Philosophy of Humanity

Philosophy of Education

The Humboldt Reform

Significant changes in the system of education and upbringing occurred at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1806, Napoleon Bonaparte defeated Prussia. The Germans realized that their defeat was due not only to Napoleon’s military might but also to issues within Prussia itself. The country needed substantial reforms. These reforms entered history as the "Great Prussian Reforms" or the "Reforms of Stein and Hardenberg," named after the two leaders of the Prussian government, Heinrich Friedrich Karl von Stein and Karl August von Hardenberg, who implemented them. The reforms encompassed all areas of life: the army, civil service, legislation, economy, royal authority, judiciary, police, local self-government, education, and more.

As part of this process, educational reforms were undertaken. Since these reforms were led by the politician and scholar Wilhelm von Humboldt, the changes in Prussian education that took place within the framework of the Stein and Hardenberg Reforms came to be known as the Humboldt Reforms. Prussia was a Protestant (Lutheran) state, and thus Catholic educational traditions did not develop there. At the beginning of the 19th century, Prussia lacked a coherent education system. Although there was a law for universal education, it was largely ineffective. The state showed no interest in schools and did not fund them; local governments and landowners poorly attended to schools; there were no standardized curricula, and each teacher taught what they pleased; there were no institutions specializing in teacher training, and thus teachers were often former veterans or officials with nowhere else to go; there were no uniform rules for university admission. Humboldt and his like-minded reformers undertook to rescue education by implementing reforms that included the following aspects:

• School education was divided into primary and secondary levels. Primary education, which became compulsory and included the acquisition of skills such as reading, writing, and arithmetic, was provided by elementary schools (Volksschule). Secondary education was provided by grammar schools (Gymnasien).
• Primary and secondary education were standardized. Central authorities responsible for overseeing education, along with experts from universities and schools, developed a basic educational curriculum that was mandatory for all schools. This curriculum had to be strictly adhered to.
• The reform leaders understood that education would be effective only if professionals were working in this field. To ensure the country had qualified teachers, a network of teacher training seminaries was established. Such seminaries were traditional in Catholic countries. Since the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church had mandated that each diocese must have a seminary for training future priests. Teacher training seminaries were modeled on these spiritual seminaries. The Prussian government adopted this good tradition. The establishment of teacher training seminaries and the preparation of qualified teachers was the greatest achievement of Humboldt’s reform, as it addressed the most urgent issue of the time's education system.
• To ensure the appropriate level of school education, a state examination for teachers was instituted. Only those who had completed training in teacher seminaries or universities and passed the state examination could teach in schools.
• An entrance examination (Abitur) was introduced in Prussian schools. One of the problems with education across European countries was the criteria for university admission. Since schools provided education at varying levels, applicants had very different levels of preparation. The Prussian government introduced the Abitur for the first time, an exam that graduating students from grammar schools had to pass to receive a secondary education certificate. The Abitur was standardized across the country. Only those who passed the Abitur (Abiturienten) could enter universities.
• The unification of the education system created the need for a state authority to oversee the field of education. Such an institution first appeared in Prussia as a division of the Ministry of the Interior and later became an independent Ministry of Education.
• Since Humboldt was a linguist and believed that studying languages, especially classical ones, best shapes the individual, the new school system emphasized the study of classical and modern languages as well as literature from various periods of European cultural history.
• The new school model was to be based on a specific pedagogical model. Since the reform aimed at unifying education, the pedagogical model on which the education system was to be built had to be uniform for all. The educational and developmental concept of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was chosen as the normative model.

The reforms in primary and secondary education also impacted higher education. All students were required to have the necessary level of general education. Following the model of schools, the unification of university education took place. As part of these reforms, the University of Berlin was founded in 1810, which was named the University of Friedrich Wilhelm in 1828, and renamed Humboldt University of Berlin in 1949, in honor of Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt. The achievements of the Prussian education system were adopted by other countries as well. Throughout Europe, ministries of education began to be established, primary and secondary education was differentiated, entrance exams were introduced, curricula were standardized, and teacher training seminaries and institutes were opened. The Humboldtian education system became a model for Europe and beyond. Thanks to the Humboldt Reforms, the German education system became the best in the world and maintained this position until the first half of the 20th century, when the two world wars dealt a devastating blow to German culture and education.