Education Reform Battle explores revolutionary France's ambitious, yet ultimately incomplete, attempt to replace religious education with a secular system aimed at forging a new citizenry. During the French Revolution, reformers sought to dismantle the Catholic Church's pervasive control over schooling, viewing it as a tool of oppression. The book details the struggle to implement universal literacy and instill republican values through curriculum development, highlighting the profound tensions between secular and religious visions for shaping the nation's future.
The book examines the state of education before the revolution, the initial decrees establishing a national system, and the practical challenges of implementation. For example, the Écoles Centrales represented an alternative educational model. By using primary sources like legislative documents and school reports, the book provides a nuanced understanding of the interplay between ideology, policy, and practice.
The narrative unfolds across chapters detailing pre-revolutionary education, initial reforms, implementation challenges, and alternative models.
Ultimately, the book reveals how deep ideological divisions and the enduring appeal of religious education hindered the revolution's secular aims. This failure provides valuable lessons for contemporary debates on education policy, curriculum, and the role of religion in public life.
