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“To teach all things
to all men
and from
all points of view.”

These are the words that have given Jan Amos Comenius a reputation in the history of educational thought. Hailed as a modern thinker; Comenius is honored by many for his insights into the learning process and methods of teaching that are suitable to it. Yet his contributions can only be analyzed properly within the framework of the 17th century, which has been characterized as an “age of science.” Comenius was a man of two worlds. He was medieval in some ways, modern in others; his originality shines in several instances, yet he reflects prevailing opinions, ideals and common sense that can be found in numerous other writers. Comenius was foremost a schoolmaster; his practical efforts in school reform and curriculum development earned him his status and shaped his theorizing on education. The study of this man’s educational ideas is a worthy venture, because several centuries of intellectual ferment flow into his thought and pass on to several more centuries of educational innovation.

Comenius stood firmly within the tradition of Renaissance humanism and of the Protestant Reformation, although he, like many others, was disappointed in some of the fruits of these movements. The scientific and literary humanism of the Renaissance was a reaction against the dead orthodoxy of medieval scholasticism. It liberated man’s reasoning capacities from the straitjacket of Aristotelian physics and logic, which had been married to Christian doctrine and stifled all exploration of the natural world.

Thus, in education, the humanists gave birth to the classical liberal arts curriculum. Greek and Latin were the primary subjects, and they were read with a new enthusiasm, perceived as the highest expression of the human spirit. Other disciplines were also important, especially mathematics, art, and the study of the natural world, astronomy in particular. Physical training once again found its way into the curriculum of many schools. Such an education would produce a cultured gentleman, a well-rounded person in whom knowledge and virtue would mix perfectly.

But by the 17th century, Renaissance humanism had begun to go the way of medieval scholasticism before it, degenerating into a rigid orthodoxy. Too absorbed with assimilating the learning of the ancients, the humanists could not focus on the proper questions for extending knowledge. The past had become excess baggage that slowed down any intellectual progress. The Protestant Reformation had also lost its driving force of evangelical zeal and dissolved into warring political factions grasping for territory to control and crushing all those within who would not conform.

This demise was reflected in the schools. A few classical authors dominated the curriculum and religious teaching had devolved into sterile catechisms. Luther’s initial interest in universal education had withered and any quality education that did exist was reserved for monarchy and aristocrats. The general populace remained largely illiterate.

An important figure in the transition from Renaissance thought to a more scientific perspective, and who probably influenced Comenius more than anyone else, was Francis Bacon (1561–1626). In many ways, Comenius was a popularizer of Baconian thought in continental Europe. Bacon, like Comenius, was a humanist but one who grapsed the need for a fresh look at the universe without the presuppositions of classical thought. This fresh look was obtained by an inductive method of scientific investigation. Observation of the environment would yield reliable ideas about the universe. By studying nature firsthand, man could find that unity of all knowledge and gain a mastery over nature.

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