In Mid And Late 19th Century British Classical Education And Science Education

In the 19th century, there was a great debate over education ideology in England. With the discussion being vigorous, the numbers became into two parts:one stood for Classical Education, while the other was in favor of Scientific Education. Arnold was the delegate of the former, and Huxley was representative of the latter. Much to their surprise, the debate between them became promote the two united, turning into one of the most important debate in the history of Britain.This thesis, based on the two educators’ speeches at college and Royal Society of Arts, works, the letters between them, and the sorting data by later generations, studies the education thoughts of the two and clears up the skeleton of the debate. The thesis consists of three parts:The first part sketches the social background of the debate, including the anabatic situation in the economic field, the reform and intervention in the political field, the limits of Classical Education and the rising of Scientific Education.The second part focuses on the divergence of Educational Concept between the two educators. This is to say, that is the real Liberal Education is their main difference. Arnold sticks to the Classical Education, while Huxley tends to the Scientific Education. This part also gives the detail reasons and goals of their Insistence.The third part explores the different steps to make their concept workable, being the how the curriculum set. In the Elementary education stage, Arnold thinks it must train the children to be well educated and well brought up, while Huxley adheres to that this stage is the most important time to have intelligence training; In the secondary education stage, Arnold hopes to make the curriculum be the reflection of the spirit of the time and self breakthrough of the Middle Class, while Huxley strives to establish the legal status of the natural science in the curriculum.In the ending part, the thesis points out that the two great educators became to understand each other, and realized that Classical Education and Scientific Education were both necessary for a country’s development. This also have a certain significance for our country which attaches importance to develop the country through science and education.