The development of the concept of individuality and its application in educational psychology

The concept of individuality emerged in a rudimentary form in pre-historic times but it was not until Ancient Greece that it was generally recognized. By Roman times the Idea of individual differences in learning capacity was understood and Quintilian suggested methods by which education could be adapted to those differences. The value placed upon the individual soul by Christianity gave added depth to the concept but the practical application of it dwindled during the Middle Ages. With the Renaissance, the re-discovery of the Ancients, particularly Quintilian, created a new awareness of man's individual worth and this stimulated both new enquiry into the meaning and nature of individuality and a new spirit in education. From this time on, the optimum development of the individual became an important aim of education and the understanding of the nature of the individual, a prime purpose in psychology. In educational reformers such as Froebel and Montessori and in psychologists such as Herbart and Galton, these two influences began to come together. The early days of the Twentieth Century saw a general preoccupation with the psychology of individual differences and its application to education. The introduction of general education, however, created new problems. At the present day, the basic question of how to reconcile the needs of the individual to large scale education has still not been answered. Taking Tasmania as an example, it is demonstrated that the realization of the need for individualized education on the one hand and its implication in the classroom on the other, do not coincide. Some recent publications have indicated just how urgently society needs such a system of education, while others have suggested that, with new methods and new materials, an individualized system of education is entirely practicable.