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Theories and History of Education

Code: 101662
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Social Education OB 1
Education Studies OB 1

Contact lecturer

Name :
Valeska Lisbeth Cabrera Cuadros
Email :
valeska.cabrera@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Joan-Carles Melich Sangra
Alejandro Caravaca Hernandez

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

Preferably, students should have review the basic themes of Philosophy (Higher Education).

Objectives

The course aims to study the main theories of contemporary education and to analyse the historical evolution of these theories and their implementation.

The students analyse the sense and meaning of education, the relationship between education and Western culture, the epistemological role of pedagogy within the set of sciences of education. Also, the course aims to study different educational theories with a critical perspective. The History of Education part, aims to analyse different perspectives and historically relevant authors in order to understand their present contribution.

This course complements other courses as “Mirem el món: Projectes Transdisciplinars”, “Educació i contextos educatius”, “Aspectes biopsicològics de la persona”, and supplements the course “Bases sociopolítiques de l'educació”. Also, this course establishes the epistemological base of the course “Research in education” and establishes the philosophical and historical aims of “Anthropology and philosophy of education”.

Learning outcomes

  1. Understand the social factors involved in the creation and development of current educational theories and currents.
  2. Identifying and analysing the most relevant episodes in the history of education and pedagogical thought.
  3. Obtaining a historical and critical vision of the evolution of the school institution, in order to understand some of the factors that condition its renewal.
  4. Recognising the major educational problems and assessing the theoretical contributions and practices of educational renewal that have been adopted to deal with them in our country.
  5. Acquire the main conceptual and epistemological references that make up the main theories of education.
  6. Understand the social factors involved in the creation and development of current educational theories and currents.
  7. Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
  8. Consider how gender stereotypes and roles impinge on the exercise of the profession.
  9. Weigh up the impact of any long- or short-term difficulty, harm or discrimination that could be caused to certain persons or groups by the actions or projects.
  10. Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
  11. Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.

Contents

HISTORY OF EDUCATION

  • The Greek paideia: Homer, Safo, the greek tragedy, the sophists, Socrates and Plato
  • The Bible and his influence to the western education: Paul of Tarsus, Clement of Alexandria, Augustine of Hippo.
  • The Education and the Modern World


THEORY OF EDUCATION

  • Concept of education and pedagogy
  • Educational institutions: family and school
  • Education and the technological society

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Lectures 30 1.2 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Seminars 15 0.6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Supervision 30 1.2 1, 4
Individual work 75 3 1, 2, 3

The protagonist in the teaching-learning process is the student. It is under this premise that the methodology of this course has been designed:

  • Lectures: Lectures, workshops, exhibition of individual or group works, critical comments on readings.
  • Seminars: Group dynamics and case studies, reading discussions, individual and group works, critical reflections on practices.

All the tasks of this subject follow 3 parts: autonomous activity, directed activity (large group and seminars) and supervised activity.

The methodology that will be used in this course will take into account both the gender perspective and the attention to diversity.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Group Work 20% 0 0 1, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11
Reading discussion (Individual) 40% 0 0 1, 2, 3, 8, 11
Exam (Individual) 40% 0 0 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11

The subject will be assessed throughout the academic year through the activities shown in the table below. Attendance at the subject's face-to-face classes is mandatory.

The subject will be assessed throughout the semester through the activities discussed in this section.

To pass the subject, you must have a minimum arithmetic average of 5. A score that arises from the calculation between the three assessment activities. You must have passed the two individual theoretical tests (written test and text commentary) separately to pass the subject. People who do not reach 5 in each of these tests may apply for retake.

The maximum grade that can be obtained in retake is "passed".

The subject is not assessable when less than 50% of the assessment activities have been submitted.

Copying or plagiarism in any of the assessment activities constitutes a crime and will be penalized with a 0 in the final grade of the subject, losing the possibility of recovering it, whether it is an individual or group work.

Reasoning ability, linguistic correction, writing and formal aspects of presentation will be taken into account in all assessment activities (individual and group). In addition, each student must express themselves fluently, with correction and showing mastery of the understanding of academic texts. In this sense, an activity may be returned (not evaluated) or, even, suspended if the teaching staff considers these basic aspects of verbal and written expression insufficient.

