Includes bibliographical references (pages 234-244) and index.

1. Introduction : a history of Western educational ideas -- 2. The Greeks -- 3. The Romans -- 4. The Judaeo-Christian tradition -- 5. Medieval Europe and the influence of Islam -- 6. Humanism and the Renaissance -- 7. The Reformation and the counter-Reformation to the end of the seventeenth century -- 8. The eighteenth century : The enlightenment -- 9. Romanticism -- 10. Industrialism, nationalism and the cult of efficiency -- 11. The idealist tradition -- 12. The development of the social sciences in the nineteenth century and their influence on education -- 13. The influence of politics and political ideologies on educational ideas -- 14. The Second World War and after : peace, internationalism and universal literacy -- 15. Liberal education -- 16. Pedagogy --17. Gender -- 18. Conclusion : the end of education?

This work traces the development of Western educational ideas from the Greek society of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, to the ideas and ideologies behind some of the controversial issues in education today. The authors avoid the traditional "great thinkers" approach, and instead try to relate educational ideas to the political, social and economic development of the times, covering Greece and Rome, early Christianity, the Renaissance, the religious conflicts of the 15th and 16th centuries, the Enlightenment in the 18th century, and Romanticism, as well as more familiar political issues in the 19th and 20th centuries. The book concludes with a brief discussion of the problem of values and education in the 21st century. The authors reject extreme versions of postmodernist thinking, and reassert the view that values and an expression of priorities within value systems are an essential aspect of educational planning at any time.