Education

Traditional movements

Against the various “progressive” lines of 20th-century education, there were strong voices advocating older traditions. Those voices were particularly strong in the 1930s, in the 1950s, and again in the 1980s and ’90s. Essentialists stressed those human experiences that they believed were indispensable to people of all time periods. They favoured the “mental disciplines” and, in the matter of method and content, put effort above interest, subjects above activities, collective experience above that of the individual, logical organization above the psychological, and the teacher’s initiative above that of the learner.

Closely related to essentialism was what was called humanistic, or liberal, education in its traditional form. Although many intellectuals argued the case, Robert M. Hutchins, president and then chancellor of the University of Chicago from 1929 to 1951, and Mortimer J. Adler, professor of the philosophy of law at the same institution, were its most recognized proponents. Adler argued for the restoration of an Aristotelian viewpoint in education. Maintaining that there are unchanging verities, he sought a return to education fixed in content and aim. Hutchins denounced American higher education for its vocationalism and “anti-intellectualism,” as well as for its delight in minute and isolated ... (200 of 123,993 words)