In this post, we will look at ancient Egyptian and Jewish education. Through many stories, such as those found in the Christian Bible, Egyptian and Jewish civilizations are connected.

Egypt

The Egyptians employed a caste system. This system consisted primarily of three levels but this varies based on interpretation. These three levels are the priest, military, and unprivileged. The priests made up the highest caste. This caste did not only consist of religious functions but also included surveyors, engineers, teachers, etc. In many ways, the equivalent today would be highly skilled white-collar jobs.

It was the priestly caste that educated the others. They were generally the only ones who were literate. Also, the priests owned 1/3 of the land and were not required to pay taxes. As such, priests were generally wealthy due to these economic concessions.

The military was the second caste. These were the soldiers who defended the country and also found ways to expand it. `The pharaoh was a part of this caste be he was also often put in a caste by himself at the top of the system. It was also possible for people to move between the priestly and military classes. For example, a soldier could have a brother who was a priest and vice versa.

The lowest class was called the unprivileged. This included everyone who was not in the other two classes mentioned already. This group was further subdivided into craftsmen, farmers, merchants, and slaves.

The education of youth was practical. A boy was expected to follow the trade of his father. However, there was flexibility in this depending on the interest and skill of the child. The education was physically demanding but also include many of the subjects expected in a school (reading, writing, math, etc.)

Jews

Jewish education was highly unique when compared to other forms of education. There was no caste system among the Israelites as found in other civilizations. Also, there was no government-controlled education until the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity period. This implies that Jewish youth were primarily homeschooled, which was almost unheard of in any advanced civilization during ancient times.

Even though Jewish education was primarily controlled by the family for several thousand years there were exceptions to this. One example is the School of the Prophets during the monarchy period of the Jews. At this school, students studied philosophy, medicine, poetry, history, law, etc. These schools were erected to provide spiritual leaders for Israel.

Another school founded mostly after the captivity was the School od the Rabbis. There were several of these and they were run independently by famous rabbinical teachers. They were similar to the School of the Prophets in terms of curriculum and students studied such subjects as theology, politics, law, history, math, etc.

By the first century AD, and after the Babylonian captivity, Rabbis began to require that every community have a school and that attendance to such a school was mandatory. This eliminated to a large degree the tradition of homeschooling among Jews.

The teachers at these schools had to be married men with experience. What is implied here is that people who had reached full maturity through being married and perhaps with children were considered ready to deal with children.

Conclusion

How people choose to prepare children for the world will always be different. Egypt was focused on raising people to support a caste system. Israel was focused on the development of the individual and not only the state. The superiority of one system over the other depends on the individual. However. both of these systems have a rich history that is still impactful to this day.

In this post, we will look at the Prussian education system during the 19th century. This system has been praised by many and influenced the development of the American educational system. In particular, we will look at the schools and the requirements for becoming a teacher in this historical system.

The Schools

Prussian education begins for many with the Common Schools. These schools were designed for the masses and cover what we would consider to be K-8 today. These schools lasted six days a week for 42 weeks a year. Generally, students would be in class anywhere from 16-28 hours per week. Teachers of course work 28 hours a week.

Attendance was compulsory for children age 6-14. Parents could face disciplinary action if they did not send their children to schools. Generally, there were few problems or resistance to compliance

Completion of Common School studies did not automatically lead to going to high schools. Often, if a student wanted to continue to study he would study at continuation schools. These schools were offered on Sundays and during the evenings. For most lower-class individuals this was the only way to continue studying.

Secondary school had three types of schools these are the gymnasium, reallgymnasium, and the oberrealschule. All three of these schools prepared for university. The difference between these three types of schools is the amount of focus each school had on classical studies. The gymnasium was the most heavily focused on the classics, followed by the realgymnasium, and the oberealschule was the most practical.

If a student from the common schools had a goal of attending university, he had to enroll at a secondary school before he was 10 years old. This indicates that it was difficult for late bloomers to have academic success at university.

For those who go to university, those who choose to become teachers typically do not teach at the common schools. Generally, they teach at secondary school, private school, or work as tutors. Usually, only former common school students would teach at common schools. Whether this is right or wrong is open to debate but this was the reality of the time.

Teacher Preparation

Becoming a teacher required that a student’s teacher and the local administrator notice academic talent in a child. If the administrator believes the child can be a teacher, he will next contact the parents and see if they agree to have the child become a teacher. If the parents agreed the child is then sent to a preparatory school for about 3 years (age 14 – 17).

