Chatterpulse:

The year is 1450. You are among 10% of men (not to even mention women) who are literate in Britain. You are among the upper class – Clergy, Dukes and other local royalty – perhaps an early merchant.

You enroll at Oxford. After a year of studying you visit home. There, I ask you two questions:

What are you learning?
Why are you learning?
The ‘Why’ and ‘What’ of Pre-Industrial Education
The modern education philosophy has been dominant– with some marginal changes– for over a century (more on that later). But in the 15th century, the what and why of education were radically different.

In our studies of history we often focus on the religious aspect of medieval and pre-industrial education. And while this is a valid distinction, in some ways it misses the point for this article. The specific doctrinal importance of Catholicism or Protestantism as taught at Oxford is not as important as understanding the goal of this teaching.