-five years of age before completing his formal education.

The Jesuit Methods of Teaching.—The methods of teaching and the splendid qualification of the instructors were from the first distinctive features in the Jesuit colleges, especially when one considers how little attention Trained teachers, up to their time had been given to the preparation of teachers. No one could teach in the lower colleges who had not passed through the course in philosophy, while professors in the universities had first to complete the theological course. Instruction was generally imparted orally, and then memorized or taken down in the ‘prelection,’ lecture notes. The method was the ‘prelection,’ which meant a preliminary explanation of the passage or lectures upon the topic under consideration by the teacher. It consisted in giving, first, the general meaning of the whole passage or proposition; then, a more detailed explanation of the construction or phraseology; next similar thoughts in other authors; fourthly, ‘erudition’, or informational comment upon the passage; then, a study of the rhetorical figures; and finally, the moral lesson to be drawn. Obviously, with such a method, memorizing, great stress would be placed upon memorizing, especially in the lower colleges. To fix subjects firmly in mind, short hours, few studies, and brief lessons were reviews, early found to be necessary. Likewise, reviews have always been frequent and systematic, and the Latin motto of the Jesuit method declares that “repetition is the mother of learning.” Each day begins with a review of the preceding day’s work, and closes with a review of the work just accomplished. Each week ends with a repetition of all that has been covered in that time, and the last month of every year reviews the course of the year. To maintain interest in the midst of so much memorizing and reviewing, many devices to promote emulation are used. The pupils are arranged in and rivalry. pairs as ‘rivals,’ whose business it is to check on the conduct and studies of each other ([Fig. 18]); and public ‘disputations’ between two sides are engaged in each week.

Value and Influence of the Jesuit Education.—The Jesuit system, then, seems to have been in advance of that in the schools at the time of its foundation. It was Systematic, organized upon a systematic and thorough basis, and was administered by a set of splendidly trained teachers through the best methods that were known in that day. interesting, and devoted, The schools were interesting and pleasant, and were free to all who had the ability and desire to attend. The Jesuit teachers, too, were indefatigable and devoted to their duty. The criticism that has been offered to this educational system is based on its insistence upon absolute but authoritative and uniform. authority and the consequent opposition to the development of individuality. The Jesuit courses, subjects, and methods have become somewhat uniform and fixed. In the lower colleges they depend largely upon memory and appeal to interest through a system of rivalry, honors, and rewards. Such a system is likely to tend toward a reproductive attitude in the pupil.

a. Jesuit College at Regensburg in 1600.