Evidence of the Ideology of Marcus Fabius Quintilianus in Three Periods of American Educational Thought: 1750-1980

Nearly two thousand years ago, Quintilian wrote a guide for the education of the ideal citizen which combined theory with educational practice. He believed in the importance of early education, the place of play and joy in learning, the necessity to base education on students' individual patterns of growth and learning, the magnitude of the teacher's methodology, the significance of a teacher's commitment to education, and the value of connecting learning to experience. Quintilian, the practitioner, combined established theories with practical application, added his own perspective, and created a significant work--"De Institutio Oratoria"--which began in the nursery and ended with the "vir bono," the ideal orator. This scheme of education separates into four themes--(1) stages of learning; (2) processes of learning; (3) facilitators of learning; and (4) purposes of education. The author discusses these four themes and considers the history of American educational thought as divided into three periods; 1750-1850, 1850-1910, and 1910-1980. Throughout the history men and women prominent in various spheres of influence published their ideas designed to produce the educated citizen as dictated by societal needs for a given time. Many of those ideas parallel Quintilian's prescription for preparation of the ideal citizen of the first century A.D. The author cites the ideas of Benjamin Franklin, Horace Mann, and John I. Goodlad, whose writings promoted beliefs similar to Quintilian.