Studies On British Utilitarian Educational Thought In The 19th Century

The utility of education stayed with the development of education, the British utilitarian educational thought in the 19^th century is featured by its typical characteristics, namely, paying attention to the realism, showing much respect to individual, emphasizing practicality and calling for democracy.So far, researches into the British utilitarian educational thought in the 19^th century have been done mainly in the form of each representative, Bentham and Two Mills, so it is difficult to master it as a whole. Besides, in most studies, Spencer is excluded in the history of the British utilitarian educational thoughts, but here, I will take him into account after I read so much material about it.In this article, the main characteristics of the British utilitarian educational thought In the 19^th century are presented clearly in the "problem-oriented" way. First, the article introduces its background related to education. Next, three points of utilitarian educational thought lays out in front of readers, that is, the aim of education-seeking for happiness, moral education based on utility, practical curriculum. Then, some objective estimation on its status and influence, both academic and practical, is made. Finally, in order to make the article more significant, I point out its flashy part, at the same time, I list the beneficial revelation as well as the harmful ones. So people of today can learn something from it.