Education reform is a plan or movement which attempts to bring about a systemic change in educational practices. Educational theories, curriculum reform, and operational structure are often areas targeted for change.

In western society, this has preoccupied many famous intellectuals such as Plato and Rousseau. In fact, Western civilization developed classical education to economically teach skills and a framework for all human knowledge. Historically, many reforms, such as religious education and universities, originated to correct real or perceived defects in classical education.

Since the 1850s, most reforms have attempted to either make individuals more perfectly developed, or to reduce the costs or increase the effectiveness of mass education. For example, the Transcendental movement, Joseph Lancaster's London poor school, or Deweyism.

Early history

Classical times

Plato believed that children would never learn unless they wanted to learn. In The Republic, he said, "...compulsory learning never sticks in the mind." An important educational debate in the time of the Roman Empire arose after Christianity had achieved broad acceptance. The question concerned the educational value of pre-Christian classical thought: "Given that the body of knowledge of the pre-Christian Romans was heathen in origin, was it safe to teach it to Christian children?"