The purpose of education has been strategically redefined. And I believe it is one of the greatest tragedies of our nation’s 250-year history. We have abandoned the moral formation of children in favor of an institutional process mandated by the state.
Dictionaries record how a culture understands its words. By tracing the definition of education across two centuries, we see far more than changing language. We witness a profound philosophical shift in our culture.
Our founders’ understanding of education stands in stark contrast to that of today’s leaders. The evolving definition of education reveals how far we have drifted.
The Original Intent of Education
In 1828, 52 years after the founding of the United States of America, Noah Webster published an all-encompassing definition of education for our new republic. It read:
“Education comprehends that series of instruction and discipline which is intended to enlighten the understanding, correct the temper, and form the manners and habits of youth, and fit them for usefulness in their future stations. To give children a good education in manners, arts and science, is important; to give them a religious education is indispensable; and an immense responsibility rests on parents and guardians who neglect these duties.”
The priorities could not be clearer. The formation of the heart was of utmost concern. Knowledge was inseparable from moral formation. How children interacted with others was paramount. Preparing children for their purpose in life was the goal. And parents were directly responsible for the education of their children.
A decade later, Horace Mann (the “father of public schools”) introduced a new perspective on education that de-emphasized biblical teaching of morals in favor of a more universal understanding. That shift laid the groundwork for the institution to increasingly replace Scripture as the primary moral authority in public education (and would ultimately reshape the definition of education itself).
In 1864, Webster’s refined and clarified the definition:
“Education, properly a drawing forth, implies not so much the communication of knowledge as the discipline of the intellect, the establishment of the principles, and the regulation of the heart.”
This understanding remained anchored in biblical teachings of the heart as the wellspring of thought, behavior, attitudes, and affection. The “communication of knowledge” was not dismissed as unimportant, only incomplete by itself.