WWI Trilogy

Navigating the Heartache WWI Brings

education in the early 20th century

Education’s Early 20th Century Debate: Classic vs. Progressive Education

March 21, 2016 By Melina Druga Off

If you were a student in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, you would have been given a classical education. This was especially true for boys. Girls were taught more feminine subjects such as music, needlework and home management, but increasingly they, too, were becoming educated.

Subjects Studied

Students of a classic education studied numerous subjects. Today, some of these subjects seem odd to teach children.

The subjects were:

  • Reading
  • Writing
  • Classic literature
  • Latin
  • Greek
  • Logic, examining and analyzing ideas
  • Rhetoric, debating ideas
  • Arithmetic
  • Music
  • Astronomy
  • Architecture
  • History

Students of a classical education often went on to a college or university where they studied medicine or law.

Progressive Education

Starting around the turn of the 20th century, classical education began being replaced with a progressive education. It differed from a classical education in that its goal was not to prepare wealthy students for university, but to level the playing field for all students.

Other differences included:

  • School was thought of as a form of community, preparing children to take their place in society
  • The belief that children learned by identifying and solving problems
  • Learning was more hands-on
  • Students could work to attain individual goals
  • Teachers instructed not just concepts but world experiences

Both forms of education still exist, although they have been modified to accommodate subjects contemporary students need to prepare them for adulthood.

Where to Purchase the WWI Trilogy

This post is a companion piece to Melina Druga’s WWI Trilogy: Angel of Mercy, Those Left Behind and Adjustment Year.  The trilogy focuses on Hettie and her family as they navigate the challenges and heartbreak World War I brings.

Angel of Mercy:  A nurse reluctantly sacrifices her career for marriage. An impending war will change her, and her husband’s, life forever.  Available in eBook, paperback and hardcover.  Click here for a full list of retailers.

Those Left Behind:  The brewing winds of war will soon rip the family apart. Available in eBook, paperback and hardcover.  Click here for a full list of retailers.

Adjustment Year:  A war nurse returns home. Society expects her to carry on as if the Great War never happened. But how can she?  Available in eBook, paperback and hardcover.  Click here for a full list of retailers.

CategoryChildhood
Tagseducation

About The Author

Melina Druga writes about the past because although school history classes may have been boring, the past was not.  Her era of expertise, and obsession, is 1890-1920 with a particular focus on the Great War and how it affected the lives of ordinary people.  Druga is the author of the WWI Trilogy.