KABARNET CAMPUS

BEP1101: HISTORY OF EDUCATION

Introduction
History of education covers the evolution of educational ideas, theory and practice from the
ancient times to the present. It is divided into three parts; namely;
a)classical/ancient societies in western world e.g. Athenian and Sparta in Greece
Educational development in African i.e. starting of education in Africa before and after the
coming of the Europeans i.e during the colonial period and after independence
c) Education developments in Kenya e.g. Ominde Commission of 1964
The main objective of history of education is to:
i. Explain the importance of history of education in teacher education
ii. Explain the main historical determinants of educational development in the
classroom ,society in Kenya and Africa and in the world.
iii. Analyze social political, economic religions and scientific factors that have influenced the
development of education from the classical period to the present
iv. To suggest the solutions to solve some of the problems facing educational practices in
sub Saharan Africa in general and in Kenya
Definitions of history of education
History: can refer to the records of all the past human experiences showing how man and woman
evolved or came to be. It is concerned with political, social, economic, scientific and
technological events which have shaped and given birth to modern man
Education
Can simply be defined as the total process of developing human ability and behavior
Education is therefore an organized and sustained instructions that is meant to communicate a
combination of knowledge, skills, attitudes and understand for all activities of life
History of education is therefore a study of past development of educational theory and
educational institutions within the general. historical framework of political ,economic, social
scientific, technological and cultural change

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a)Rational or importance of studying history of education
To improve the quality of education and strengthen the professional competence of our teachers
There is a particular conviction that the study of the past has crucial relevance to the task of
improving the quality of action in the present
There is also a believe that an intelligent study on the history of education can have a vital
bearing on the way in which teachers or to be conduct their personal and professional activities
Many of the attitudes and approaches teachers adopt as they study the past and write or teach
about their findings are relevant to the tasks that they face in becoming better practitioners.
b) Making comparison within a historical context
History of education can enable one to draw comparisons that are to compare the development of
several different ideas or problems with one group of people. It enables one to avoid the dullness
that often accompanies the chronicle of a single instance or group.
c) Develops our powers of thinking
It forces us to train and exercise all the essential aspects of intellectual activity, it excites
curiosity and the spirit of inquiry, it disciplines the faculty of reason, it cultivates the art of self-
expression and communication.
Historical study is also fundamental in developing the attitudes of mind that distinguish the
educated person, the habits of skepticism and criticism of thinking with perspective and
objectivity of judging the good and the bad and the in between in human affairs and of weighing
the pros and cons.
d)Exposure to other disciplines
Professional historians of education do not have any monopoly on the thoughtful study of human
affairs. All other social sciences and humanities are engaged in .It offers the raw records of what
has happened and it sets the context of unique situations in the stream of time within which other
forms of specialized inquiry must operate
e)History is about the entire record of events
In other fields of knowledge e.g. in science and technology as well as the liberal arts and
humanities such as sociology, physiology, anthropology etc.
Education and early civilization

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Any attempt by human beings that they live above the standard of animals is civilization. Life on
earth started about 1500 million years ago after main appearing about 1 million years
ago .Homosapiens appears 3500BC. This is the time early civilization came to be-3500BC
The first education came to be when human beings (homo sapiens) started cont rolling the
environment it started in Mesopotamia and it descended down where people lived along the
rivers in river Rhine civilization
Culture has assisted human beings to create complex and dynamic civilization. Education plays a
key role in civilization in that it fosters and promotes the refinement of culture. It is on this basis
that many people take the earliest forms of education as enculturation. i.e. a process by which
infants or young ones get initiated or indoctrinated into a cultural tradition
The aims of early mans education focus on the immediate needs e.g. security, food---
It focus on the alienation of hunger protection and how to avoid injury or death
The basic aim of early mans education was security. The major concern was the mechanics of
staying alive, protect himself and the family from the destructive forces of nature
Accordingly fear became one of the earliest motive of education and it is this fear that was
imparted/inculcated to the young ones e.g. people were taught how to fear wild animals, trees,
mountains etc
Primitive education was mostly practice (simple) and was aimed at the preparation of life e.g.
feeding and protection
There were no formed institutions /schools for learning .The society itself was the school.
There was no professional teachers teaching was carried out by everybody in the society
especially the elder people and special people like the priests.
Teaching and learning were informal incidental not planned something erupting up can be used
for teaching
It was lifelong i.e. it was endless there were no end in learning
The command methods of teaching us as imitation
Other methods were trial and error trial and success, play, participation in daily activities. A days
scholarly was simply a day’s work
Egyptian Education
The Egyptian education lasted between 4000-1000BC and it was founded on an agricultural
activities along river Nile

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There were separate kingdoms i.e. the upper and the Lower Egypt. The two kingdoms i.e. the
upper and the lower united in the year 3100BC led by Pharaoh Menes
This unification marks the historical Egypt. It has about 26 dynasties i.e. (clan leadership)
These dynasties ruled until 525 BC when Egyptians were conquered by the Persians
The society was very religions. The kind of religion they were practicing was polytheism i.e. a
believe in many Gods. They had about 200 gods.
They had a king called son God who was a mediator between human beings and the real God
They believe in the physical life after death i.e. when one dies he is buried with all his
belongings. The kind of status you have will just continue with you even if you have died.

Stratified society
Strata means the layers, levels in the society i.e. upper class for the royal family, the noble at the
priests
Middle class for professional e.g. scribers
The low class-mainly made up of the slaves called the felahins.
Priests were very powerful in the society. Therefore they were in control of the education in the
society.
Aims of education in Egypt
- Education was meant to perpetuate social stability and maintain status quo
- It was to enhance a society hierarchical in the society e.g. the Catholic Church
- People were slotted in their respective classes through education
- Education was aimed at work oriented, personnel professionals pratechnical levels was
emphasized especially in agriculture
- It focuses on spiritual and religions training and this was meant to streghten moral
development with a lot of respect
- Education was not only meant to prepare people for life but also life after death
Education was divided into 3 levels;
1. Elementary
2. Secondary
3. Higher

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Elementary education
This focuses on the needs of the society e.g. agricultural activities so that people were trained in
agricultural mechanism especially on irrigation and how to control floods.
People were also trained in the construction of dykes bridges, ditches
They were trained on clerical work so that they can be able to record statistics
Most of the training were carried out in the homes in a form of informed manner. It was done by
the father.
It was mainly focused on boys. Gender equity was not sensitized .the fathers also instructed the
youth in matters of moralism and respect to the kings or the fellating
Girls were trained by their mothers in domestic crafts. However the girls daughters of the royal
and noble family might have received some formal education
This formal elementary schools were established between 3000-2000BC and these schools were
meant to train the youth on vocational education (practical works)
The boys who attended formal schools will start schooling at the age 4 years and the curriculum
touched on the following
i. Symbols
ii. How to read
iii. Arithmetic’s
iv. Story telling
v. Swimming
vi. Dancing as well as social political and moral education
Secondary Education
At this level there was also elementary science, geometry, astronomy, music as well as
patriotism
The methods of teaching at this level did not encourage thinking but was a kind of memorization,
imitation
The teachers were very harsh and nudeless who never entertained laziness ,they demanded good
cleanliness from the learners
The graduations was at the age of 14 years i.e. learning starts from age of 4 years to 14 years

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Instructions on secondary education were carried out on the same premises of primary
section/elementary level
They were emphasizing on writing and really it was merely a continuation of the elementary
education.

Higher level of education

 It was carried out in temples or temple colleges or in universities in Egypt was Tellel
Arama which was also referred to as the house of life.
 This level of education was meant only for priests and professionals. It was passed on in
secrecy to either social equals or colleagues
 The teachers used their homes officers, business premises and temples. For instructions
the scribers were among the respected in the society because they were the most leaned.
 They were recording the events of the day.
Achievement and contribution of Egyptian education to human civilization
- The current human civilization must have been copied from which the Egyptians used to
teach on the religion etc
- It assisted in the development of literature especially the literally forms e.g. proverbs
- Architecture –the pyramids which the Egyptians had structures which the people build
must have been borrowed from the Egyptians
- Contributes to arithmetic’s of systems of multiplication-this system had been used even
in Eastern Europe and Asia. The Asians called it Egyptian way
- They were also highly advanced/develop in the way of surveying and calculations
- The Egyptian methods have contributed in the development of the 12 months calendar
that we haven it today.
- They were advanced in the area of medicine they were able to magnify(i.e.
mummification of bodies) for so many years (preservation) they had a well developed
mortuary science and they had a clear functioning of the heart and the blood pressure
- They had an advanced form of writing and this was the form called hieroglyphics. This
was a way of drawing pictures to convey a certain idea/message
- They also develop a sound based syllabic systems i.e. the use of alphabetical letters

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 - The Egyptians had advanced writing materials and the materials they use were papyms,
stones and metals
- They use to get ink for writing from a gum of trees
- Egypt was a very advanced kind of civilization although the Egyptians were very rigid
Indian education
It is derived from the source of Indus valley. This civilization lasted between 2500-1500BC
along the valley a number of agricultural activities were carried out where a number of crops
were grown e.g. the mellon,wheat,peas,barley etc
People kept cattle and elephants the Indian civilization was heavily religious based on their
people religious beliefs
There were two religious beliefs
i)Hinduism
ii)Buddhism

Hinduism
This was one of the main religion in india.it is also referred to as Brahmanism
Hinduism involves about 3 gods or dietaries
i)Brahma-this is the creator of the universe
Vinshu-this is the preserver of the human beings
Siva-this is the destroyer
From the Indian religion, the Indian societies were heavily stratified and these strata’s were
called the caste system
There were four levels or caste systems
Brahmons-these are te intellectual, rulers, teachers and priests
The kshatriyas-these are the warlords and administrators
Vaisyas-these are the farmers money hardlers and the tradesmen (businessmen)
The sudras- these were the servants and slaves
These castes were not allowed to mix with one another, they were suppose to be contented from
their category

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They were inequality of opportunities they believed in a cycling kind of system. This is referred
to reincarnation i.e when one dies he can be reborn again in a different form e.g. a dog or any
kind of animal or a plant
Education were not given to the sudras and women. Women happen to exist in the lowest level in
the society.
BUDDHISM
This started as are form movement of the Hinduism around 500BC and spread easily in the parts
of Asia
The initiator of the religion was called Gantama Siddhartha)
He lived between 563 BC to 483BC
The “Buddha” was from the intellectual society. At the age of 29, budha received a revelation
and that informed him that suffering in the nation was caused by our desires. He started
preaching against desire as the best way to attain salvation
He believed that this salvation can be attained by doing things moderately i.e. Naivasha
For one to reach salvation he/she must conduct her/himself rightly moderately ethnically and
kindly.
Unlike Hinduism Buddhism emphasized on the principle of equality
Education among the Buddhism was meant to produce compassionate, sympathetic and selfless
persons
Aims of Indian education
They had three main aims;
 Their education was meant to develop social solidary.It was meant to cement the family
village and impartial values.
A lot of respect was given to the elders. They also emphasizes on commercial
cooperation
 Education was aimed at preserving the caste. Here people were taught to observe
customs which stress on equality in the society. They were taught to respect ones on class
You commit a mistake you are an outcaste and you are placed in a group of patriarchs (an out
curse)

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  Education was to prepare spiritual well being of the people. Emphasize were put on life
after death. They were not interested on the knowledge or conscious, but interested in the
developing the spiritual states of an individual
Structure and organization of Indian education system
During the ancient time, education in India started at the family level. The home being the first
school i.e. the mothers were the first teachers.
Children were under the care of the mother upto the age of 5 years and for the boys depending on
the wealth of the family, they proceeded to elementary schools which were carried out in open
air or under a tree
The teachers for those children were called gurns (teachers)
The content, curriculum touched on the following
Laws\traditions and customs
Vocational i.e. on self reliance. It was practical and heavily influenced by religion
They also trained on domestic activities such as military drills.
The methods used were memorization, imitation and drilling
There was also wrestling, archery (playing with swords) and yoga i.e. exercise and annotation
Classes were very small children were not more than is in number and instructions’ lasted for
many hours
Education system were given to the first and second classes of families
Higher education among Indians
Was considered as a means to salvation
They had a quite a number of colleges that provide education such as
Brahmans college –Perishats
This was meant to provide education to the Brahmans caste
Forest college-it was meant for distinguished scholars they emphasized on contemplation i.e. a
kind of meditation
Temple colleges-these colleges specialized in religious knowledge
Court schools-it was meant to provide secular administration and civil servants
Buddhist monarchies-These institutions provided education for those who were interested in
Knowledge.