Upon completing preparatory school, the student goes to a normal school (teacher college). This training lasted for 3 years. Two of the years are book work and the last year is what we would call a student internship today. After completing normal school, the student goes back to their childhood school and begin their first teaching position.

Once they get their first job, the student is now a probationary teacher for 3 years. When the 3 years are over, the student then has to pass a final examination that covers questions about pedagogy. Only after passing this exam does the student become a tenured teacher, which essentially means having a job for life. Not bad considering many would be less than 25 years old.

Conclusion

The Prussian system was a major component of the development and growth of Germany during the 19th century. There was criticism of how it perpetuated the class structure through the differences found in the common vs secondary schools. However, all systems have their inherent strengths and weaknesses and there is no exception in the case of the Prussian educational approach.

Johann Basedow (1723-1790) was an influential German educator of the 18th century. In this post, we will look at the life and work of this influential educator.

Life

He was born in Hamburg, Germany. As a child he was temporarily a runaway do to a strained relationship with his father. However, with time, he was reconciled with his father and return home

As a young man, Basedow studied theology at university. However, he was found to be too difficult in terms of personality to be fit for ministry. In fact, Basedow’s personality was a frequent cause of his failures. He was unorthodox by nature but what really cause him problems was poor people skills, a penchant for criticizing others, and being somewhat capricious in his decision making.

With his hopes of ministry being thwarted, Basedow turned to being a tutor. He developed a somewhat unorthodox approach to teaching Latin. In his approach, Basedow would point to different objects that he encountered with his students and tell them the name of the object in Latin. Through this focus on practical vocabulary the students quickly learned the language. At the time, this was a revolutionary way to teach language.

After working as a tutor for a time, Basedow next appointment was to work as a Professor of Morals at a university in Denmark. Given his raucous past, it is ironic that the rebellious runaway was now a guardian of morality. Unfortunately, Basedow’s unorthodox style and strong independence streak led to conflict with the university.

Basedow was heavily influenced by Rousseau and especially by Rousseau’s book “Emile”, which was a book on Rousseau’s views of education. This book which advocated avoiding educating a child for the first 12 years or so of life, providing minimum moral training, and the avoidance of discipline is seen by many to be a bizarre approach to education. However,, for Basedow, it led him to the next step in his life, which was the founding of his own school.

Philanthropin

Prince Leopold, fascinated by Basedow, decided to finance Basedow in the developing of a school were Basedow could implement Rousseau and his own educational theories. The name of this school was the Philanthropin.

Basedow’s school was popular in that everybody heard of it. Yet, few parents wanted to actual send their children to such an experimental school. In fact, when several school leaders came to the school they only found 13 students there. To make matters worst, two of the thirteen were Basedow’s own children.

The lack of success of the school can be based on several reasons. For starters, Basedow’s personality cause problems. He lacked the charisma needed for a leadership position along with the tact needed to maneuver difficult situations. Basedow was also a frequent critic of other educators and this did not win him friends and or support. In addition, Basedow, was unpredictable in decision making and suspicious of his subordinates.

Another problem was the strict secular nature of the school. Based on Rousseau’s “Emile” there was no religious instruction in the school as Rousseau believed it was too early in a child’s life to have religious training. This is considered normal today, however, during this time, the idea of separating church and state was still unheard of. This was a few years before the United States was born and it was still expected that schools provide religious education. Basedow’s decision to ignore this was revolutionary.

Eventually, Basedow resigned from his leadership position and the school would close several years after his death. With the closure of the school the teachers dispersed and took with them the ideas that they learned from Basedow.

Conclusion

Basedow’s failure are his primary gift to future educators. Some people show the next generation what works while others show the next generation what does not work. Basedow’s innovations were primarily unsuccessful but if he had never attempted to dream big and implement them the world would have never known. Even worst, Basedow himself would have never known.

The Roman Empire is considered by many to be the transmitter of Greek culture to many parts of the world. Part of what Rome has shared with the world is the influence of Greek education in their own educational system. This post will look at some of the many aspects of Roman education.

