Why study the history of education?

Possible justifications for the study of history of education are explored in the context of the new emphasis being given to that sub-discipline within Education Studies programmes in England. Several commonplace rationales for the inclusion of history of education are rejected as inherently flawed, or because they are not relevant to Education Studies students. Instead, the reason for inclusion of history of education is to be sought in the changing nature of Education Studies itself as a discipline. Education Studies has moved away from its roots in the Bachelor of Education degree. No longer a form of Initial Teacher Training (ITT), Education Studies has evolved into the academic exploration of education itself. Education can be understood and constructed as a field of study only in historical terms. For students to be able to pursue Education Studies as a liberal academic discipline, they need to engage with education as historically conditioned and historically defined. They are in a different situation from that of ITT students, for whom education is inevitably defined by the contemporary requirements of government as stated by the Department for Education. That definition is the necessary underpinning to professional training, but is inadequate for the development of an academic discipline.