'How good an historian shall i be?': R. G. Collingwood on education

Although many educators have heard of R. G. Collingwood (1889-1943), few have read more than The Principles of Art and The Idea of History. The aim of this paper is to draw out some of Collingwood's ideas on education by reference to a wide range of his published and unpublished works. Having described his views on the aims of education, the nature and content of the curriculum, and how education is to be brought about, it will be shown that although his suggestions show something of the influence of Idealism, he alone locates the question 'How good an historian shall I be?' at the heart of civilisation.