Education of Children

Education began in the home with the mother. One of the things that mothers would teach their small children was the Twelve Tables of Roman Law. These tables explained the rights and duties of Roman citizens. This example provides just one picture of how important citizenship was to a Roman when they explained laws to toddlers. Imagine someone reading and explaining the US constitution to pre-schoolers in our time.

School began when a child was about 5 years of age. This is younger than the 7 years of age in Greece. Just like Greece, the Romans employed a Pedagogue to watch the child as they went to and from school. The pedagogue would also carry the child’s book and discipline them when necessary. Unlike Greek pedagogues, Roman pedagogues did not provide as much educational support to the child and function primarily as a servant with authority.

From the age of 5-12 Roman children studied with what is called a literator. These were men of low social standing who may have failed at other careers in life. These men taught basic reading, writing, and arithmetic. Richer parents would avoid the literators and hire private tutors for their children.

From the age of 12-16 Roman teenagers would study with a literatus. Being a literatus was considered more prestigious than being a literator. At this level, students would study Greek, Latin, poetry, history, oratory, and public speaking. This experience was similar to going to high school today. It was also common for literatus to be Greek which further added to the prestige of this position.

Higher Education

After studying with the literatus, a young Roman male was considered an adult and had to choose his vocation. For the rich the essentially had 5 choices as shown below

1. Oratory
2. Politics
3. Law
4. Military
5. Agriculture

Oratory, politics, and law had huge overlaps in terms of training. Everyone who studied one of these three occupations would be expected to observe senators at the senate. Oratory, in particular, was a highly valued skill in ancient Rome and was perhaps the most prestigious if you could truly speak well.

Young men who went into the military were assigned to a legion. If they were from the upper-class they may have been put in a leadership position within a legion while a commoner did the actual leading. Some would stay in the military while others would use the experience gained here to go into politics.

Lastly, agriculture was for those who had no interests in politics and or did not possess talent. Being a farmer meant being away from Rome and missing all the political nonsense. However, given the pitfalls of Roman politics and the dangers of military life, this may have been the safest option. However, history remembers soldiers and politicians, it does not remember farmers.

Conclusion

Roman education was an opportunity for a child to acquire basic literacy. Also, they were taught their rights and responsibilities as citizens. For the handful of the wealthiest, they had a choice from among several different careers that allowed them to all be successful.

Greek education has influenced the Western world strongly. We will look at Greek education, in particular, Athens in this post. Also, we will look briefly at the views of Plato and Aristotle concerning education.

Athens

The worldview of Athens was one of individualism and liberty. Speaking freely and having a choice was deeply ingrained in Greek culture. Even education was democratic as slaves also received some form of education.

There has been speculation as to way Greeks were so more individualistic. Some have suggested that the rugged mountainous terrain allowed people to be more independent because the threat of invasion was low. In contrast, many parts of Asia are readily available because of the wide-open spaces and flat terrain in many parts. Whatever the reason, individualism was just more accepted in Greece compared to Asia

Schools in Athens were private but the government kept an eye on what was happening. School began at the age of 7  and continue until the age of 20. A young boy was often accompanied to and from school by a slave called a pedagogue whose job it was to watch the child and keep him out of trouble.

School lasted for everyone from about the age of 7 until 14 years of age. The early years are focus on physical education such as gymnastics combined with rudimentary training in the 3Rs. A 14, the lower classes would leave school to work or learn a trade while the rich continued.

From 14-20, upper-class Greeks would study music, rhetoric, grammar, and philosophy. At the age of 20, a student’ss education was considered complete and he began whatever vocation he was called to.

Plato

Plato had some somewhat radical views on education compared to mainland Greeks. For example, unlike the strong individualism of the typical Greek, Plato believed that children along with everybody belonged to the state, which is a view held by many Asia countries. Plato stated that marriages should be arranged by the state, weak children should be killed, and children should be raised by the community and not by their parents. Naturally, you can infer from this that Plato never had a wife or children.

For Plato, there were 5 levels of education. The first three were for everyone and the last two for the elite. Level 1 was from 0-7 and focused on physical training. Level 2 was from 7-13 and included both physical and mental training. Level 3 was from 14-19 years of age with the same emphasis as level 2. Level 4 was for the best students and lasted from 20-30 years of age. Finally, level 5 was from 30-35 and was for the best of the best of those from level 4.

Plato also went on to propose a caste system based on education among other things. Common people completed anywhere from level 1 all the way to 3. Citizens completed level 3 and maybe 4. Lastly, The rulers would complete all 5 levels of education.