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Only five percent of the population received intellectual education among the Hinduism while
Buddhist provided education for all the classics of people
Brahmans were intellectuals who established great universities. In this universities the Brahmans
taught drama poetry, interactive phonetics Arabic notations algebra, austronomy and medicine

Key features about India education

- Indians never explained or emphasized on what they were teaching. The system was
conservative and concentrated on the past or traditions with no room for innovation,
creativity and individual initiative
- Discipline was highly administered and there was a corporal punishment and torture e.g.
throwing water to other learners ,making the learners sleep on litter rushes, or waking
them up before dawn
- A lot of respect were given to the gurns (teachers) infact pupils were touching their feet
when greeting them.
- Teachers were taken to be holy and wise Brahmans teacher were not paid salaries but to
Brahman teachers were gurns which means the destroyers of darkness
Chinese education
The population of china is a heterogeneous population i.e. a mixture of different races.
The major races are the Mongolians the Turks from Turkey, Tibetans
Writing was practices and high developed
They were religious people with many gods
They had supreme God called Shangti
They worshipped royal ancestors when these ancestors died they were buries with their
belongings e.g warriors, horses, slaves.
In the 5th century BC the Chinese’s were ruled by a weak dynasty which led to a confusion in the
society.
As a result the Confucius who lived between 551-479 BC developed a strong political and social
ideology for the chineses society
He hid a lot of emphasize on a literature workforce

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A major characteristics of Chinese people was that they were highly pre-occupied with
philosophy and religion
A lot of emphasis was placed on the moral behavior of the people
Under religion ,Chinese practiced a folk religion and according to them they were not converted
to other religion
They believed in a cycling like (life after death where serious existence determines ones position
in the next line lead to any substantial change
Education in china was heavily influenced by two religious movements
Confucianism
These religion was founded by Kung-Fu –Tse who was the greatest Chinese humanist
philosopher
Kung-Fu-Tse was mainly concerned in the formation of gentlemen who were to serve the rulers
According to him, the following subjects was to be taught to gentlemen ethics,music,poetry and
traditional rituals
In Confucianism there was more of political and social teaching (philosophy) than religion. It did
not have a God theology or any worship
Morality and faith were taken to be the same. They were very much concern with secular hire
especially on matters of Confucius aimed at developing a perfect and ideal government with
efficient and just rulers to be emulated
Confucianism played a ground for future communistic idea because of this message and appeal
for the poor
Taoism-it simply means the birth of reason ,it was started by ‘lao-tsu.lao-tsu means “an old boy”
Lao Tsu wrote a book which touched on life and its purposes. These religion is referred to as
pantheistic or pantheism
Pantheism means a religion which reveals itself everywhere
In the book, he wrote about pushing the way following the way requires one to engage in
contemplation or meditation so that you can become one in the universe
Taoism emphasized in 2 great virtues;
i. Humility
ii. Frugality
iii. Contentment

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Taoism taught against change, interference with the natural course of things and against the
participation in the government.
Chinese educational taught
 It was heavily, influenced by Confucianism
 They emphasized on uniformity their past as well as their traditional in regulating and
guiding their lives
 Their education systems were also regulated by their tradition. Education was
mechanical, formal regular, routine and touched on the welfare of the society.
Aims of Chinese education
i. Education was suppose to maintain the status quo.This is because the Chinese were
mainly interested in their past.
ii. It was aimed at creativity and formation of inquiring minds
iii. Education especially Confucianism emphasized a lot in instrumental morality
iv. Education was meant to perpetuate the state and the family. It was against pursuance of
personal interest
v. It emphasized on the obligation to the state and the foundation of a submissive citizenry
Major features of Chinese systems
The formal systems was highly literary and emphasized on memorization of knowledge
and teaching of Confucianism.
The teaching of Confucius were necessary for one to qualify for the civil service
There was no national system of education but there was private schools(cleaning takes
place in teachers houses ,temples, church or the mosque
Education was accessible to the upper class where boys were required to pay school fees
Learning started at the age of 7th birth days
Education system was meant to prepare learners for civil service examinations
Examination was carried out in 3 parts
At the county levels
This was a preliminary exam which emphasized on hierarchy writing and literature
Those who passed were given a degree
The second exam was carried out at provincial level. This was intermediate exams on the
writing of Confucians. If one passed he/she is awarded masters.

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 The third exam was conducted at the capital level (national headquarters)
It deals with philosophical and ethical ideals of the society. Those who passed were
awarded Phd
The learners had to respect their teachers. Teachers were the failures from the national
exams. Teaching was considered a noble profession.
Teachers used Confucius method of instructions i.e. propping method
They used centered approach and inquiry method.

Greek education
Greece is a mountainous land .Greeks descended from the indo-European stock
They settled in the Greek peninsula around 3000BC and by 2800BC they were practicing
farming. The inhabitants of these great peninsula was always suspicious of each other and they
only came together when under extreme danger.
Greek such as education religious activities, festival rites were only meant to benefit the ruling
class
Education prepares the youth for citizenship and religious uprightness
Greeks belief in many Gods, they had a chief God called Zeus (greatest god).people use to have
ceremonies and festivals to honour their God
The political lines was organized around the polis ( a city state)
Greece had 20 city states among these, there were three very important states
i)Athens
2)Sparta
3)Thebes
They have a major festivals e.g. the Olympic games. The first Olympic games was carried out in
476BC mainly in music ,dance, athletics, field events drama literal context it based mainly on
academics.
Sparta education
 Sparta was the most powerful city state which lays a demanding discipline. Discipline
revolves in health and physical fitness
 It aim was to build a strong military society
 Sparta was divided into 3 classes

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  Elites citizens which consists of the soldiers and government officials
 Non-citizens which consists of craftsmen merchants and peasants
 State owned slaves these were workers on state land Sparta was military state
Aims of education
 To prepare soldiers as workers
 Formation of obedient and loyal citizenship
 To make people modest ,caring ,enduring ,hardy social
 Reading and writing were taught but not emphasized. There was a heavy clause on
religion hence God fearing, moral and military socialists.
 Education played a lot of emphasis on military mighty or strength
Structure of education
- After birth children were being cared by the mothers and slaves
- Infants were exposed to ice and snow in the mountains so that weaklings would die
- At the age of 7 years boys began to live in barracks where they were given small rations
bathed with cold water and were beaten by elders to strengthen them.
- Girls were trained on physical activities e.g. athletics
- Boys were taught how to kill slaves at the age of 18nyrs boys graduated as a cardate
officer and engaged in professional warfare for 2 years
- They were taught how to undergo torture and other straining skills
- At the age of 30 yrs they were allowed to marry
- They heavy emphasis on military training made Sparta to produce no literature
science ,art or philosophy.
Athenian education
The education of the Athenians was typical of the New Greek education. It was not like that of
the Spartans, in that Athenians felt that the state was supreme, nevertheless there was growing
conviction among them that individual fulfillment was equally sound for the state.
Athenian education was liberal it sought to foster science and humanities including physical
fitness
It had 4 class system, they had four classes people were slotted according to the amount of land
and wealth
By the year 585BC this class system was destroyed to give way for democracy

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Democracy system allows all eligible citizens to be involved in the matters of government as
they got involved in deliberating in acropolis (something close to a parliament)
Structure and organization of Athens
After the birth of the child, it was the decision of the father to examine the child on whether to
expose to the snow or to spare the child
After that the child was recognized and accepted in the society. They grow up at home upto the
age of 7yrs.
The mother played the role of teaching. The nurse maids also came to assist.
Their training focused on good behavior and self control
Girls were trained in domestic crafts and as such left out of formal education
At the age of 7yrs the boys join in formal school.
There were two schools attended by boys.
Palaestra-this refers to gymnastics and wrestling
Music school –the boys were given literacy and music training
Attendants in these two schools was that classes run from dawn to dusk
The masters were very strict and by so doing, discipline was enhanced
The boys were attended by two categories of teachers (i)grammertics
These teachers taught reading, counting, music and literature
Grammatical-he/she specialized on P.E
In most cases learning at this level involves memorization dictations, imitation and the boys were
trained to become gentlemen. Morally upright righteousness and on religion matters
Children had slaves to lead them to and from school. These slaves were called pedagogues
Upto the age of 15 yrs education activities were carried out in private schools. Boys of the
wealthy parents were enrolled at public gymnasia for physical training. They were also instructed
on legislation, judiciary and military duties
These schools were supported by the state. This is because they were meant to train citizens who
were out to support the state
At the age of 18 years they were taken to be mature i.e. they qualify to be a citizen and as such
they were enrolled as a novitiate for two years in military service
At the age of 20 years, the boys receives full citizenship and can now be enrolled at the
university education

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Education in Athens was very progressive it produced individualistic and democratically
conscious people.
It was education that prepares its people for both war and peace
Athens through its education system it produced a liberal cultural and intelligent society. This
was a major evolution from the rigid castle system of ancient time
Athens developed modern university which lasted between 200BC to 529AD
The university remained an intellectual for European civilization upto 380AD Greece
Greece was behind the establishment of powerful universities e.g. Alexandria in Egypt. It was at
this university where there was translation of the bible from Hebrew to Greek
There was another university established in constanipole
Roman education
- In 400BC Rome was one of the several small Latin city states that existed on the Italian
peninsula
- The roman state comprised of two classes of people the patricians of a high social
economic status and plebeians of a lower social economic status
- Although the two classes were regionally separated during Rome as early history their
social barrier were gradually weakened as some plebeians acquired commercial features
Early roman education
- Education was a family affairs
- It stressed on the traditional beliefs and values
- Boys and girls were taught reading and writing and the earliest stages of number work.
- Children learnt from their parents how to be dutiful citizens and guardians of Rome’s
cultural heritages, boys for instances received practical training in family and military life
besides this they leant from their parents how to be dutiful citizens and guardians of
Rome’s cultural heritage, boys for instance received practical training in family and
military life. Besides this, they learnt how to inherit their fathers trade. Girls learnt the art
of home management from their mothers
- The roman had to memorize the legal prescriptions of the twelve tables adapted 450BC
- The father continue to educate his son until the age of sixteen when he assumed an adult
role
- Religious education

