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Chapter 13 - Humanism and Education

White, JP; (2015) Chapter 13 - Humanism and Education. In: Copson, A and Grayling, A, (eds.) The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Humanism. (pp. 234-254). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Abstract

Humanist education, within families and at school, is best understood in its historical context. It involves a shedding, over time, of religion-dependent features belonging to a more devout age. This chapter focuses on British history, although many of the points apply more widely, especially to other countries with a Protestant background, like the USA. Liberal humanist approaches to children's education in the home are best understood in terms of the rejection, over time, of the religious setting within which it formerly took place. A modern knowledge-based education suited the requirements of seventeenth-century Protestant merchants and rulers better than an impractical scholasticism. If education in the arts has been held back, historically, by religious views on the division between soul and body, the same is truer for sex education. The individualism built into the traditional model of headship is echoed in the ways children have been traditionally expected to learn.

Type: Book chapter
Title: Chapter 13 - Humanism and Education
DOI: 10.1002/9781118793305.ch13
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118793305.ch13
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: British history, children's education, historical context, humanist education, modern knowledge-based education, Protestant background, religion-dependent features, sex education
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Education, Practice and Society
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10121410
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