The English grammar schools to 1660 : their curriculum and practice. / Includes bibliographical references and index.

  • Watson, Foster, 1860-1929.
Date:
1908
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: The English grammar schools to 1660 : their curriculum and practice. / Includes bibliographical references and index. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    work of the first half of the 17th century. But throughout the school course Grammar was the ' first' of school studies. The fact, however, must not be overlooked, that Grammar, in the earlier part of the i6th century, to scholars and teachers meant something different from ' Grammar' as it filtered down into the school practice of the 17th century. For, in questions of education, the cry of the Renascence writers was. Back to Quintilian! With Quintilian, Grammar was founded upon, and inclusive of, the study of humanistic literature. The enthronement of literature, and the minimising of formalistic Grammar, was the position taken up in England by Sir Thomas Elyot in the book called the Gouvernoiir (1531) and in Roger Ascham's Scliokmaster (1570). Eventually, however, in English schools in the latter part of the i6th century and in the 17th century. Grammar ordinarily became an entity in itself, of which literature was, as it were, a concrete manifestation, and a vast territory for illustration of grammatical rules. There were, however, throughout the period, scholars and school- masters who protested against this undue glorification of Grammar. 'Jlic conflict is described in the chapter on the Grammar War, in the present work (Chapter XVII). This twofold change in the perspective of the curriculum, viz. the expansion of each of the Liberal Arts into further subjects of study, in the constituents both of the Trivium and of the Quadrivium, and the change in the relative position of the subjects of the Trivium, involved a further development, viz. a progressive evolution of text-books. Any effective study of the history of the practice of teaching in the schools must be based on bibliographical material. Hitherto, in England historical research in education has concerned itself pre- dominantly with accounts of the views of educational reformers, from whose writings only indirect evidence can be obtained as to the internal work of the schools of any period. For the prevalent school practice it is necessary to consult the actual school text-books, used by teacher and pupil in the