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 - The roman youth learnt early that he lived in a world of unseen but powerful spirits.his
ancestors watched over him and demanded reverence and respect and divine beings filled
his environment
- Every day ion the roman home begin with prayer led by the father, as the head of the
family
- There was a formal virtual which the child was taught
- He was instructed in the understanding and practice of the great roman virtues
Greek influence on roman education
A great charge occurred with the ending of the first panic war in 3 rd century BC. Military
operations and the growth of commerce had brought the Romans into constant with the Greek
colonies in Sicily Southern Italy and the rest of the world.
By 150BC Greek influence began to be very notable
The effects of roman conquest on education
 There was a shift of emphasis from education as family affairs to a state controlled
education.
 Split of education: education of the rich and the poor fro with the roman conquest came
appreding poverty and almost equally appealing wealth
 It was fashionable to have Greek slaves as tutors for children of the rich
 The paying of fees was introduced which was contrary to roman culture
 So schools started multiplying
 There was introduction of athletics, music and Greek language literature, philosophy
poetry and drama by the Greek.
Levels of education
 Elementary schools or ludus
 They were private schools. Ages 7-12 years were admitted
 The aim of education was to acquire literacy, skills of reading, writing and arithmetic
2) Secondary schools
- Students of 10-16 years were admitted
- Were taught Greek grammar, composition poetry and history in Greek grammar as school
- Grammar of roman vernacular was also taught
- The Romans were opposed to the attending of both Greek and align grammar schools

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3)Rheumatic schools
- They appeared in 100BC
- This was an institution which training students to be more profession by preparing them
for public careers
- They were concerned with the education of the orator. Rhetoric studies were important
for the Romans in that speaking abilities helped the politicians to gain control of the
crowd, influence voting in the senate and inspire troops.
Judaism education
 Hebranic education
 The land of Hebrews was called the Promised Land, Cannan
 By the year 3000BC Hebrews stopped the nomadic hostility and embarked on a settled
lifestyle
 Hebrews had their God called Yahweh they believed that all their activities were divined
by structures by this God Yahweh
Aims of education among the judiciary
 Hebraic education was aimed at the development of morally conscious people. Education
was meant to develop a religious character
 It was meant to make clear to all the people of Jude that they are Jews who should be
pure and holy
 It was meant to perpetuate the old sacral society i.e. a theocratic state and its
religious ,social and national ideas.
 Education was meant to foster Hebrew heritage .this was done through a strict observance
of the law and ritual cleanliness
 Education systems was meant to meet the economic aspiration of the people
 It offers vocational and practical oriented education where boys were given knowledge in
crafts and professions while girls were instructed on domestic activities
 Jews were people who happen to respect labour and accepted work as a dignified activity
that is necessary for the development of human character
Structure of education
There were 3 stages of its development
i) The biblical era

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During this era, there was no formal organized school, education was home based and revolved
around religious and moral traditions of the Hebrews.
This education also imparted relevant skills on the basis of gender
It was mostly informed and it addressed social historical and cultural needs of the society
Exilic era
This is an education system that develops when the Israelites were in exile i.e. during the year
722 when the northern kingdom was conquered and inhabitants were taken into exile
At the year 587, the southern kingdom was conquered and its inhabitants were taken to exile.
When they were in exile the synagogue emerged as an education was focused on
righteousness ,history ,government and agreement with God
The era of Diaspora –this is the structures emerged during this period

It has three levels

i) Elementary education
- These were called beth-hasepher (house of books).it was located in the synagogue for
boys between 6-13 years.
- The curriculum content touched on;
- Tora -the law of Hebrews
- Reading, writing arithmetic, history ,Geopgraphy,general knowledge and austronomy
- The method of instructions was memorization
The secondary level
- It was referred to as academics among the Hebrews they called it beth-hamidrash or the
house of expositions boys were taught law and alter the supplement (Geneva)
- Education focused on the interoperation of the Tora and Jews refunds (Passover)
- Mathematics austonomy languages
- The Greek philosophy was also taught
- Teachers offers this education free of charge since it was a religious tradition
Higher education
- Was meant for scribes they were taught commentaries and interpretation of the law
- They learned how to translate the scriptures into Greek or Aramaic languages

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 - Other subjects were Greek philosophy and literature law etc.This education was
conducted around Jerusalem.
Main features of this education
- Basic education was meant for boys
- Girls education was mainly on domestic activities
- In 64AD elementary education was made compulsory where every synagogue town or
province was asked to support a school
- The Jews identity existence habits mannerism and faith were preserved and passed on
through indoctrination and instructions
- Discipline was carefully and mainly done was through praise and teachers were highly
respected and honoured
- Jews education was lifelong. It did not have a beginning nor end
- They emphasized on small number of teachers so that a school with less than 25 students
was manned by 1 teacher.

Christianity and education

Christian education started during the medieval period (the middle ages or the dark ages)
During this period, western Christianity institutionalized in the structure of the Latin or the
Roman Catholic Church
It seeks to integrate and sustain western education
Historically, the medieval periods range from the 3rd century to 13 th century AD
It was marked by the spread and success of Christianity culture throughout the roman empire
At the year 108AD the roman empire was on the verge (state) of collapse and decline
About 4th century, AD Christianity had been adapted as a state religion in the roman empire. At
the year 351AD the emperor constantly was converted to Christianity, hence Christianity was
adapted as the state religion for the empire and therefore becoming a powerful force that shape
humanity in the western world
The climax of the growth of the church was ushered in following the papacy of the bishop of
Rome

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The powerful position that was taken back by the bishop helps to conquer the roman world by
the 4th century AD
By the 5th Century AD the clergy took over the running of the Roman Empire and stared
administering the secular duties thereby maintaining peace during the troubled period.
Christian educational institution
Christian education was offered as per the classification of the people in the society. People were
classified into 4 groups. These were the clergy pope the knight the craftsmen and the serfs or
slaves
Knights were the soldiers or military
No formal education was given however they were training the clergy i.e. the priests only.
In the medieval period 3 classes developed
a) Schools which were directly related to the church where literary education was conducted
for the clergy.
b) The feudal aristocracy-these were the rural landlords or owners. They focuses on knights
c) Schools related to crafts and vocational education –they prepare craftsmen
Church related education
The church takes the overall management of the schools which were developed
1)parish schools
Was established by every parish
It offers elementary education i.e. every parish had to develop a schools for elementary education
The content taught was on a religion and music ,children were also taught reading and writing
2) Chanty schools
These were schools supported by donations from wealth persons who wanted special service to
be said by them or special prayers for the salvation of their souls.

3) Monarstic schools
It started in 4th century AD its purpose was to train the monks who were going to become fathers
and priests
It also provided secular education mainly given to boys
A lot of emphasis was on reading and writing

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Starting from 6th century monarchies become serious centers for leaving monks were forced to
engage in the memorizing of the scripture. With time monarchies offered the curriculum in
reading, writing, music simple arithmetic and religious doctrines.
By 11th century, monastic schools started collapsing due to the growth of cities
4) Cathedral schools
They offer both elementary and secondary studies
Emphasis was placed on liberal studies they taught people how to read and write Latin. That was
the official language of the church
The cathedral schools became more prominent for 1179AD because the church issued an order
to the effect that every cathedral was suppose to establish a school for educating the priest,
clerics and the poor
It emphasized on reading and writing literature although some instructions were carried out in
vernacular
The text was suppose to be memorized during this 11 th century cathedral schools mainly
concerned itself in secondary instructions.
The schools became centres of liberal studies and acquired STUDIA GENERALIA i.e. centres
for general learning
Early western universities emerged from this schools. They emerged as universities-these were a
kind of association by masters and students.
It was formed so as to protect the interest of both the teacher and the learners
Islamic education
- The term Islam means surrender to God .the holy book of the Muslims is the Quran it has
an information about God Allah
- It has an information or document which tries to explain the Quran
- Islam was founded in MECCA and Medina. It was founded by Prophet Mohammed who
lived between the years 570AD and did in 632AD
- Islam was actually founded in the year 622 AD when Prophet Mohammed received a
revelation through Angel Gabriel.
- The religions theory and practice of Islam are based on the Quran, the holy book that was
revealed to the prophet by God through angel Gabriel as well as Hadith ,the traditions of
the prophet

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 - Before his death in AD 632 Mohammed let the Arabs as a community and as a state
bound together by Islam.

Aims of Islamic education

 To facilitate the worship of God Muslims take education, as religious duty and it is
compulsory
 Muslims do not discriminate against gender or the source of education
 In Islam knowledge is the path way of salvation. The believer seek knowledge from all
sources whether secular or religious education in Islam is a lifelong activity
 Islamic education aims at moral and character training
 It is suppose to refine the spirit and not just to starve once head with facts
 Education has to be used for the development of natural and cultural resources because
according to muslims,the secular material aspects of life enhance the quality of life of a
person
 Education is suppose to promote vocational and industrial skills in order to earn a living
 Initially Islamic education aimed at the preservation of the Quran .this was mainly done
through memorization and writing
Organization of Islamic education
Elementary level of learning (the kuttah)
This offers elementary education theses institutions were mainly located in the mosque and
emphasized on the teaching of the Quran. It was later own situated at the teachers houses where
reading and writing became prominent .The methods used for instructions were mainly
memorization as note learning. The main aim was for the child to recite well the Quran.
2) Madraddah
This is equivalent to a college as a high school. This schools were meant for the children of the
wealth people
They learned Arabic literature, grammar, mathematics, autonomy ,metaphysics, chemistry and
some knowledge in medicine
Methods of instructions were lecture method, observation and experimental

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3)Jami this was an equivalent to a university. They were colleges of liberal studies. Teachers
and students lived together most of the schools had medical schools and schools of autonomy
They also had schools for amths,music,agriculture,physics and navigation
Jami was open for everybody interested in learning
The methods of instructions was mainly scientific where experiments were conducted on
laboratories and clinics and this led to many discoveries.

