The 17th century in England (up to the Glorious Revolution of 1688–89) was one of argument over religious and political settlements bequeathed by Queen Elizabeth I; the period was one characterized by the confrontation of two different worldviews—on one side the royalist Cavaliers and on the other side the Puritans. The division was reflected in education. In the Anglo-American world the Reformation came about in the form of Calvinism—“Puritan” being the derisory name for strict Calvinists. Their ideals were sober, practical behaviour, careful management, thrift, asceticism, and the rejection of hedonistic pleasures of life. Many of the educationists who sought this Puritan ideal were followers of the reform plans of Comenius. Samuel Hartlib, a Polish merchant residing in England who was friend, publisher, and patron of Comenius, tried to interest Parliament in the idea of popular education; his treatise London’s Charity Enlarged (1650) proposed that a grant be made for the education of poor children, all in the interest of general social betterment. The Committee for Advancement of Learning, which he founded in 1653, was the impulse and model for later educational associations. In general, his ideas ... (200 of 123,993 words)English theories and practices
The Puritan reformers
Education
Written by James Bowen
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