RESULTS OF EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES OF COURT RENAISSANCE THINKERS IN THE CONNECTION OF THE PROBLEM OF EDUCATION OF THE “IDEAL RULER”

The article is devoted to the coverage of the results of pedagogical initiatives of Renaissance thinkers in the context of the problem of educating the “ideal ruler”. In addition to the theoretical development of the image of the “ideal ruler” and ideas for his upbringing, humanists had the opportunity to directly participate in the upbringing of children of nobles in the XIV – XVIth centuries. Thus, the article analyzes the best practices of elite education of the Late Middle Ages according to the author’s methods of court humanists. An important aspect of monitoring the effectiveness and reality of the measures taken by humanists to form the personality of the leader is the characterization of those historical personalities and their biographies with which they were in a “teacher-pupil” relationship. The article traces the results of the educational influences of Renaissance philosophers and educators through the study of the future fate of European authorities, through prosopographic and archontological special-historical methods of scientific knowledge. The imagological approach made it possible to assert that the experience gained by humanist educators in “nurturing statesmen from diapers” had both its achievements (for example, Philip IV the Beautiful and Sigismund Augustus) and its defeats (for example, Ferdinand of Aragon and Mary Tudor). The idea of educating the ruler with their practical Renaissance embodiment in a specific product – the formed personality of a statesman, is an important component of justifying the need to educate modern leaders.

The role of elite education in social reproduction in France, Belgium and Chile: Towards an analytical model

Using a societal analysis perspective that articulates structural, institutional and cognitive dimensions, this article outlines a model examining the contribution made by the schooling system to the social construction of elites. The model is put to the test by a comparative study of elitist educational pathways and their contrasting organisational modes in France, Belgium and Chile. The article shows that both the education of elites, and the role played by school in providing access to privileged social positions, continue to be marked by the distinctive historical construction of each society and education system, despite cross-cutting trends that are linked to globalisation.

Quintilian in the Italian Renaissance

The century that followed Poggio Bracciolini’s discovery of a complete manuscript of Quintilian’s Institutio oratoria at the Swiss monastery of St Gall in 1416 represents a vital stage within the text’s transmission and reception. The new text fell on fertile soil, at a time when the classicizing movement known as humanism was rapidly reshaping Italian elite education and literary and intellectual culture, and when the introduction of printing would soon begin to transform practices of editing and dissemination. This chapter traces the editorial and transmission history of the Institutio from 1416 to the early sixteenth century, with some consideration of Petrarch’s earlier, enthusiastic reception of the text. After an initial, general overview of the text’s fortunes in manuscript and print, and its gradual, increasing adoption in educational contexts, more detailed discussions follow of Quintilian’s reception by, and influence on, two of the great humanist thinkers of the period, Lorenzo Valla (1407–1457) and Baldassare Castiglione (1478–1529). The chapter argues that, in Valla, Quintilian’s rhetoric became a model for a modern practice of Christian eloquence, capable of rivalling scholastic theology, while, in Castiglione, Quintilian’s human ideal of the orator was recast as a template for the modern court intellectual.

An Odd Coupling: Nietzsche and W.E.B. Du Bois on 21st Century Philosophy of Education

This essay contrasts Nietzsche’s remarks on elite education with W.E.B. Du Bois’ demand for democratized education. The essay takes their remarks as springboards for a twenty-first century philosophy of education rather than an historical account of their philosophies. Both thinkers cultivated Kant and Hegel’s dream that the spirit of freedom guided by reason would unite all the world’s peoples. Both held that education was key to realizing the dream. Their judgments about qualifying for education separated them. Nietzsche insisted that only the elite should receive the fullest measure of education. Du Bois believed that in the future virtually every human being would receive a university-level education. The essay’s principal point is to show how contemporary technology can make Du Bois’ dream a reality. An African philosopher’s working model demonstrates a path to universal university education.

Massive open online courses as a resource of mixed learning (on the example of humanities)

The dominant direction in the development of online education, actively discussed by the pedagogical community, is training using massive open online courses (MOOCs). The key factor in the effectiveness of the implementation of MOOCs in the practice of educational organizations is primarily the availability of elite education. In modern conditions, which determine the priority of lifelong education (lifelong learning), it is particularly relevant to form schoolchildrens readiness for self-education, which can be facilitated by training on MOOC platforms. The broad discussion of MOOC implementation in educational practice is more concerned with university education, additional education and the system of advanced training. The use of MOOCs in school education in the publications of teachers-researchers is not considered fully enough and is mostly related to natural sciences. The paper analyzes the MOOC on the example of humanities and the features of the implementation of mixed learning models (inverted learning, autonomous group, individual trajectory) based on the use of online courses. This analysis suggests that there should be a need for more in-depth research in this area and the need to introduce elements of learning into school practice through massive open online courses. This will resolve the contradiction between the need for differentiation and individualization of training and the potential of existing unused massive open online courses.

In search of the ‘best’ option: American private secondary education for upper-middle-class Chinese teenagers

This article focuses on unpacking the processes of how a rapidly rising group of urban upper-middle-class Chinese families decide to send their only children to the United States on their own for private secondary education. The article analyzes the socio-historical background of such choice and lays out these families’ various paths to opting out of the neoliberal school-choice market in China and eyeing American private secondary education as the ‘best’ option. Based on in-depth interviews with 33 parents in several Chinese mega-cities, the author demonstrates that Chinese urban upper-middle-class families choose such a transnational educational choice as a silent exit from the anxiety-ridden Chinese education system. Situated in the socio-historical transformation of contemporary Chinese society, the reasons for exiting range from dissatisfaction with the political narrative to educational aspiration of a ‘well-rounded’ education and resistance against the test-oriented pedagogical practices at school. This ethnographic research provides a unique perspective to engage with works on elite education in a global context and enriches the theorization of the global middle classes.

Classics for the Future: A Time for Reflection

Classics as a discipline was the bedrock of an elite education in the UK for some time. To some minds, it still holds on to that position, not least because there is a certain mystique and aura around the two dominant languages of early Europe and their literature. The discipline of learning these languages, so the argument went, could improve our ability to analyse questions, and think about our own language, thereby increasing our potential in future life. This sort of intellectual exercise was said to be valuable: by learning a language which we could not actually use in day-to-day life, we could also learn other, modern languages more effectively, and we could sharpen our minds to face the challenges of the world in front of us.