The grades obtained in each of the assessment activities will be delivered to the student within a maximum of 20 working days of the academic calendar as a deadline for making returns, returns or grades of the assessment activities through the publication of the results on the Virtual Campus.


SINGLE EVALUATION

Those who request it can take advantage of Single Evaluation.

The single evaluation will consist of an individual test that will have two parts, a written one with theoretical questions (50%) and an oral interview on the syllabus (50%).

The same recovery system will be applied as in the case of continuous evaluation.

The review of the final grade follows the same procedure as for continuous evaluation.

In this subject, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is allowed for information research, but any work that includes fragments generated with AI will be considered a lack of academic honesty and may lead to a total or partial penalty in the grade of the activity or major sanctions in serious cases.


SYNTHETIC ASSESSMENT

Those who repeat the subject may be eligible to take a synthesis assessment (the test dates coincide with those of the continuous assessment). In this case, they will take the exams but they will be more extensive than the continuous assessment, and if they do not pass the exams, they will have the right to retake them.


Assessment dates:

Degree in Pedagogy

Group work: December 10 and 17

Text review: November 5

Written test: January 14

Single assessment for those who request it: January 14

Recovery (also for students who opted for single assessment): January 28


Degree in Social Education

Group work: December 8 and 15

Text review: October 27

Written test: January 12

Single assessment for those who request it: January 12

Recovery (also for students who opt for single assessment): January 26

Bibliography

Arendt, H. (2009). La condició humana. Empúries.

Bauman, Z. (2007). Els reptes de l’educació en la modernitat líquida. Arcàdia.

Bowen, J. (1985). Historia de la Educación occidental. Herder.

Dewey, J. (1938). Experiencia y educación. Biblioteca Nueva.

Duch, Ll. (1997). La educación y la crisis de la modernidad. Paidós.

Freire, P. (2012). Pedagogía del oprimido. Siglo XXI.

hooks, b. (2021). Enseñar a transgredir: La educación como práctica de la libertad. Capitán Swing.

hooks, b. (2022). Ensenyar pensament crític. Raig Verd.

Lane Foix, R. (2024). Homero y su Ilíada. Crítica.

Lenoir, F. (2024). La odisea de lo sagrado. Deusto.

Marrou, H. I. (2004). Historia de la educación en la Antigüedad. Akal.

Masschelein, J., & Simons, M. (2014). En defensa de la escuela: Una cuestión pública. Miño y Dávila.

Meirieu, P. (1998). Frankenstein educador. Laertes.

Meirieu, P. (2009). Pedagogia: el deure de resistir. Associació de Mestres Rosa Sensat.

Mèlich, J. C. (2019). La sabiduría de lo incierto. Lectura y condición humana. Tusquets.

Mèlich, J. C. (2021). La fragilidad del mundo.Tusquets.

Mèlich, J. C. (2025). El escenario de la existencia. Ensayo sobre el drama humano. Tusquets

Murcia Ortuño, J. (2024). Maestros y discípulos en la antigua Grecia. Alianza Editorial.

Narodowski, M. (1994). Infancia y poder: La conformación de la pedagogía moderna. Aique.

Nussbaum, M. (2005). El cultivo de la humanidad. Paidós.

Paglayan, A. S. (2024). Raised to obey: The rise and spread of mass education. Princeton University Press.

Quinn, J. (2025). Cómo el mundo creó Occidente. Crítica.

Rancière, J. (2003). El maestro ignorante. Laertes.

Steiner, G. (2004). Lecciones de los maestros. Siruela.

Steiner, G.& Ladjali, C. (2005). Elogio de la transmisión. Maestro y alumno. Siruela.

Van Manen, M. (1998). El tacto en la enseñanza. Hacia una pedagogía de la sensibilidad. Paidós.

Van Manen, M. (2004). El tono en la enseñanza. El lenguaje de la pedagogía. Paidós.

Volpi, J. (2024). La invención de todas las cosas. Una historia de la ficción. Alfaguara.

Waterfield, R. (2025). La muerte de Sócrates. Gredos.

Software

No specific software is required.

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TE) Theory 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 2 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 111 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 112 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 211 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 212 Catalan first semester morning-mixed