History of Western Education Syllabus — Fall 2023 Yonsei University
EDU2125

This course surveys the main developments in education from ancient Greece up until present day, emphasizing in particular the cultural and philosophical milieu of each place and period. Participants will develop a critical understanding of the historical dynamics through which educational theory and practice evolved in “the west” and the influence of these on contemporary education.

OBJECTIVES

Through participant-directed discussion and research, participants in this course will:

  1. Develop skills in constructing and verbally communicating original ideas;

  2. Critically investigate the canonical narratives of western history and its major controversies;

  3. Evaluate the numerous ways education has been and could be undertaken;

  4. Cultivate an appreciation of the distinct aesthetics, ideals, and cultural milieux which influenced the education of each period and place.

FORMAT

This course will be implemented as a colloquium: open-ended, participant-directed discussions on the weekly topic. Each week participants will read the assigned readings and write a brief, one-page commentary to discuss in-class. Class discussions, lectures, and written assignments will not merely summarize or restate the content of the weekly reading. Class participants are not expected to memorize or master the content of the reading, but rather to think about it and formulate their own questions. The purpose of the class discussion, likewise, is not for participants to prove they have read and can recall the content of the reading materials. Discussions are an opportunity for participants to share and discuss their thoughts about the topic to clarify and enrich their own and everyone else’s understanding. Furthermore, class discussions are not intended to be debates. Participants are not expected to develop and defend formal arguments. Think of class discussions more as a kind of wondering out loud.

TUESDAY SESSIONS

Tuesday sessions will consist of multimedia presentations about significant works of art, cultural artifacts, customs, lifeways, etc. from the places and time periods to be discussed that week. These special sessions are meant to supplement the weekly readings by providing participants with a sense of the context and dynamics in which significant historical developments took place.

WEDNESDAY SESSIONS

Wednesday sessions will begin with small-group discussions in which participants will share the comments and questions of the protocols they have written for that week. Instead of reading the written protocols aloud to each other, it is preferable to introduce their contents verbally. Most of all, participants are encouraged to ask questions. The more clearly participants can identify and express their confusions, criticisms, curiosities. etc., the more fruitful the class discussions and lectures may become. After discussing each other’s protocols in small groups, we will regroup to continue the discussion as a class. The instructor will attempt to answer questions, facilitate conversation, and elaborate on and supplement the content of the readings.

PROTOCOLS

A protocol is a very short response to the assigned weekly reading or a related topic. A protocol is a single A4-sized page consisting of three sections:

  1. A summary of the class discussion from the previous week (1/3 page);

  2. A brief commentary or response to the reading, class discussion, or a related topic (2/3 page). The commentary section should be given an appropriate title that expresses its main point;

  3. On the reverse side of the page, each protocol must include at least two discussion questions relating to your commentary.

Commentaries should not be summaries or outlines of the reading! Commentaries are your comments on the topic. They can be about the general topic of the reading, a single aspect, event, or concept it discusses, or they can be about a topic that is tangentially related. Whatever you choose to write about, the commentary should be your own thoughts, ideas, questions, concerns, confusions, etc. Have fun with it, we are interested to hear what you think.

Students will write a total of twelve protocols—one protocol for every week of class, excluding the first week, midterms and finals weeks, and the makeup week at the end of the semester. Protocols will be submitted via a filedrop. Each week a link to a new filedrop will be disclosed on LearnUs. Each weekly filedrop will expire at the start of class each Wednesday. Participants will simply upload their protocol to the filedrop before the deadline. Protocols should be in PDF format. To make reviewing submissions easier, please include your name in the filename—and, of course, in the protocol itself!

EVALUATION POLICY

Students will not be evaluated based on their English proficiency.

ATTENDANCE: 30%

Students will be considered tardy after ten minutes, and absent after thirty. Per university policy, students absent for more than one-third of the total number of classes will automatically fail the class.

PROTOCOLS: 60%

Weekly protocols will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

  1. Brevity: Must be no longer than 10 minutes and/or one A4 page in length.

  2. Insight: Does the content indicate that the student has read and sincerely reflected on the material?

  3. Clarity: Does it make sense? It doesn’t need to be eloquent, agreeable, or “right,” but it should be intelligible. In other words, even though these assignments are meant to be brief, they should not be hasty afterthoughts.