Contributions of Islamic education

 It revived the study and development of sciences and they made scientific interventions
e.g. they invented sulphuric acid, nitric acid. They advanced in chemical pharmacy and
medicine.
 They are credited for inventing the compass
 In the area of mathematics they introduced numerals, decimals, notrtitons
 They advanced the study of geometry and invented algebra ,they also invented the
pendulum in the area of physics
 In the 9th & 10th centuries, Muslims compiled, preserved and improved on the great
works of Greeks and Romans.
 These rich knowledge generated by the Greeks and Romans was taken to libraries in
Europe
 They contributed to the establishment of higher education e.g. universities and
institutions of scientific research
 The first interventional conference of science was held in Bagdad in the 8 th century, by
the 10th century fully fledged universities in Spain of Egypt (Cairo) had been established
by the Muslims
 Muslims practiced scientific farming they came up with scientific systems of irrigation
 They were advanced in art and architectural as seen in the construction of mosques,
palaces tombs and cities
 Muslims came into contact with India and this kind of contact enable Islam to emerge as
a cultural highway from European civilization
 The Muslims spent a lot of resources in the buildings of libraries. Islamic leaders mostly
the caliph and emirs sent emissaries to different parts of the world to collect manuscripts

24
 that were developed into copied and bound. The students were in turn allowed to use
those libraries free while others gained free access to the private collections of wealthy
men. It is estimated that 70 librarians were established in Spain alone
 They engaged in the sciences of business and trade and made beginnings
 These and many other achievements made the Muslims stand above the rest in the
intellectual activity. It should be noted that these achievements were being recorded at a
time when Christian Europeanist in Europe was going through a period of deep
slumber” drunk ages” the moslems should therefore be accorded the credit for leading
therefore be accorded the credit for leading Europe out of medievalism because the peak
of their intellectual and scientific accomplishment came at a time when the rest of Europe
was experiencing total darkness with regard to human civilization.
The rise of universities in medieval Europe
The term university has many definitions Jihn, Henry Cardinal Newton defined a university as a
“place for teaching universal knowledge”. According to Newman an institution was not a
university it did not after all known disciplines .he believed that an institution which offered only
one or a few specialized disciplines did not provide the enlargement of mind that he regarded the
benchmark of university education
The second definition is that of Karl jaspers. Jaspers defines a university as a republic of
scholars committed to three ends
i. Advancement of knowledge through research
ii. dissemination of knowledge through teaching and
iii. conservation of knowledge through publications and libraries
For the university to fulfill its mission, according to jaspers it requires autonomy and academic
freedom .autonomy means independence from all powers, freedom to run its own affairs without
outside intervene
The universities started at the late medieval /or middle ages which runs between 11 th to 13th
century
Factors that led to the rise of universities in medieval Europe
i)crusaders-these bought Arabic learning to Europe as well as reviving commercial activities and
city life
The Catholic Church

25
The church encouraged leaving by forming schools and other institutions of learning. Popes gave
charters to universities and protected them from any interferences by the local bishops or by
authorities. In addition the church gave stipends to needy students .The church also needed
catechists teachers and theologicians.
Growth of towns and cities
By the tenth century revival of urban life was becoming evident in most of western Europe.
Cathedral schools were flourishing in these centres,cities and towns were ideal places for
universities .they provided buildings, that could be rented as lecture halls offices and hostels in
these early stages when the medieval universities did not own any movable property .more
importantly food was doubled as librarian who lend books out at a fee
Growth of wealth
By the tenth century, the economy of Europe had started expanding. An agriculture meant that
there was more food production from the already cultivated land.
Growth of trade commerce and crafts industries resulted in a new middle class of craftsmen and
merchant. Trade was boosted by the growing contact between traders and their Muslim
counterparts. Goods from the east that is India and China found their way to Europe through
Muslim traders
Western European traders in turn sold their goods to Muslim trades .this trade created a class of
people with money which could invest in education
King and princes
Rulers encouraged the development of universities in several ways. Kings gave universities in
several ways. Kings gave universities charters and gave them special privileges not enjoyed by
other institutions in their kingdoms .For example universities were exempted from civil
jurisdictions, taxation and students were exempted from military service in a world where every
bale bodied person below middle age was required to serve in military. Rulers also endowed
universities thus availing the greatly needful physical and financial resources
6. Peace and stability
Chaos produced by meandering barbarians an duruly nobles were slowly becoming a thing of the
past in most of western Europe by the tenth century, with the return of peace came hope. People
could now plan they could invest without fear of losing their capital

26
Education was proving to be a good investment as graduates could always find opportunities this
encouraged the upper classes to provide higher education for their sons to enable them secure
influential positions in government or the church
7. Improvement in the means of transport by the time universities started developing in the
eleventh century, The means of transport had greatly improved .people especially merchants
were able to travel from one part of western Europe to another. Others who joined this
movement were church officials, missionaries, Monks diplomats .Such movement facilitated
interchange of ideas.
8. Nationalism
The high medieval period was characterized by the development of Nation states. As
universities came to be perceived as useful i9nstitutions, leaders did their best to ensure their
kingdoms had at least one .Some rulers were forced to set up universities in their own kingdom
by the realization that a lot of their kingdoms wealth was being exported by students who went to
study in foreign lands. This would make the universities in their kingdom as attractive as any
other in western Europe. They would also strive hard to attract as many scholars as possible to
such universities by generous donations or endowments.
9. Influence of Muslim Scholarship.
Muslims had set up i9nstitutionsd of higher learning in their lands. Spain, which had been
conquered by Muslims from North Africa in the eight century, boasted many such institutions;
the most famous being Cordona, which had the same fame as kufa, Bogded, Al Azhar e.t.c.
Scholars and students from Western Europe visited and studied in Muslim institutions and put
into practice what they had learned on their return. They adapted their organizational structure
and the curriculum to the already existing institutions.
Structure and organization of universities.
1. Was organized as teaching faculties i.e teachers or a group of masters teach a given subject per
the faculty.
2. Each faculty elects a dean every year.
3. The students used to elect themselves as per their nationalities going as per place of origin e.g.
French e.t.c
4. In their groups they could elect a councilor formed as university counsel and will be the
student’s boss.

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Students attached themselves to the masters for teaching purpose. Each master had a group
he/she was responsible for
Latin was the language of instructions in the university
Methods used
Lectio-i.e. lecture
Disputation-art of debate with the lecture/discussion
By the end of the 13th century, most universities were organized into four faculties –art,
law ,theology and medicine.

Renaissance and education

The term renaissance means the rise of worldliness i.e. thinking of things for from religion. It is
the rebirth in all spheres of human life which ushered in the modern period.
This covered the period between 1320AD and 1600AD.it was a very gradual process i.e. it came
in slowly. This cultural revival was a very gradual process heavily influenced by forces that
preceded it which ended up bringing about a gradual break with the medieval life and created a
new world –view.
The period of renaissance put a lot of emphasis on man and his abilities passion for learning and
a stress on scholarly executives,mans faculty of reasons was seen to be more important than
faith.
Differences between medieval period and renaissance
The mediaval period advocated the rejection of the body but this changed during the renaissance
period where the human body was glorified and insisted that life had to be enjoyed to the full.
Renaissance exalted man who was put at the centre of the world unlike the medieval period
which focused on God and the heavens. The revival changed that focus by putting attention to
man’s life who had to be helped to realize his potentials
Renaissance emphasized on the passion for learning and stressed on scholarly exactness .reasons
was taken to be more important than the faith of the medieval period. It called for a return to
classical learning as well as an appreciation of the humanities areas of knowledge that refine the
human spirit.

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Renaissance was generally an age optimism where man felt that no discovery and scientific
advance lay beyond human achievement. The period for the first time came to realize their
potentials in creation as compared to their initial helplessness’s.
Renaissance came to signify a major break from the previous religious dogmas by asserting that
a new universe was governed by laws and not the belief in miracles of the medieval
period,theology,the most exalted area of knowledge during the medieval period lost its position
as the queen of sciences to the new aspect of learning that were secular in nature like the
language and the physical sciences.
The causes of renaissance
Scholasticism- it operated thoughts processes that later destroyed and replaced it by scientific
inquiry.
The new spirit of inquiry into knowledge at the time undermined the medieval structures of
monasticism and scholasticism which had brought about national thoughts in the society, but due
to its speculative spirit made it engage in the play of words which bought intellectual
accomplishments a stand still scholasticism had however played an important role in enhancing
intellectualism that enabled scholars engage in analytical thought processes which although at
first used only to prove dogmas already accepted, later became the means that scholaricism itself
was destroyed and replaced by scientific inquiry.
The new universities found in the late middle ages stimulated intellectuals achievements in the
society with the new faculties of law and medicine to supplement theology. These institutions
came with more intellectual freedom and more dissatisfaction with institution that restricted
though and suppressed inquiry. As a consequence, a rational reflection of faith emerged that
helped in the liberation of the individuals.
The Islamic civilization with its advanced learning introduced to Europe through Spain was
gradually permeating and influencing Europe more and more. This process prepared the way for
the importation of the writing of the great classical authors and teachers of humanities from by
zathine, the storehouse of Greek culture.
The European economic revival stimulated by the crusades impacted heavily on the lives of the
people. The process of equipping and transporting the crusaders to the east in the seven crusade
that took place between 1097 and 1270 led to the growth of free cities like Genoa and Vernice.

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In addition the stay of the crusaders in the east served to enlarge their appetites and desires when
they discovered that those people had better things to eat and wear than the medieval Europe
had ever possessed .These experiences led to the demand for the importation of goods from the
east that increasing trade and commerce and manufacturing in the free cities of Europe .the city
burgler class, the merchants ,bankers and masters of guilds that supplied the new demands
evolved into a new class were different from those of the established mediaval class ,they
pointed the way to a new manner of things.
Expanding commerce meant new worlds to conquer and found them. The revival led some
people who loved adventure into voyages .for instance the discovery of a new route to India by
morco polo as well as the American continent by Columbus enlarged.
The scope of trade which in turn changed how trade was carried out. The narrow limits of the
free cities meant that they could not meet the new commercial problems and trade became
national scope.
This situation was instrumental in the rise of nations of western Europe which led to new
conceptions and practices in education.
Leaders of trading activities became more important than those of the church in power and
influence.
The emergence of the spirit of national consciousness imparted heavily on the use of vernaculars
as the new states emphasized on their own languages rather than Latin the language widely in
use at the time especially by the church.
A number of material things were introduced into European life to enhance intellectual
advancement –the introduction of paper from the east as well as the invention of printing
multiplied the copies of classical manuscripts discovered and brought into Europe by the early
humanists.
This led to adequate supply of books and opened opportunities for many people to read as
compared to the past. Plenty and cheap books became a good motivator for intellectual activity.
The work of explorers and scientific discoveries enhanced the spirit of inquiry and investigation.
Magellas voyages had established that the earth was round.
Copernicus had shown that the sun and not the earth was the centre of the universe. This forced
the old dogmatic beliefs to give way to an inquiring attitude that demanded concrete profs as
opposed to the old metaphysical abstractions.

