ABSTRACT
Though these themes endure, the division of opinion has become sharper and the need to find solutions in a world of rapid change is more urgent. The older educational philosophers must be seen in context and we must not be too easily seduced by their resolution of the argument. When education was provided only for the few, individual tutors or groups of a very small size were the norm. The essential content of the curriculum was limited and it was possible to integrate the learning of this basic
knowledge and skill with developing personal qualities. There was no problem of ‘getting a quart into a pint pot’. The methods of instruction could be flexible and suited to individual need. After a long period of economic and technical change, the situation is now very different.