PARTICIPATION & DISCUSSION: 10%

Participation will not be evaluated quantitatively; that is, dominating the discussion will not earn you a high mark, nor will you be marked down for being reserved or less talkative. Participation will be evaluated based on these general criteria:

  1. Engagement: Being engaged includes active listening and note-taking—including doodling—as well as speaking. In other words, participants should be present for the discussion.

  2. Attitude: Disagreement is a natural part of discourse, but respecting other participants is a condition for a meaningful discussion. All perspectives shall be tolerated so long as they are not antagonistic or discriminatory.

MATERIALS

All reading materials will be provided in electronic formats via LearnUs.

The readings for this course will mostly consist of selected chapters from the sixth edition of William Boyd’s The History of Western Education and James Bowen’s A History of Western Education. The instructor will provide other supplementary reading materials such as articles or lectures. Participants can expect to read between twenty to fifty pages per week.

AGENDA

WEEK 1: SEPT 1–7

ORIENTATION

  • Sept 5—Letcure

    Course Introduction

  • Sept 6—Discussion

    Where is “the west?”

WEEK 2: SEPT 8–14

ANCIENT GREECE AND ITS LEGACY

  • Reading—Boyd: Ch. 1 & 2

  • Sept 12—Letcure

    The Greek Aesthetic

  • Sept 13—Discussion

    protocol due

WEEK 3: SEPT 15–21

ANCIENT ROME AND THE DARK AGES

  • Reading—Boyd: Ch. 3 & 4

  • Sept 19—Letcure

    The Aesthetics of Rome and the Early Middle Ages

  • Sept 20—Discussion

    protocol due

WEEK 4: SEPT 22–28

THE EMERGENCE OF UNIVERSITIES

  • Reading—Boyd: Ch. 5

  • Sept 26—Letcure

    The Aesthetics the Middle Ages

  • Sept 27—Discussion

    protocol due

WEEK 5: SEPT 29–OCT 5

THE RENAISSANCE AND HUMANISTIC EDUCATION

  • Reading—Boyd: Ch. 6

  • Oct 3—No class (Letcure will be online)

    The Renaissance Humanistic Ideal

  • Oct 4—Discussion

    protocol due

WEEK 6: OCT 6–12

THE REFORMATION AND THE GROWTH OF HUMANISM

  • Reading—Boyd: Ch. 7 & 8

  • Oct 10—Letcure

    Cultural Revolution in 16th Century Europe

  • Oct 11—Discussion

    protocol due

WEEK 7: OCT 13–19

THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

  • Reading—Boyd: Ch. 9

  • Oct 17—Letcure

    Power, Influence, Wealth, and “Light”

  • Oct 18—Discussion

    protocol due

WEEK 8: OCT 20–26

MIDTERMS

  • Oct 24—No Class

  • Oct 25—No Class

WEEK 9: OCT 27–NOV 2

THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

  • Reading—Choose one or more:

    Boyd: Ch. 10

    Bowen: Ch. 6, 7 or 8

  • Nov 1—Letcure

    Rights, Reason, and Revolution

  • Nov 2—Discussion

    protocol due

WEEK 10: NOV 3–9

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

  • Reading—Choose one or more:

    Boyd: Ch. 10

    Bowen: Ch. 9

  • Nov 7—Letcure

    Progress, Nature, Romance

  • Nov 8—Discussion

    protocol due

WEEK 11: NOV 10–16

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

  • Reading—Choose one or more:

    Boyd: Ch. 12

    Bowen: Ch. 10 or 11

  • Nov 14—Letcure

    The Brave New World

  • Nov 15—Discussion

    protocol due

WEEK 12: NOV 17–23

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

  • Reading—Bowen: Ch. 12 & 13

  • Nov 21—Letcure

    Progressivism, Dada, Jazz

  • Nov 22—Discussion

    protocol due

WEEK 13: NOV 24–30

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

  • Reading—Bowen: Ch. 15

  • Nov 28—Letcure

    Post-War “Miracles”

  • Nov 29—Discussion

    protocol due

WEEK 14: DEC 1–7

THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

  • Reading—To be announced

  • Dec 5—Letcure

    Posthumanism and the Anthropocene

  • Dec 6—Discussion

    protocol due

WEEK 15: DEC 8–14

READING WEEK

  • Dec 12—No Class

  • Dec 14—No Class

WEEK 16: DEC 15–21

FINALS

  • Dec 19—No Class

  • Dec 20—No Class