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The degeneration of the church due to corruption led some individual to lose trust in it, and
oppose the power of ecclesiastical domination. The people started to play less attention in the
ritualistic attitude of the church and become more interested in the beliefs of the contemporary
world. They started to play more attention to humanities than the chvinties.
Less emphasis was placed upon formalized church observarances which led only to the one end
of obtaining eternal life and of escaping eternal domination and more on every form of art,
literature ,science and commerce that made life rich and pleasant whether it was good for the
soul or not.
The above factors helped the people to develop intellectual freedom and individual personality
that later opened the way to artistic ,moral and spiritual rebirth of western Europe which
produced the beginning of modern culture ,emancipation of its will and an enthusiastic delight in
independent thought , speech and action . In other words renaissance was more than a revival of
learning.
Renaissance and education (impacts of renaissance on education)
Secular rules in totally capitalized on the diminishing authority of pope to increase the influence
of education that was going to serve the political establishment that the previous one which used
to serve the interest of the church.
The new education focused on the philosophy and literature. In Germany for example scholars
criticized scriptures and theological writing that had been featuring in the medieval age.
Reinansaince education generally focused on the preparation of life and took on knowledge
established by the church and scholastic traditions as mere assumptions.
The new education aspired in the freedom and expressiveness in the classical literature. Unlike
the mediaeval education a lot of emphasis was placed on the individual.
The renaissance movement revived Latin and Greek literature, natural life and art that let to
skeptical minds.
Most of this education was called humanistic and it insisted on the information of all rounded
and liberally educated gentlemen.
Nb/ the main features or significance of the renaissance was liberal education and humanistic
education
In liberal education renaissance encouraged the development of freedom and individualistic
moving away from the medievalism and supernaturalism of the Romans towards the free

31
Germanic spirit. It influence the language and developed the whole mans mind, body, taste,
knowledge, heart and will.
Humanistic education emphasized the language of ancient Greece and Rome; the humanities.
The spirit of humanism was not confined to scholars but was to spread to other parts of the
society, aiding in a generally tolerant way of life, and in scholarly circles contributing towards
moderation in intellectual alterations.
THE REFORMATION
In the 16th century, Protestants revolted and the Roman Catholic Church reformed. The
reformation was a series of revolts from the Catholic Church, which had resisted all efforts at
internal reform of its ecclesiastical doctrine.
At the council of Trens (1543-1563 the need for reform had been accepted. The reformation
therefore was the application of Renaissance reason to matters of religion. The principle period
of reformation period growth was between 1520 and 1550 after which the catholic reform
movement got underway. The immediate impulse to the revolt against the catholic church was
the republication by Martin Luther (1483-1546) in 95 theses, reflecting his conviction the
salvation was a matter of faith rather than the consequences of good work.
The German reformation followed Luther, while that of Swiss, the Dutch and the Scandinavians
was based on the teachings of Calvin ( 1509-1546).
Impacts of reformation on education
1.Changes in aim and content
With the reformation, the religious and theological aims of educations became very prominent ,
for both Catholics and protestants. In the universities, this was noticeable in the development of
training in dialectic, rhetoric and theology for heading off ecclesiastical opponents.
2.The development of public support for elementary schools .
Protestants, believing in a close union of church and state, thought it wise to have education
work support and administratively controlled by the state.
They sought universal, free and compulsory education, with the exception of the Anglicans.
Luther advocated universal state control of public schools. By contrast, the Catholics left
educational work in the hands of their various religion orders.
3. The influence on secondary schools and universities

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The move towards a state system of education at the elementary level was soon to be extended to
the secondary schools. Princes and the state began to control such schools.
In the case of universities, many remained loyal to the Catholicism, the champion of authority.
All adhered to the principles of submission to ecclesiastical authority. In Germany, the
universities gradually threw off their allegiance to temporal prince. The English universities,
especially oxford and Cambridge, went over to Protestantism, under the Church of England.
Impact of Counter Reformation on Education
The struggle for control between the Roman catholic church and Protestantism resulted in
religious wars with the failure of the conciliatory council of Trent (1543-1563),the counter
reformation developed using inquisitions and education in a reaction against the reformation
movement . The society of Jesuits became the chief instrument of the counters reformation. The
society of Jesus was founded by the mystical loyala (1491-1556). The Jesuits strove through
missionary work to extend Catholicism throughout the world , and by means of schools to hold
their converts and educate all people to papal allegiance.
They trained leaders to advance the causes of the society and the church.
They were however not concerned with elementary and work class education, confirming them
to higher education.
Their graduates became important in every sphere of life.
Later La Salle (1951-1719) of France through Christian schools and his order of
Christian .brothers became concerned with elementary education for the lower classes and the
poor. The order sought to propagate religious instructions in the vernacular. They convened
themselves with reading writing arithmetic and spelling, besides their emphasis on the catechism.
It is the Christian brothers who introduced the idea of grading or standards.
Vitturino De Feltre
He lived between 1378 and 1446 AD. He set up an example of Renainssance School at a place
called Mantna and was called the house of joy.
One of his major aim was to educate the kings children and other children who were carefully
selected .He believed that an educated person was one who possessed a broad knowledge from a
wide range of subjects.
Education to him was to be moral agents emphasized on values of Christianity and humanism.

33
His curriculum was composed of classical literature, mathematics, natural sciences, ethics history
and geography.
In Methodology, the emphasize was put on physical fitness. A healthy mind is a healthy body
(need for physical fitness). He joined the students in the physical exercise.
- He emphasized on motivation which was to be won by appealing g to the learners’
interest.
- He went against corporal punishment and emphasized on question of encouragement and
praised and showed a concern on what learners were doing / learning.
- He was strict on academics and poorly prepared lessons were to be repeated..
- His school focused on the future statements, scholars, administrators and the clergy.
- He encouraged self governance, democracy, and this was aimed at producing responsible
pupils. He called for recognition of individual differences and learners were to develop as
per their interest and capabilities.
Religions Reformation and Educations
This was due to revolts staged by the church as a result of being stubborn institution.
It was a process that applied renaissance reason to matters of religion which ended up killing the
medieval synthesis. Reformation aimed at correcting many abuses in the church especially the
sale of indulgences use of money to cleanse sins).the fovoured the rich and not the poor. It was a
form of corruption.
Martin Luther began by critising certain practices of the church and later own defined authority.
When the church demanded that it had to drop his claims .he was excommunicated from the
church .Martin was a strict roman catechist monk.

Factors which led to religious reformation

Critical spirit of humanism had already attached the moral evils of the church and called for their
corrections
New geographical exploration and commercialism i.e. movement to different places and
gathering new knowledge .money helped them to invest in education and realized the wrong
deeds of the church

34
Decay scholasticism made people sceptical and set out to challenge the conservative catholic
theology
The rise of German nationalism an ill will against the authority of the pope
These was the main reasons why when Luther got ex-communicated in 1521, he received a lot of
sympathizes from northern kingdom e.g. Germany
Education among the protestants focused on attainment of worthy life on earth as a guarantee of
a glorious life to come
Education of Martin Luther
Luther was born in1443 and died in 1554
He associated knowledge and faith and this led to a strong impact on education as they had to
read the bible
Luther translated the bible into German vernacular which became a principle book in school
He took education as the basis of life and requested the state to build and equip schools other
than spending money in building cities and military adventures
He was the first reformer who recommended compulsory education
He advocated their parents to provide education to their children rather than buying indulges or
visiting foreign churches
He called for vocational training and practical art and trade skills to enable people run their
homes efficiently
He emphasized in singing and physical exercise
He called for proper training for teachers and identify for best pupils to be trained as teachers
He advocated for gender equity in education
He called for more liberty and joy in school by starting that enjoyment and creation was
necessary for development for children
He praised the teaching profession which said to be noble and most useful profession in the
world
John Calvin (1509-1564)
He lived between 1509-1564 and started a movement called Calvinism in Geneva though he was
French by citizen
He insisted on the self sufficiency of the bible. He stressed that reading the bible necessitated
literature and educated laity (laymen)

35
He insisted that human beings are not free from sins and that children are conceived in sin and
born in a corruption and are always inclined to sin idleness, noisy etc.
He emphasized on discipline in schools saying that it is a way of stopping evil inclinations thus
in Calvinists schools, children were heavily caned. No play was allowed as it was a sign of
idleness
He emphasized on corporal punishment for the purpose of creating good citizens
Anglicanism (Church of England)
Is a skeptical of Roman Catholic Church because it has the bishop and sacraments. It was called
a high church for the rich and low church for the poor
It offered education to the rich only.
Children who went to such schools were prepared on to be elites. Elites were trained to go to
oxford or Cambridge universities
Modern movement of education
“modern” is an historical era which resulted in the diminishing authority in the church and an
increase to the power of science
It is during this period that many scientific achievement were recorded by people like
Kebler,Galileo ,Newton etc
It ushered in the age of reason or enlightment i.e. a reaction against untested beliefs ,commitment
to natural law and scientific methods in all human endeavors
Reasons and progress movement
This was a belief in the use of the human reason to solve mans problems and create a perfect
society
Humanity engaged to the discovery of natural laws that govern existence as a way of enhancing
the progress of the human race
Education was to be used to adjust man to natural laws. This movement aimed at destruction of
absolute and superstitions institutions which corrupted mans natural goodness.
Natural education was meant to focus on an earthy practice other than the ancient classical
entopic. (Not being realistic in issues)
Education was to be focused on the interests needs and inclinations of the learners so as to
achieve his goodness in the future

36
Corporal punishment in education was discouraged and new emphasis was placed on the child’s
goodness his needs and liberations of this potentialities
Education became a means of social correction and reform as a progressive tool he desired goals
Sense of realism movement 18th century
This was simply a search for a method by which reality could be known. It was a reaction against
humanistic education.
In realism man was not taken as a sinful creature innately good whose potentials and intelligence
could be developed and liberated through natural education.
The immediate environment and its object became important source of learning. Education
emphasized on science nature and reason. The observation of laws became important sources of
knowledge which was best achieved through the use of senses empiricism i.e. use of senses e.g.
reading of a statement involves use of eyes.
Education had to start with the child’s sensory experiences of objects in the immediate
environment.
French revolution movement
This took place in 1789.The old church education was taken to be irrelevant to new aspirations.
The movement was aimed at providing education for all citizens .It was used to enlighten the
people about their rights and state became responsible in educating the child to love and defend
its nation.
Emphasis was put on the sciences for the progressive development of mankind
The revolutionists are developed a plan for pre-primary and secondary education
Scholarships were also be provided to the poor
John Locke
He was born in 1632 and died in 1704
He was one of the first people who used education theory of enlightenment
His major concern was the physical development and methods of educating young people
He came up with the term ‘tabula rasa’ i.e. the child mind is a ‘blank state and the society writer
on the blank state through training and circumstances
Occasions that are valuable in the society
If the child has a blank state then you as the teacher should put current things

37
Before the teacher plans the education of the child, lockie insisted that he has to understand the
child’s mood, interest and natural capabilities that the child can achieve
He insisted that education develops good manners of proper virtues of the society
He called on firm discipline by the teacher
Education according to him has to develop the reasoning capacity of the child in decision
making.
Teachers were called upon to be kind to the learners since unhappy experience leads to total
dislike by the child
Teachers ought to be well educated and be people of inetrgity, responsible because of the
parental role in the class
Children should be allowed enough time to study and play
Jean Jacques Rousseau
He was born in 1712 and died in 1778
His educational ideas were developed in a book called ‘the Emile’ i.e. was the name of a boy
Emile was an example of perfect time of birth he was clean but was spoiled by the society.
He developed 3 stages in development
Infancy -12 years
He said there should be no serious education activities but education the body and exercise of
senses.
Children are given freedom of movement and the mothers are to take full responsibility of the
child. Those using caretakers /maids do spoil the children. He stressed that the child should be
left to adapt to the nature and should not be given shoes and medical attention only doctors were
to be called when there was serious need
He emphasized on the respect of the child’s infancy and interest of the child’s capabilities
Teachers are to encourage the pupils give them joy and allow them to participate in sports
Stage 2-12 years
During this period, the child studies two subjects i.e. physical sciences and later geography.
He insisted that if there were no books homework should be given.
Stage 3-15years-20years
At this stage, education should focus on moral values by teaching on religion and cultural issues.
The child called Emile could design the kind of education the girls should get. Education of

38
women is not taken care of because their purpose in life is to please men, advices. Consult make
life sweet for men.
Emile also was going to take care so that he picks the right woman who can make him a success
The wife should be advised and bought up by emile the boys might not have received education
and he ends up marrying a girl (Sofia) who keeps on depending on the boy.
His educational ideas isolate the child from the society thus deprive him the very rich social
interactions.
The women on the other hand is a slave i.e. an instrument of the man
19th and 20th century movement
The European society in the 18th century was heavily influenced by industrialization
This industrial revolution brought about modernization and capitalism which influenced the
society in many ways
The conflict between the interest of middle class and those of other classes also led to conflicting
ideologies
The ideological allegiance took over from religious and monarchical. These ideologies had
impact on education.
i) Liberalism-ideological propagated by middle class which called for freedom to do things. It
emphasized on utilization and scientific education
it opposed the old autocratic education system which swerved the ruling class
education to them was to enhance enlighment and bring progress
conservation-it emerged in the 19th century to oppose rationalism revolution and liberalism
According to them, genuine change out to be gradual, because social distinctions are good for
social stability.
The role of education therefore is to enhance cultural transmissions and maintain ‘status quo’
Humanitarianism
They came to respond to problems of industrialization. Education was seen as a means of
alleviating social problems where Sunday schools were started to teach religious values and
basic literacy to children of the workers.

