THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF EDUCATIONAL DECISION
| Date | 01 February 1974 |
| Pages | 71-82 |
| Published date | 01 February 1974 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb009713 |
| Author | LAADAN FLETCHER |
| Subject Matter | Education |
THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
VOLUME XII, NUMBER 2 OCTOBER, 1974
THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF
EDUCATIONAL DECISION
LAADAN FLETCHER
Although historically based studies were once the only studies directly
concerned with educational administration, enquiry is nowadays based
primarily on modern theories of organization. An attempt is here made to
demonstrate the continuing importance of historical perspective for
educational decision.
INTRODUCTION
The study of history is said to
enlarge and enlighten the
mind...
because . .. it gives a power of
judging the passing of events and a
conscious superiority over them.
John Henry Newman
Throughout nineteenth century Britain there was little doubt in the public
mind that administrators should be drawn from the ranks of well-educated
gentlemen. The model was simply a modification of Plato's philosopher
—
king which had been translated successively into the context of the times as
the orator of Quintilian, the courtier of Castiglione or as the Christian
gentleman of Thomas Arnold and his headmaster colleagues. The first serious
challenge to this pervasive assumption was embodied in the North-
cote-Trevelyan Report1 which recommended that merit rather than patron-
age should provide the basis for selection for the civil service and entry
gradually became contingent on examination success. But, if birth and
connections were no longer to be the sine qua non for entry to government
administration, entry examinations continued for long to test knowledge of
the classical languages acquired in preparatory and public schools. The Royal
Commission chaired by Lord Clarendon, reporting in 1864 on the nine great
public schools, declared that the languages of Greece and Rome provided the
best curriculum, not only because of "the regular structure of these
languages" and their logical accuracy, but also because
... the whole civilization of Europe is really built upon the founda-
tions laid two thousand years ago by two highly civilized nations ... ;
their languages supply the key to our modern tongues; their poetry,
history philosophy, and law, to the poetry and history, the philosophy and
MR. FLETCHER had experienced teaching at the primary, secondary and tertiary level
in England before taking up his present position of Lecturer in Education, University of
Western Australia. He holds a B.Sc. (Special) (London) and an M.Ed. (Manchester), and
has contributed articles to a variety of scholarly journals.
To continue reading
Request your trial