In section 38 of the chapter, Ibn Khaldûn emphasizes the existence of five major models of education: the methods of Maghribî, Spaniards, Infrîqiyah, Eastern world, and the instructions from Judge Abû Bakr b. al-‘Arabî. Considering each approach, the author gives preference to the latter, as it encompasses the idea of linear education. It means that children, since early childhood, learn the basics of philology, linguistics, arithmetic, and Qur’ân while forbidding “teaching two disciplines at the same time” (Khaldûn 617-618). Indeed, according to Khaldûn, such an approach is only applicable when youth is capable of learning the fundamentals of the Qur’an on their own in the future. One may assume that the author favors the idea of linear education because earlier in Chapter 6, he claims acting and thinking in an orderly manner to be a distinctive features of human beings. Order separates them from other living things, as they can build a foundation for their future ideas.
Reference
Khaldûn, Ibn. The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History. The Classic Islamic History of The World. Translated by Franz Rosenthal, Princeton UP, 2020.