Nationalism

39
It was anew unifying force following the industrial revolution. Dynasty and church authority lost
their appeal
These ideologies called for national systems of education as a way of cultivating loyalty to the
new state.
It emphasized on the teaching of languages literature and history.
Marxism
Was ideological ,philosophical and political movement who advocated for a class warfare i.e.
violent revolution to effect social change
This argument was that the poor depended upon the rich and said there was a time when the poor
will topple the rich.
He advocated for the taking over education by workers and a change of the curriculum that
favoured capitalism, individualism and nationalistic biases to address the welfare of the common
or poor man in the society.
Fredrick Wilhelm Froebel 1782-1852
He is regarded to be the father of kindergarten
According to him education of children is important since it carries a critical bearing to their later
progress
He started kinder (child) garten (garden) in 1837
He realized that childhood is of value in itself and it should not be regarded as a mere preparation
of adulthood and insisted on the respect of childhood
He emphasized on play as a way of achieving harmonious development
The school according to him provide a conducive environment for children to engage in
activities such as drama and modeling
His major contributions was that he changed the previous emphasize on book learning and build
on the interest of the child because these are the symptoms of their potentialities.
John Amos Comenius (1592-1670)
John Amos Comenius was born in the kingdom of bohema.He belongs to the school of
educational philosophers referred to as sense realists. Who believed that we acquire knowledge
through sense experiences. He is regarded as the father of modern education can categorized into
three areas of curriculum, organization and methodology
Curriculum

40
Comenius advocated for a wide curriculum that was all inclusive. Every subject was to be taught
in school. He included all the subjects of the trivium and quadrivium grammar rhetoric,
arithmetic, geometry astronomy and music. In addition, physics geography and history morals
and religion were taught
He specifically emphasized the value of history as the most important element in human
education and considered textbooks as the most important agent of education.
His major contribution to education in this regard was the development of textbooks especially in
Latin. He insisted that industrial arts and physical training must be included in the curriculum.
He emphasized the use of vernacular but also advocated the study of foreign languages in higher
schools. The study of vernacular and foreign languages is constant with modern educational
thinking and trends
Organization
Comenius is known for his contributions to the theory of school organizations.
He advocated for the complete development of pupils under a consistent and graduated plan of
school organization with each other school level blending with and leading to the next.
He arranged a course of instruction extending from infancy to early adulthood four grade school
system and maintained that education was to be for both sexes and all classes.
The courses at each stage was to last six years starting from birth and each stage was to be
preparation for the next though complete in itself.
Today’s division of schooling into different levels from nursery to graduate school is in
agreement with the taxonomy proposed by Comenius.
He suggested that children of 1-6 years to be under care of the mothers .This has in time
developed into today’s day care centers ,nursery schools and kindergarten
The vernacular school to be located in every village to cater for children aged between 7-12 yrs.
This is equivalent to modern primary or elementary school. The Latin school to be located in
every city. It was for the education for those children aged between 13 and 18 years and is
equivalent of today’s secondary schools.
The university is for those with ages 19-24 yrs. Universities was to be located in every province
The college of light which he organized as a nutritional research centre for those who had left
university and wanted to pursue further learning .in addition those attending the college would
travel widely to have direct contact with human nature and institution.

41
Comercius also made suggestion on the administrative organization of schools. He emphasized
that all schools should begin on the same date each year and that the children should not be
admitted after the opening day. The school timetables should be systematically organized with a
clear schedule of class work laid down for each year, month weekday or hours. Each class was to
have a separate room teacher and appreciated textbooks. The school days were to be organized
according to the ages of development of the child. Older children were to study six hours a day
and younger ones for four hours and with half an hour for both devoted relaxation in the mid
morning.
After class hours were to be allocated to physical and aesthetic subjects and there was to be no
homework.

Teaching methods
He devoted most of his time for the development of teaching methodologies in this book titled
the great didactic he spelt out what the theory and practice of education should be. He believed
that knowledge morality and poetry should be the aim of education in the book, he advocated for
the use of models, pictures and copies based on the objects themselves. He recognized that
children’s faculties have to be drawn out in their order and recognized the value of physical
exercises and manual training, insisting that schools should be healthy institutions having
plenty of free space.
According to him, education would be effective only if it began early before the mind was
corrupted
The mind would be duly prepared to receive it. It processes from general to particular from
simple to unknown comercius successfully applied his principles and methods of classroom
procedures and embodied them in the book. Orbis pictures 1665 .he believed that the method
would transform the school from being a place of terror, slaughrter house of minds, a place for
wasting time to an enjoyable place that would import time and cultivate a desire to pursue life by
learning.

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Education in 19th century

Pestalozzi was a Swiss educator who was mainly concerned with the education of poor children.
He developed an educational theory based on the needs and interests of an individual child. He
argued that a good education for children would ensure the building of a good nation.
Like other educators since the ancient times, Pestalozzi recognized the important role of the
mothers in the education of children. He stated that a good education should guide the child not
only towards himself –awareness but the awareness of the things of the world.
Pestalozzi argued that the power of intellect was a characteristic of every person and was a
potential to be cultivated. The learner ought to be made conscious of this as a first step in
assisting him reaches the highest degrees of knowledge. Consequently instructions have to start
by making sense impression of the child. He advised that the process of instruction should
advance slowly through steps from simple aspects of learning tot eh complex ones. In so doing,
the teacher ought to take into account the child’s physical and mental capabilities. In addition
learning was to be child-centered and adapted to intelligence, feelings and enthusiasm /interest of
the child. The level of difficulty, he said ought to correspond to the child’s capacity to
comprehend issues.
Pestalozzi also insisted on the importance of tying knowledge to the attainment of a skill. The
same apply to physical and intellectual education.
The process of modernization and other forces of the 20 th century led to the emergence of
progressive and radical ideas about education. These were championed by educators such as john
Dewey and he- de –scholars. These ideas came about in response to the challenges (social,
economic and political) that arose from the two world wars.
The young generation questioned, challenged and rejected the established values of society they
expressed discontent through student unrest especially in the 1960’s they were generally fed with
the system
The old generation on the other hand resisted social, economic and political changes in the
society
The school in the 20th century was therefore turned into an arena for competing interests and
classes

43
Consequently massive expansion and experimentation entered the system of education for
purposes of satisfying increasing expectations.
Progressive education
The progressive ideology was based on the American philosophy of pragmatism, a philosophical
orientation largely upon the broad principled of evolutionary theory. Pragmatism took the
universe as incomplete and changing where human experienced and not remote authority of
religion or philosophy was seen as a last resort in validating ideas. A concept is defined by
acquiring what practical effects it involves in the way of experience and action. Knowledge is
personal and is made by each individual for himself fort eh purpose of adapting himself to new
situations. Truth cannot be absolute because the meaning of a concept depends on its relationship
to the individual.
The progressive movement in American education was opposed to the traditional and
authoritarian model of teaching as proposed by J.S.Herbart (1771-1834). It was an ideological
crusade for social economic and political justice based on the power of human intelligence to
effect human progress. Man is capable of using the methods of science to control the world.
Democracy was a means of overcoming traditional modes of action as well as establishing a
national society to enable individual harness their full potential.
Education to the progressivisms carried the responsibility of building a better society and
therefore advocated for the elimination of the 19 th century classes. The school was supposed to
be broad based not just to address the needs of a diverse people but also meet the physical, social
and recreational needs of children. The progressive association was founded in1918 and 1935.the
movement remained a dominant force in American educational thinking.
JOHN DEWERY
Dewey taught in a number of universities and later on at the University of Chicago where he
established a laboratory school to research and experiment in new ideas and methods in
education. The activities at the school were based on home life and intended to challenge the
pupils to think and experiment. Dewey challenged traditional (teacher-centered) approach in
education where the sole authority in class was bestowed on the teacher forcing pupils to follow
rigid system of rules and regulations for discipline and character formation. According to him,
the method was a complete negotiation of the idea of democracy popular in USA at the time. He
proposed to education based on pragmatism where true knowledge was only found within

44
ordinary experiences as the individual interacts with the environment. it is these interactions that
lead to the formation of one’s personality.
Education to Dewey is a process of growth where the individual learns independently though
experience to adjust to life in a democratic society. He proposed a child-centered approach to
learning that was means to promote the childs progress.this involved learning by doing or
activity programmes that are still important ins chools to this day.
Dewey’s educational theory was also meant to establish a closer relationship between school
and life. Education should not be seen as a preparation for life itself that was only possible with
child centered learning. Education is given the responsibility of solving practical problems and
therefore introduced practical training of cooking, business education etc centered on needs of
society.
The school also looked after the learner’s health and recreation, morality, religion and all forms
of educational experiences were taken to be equally important and integrated with school
activities.
Because education played the role of human growth, Dewey recognized individual differenced in
education. The role of the teacher in class is to serve as a guide to leaner’s where children are
allowed to learn in the natural way without encountering frustrations. The teacher is charged
with the responsibility of helping the individual develop competent people who are able to cope
with new experiences and tasks. Dewey formulated the problem solving method of learning that
demands thinking and reasoning. A child could only develop as an integrated dynamic
personality through a life that presented constant challenges. Schooling to Dewey should be life
meant to strengthen an individual by requiring him to surround obstacles rather than their
guidance. This can only be possible if the educator understands the learners capacities interests
in the learning process.
Radical education
The most radical views with regard to educational reform during the 20 th century appeared in
works of de-schoolers.
i. Ivan Illich-“deschooling society”(1971)
ii. c/erett Reimer-“school is dead” (1971)
iii. Paul Goodman –“compulsory miseduaction”(1971)

