The Meaning of Infancy

In the wake of the nineteenth‑century surge in public schooling, this work explores how a newly democratic spirit reshaped the purpose of education. It argues that when schools moved from serving a privileged few to becoming institutions for every child, the very function of teaching transformed from rigid authority to a flexible, inclusive dialogue with society.

The author shows how teachers, once aloof guardians of fixed knowledge, were called upon to adapt their methods for a broader audience—including the blind, the deaf, and those once deemed “slow.” By widening the classroom’s reach, schools began to act as bridges, helping children adjust consciously to the physical and social worlds they would inherit.

At the same time, the book brings in evolutionary science, presenting infancy as a prolonged period of plasticity that gives humanity a unique capacity for learning. This biological viewpoint suggests that the extended childhood of modern humans is not a drawback but a powerful advantage, positioning education as the key instrument for shaping both individual lives and the democratic society they inhabit.