From Western Traditions to Political Indoctrination: A Cultural History of Education
Commentary
Parts 1 and 2 of this series can be read here and here.
Over the 19th century, Enlightenment rationalism gradually diminished the influence of the Christian worldview.
Separation of church and state led naturally to the development of public schools and the disconnection of education from traditional religious influence. This was especially the case in some of the most prestigious districts on the continent.
In North America, two distinct educational movements vied for control of the newly developing public school systems. The first was a “classical liberal” model that was a secularized version of the Western Christian Paideia. The second was a “progressive” model guided mainly by the ideas of 19th-century Utopian socialism and 20th-century Marxism….