--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the history of education, the most…" description: "\"In the history of education, the most striking phenomenon is that schools of learning, which at one epoch are alive with a ferment of genius, in a succ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e9/ted-sizer-42828_alive_in-the-history-of-education-the-most-str_3007139.png" --- # In the history of education, the most striking phenomenon… ![“In the history of education, the most striking phenomenon is that schools of learning, which at one epoch are alive with a ferment of genius, in a succeeding generation exhibit merely pedantry and routine.” quote by Ted Sizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e9/ted-sizer-42828_alive_in-the-history-of-education-the-most-str_3007139.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e9/ted-sizer-42828_alive_in-the-history-of-education-the-most-str_3007139.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e9/ted-sizer-42828_alive_in-the-history-of-education-the-most-str_3007139.png) > “In the history of education, the most striking phenomenon is that schools of learning, which at one epoch are alive with a ferment of genius, in a succeeding generation exhibit merely pedantry and routine.” [Ted Sizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-sizer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Educational institutions can decline from vibrant learning to rigid routine over time. **In simple terms:** Schools can become dull and overly formal. Key Takeaway Encourage curiosity and resist stagnation. Themes education change tradition Mood concerned hopeful Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - curriculum reform - teacher development - student-led projects - community partnerships Key Concepts pedagogy institutional inertia Questions to Reflect On - What practices keep learning alive? - How can you challenge routine in your setting? A Different Perspective Reforming entrenched systems can face resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Epoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/epoch/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Pedantry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pedantry/) [Phenomenon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phenomenon/) [Routine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/routine/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) ## Related quotes > [Each succeeding generation of Gods follow the example of the preceding ones: each generation have their wives, who raise up from the fruit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-pratt/each-succeeding-generation-of-gods-follow-the-example-of-the/) [Orson Pratt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-pratt/) > [The Olympic Games are not just ordinary world championships but a quadrennial festival of universal youth. . . celebrated by each succeeding generation as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-de-coubertin/the-olympic-games-are-not-just-ordinary-world-championships-but-a/) [Pierre de Coubertin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-de-coubertin/) > [If we are to have faith that mankind will survive and thrive on the face of the earth, we must believe that each succeeding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalyn-sussman-yalow/if-we-are-to-have-faith-that-mankind-will-survive-and-thrive-on-the/) [Rosalyn Sussman Yalow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalyn-sussman-yalow/) > [If the present generation, or any other, are disposed to be slaves, it does not lessen the right of the succeeding generation to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/if-the-present-generation-or-any-other-are-disposed-to-be-slaves-it/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [We may consider each generation as a distinct nation, with a right, by the will of its majority, to bind themselves, but none to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/we-may-consider-each-generation-as-a-distinct-nation-with-a-right-by/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Though pedantry denies, It's plain the Bible means That Solomon grew wise While talking with his queens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/though-pedantry-denies-it-s-plain-the-bible-means-that-solomon-grew/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Pedantry and bigotry are millstones, able to sink the best book which carries the least part of their dead weight. The temper of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-ashley-cooper-7th-earl-of-shaftesbury/pedantry-and-bigotry-are-millstones-able-to-sink-the-best-book-which/) [Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-ashley-cooper-7th-earl-of-shaftesbury/) > [Of course, we can distinguish between males and females; we can also, if we choose, distinguish between different age categories; but any more advanced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/of-course-we-can-distinguish-between-males-and-females-we-can-also-if/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [Pedantry, in the common acceptation of the word, means an absurd ostentation of learning, and stiffness of phraseology, proceeding from a misguided knowledge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-mackenzie/pedantry-in-the-common-acceptation-of-the-word-means-an-absurd/) [Henry Mackenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-mackenzie/) > [The tone of good conversation is brilliant and natural; it is neither tedious nor frivolous; it is instructive without pedantry, gay without tumultuousness, polished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-tone-of-good-conversation-is-brilliant-and-natural-it-is-neither/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Pedants make a great rout about criticism, as if it were a science of great depth, and required much pains and knowledge--criticism however is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-walpole/pedants-make-a-great-rout-about-criticism-as-if-it-were-a-science-of/) [Horace Walpole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-walpole/) > [Pedantry can help financially, but not personally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/pedantry-can-help-financially-but-not-personally/) Mak\_786 > [Robespierre, this pedant of freedom!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/robespierre-this-pedant-of-freedom/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [Also, what mountains of dead ashes, wreck and burnt bones, does assiduous pedantry dig up from the past time and name it History.