The Concept of Learning as an Element of European Education and Culture: From the Enlightenment to the 21st Century

Abstract

Thesis. This paper explores the history of learning as cultural documentation from the Enlightenment to the 21st century. It examines "cultural gradation”, investigating which types of learning achieve cultural legitimacy versus those excluded as manual, technical, or mechanical, preventing integration into higher education and social promotion. Concept. The study utilises a long-term historiographical and conceptual-historical approach. It combines historical hermeneutics with social and cultural studies of schools and their ideological assumptions underlying educational systems over time. Results and conclusions. Since the Enlightenment, humanistic education has dominated as superior, while manual-technical skills have been relegated to an inferior status. The 19th century codified these divisions through parallel study courses, and while the 20th century expanded access, it failed to eliminate segregation. The 21st century introduces digital competency and a "new humanism" attempting to balance technology and classical ideals. Despite democratization reforms, critical analysis reveals that cultural gradation remains an ongoing phenomenon. This hierarchy functions as a structural process of social reproduction and marginalisation, maintaining the historical divide between legitimate culture and practical utility. Originality. The study offers a framework for re-evaluating modern educational policies. It seeks to create opportunities for democratic humanistic learning that are not bound by historical limitations, allowing for a redefinition of power relationships in knowledge production. This work provides a thought-provoking commentary on the historical limits of education. It challenges the established definitions of power and validation in knowledge, advocating for a shift in how different forms of learning are culturally valued.