To say that Plato’s views were radical would be an understatement. However, Plato was a radical thinker and these ideas of his are just a reflection of his independent thinking.

Aristotle

Aristotle’s views on education are more practical than Plato’s.FOr him, education is a life long experience. For children, education was divided into three levels. From 0-7 the child was at home. From ages 7-14 the child’s mind was trained in academic studies. Some of the subjects studied included music, drawing, grammar, math, dialectics, political science, and philosophy.

From 14-21 a child was trained for life preparation. This would vary depending on the future occupation of the child. Future leaders got involved in leadership, soldiers went into military studies, etc. There was no need to continue formal education beyond 21 because people continued to study informally when the had time.

Aristotle also made comments on teaching. He proposed that teaching should move from the concrete to the abstract. From the literal to the symbolic. This is essentially what Piaget said 3,000 years later with his stages of cognitive development.

Conclusion

Athenian education provided an opportunity for individual growth in a way that was not even considered in Asian education. The state was there for dealing with the occasional external threat for the Greeks. In contrast, the state was there for its self in the Asian context. This difference in who serves who is reflected in the style of education as well.

The dawn of the Christian era brought deep change to Europe and the Roman Empire specifically. This post will provide an overview of Christian education from antiquity.

Early Efforts

Initially, it was difficult for Christians to have schools in the traditional sense. This is because the frequent persecution made it difficult for Christians to settle in one place for long periods of time. For about the first 200 years, Christian education was focused on teaching adult new believers the basic principles of Christianity. These schools were called Catechumen schools. With time these schools would also be opened to children.

The next innovation in Christian education was the Common Schools of the second century. These schools were founded by Protogenes. The curriculum focused primarily on learning to read and to write. Advanced education was not yet a concern.

At about the same time as the founding of the common schools was also the development of catechetical schools. The first of these schools was found in 181 AD by Panteaus in Alexandria, Egypt. Catechetical loosely translated means “question and answer” which is a reference to the teaching style of the school.

The Catechetical schools are famous in part because of their alumni. Both Clement (150-215 AD) and his student Origen(184-253 AD) studied at the Alexandrian school. Clement was a former student of the founder Panteaus.  Origen became a teacher at the school while a teenager, which was an amazing feat. Origen taught at the height of the school and the decline began after his death.

Towards the Middle Ages

By 529ADm the Byzantine Emperor Justinian had outlawed the pagan schools within the empire. For a long time, the Christians and the pagan schools and competed for students and influence. Eventually, Christianity saw the pagan schools as a threat to believers and use their resources to suppress them. As Christianity became the state religion, pagan schools declined and Christianity took over as one of the main bodies for providing education.

By the Middle Ages, some of the educational duties of Christianity had been given to the monasteries. The church had tremendous power and the monks owned as much as 1/3 of Europe. The education consisted primarily of the seven liberal arts divided into the trivium (three) and quadrivium (four).

Towards the end of the Middle Ages,  there began to be resistance to the monastic education in the form of a philosophy called scholasticism. Scholasticism supported the use of reason to learn while monasticism focused on the authority of the church. While monasticism avoided most classical literature as pagan scholasticism embraced and tried to harmonized classical ideas with Christianity. The split that began with scholasticism would have an influence on the church for several centuries as people continue to argue over the role of faith in education.

Conclusion

Christianity started as a persecuted religion to moving to become a state religion. This change in status also brought about a change in how education was viewed and conducted.

India and Persia are two fo the oldest civilizations known to man. Both of these civilizations have had a strong influence on many in the world today. This post takes a brief look at the system of education that each of these civilizations employed during their time.

India

In India, parents raised their children to be absolutely obedient. Children were also expected to demonstrate politeness, patience, and modesty. These were the traits that parents focused on when raising children.

India has had a rather stringent caste. There are four basic castes and they are the

1. Brahmans-Priest and teachers
2. Kshatriyas-Warriors
3. Vaishya-Merchants and farmers
4. Sudras-Peasant and laborers

You can see from the above list that it was the Brahmans who provided education to the other classes. This was done through a system that emphasized memorization. The students would memorize what the teacher said in a sing-song call and response style. Students simply did what they were told and never thought to ask why they were learning this way.

