European Renaissance - Like School Reforms
At first glance, I noticed that the European Renaissance “encompassed the revival of learning based on classical sources” (according to Wikipedia). This is less than impressive to me, because (although at that time schools did not exist in the same sense that they do now), this sounds like almost every “innovative” (and by that I mean not at all innovative in any way, shape, or form) that American schools have attempted in the last 50 years.
There are many theories and philosophies of education, many of which focus on teaching classical literature. Other are more progressivist in nature and look toward the future and what is to come. While I understand that a renaissance, by definition, is the revival of something previously forgotten, in an educational context, this idea is often disguised as a “new” idea and force-fed to schools by people whose interests it serves best.
Often in American education, school reforms are in actuality just an educational renaissance re-packaged to look like something it is not. Similarly, while the European Renaissance is generally accepted by most, there are those who view it as unimportant and unworthy of being labeled a “historical period” at all. I wonder what it is this minority saw as unimportant or misleading, just as I do with so many of our “educational reforms.”