History Of Higher Education And The Development Of Society

By: Aaron Schwartz
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:26:59
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This article is meant to study the development of educational system and the changes in the meaning of this system from 17th century until nowadays, and the input of higher education into global development.

It is common knowledge that role of education in the modern world is very significant, and with the exponential growth of industry, technology and production the society needs more and more qualified workers with at least one higher education rather than those who are occupied in the sphere of physical labor.

We start our search from the Reformation period, which was the start of a new tendency in education and increase of importance of education in general. First of all new systems of studying were introduced; contrary to the Middle ages, the attention was paid to the student as a person, and not to the process of learning as a whole. The 17th century introduced major developments in science, and this, in its turn, stimulated the development of higher education. Both in Europe and America the reformation processes were influencing the change in academic programs. For example, the famous poet John Milton introduced new academic curriculum, offered a lot of new ideas and subjects for the students but his program had one disadvantage: it was primarily meant for the elite class and was very difficult to access for people from poor families. Here I have to admit that through the whole course of history higher education was more accessible to rich class. This has a natural explanation: higher education supposed that a number of students will get involved into further scientific activity, and such activity most often needs certain sources of financing – hence we can make the conclusion a greater percent of rich people rather than poor will get higher education and continue their scientific research. Unfortunately this tendency is common for modern times as well - but history also proved us that great thinkers and scientists managed to use all opportunities despite of their financial and class situation and succeeded in both receiving good education and making contributions into world science.

One of the most important features of higher education in 17th century is that it has been deprived of the dominance of religion in it, and the researchers have turned to exploring the natural laws, technology etc. All this laid the basis for technical progress, the fruits of which we are experiencing now. Proliferation of printing processes led to the increase of number of textbooks and further broadening of curriculum. The information has become more accessible to students, and the quality of higher education has increased. In addition to this, the governments of developed countries started paying attention to stimulating of education and the need in educated specialists appeared. Such famous thinkers as John Locke, Francis Bacon and others have introduced a number of concepts and textbooks on thinking and learning, which were reflecting the development of free thought and analytical thinking at this time.

The next period, the Enlightenment period, was even more profound for the development of free thoughts and research in different sciences. If rapid development of exact sciences was more common for the Reformation period, the time of Enlightenment was also rich in the development of economics, social thought and political sciences. In the sphere of education, the reformers like Claude Helvetius and Marquis de Condorcet, were suggesting that the development of education should not only benefit the individual but also benefit the state and society. In general, the period of Enlightenment was represented by abundant growth of humanitarian sciences and social sciences in particular. Adam Smith, one of the key thinkers of this epoch, was investigating in his major work “The Wealth of Nations” the mechanisms of political economy. He also introduced new ideas in the development of higher education: Adam Smith was strongly against the practice of foreign tutorship for students, he among other important thinkers was insisting that the state should also take part in paying the students’ education, and that higher education should be answering the demands of time as well as the demands of a particular individual. Smith suggested that half of the educational payment is to be made by the state, and other half – by the government. Helvetius expressed the idea of introducing “education must be freed from superstition and from uncritically held conventional wisdom”, and that “education for progressive leadership must recognize the importance of social integration” [1, p. 64]

At this time the idea that a student must not essentially receive academic training, but can also study at home or by other means, came into life. The free spirit of education and universities was at that time corresponding to the whole vector of the social and political development. Reformation tendencies in higher education and technical changes have reached America in this century, and the colonies have also experienced the need for qualified labor. The idea that schools and higher education are making a contribution into the development of the humanity in general has emerged exactly in the period of Enlightenment. The views of the society on education have changed: the development of science and technical progress has, in its turn, stimulated the importance and need for education, has changed its quality and the attitude of “average” people to it as well.

Democratic tendencies of that time influenced the definitions and views on leadership, ruling the state and whole political system. Known leaders, like Thomas Jefferson, were voting for the education that will be able to stimulate critical thinking processes, and that education should be integrated not worldwide but within a certain nation. I believe it was true for those times when each state was able to choose an own way of development, but it not applicable for nowadays when the tendencies for globalization and informational unity are taking place, and a particular state can not progress outside world economy, politics etc. As the world is becoming smaller and smaller (due to the development of technology), one can predict that the links between countries will become stronger, and in possible future the whole globe will be inevitably linked in one system. What are the major directions of higher education progress in future and how will it affect our lives? First of all the system of virtual universities is emerging and in near future, in my opinion, it will be able to compete with existing system if higher education. Since we are entering the epoch when information becomes even more valuable than money, we will have to adapt the system of higher education to new standards, and the idea of virtual universities is perfectly matching this aim. Another problem of current educational system is that the diplomas accepted in one country, can not be accepted in another one, and even the diplomas within the borders of one state may differ in quality and importance. One of the ways out and possible directions of the educational system’s progress is the Bologna Declaration that was signed on May 25th, 1998 by the ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Great Britain. Since that time more countries have signed this declaration. The members of the declaration proclaim mobility, transparency, compatibility and comparability of education in the area of “European higher education”. The objectives of the declaration include the adoption of easily readable and comparable degrees, adoption of a system based on two cycles (undergraduate and graduate), establishment of system of credits, and naturally, development of co-operation within Europe between the members of the declaration.

The importance of higher education and its influence on social development can hardly be overestimated. We have traced how throughout the development of the mankind higher education has stimulated the development of philosophic thought, new discoveries in exact and humanitarian sciences. Moreover, as we are entering the new era of hi-tech, the importance of higher education continues to grow exponentially. I can suggest that higher education is going to become a social norm in the near future.

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