45
These radical educators generally viewed schools as agents of social control rather than
instruments of liberation and were generally unhappy about the direction of changes in the
society. They argued that tire school had confused its aims and by so doing had destroyed the
learners, many of whom leave school with little to show for it. Their arguments were premised
on two basic arguments
Education and schooling do not necessarily means the same thing and therefore one should not
be confused with the other.
Schooling as a institutionalized process ( a must for the society) has made people believe that
schools are the proper and only channels for genuine eduacvtion yet they only favour the rich
and encourage competition among the elarners
Schools have an anti-eduactionale fefct on the society. The school involves itself in very many
ativities which it performs poorly and leads to failure.
Iliich developed three arguments against the process of schooling
Schooling infringes on peoples liberty by forcing children to attend whether they
wished/interested or not. In addition the syllabus was both determined by others and every rigid
in its content and timing
Schooling increased rather than decreased social inequalities by favouring children form elite
and affluent families to the poor
Schools were instruments of economic and cultural imperialism. The curriculum was determined
by middle classes and only valued certain types of knowledge favorable to their interests and not
those of the poor. For example popular music is passionately loved by many young people but is
not part of the official curriculum
On the basis of the above, Illich called for de-schooling society, the notion that they are only
purveyor of knowledge yet they only emphasized the hidden curriculum-competition for prizes,
dependencies on teachers and an overemphasis on diplomas. The school according to illich is the
enemy of elarning and the process of education should be avoided
Illich advocated for alternatives that allowed people to learn, how, when and where they liked.
He called for the development of e-learning networks in which knowledgeable people would be
informed networks to focus on institutions such as museums and libraries. One could also go to a
seminar or a market where learning should not be separate from other activivties- be done
naturally at the work place man the difficulties involved in class

46
Everything and everybody in the world should be a learning resource
Called for exchange and arrangements for peer matching to establish agencies for contarcting
people with similar interests
Julius kabarage nyerere (born 1922)
Mwalimu Julius nyerere ,former president of Tanzania is one of the main famous contemporary
African education reformers.in hos writing speeches he has addressed himself to a practicslly
every issue confortning educators in Africa oday.mwalimu started his illustrious career first, a
teacher before joining poitics.he spearheded tanganyikas struggle for indeependce and became
the countrys president at independence in 1961. He led the united republic of Tanzania
(following the unuity of tnganyi and Zanzibar in 1964).for a quarter of a century until his
peaceful retirement in 1985. He is one of africas respected elder statesmen.
In education for self reliance,mwalimu nyerere started by analyzing the syetm ofe duaction and
attitudes as they had evolved in Tanzania .li the analusis he made several observations
First: education in colonial Tanzania was not designed to prepare young people for the service of
their own country but, instead it was motivated by adeisre to inculcate the values of the colonial
society and train for the service of the colonial state.
Second it emphasized and encouraged the indivudalistuic instincts of mankind instead of its
coopetarive instincts.
Finally, it led to the possession of individual material wealth being the major criterion of social
merit and worth.
In the first years of independence the Tanzania government tackled the most glaring faults of the
educational inheritance.the government for example eradicated racial segragations expanded
education at all levels and attempted to make the education content relevant to the Tanzanian
environment. Nyerere considered these mere modifications of the educational system.
He believed there was a need to go beyond modifications and carry out a more thorough
examination of the education system. The key question to such examination, he argued should
be; what kind of society did Tanzania wish to build? In the Arusha declaration, Tanzanians had
answered for this question.
They had agreed to create a socialist society based on three principles
Theory and practice of education
First equality and respect for human dignity

47
Second sharing of the resources which are produced by peoples efforts
Finally, sharing by everyone and exploitation by none. Education was expected to encourage
building a society on the line of these principles. It is this premise that Nyerere formulated the
aims of education for self-reliance.
According to Nyerere,the educational system of Tanzania should among other things aim at
fostering social goals of living and working together for the common good, preparing the young
to play a dynamic constructive part in the development of society in which all members share
fairly in the bad and good fortune of the group including a sense of commitment to the
community and helping pupils to accept the values appropriate to the ‘Tanzania future and not
those appropriate to their colonial past.
In order to achieve these aims; Nyerere proposed changes in three interrelated areas. These were
in a)curriculums (b)school organization c)entry age of pupils in primary schools. He suggested
raising of the primary school entry ago so that the child is older when he leaves and also able to
learn faster while at school. Another suggestions that he made was that primary education should
be complete in itself and not merely a preparation for secondary school. He argued further that
education in both primary and secondary school must prepare pupils for life and service, in the
villages and rural areas of Tanzania. Examinations were also to be down-graded in government
and public esteem so as to assist in changing attitudes of the community
As regards school organization Nyerere proposed that schools be turned to communities which
practice the precept of self reliance. Consequently schools were expected to contribute for their
own upkeep. They were economies as well as social and educational communities. each school
had a farm or a workshop which provided the food eaten by the community and made a
contribution to national income.
Nyerere was at one time chancellor of both the university of east Africa and that of daresalaam.in
this capacity he has addressed himself to the topical issues of the role and relevance of
universities in Africa cannot pursue pure research and knowledge for its own sake’ without
neglecting other functions that are important to developing nations.
He argues that a university in a developing coutries must put emphaisi of its work on subjects of
immediate concern to the nation and their humanistic goals. In line with his socialistic
philosophy nyerere emphasizes that universities must teach students to avoid arrogance and
consider themselves as servants in training . he points out further that African universities must

48
remove the hirtheto prevalent attitude that they must be understood by western
societities ,instead he suggests African univeristieis must attempt to be understood by African
societies.
On the issue of relevance of courses taught at university, nyerere observes that it means more
than just drawing up syllabuses which talk about a country, say, Tanzania all the time. It means
university teaching must be oriented towards the solving of problems confronting the country in
which the university exists
Tanzania set 1970 as the audit education year nyerere sees adult education as playing three
important roles in the lives of Tanzanians

First, it makes them reject bad houses bad hoes or jembes and preventable diseases
Second, through adult education Tanzanians would learn improve their lives by producing more
in farms, factories and offices. They would also learn to eat a balanced diet and how it would be
obtained
Finally, through adult education, Tanzanians would understand the national policy of socialism
and self reliance and therefore be effectively mobilized for nation-building.
The implementation of nyerere’s educational ideas revolutionized education in Tanzania.his
ideas have also inspired changes in other parts of Africa.nyerere had advantages over the other
African educational thinkers that have been examined. He was head of state and government. He
therefore preside and oversaw to the successful implementation of his ideas.
Development of education in Kenya upto 1920
European education
Kenya had its first contact with European in 1948 when Portuguese arrived in Kenya. Some of
them were Christian missionaries
By 1599, these missionaries claimed that they had converted 600 people to Christianity. Like the
Arabs before, they did not venture in to the interior for evangelization. Eventually when the
Portuguese’s left the coast, the Arabs took over and what they had done was lost.
The second group of missionaries started with the arrival john Ludwig Kruft in Kenya by this
group of missionaries is, in essence an extension of missionary work in Ethiopia. Under the
auspices of the church missionary society (CMS) he worked among the Galla(oromo). He arrived
in Mombasa in 1844 and was joined by Joham Rebmann in 1846 and Erhardt in 1849.

49
Another initiative was the establishment of free town near Mombasa in 1875. It was established
by CMS to rehabilitate fled slaves by training them to be Christians and artisans, this initiative
had worked very well in Bagamoyo in Tanzania.
This was important step in education because pupils from free town become pioneers of
education in the coast and Nairobi.
The government involvement in education
 Upto 1010,education in Kenya was practically in the hands of missionaries
 Several things happened which made government to be involved in education
 There was pressure from settlers who wanted education for their children.
 The colonial government realized that it needed skilled labour cheaper than the labour
from Indians
 The colonial government needed services of literate chiefs and headmen to help in
administration
 Some colonial officers and Europeans settlers were opposed to the mission type of
education because it was giving Africans some literacy.
Frazer report 1909
The government sought experts opinion on future planning and development of education in the
protectorate Prof. Nelson Frazer from Bombay,India was invited to come and lead a commission
in 1908.
Recommendation
 A department of education be set up a director of education be appointed
 There should be three branches of education namely for Europeans ,Asians and Africans
 Academic type of education be given to European and Asia children
 For African children emphasis be put on industrial and agricultural education
 The government should give in aids to missionaries to assist them in their education
enterprise.

AFRICAN REPSONSE
Factors behind the changes in development of education
Incentives to local leaders: local leaders were persuaded to send their sons and subjects to
mission schools of training thus there were established schools for sons and chiefs. The British
50
administrators encouraged chiefs and headsmen to educate their children that they may succeed
their fathers in the ruling posts.
The colonial officials also had to have literate children assists in government business so as to
make colonial administration efficient. The government rewarded the chiefs with parcels of land
and permitted them to force people to work for them. Chiefs were under orders to assist
missionaries in their educational effort.
Attractions and rewards to the youth. With the establishment of colonial administration came the
end of warfare and raiding among many communities. This robbed the warriors of their most
important purpose. The youth began to perceive a new colonial society instead of the traditional
society. These youth became more and more idle to herd cattle and work in the farms. They
became attracted by reading and writing in schools. The opportunities to obtain clothes and free
food and hear stories about foreign lands as told by teachers all acted as an important factor to
make youth attend school.
School attendance as a means of escaping settlers farm labour. With the establishment of British
rule and creation of settler-oriented economy there was a demand for formal labour for settler
Students attending school were excused from all or most of the demands for labour. Indeed
through their access to administration officials, missionaries could protect their students from
labour demands by chief. Given this situation, many young people view the mission school as a
means of escaping labour demands.
School education seen as a gate way to employment the skills of reading and writing gained in
schools resulted in paid employment as clerks and store men in the administration and in a large
scale new farms. This knowledge also opened ways to new and respected status in the
community. An important factor was the knowledge of the white man’s way of life and his
language. They could only be gained at school
School education seen as a gateway to political leadership.
Following the breakdown of tribal systems and a changed economic system, African
communities became interested in western education was not only a means for economic
improvement, but also an effective gateway to political leadership. It was amongst the educated
African elite that political leaders had to emerge and articulate their grievances of the illiterate
peasants and workers. These held their leaders in great respect, they prized education highly and
often made sacrifices to educate their children.

51
Educational Policy in Kenya.
During the 1920-1945 period, education was shaped by increasing government involvements,
mainly through its support to mission schools. The government provided policies support to
mission schools. The government provided policies that affected the whole system of education
in the country.
In 1922, the department of education officially established a grants in-aids system. By this,
mission schools judged to meet certain standards received financial aid. In 1923, the British
government establishment an advisory committee on native education in British Tropical Africa
in london.
The committee meets monthly to consider education reports received from the colonies
(including Kenya) and discussed policy with governors’ directors of education and other
authorities in the field of education.
In 1924 the Phelps Stokes commission visited Kenya and made a detailed study of existing
conditions. It than made suggestions for development. In its recommendations the commission
stressed:
 Co-operation between the government and missionaries
 Need to educate the Africans for his environment-i.e. education for rural development
 Religious values in schools
 Use of vernaculars-i.e. there be recognized as first language of school instruction in
schools
 Need for more financial support for the education of Africans
 Vocational training for Africans
 Adaptations of education to meet local needs.
In response to the recommendations of the commission, the government instituted the education
ordinance of 1924. The ordinance marked the beginning of the government’s commitment to
supervise and direct education at all levels with the assistance of three advisory commitments to
deal with education for European, Asians and African children. All schools and teachers were to
be registered the director of education was given power to inspect all schools .district boards
were nominal it marked a start of African representation and opinion in auction matters. The
government imposed a uniform nomenclature for content of education for each race differed in
many aspects.

