This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of a book that forms part of a series of monographs compiled by the Principles of Pedagogy Section of the Institute of the Theory and History of Pedagogy of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR. It gives a comprehensive picture of the history, main categories, subjects and methods, sources and trends in the development of educational theory. The authors start from the premise that at present educational theories fail to solve societal problems. The theme of the book is upbringing, education, and training organized in the family and in scholastic and cultural/educational institutions. However, the essential prerequisite for valid, scientifically based conclusions is the study of social life in its entirety. To this end, it is asserted, education cannot be confined to the framework of the classroom. The first chapter on the origins and evolution of educational theory traces its development as a scientific discipline, expounding on its philosophical bases, with its struggle between idealism and materialism. Other chapters include the educational process, upbringing, link between education and philosophy, interrealtions between education and psychology, methodology, and bourgeois educational thought, and mathematical methods in measurement, among others. (Author/GDB)