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/also-what-mountains-of-dead-ashes-wreck-and-burnt-bones-does/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Pedantry and mastery are opposite attitudes toward rules. To apply a rule to the letter, rigidly, unquestioningly, in cases where it fits and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-polya/pedantry-and-mastery-are-opposite-attitudes-toward-rules-to-apply-a/) [George Polya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-polya/) ## More by Ted Sizer > [Inspiration, hunger: these are the qualities that drive good schools. The best we educational planners can do is to create the most likely conditions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-sizer/inspiration-hunger-these-are-the-qualities-that-drive-good-schools/) [Ted Sizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-sizer/) > [A good education teaches you how to ask a question. It’s knowing what you don’t know; the skills of critical thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-sizer/a-good-education-teaches-you-how-to-ask-a-question-it-s-knowing-what/) [Ted Sizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-sizer/) > [Things remain the same because it is impossible to change very much without changing most of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-sizer/things-remain-the-same-because-it-is-impossible-to-change-very-much/) [Ted Sizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-sizer/) > [... the kids do what no one expects them to do. That's progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-sizer/the-kids-do-what-no-one-expects-them-to-do-that-s-progress/) [Ted Sizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-sizer/) > [The first object of any act of learning, over and beyond the pleasure it may give, is that it should serve us in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-sizer/the-first-object-of-any-act-of-learning-over-and-beyond-the-pleasure/) [Ted Sizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-sizer/) > [Every student, without exception, should be able to succeed well at something consequential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-sizer/every-student-without-exception-should-be-able-to-succeed-well-at/) [Ted Sizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-sizer/) > [I cannot teach a child I do not know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-sizer/i-cannot-teach-a-child-i-do-not-know/) [Ted Sizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-sizer/) > [Writing is the litmus paper of thoughtthe very center of schooling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-sizer/writing-is-the-litmus-paper-of-thoughtthe-very-center-of-schooling/) [Ted Sizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-sizer/) > [The schools schedule is a series of units of time; the clock is king.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-sizer/the-schools-schedule-is-a-series-of-units-of-time-the-clock-is-king/) [Ted Sizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-sizer/) [Explore all 10 Ted Sizer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-sizer/) ## More Alive quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) Adam Ant > [I don't crave applause. I'm not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I'm much more alive at home, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-don-t-crave-applause-i-m-not-one-of-those-guys-who-comes-alive-on/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-jovan-belcher-didn-t-possess-a-gun-he-and-kasandra-perkins-would/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [If Melanchthon were alive today, he might not weep because of controversies that surround the Lord's Supper, but he might well sorrow because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-w-lutzer/if-melanchthon-were-alive-today-he-might-not-weep-because-of/) [Erwin W. Lutzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-w-lutzer/) > [If you’re alive, don’t move, if you’re dead, don’t worry about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/if-you-re-alive-don-t-move-if-you-re-dead-don-t-worry-about-it/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Here Greek and Roman find themselves alive along these crowded shelves; and Shakespeare treads again his stage, and Chaucer paints anew his age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-greenleaf-whittier/here-greek-and-roman-find-themselves-alive-along-these-crowded/) [John Greenleaf Whittier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-greenleaf-whittier/) > [You're alive!" Fezzik cried. The man in black sat immobile, like a ventriloquist's dummy, just his mouth moving. "That is perhaps the most childishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/you-re-alive-fezzik-cried-the-man-in-black-sat-immobile-like-a/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) [Browse all 7,282 Alive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the history of education, the most striking phenomenon is that schools of learning, which at one epoch are alive with a ferment of genius, in a succeeding generation exhibit merely pedantry and routine.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ted Sizer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-sizer/in-the-history-of-education-the-most-striking-phenomenon-is-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alive" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-sizer/in-the-history-of-education-the-most-striking-phenomenon-is-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e9/ted-sizer-42828_alive_in-the-history-of-education-the-most-str_3007139.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e9/ted-sizer-42828_alive_in-the-history-of-education-the-most-str_3007139.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e9/ted-sizer-42828_alive_in-the-history-of-education-the-most-str_3007139.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the history of education, the most striking phenomenon is that schools of learning, which at one epoch…” — Ted Sizer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ted Sizer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-sizer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In the history of education, the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-sizer/in-the-history-of-education-the-most-striking-phenomenon-is-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-sizer/in-the-history-of-education-the-most-striking-phenomenon-is-that/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```