52
In 1925, the British colonial office, as a result of consultations the advisory committee issued a
white paper on education policy in British tropical Africa often referred to as the 1925
memorandum. This document became the basis of education policy in Kenya in the 1920-1945
periods. It established 13 broad principles that guided policies.
With the establishment of the grants –in –aid system, the department of education officially
acknowledged the co-operation between mission schools and the government in 1926.missions
assumed major responsibilities for primary and secondary education .government assumed
responsibility for higher and technical subjects.
The 1931 education ordinance created separate advisory councils on education for Europeans,
Asians and Africans. The ordinance also made rules regarding the issue of teacher’s certificates.
The ordinance of 1924 established district educational boards. These would handle specifications
e.g. allocation of grants ,fees, scholarships and leasing of plots for schools development.
In 1935 the advisory committee on education in Britain produced a white paper (or
memorandum) on the education of African communities. This memorandum served as a guide on
formation of policies on specific aspects, education in Africa. In Kenya, the document was
discussed by the advisory board on education. Proposals in the document were embodied in
government policies on education.
The de-la-warr commission of 1937 on higher education in east Africa ,made a detailed study of
existing conditions of this level of education. In its report, the commission recommends that:
Makerere in Uganda’ which’ started as a technical college in should award its own diplomas
Efforts be made to secure recognition of Makerere diplomas by universities and provisional
bodies.
The report served as a guide in the formulation of policies on education. It affected higher
education particularly policies on expansion of secondary school education.
In 1944 the advisor/committee on education in the colonies issued white paper (or memorandum)
on mass education in African society. The document was discussed by the advisory board on
education in Kenya. Proposals in the document were incorporated in government, policies on
education in the country.
Educational reforms in Kenya since independence

53
As in other African countries, the Kenya government emphasized the role of education in social
and economic development. This led to rapid expansion and reform motivated by both internal
and external in factors.
Internal factors
There were political resources just before independence; politicians and their manifestos had
called for
More educational opportunities for Africans
Cheaper or free education
Universal primary education (EPE)
Africanization of curriculum and teaching staff
Change in attitude to allow African culture and personality to flourish
External factors
Expansion especially at secondary and higher levels of education was influenced by several
reports e.g.
Addis Ababa conference 1961
International bank for reconstruction and development
NB
The Kenya and British governments requested the international bank for reconstruction and
development to undertake a fiduciary of the economic development in Kenya in 1961. It
identifies education as one of the many doctors that needed fiduciary. It also pointed out the
bottle neck as secondary education levels as the most critical educational need hence expansion
at that level.
These reports greatly influenced the government in the formulation of its educational policies as
reflected in the first education commission (Ominde report)
The Kenya education commission (the Ominde report 1964)
Immediately after independence, Dec 1963,the first educational commission under Prof.Ominde
was appointed
Its terms of reference were to survey the existing educational resources in Kenya and advices the
government in the formulation of national policies for education.
Like in many other publications of this time, the Ominde report saw a direct link between
education and economic growth through production of high and middle level human resource.

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The production of such resources needed to be accelerated as the country desperately needed it
Recommendations
The report realized the need for solidarity (unity) among the different peoples of Kenya after
independence and also emphasized promotion of values.
The report summarized thus this in the six national goals of education
Education for national unity
Education for national development
Education fro individual development and fulfillment
Education for social equality and responsibility and development of Kenya’s rich and varied
culture
Education for promotion of international consciousness
Following later reforms, two other goals have been included:
Education to promote positive attitude to good health and environmental protection
Education to promote sound moral and religious values
Supported government policy to abolish racial segregation in schools
Called for national recruitment especially in secondary schools encourage unity
Called for reform of curriculum to reflect Kenya’s history and culture-localize the curriculum
Recognize importance of providing primary education for providing locuric education and
candidates for secondary and higher education. However more emphasis was to be put on
secondary and higher education for economic development as well as africanization.
Local authorities to control education not churches to remain as sponsors of schools they started
and run.
Regulate establishment of harambee schools. Too many unregistered harambee schools were
mushrooming –emphasized need for educational planning.
Stressed importance of adult, technical and commercial education for economic development
Recommended intensifying teacher training and improving teachers terms and conditions of
service-too many teachers drill untrained recommended inservice especially for primary school
teachers.
English to be medium of institution and instruction and Kiswahili compulsory from standard 1
Change of education structure from beeches 4:4:2:2(for Africans)7:4:2:3 for Americans
Respect for all religions.

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The government responded to the Omindes report by effecting the following changes (reforms)
Establishment of non-racial schools by giving Africans bursaries to join high cost European and
Asian schools.
1966-30% population African
1969-65%
1970-almost 100% foreign names also scrapped e.g. Rance of Walse”
2.1966-introudtion of uniform structure of education i.e. 7:4:2:3
1967- a single common syllabus for all schools was introduced
Certificate of primary education (CPE) replaced Kenya preliminary examination (KPE)
East African certificate of education also replaced the Cambridge school certificate of education
The harambee school movement was encouraged and regularized
By 1966 there were266 harambee secondary schools compared to 199 government ones
Kenya junior school examination (after form 2) was introduced in 1966.
Following the Kericho conference,(1966) the curriculum was diversified to include vocational
subjects ,village polythenics,4k clubs, by 1970-15 technical schools
In 1967,the TSC act was enacted giving all teachers one common employer
Expansion and consolidation of teacher education
In 1968 TTC reduced from 36-24 to make them alter and more efficiently administered. They
were further consolidated to 17 in 1986
In 1967, the parliament discussed and enacted what came to be known the educational ct (1968-
ervised (1980)
The act contains several sections forming the legal foundation of education in Kenya. It gives
guide lined on promotion of education and management of schools
It also directs ion registration of private schools ,inspection and control of
schools ,examinations ,KIE and financing of education.
According to this act, the government assured full responsibility of all education .Local
authorities on school committees and BOGs get legal framework for their operation.
1980 the Kenya national examinations council was established under an act of parliament
The keeping with the policy of producing high level manpower, there was a major investment in
university and tertiary education as shown below
1970 the University of Nairobi act created a fully fledged university

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1981-Moi University
1985-Kenyatta University
1986-Egerton University
1988-JKUAT
1999-Maseno
2006-Masinde Muliro
Nb
Current enrollment is over 100,000 students
Education for manpower development met its objectives within a few years of independence .this
was followed by unemployment which led to creations of non-formal institutions such as NYS,
polytechnics and industrial training centres, apart from unemployment the country has faced
other educational challenges such as drop out, wastage ,gender parity. Access and equity, rural
/urban migration etc. the government was continually tried to resolve such problems and improve
education through various committees and commissions as highlighted below.
Ndegwa commission 1971
The Ndegwa commission made many recommendations about a wide range of public institutions
and bodies. Regarding education its main recommendations were:
 A new salary structure for teachers in line with other professional of similar academic
qualifications order to attract and retain high caliber personnel
 Reorganization of the ministry of education and the teacher’s service commission for
more affective services
 A study of curriculum development in Kenya (Bessey report 1972)
 Although this report made several recommendations it was never fully adopted by the
government. However it provided great motivation for curriculum in the 1970’s e.g.
 9 years primary
 4 years secondary
 3 years university 9:4:3
 Emphasized practical education for self reliance
 A diversified curriculum to provide learners with broad education
 Emphasis
 Zed continuous assessment as made evaluation

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Nb
A few of glaciates recommendations were implemented e.g. scarping of KJSE. There was change
in the presidency and so many recommendations were overtaken by events. However many were
incorporated in the MacKay report (1981).The gachathe report particularly in terms of coping
with unemployment. The government had established the ministry of basic education in 1979 in
reached for implementing 9 years basic education.
The presidential working party on establishment of the second university in Kenya. The Mackey
report (1981)
This commission was charged with the responsibility of investigating on the feasibility of
establishing another university with emphasis on vocational oriented course.
The following were some of the recommendations
 Restructuring the system from7:4:2:3 to 8:4:4
 Emphasis on continuous assessment for evaluation
 Introduction of technical subjects such as agriculture, homesceince, art and craft, music
and business education in the curriculum.
 Many primary school syllabuses were revised;
 KIE produced many textbooks
 There were emphasis on examination that tasted thinking and reasoning rather than just
memory
 The national committee on educational objective and policies (NCEOP)
 The committee was appointed against the following background
 Rapid expansions of education leaving many school leavers unemployed
 Objectives, content and structure of formal education too selective-it aimed at reducing a
few individuals equipped for modern formal sectors of education-leaving the majority
unaccounted for.
 Quantitative expansion had led to competition for social and economic mobility .People
were still looking for white collar jobs
 Many graduates were boiling washed. Urbanization also became an issue with too many
people moving it to owns to look for jobs at the expense of development. In rural areas
with this background the committee was given the following as TORs.
 Evaluate the present system of education

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  Define new set of educational goals for the second decade of independence
 Formulate a specific programme of action for achieving these goals
 The committee made many recommendations at all levels (315 in total)
Some of the general ones were
 Change structure of education
 Establishment of a second university in Kenya and lengthening of university education
from 3 to 4 years
 Recommended establishment of a counsel on higher education whose duties would be
 To accredit universities
 Overall planning of higher education
 Students scholarships etc
Nb
The Mackey report 8:4:4 system was implemented although many challenges were faced. This
was because the programme was hurriedly implemented and so problems relating to lack of
famines, resources ,personal and change of attitude occurred
At the time of this report, the main problems had to do with unemployment and the huge cost of
education
The terms of references for Kamunge and his group included;
 Review national philosophy, policies and objectives to ensure that they agreed with the
changing social cultural ,economic and political development of the country.
 Recommend ways and means of financing education and training at all levels
 The Kamunge report is well known for recommending ,the following amongst its many
recommendations
 Guidance and counseling of the youth to enable them face realities of life. Schools were
to establish guidance and counseling programmmes.
 The report is most known for recommending cost sharing in education. government was
to meet the salaries of teachers, education administration and some limited facilities in
the school. Parents were to buy books, uniforms and pay activity and examination fees
Tortally integrated equality education and tracing (TIQUET)-Koech report 1999

59
This commission was appointed with a backdrop of many problems in the society such as the
AIDS pandemic and breakdown of social values. There was also complaint that the 8;4;4
educational system was too expensansive(wide) and overloaded the children.
Some of its terms of reference were
 Review the curriculum to accelerate industrial and technological development
 Recommend possible programme of section interface to structure
 Continuing education
 Role of the private sector in education
 Way of improving access ,equity and relevance (with refrence to gender ,special needs
and the disadvantaged
 Suggest ways of promoting social values, ethics and aids related education
 Suggest ways of liberalizing education
 Suggest ways and means of creating and promoting alternative educational programmes
The following are some of the Koech report recommendations
 Expansion of basic education
 Compulsory basic education

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