This version of the course guide is provisional until the period for editing the new course guides ends.

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Theories and History of Education

Code: 101662 ECTS Credits: 6
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Social Education OB 1
Education Studies OB 1

Contact

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

Teachers

Joan Carles Melich Sangra

Teaching groups languages

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


Prerequisites

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


Objectives and Contextualisation

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”.


Competences

    Social Education
  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values. 
  • Contextualize educational action based on the different theoretical paradigms that have developed in science and education in accordance with the socio-historical context of individuals, groups and institutions.
  • Master the theoretical and applied knowledge of Educational Sciences to develop the capacity for analysis and observation of the social and educational reality.
  • Recognize and evaluate the social reality and the interrelation between factors involved as necessary anticipation of action.
  • Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge. 
    Education Studies
  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  • Analyse and understand the theoretical, historical, cultural, political, environmental and legal references and situations involved in education and training proposals.
  • Recognize and evaluate the social reality and the interrelation between factors involved as necessary anticipation of action.
  • Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
  • Understand the processes that occur in educational and training activities and their impact on learning.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Acquire the main conceptual and epistemological references that make up the main theories of education.
  2. Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
  3. Consider how gender stereotypes and roles impinge on the exercise of the profession.
  4. Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
  5. Identifying and analysing the most relevant episodes in the history of education and pedagogical thought.
  6. 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.
  7. Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
  8. 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.
  9. Understand the social factors involved in the creation and development of current educational theories and currents.
  10. 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.

Content

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 

 


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures 30 1.2 1, 9, 5, 6, 8
Seminars 15 0.6 1, 9, 5, 6, 8
Type: Supervised      
Supervision 30 1.2 9, 8
Type: Autonomous      
Individual work 75 3 9, 5, 6

 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

Continous Assessment Activities

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

The evaluation of the subject will be carried out continuously throughout the entire semester through the activities that are discussed in this section.

The evaluation of the subject will be carried out throughout the semester through the activities discussed in this section.To pass the cours, 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 a 5 in each of these tests will be able to present themselves for recovery.

The maximum grade for this re-evaluation can only be approved.

The subject is considered non-evaluable when less than 50% of the evaluation activities have been submitted.

Copying or plagiarism in any of the evaluation 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 correctness, writing and formal presentation will be taken into account in all assessment activities (individual and group). In addition, each student will have to express themselves fluently, correctly and showing mastery in the comprehension of academic texts. In this sense, an activity may be returned (not evaluated) or even suspended if the teacher 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 days by publishing the results on the Virtual Campus or in the classroom.

 

SINGLE ASSESSMENT

People who request it can take advantage of the Single Assessment.

The single assessment will consist of an individual test that will have two parts, one written (with theoretical questions (50%) and an oral interview with the student (50%)

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

The review of the final qualification follows the same procedure as for the continuous assessment.

In this subject, the use of artificial intelligence technologies is not permitted in the six phases. Any work that includes fragments generated by IA will be considered a lack of academic honesty and may entail a total or partial penalty in the activity grade or major sanctions in serious cases.

 

Evaluation dates:

 

Degree in Pedagogy

  1. Group work: 11th and 18th December
  2. Reading discussion: 6th November
  3. Exam: 9th January
  4. Single Assessment for people who request it: 15th January
  5. Re-evaluation (also for those people who opt for a single evaluation): 15st Gener

Degree in Social Education

  1. Group work: 9th and 16th December
  2. Reading discussion: 11th November
  3. Exam: 20th January
  4. Single Assessment for people who request it: 20th January
  5. Re-evaluation (also for those people who opt for a single evaluation: 3th February

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.

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.

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.

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

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.


Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(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
(TE) Theory 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 2 Catalan first semester morning-mixed