History of Education

Historically, however, the main purpose of education, whether formal or informal, has been to produce people who will be useful members of society. The type and level of education keep changing continuously with the needs of society. Hence, in the olden days when communities were small and largely rural and self-sufficient, the system of education, with few exceptions, was informal and non-illiterate. It is clear, therefore, that when we talk about the history of education we usually mean the evolution of the philosophies and institutions involved in the formal transmission of culture in various societies of the world from the earliest times to the present. In other words, a comprehensive study of the history of education would generally include a narrative of educational philosophies, aims, contents and purposes; curricula, public attitude and support; the teaching-learning process and methods applied; the preparation of professional personnel - teachers, administration specialists in various fields, and a full description of changes in educational organization and structure through time. The study of the history of education and of educational ideas enables students of education to know the origins of important educational developments and what is behind a national's educational principles and practices. In other words, it makes it possible for the student to understand the variant philosophies of education based on the actual practices which prevail, but in which theories are modified and adapted to suit national characteristics. The study of the history of education unquestionably throws some light on a nation's contemporary educational problems since there is hardly any new problems in education all problems being the outcome of past mistakes. History of education is a window on the soul of every nation. It stimulates the intellectual development of students exposed to it. It is important in the education of the African because it opens his eyes to the dangers and challenges of the African educational system. In particular, it exposes the colonial and post-independence African education for its hollowness and poorly articulated programmes which have failed to respond to the needs of contemporary Africa. The reasons for this failure, he gets to realize, are not far-fetched. The obvious omissions in the colonial curriculum of the past and the neo-colonial curriculum of the present, their de facto exclusions; the compromises for power, the normative void, the unreasonableness in rationality, all point to the need to reconsider African educational influences and to re-educate the old legitimacies. For, from the earliest colonial times to the present, African education has not demonstrated by ideas or acts, its commitment to Africa and the African environment.