Only Brahmans received higher education. However, for those who went into teaching, there was no real preparation. As such, everyone taught in whatever manner they saw fight as there was no real philosophy of education.

Persia

The Persian system of education is relatively different from India’s. Early obedience of the children was not as important to Persians as it was to Indians. For example, children were not taught right from wrong in Persian culture until about 5 years of age. Also, children were not spanked until about 7 years old.

Persia also had a more militaristic outlook given that it was several times a world empire. As such, children were seen as belonging to the state. Therefore, at the age of 7, it was the state who educated the child and not the parents or some form of private tutoring. The government educational system was divided into three levels and was primarily a military training, which means it was focused on boys rather than on girls.

The first stage of education lasted form 7-15 years of age. This stage focused on physical training for war and memorizing proverbs. Memorization is a major characteristic of education in the past. This is looked down upon now but living in an age without books, paper, and or computer, memory was much more important in the past than today.

Stage two continued from 15 to the age of 25. This stage involved even more military training. Academics were never that important for the typical Persian. AS such, heavy emphasis on the physical aspects of military preparation was most important.

The final stage of education technically doesn’t end and went from 25 to the age of 50 when a soldier retired from the military. This implies that there was always some form of trying and educating happening within the military. The best soldiers would retire and then become teachers of the same system in which they had gone through.

Conclusion

Indian and Persian education had different goals. India’s education was focused on memorization and caste structure while Persia’s system was geared towards the maintenance and expansion of the state. These differing goals are reflected in how each nation educated their children

The Chinese system of education has a rich and unique past. This post will discuss briefly some of the traits of this ancient system that has had a strong influence on many educational systems in Asia.

Memory

Chinese education in the past and perhaps still so in the present relies heavily on memorization. This is seen in the development of the written language. The written language of Chinese does not have an alphabet as we think of an alphabet in the English language. Rather, there are over 50,000 different characters that need to be memorized to read. This is a massive undertaking in which it is common for many if not most people to never know all the characters. The only tool for learning to read is to attempt to memorize enough of the commonly used characters, which would be mind-blowing to English speakers.

The heavy emphasis in memorization allowed for the preservation of manners and customs. The criticism of this, at least to some, was that innovation was often excluded. However, this was not always the case as the Chinese invented numerous things such as paper and gun powder. Critics will concede that the Chinese invented many things but that they often did not exploit some of these innovations. For example, gunpowder was ignored for several centuries before being used for fireworks and finally as a weapon. Imagine if it took the United States several centuries to figure out the uses for the Atom Bomb.

Teaching and Examinations

Students were taught by a teacher who was located at a temple or his home. Education was divided into three stages. Stage one focused on reading, writing, and arithmetic. At this stage, the student would copy what the teacher said or wrote. There was little focus on the expression of the individual.

Stage two involved the translation of textbooks and lessons in composition. Here students learned to express themselves somewhat. In stage three, students learned how to write essays and this was perhaps the time in which they learned to share their thoughts in writing. For a long time in its history. China did not have high schools as we define them in the West.

China is famous for its complex system of examinations. Passing the exams was considered the equivalent of earning a degree at a university during modern times. There were three levels of exams with an optional fourth level. The first exam, if a person passed, was called “Budding Intellect.” This was not an easy exam because the pass rate was 1%.

The next two levels of exams were given every three years. Level 2 was called “Deserving of Promotion” and people who passed this could reach higher levels in the government bureaucracy. Level three was called “Fit for Office” and allowed those who passed even better government positions.

The final level was reserved for government officials of the highest positions and was called “Forest of Pencils.” To even take this exam a person had to be a member of the royal academy. Passes this examination was highly prestigious and perhaps almost impossible.

The examination system of China wasn’t abolished until the early 20th century. This long time of  services indicates the staying power of this style of assessment. Success in these exams commanded an impressive amount of memorizing that few can obtain. Naturally, when individuals have success in the current system they are not motivated to change it. This may explain why this system refused to change for so long because so many had had success with it.

Conclusion

The Chinese model of education is one in which memorizing and obedience were highly valued. Whether this was right or wrong is s second manner. What is clear is that this system of education served the country for centuries despite whatever flaws this approach may have.

Universities during the Middle Ages could grow quite large. Some estimates put universities with populations of up to 30,000. However, this number includes not only students but also faculty, staff, administration, and even servants of students. Naturally, with such a large population of people and primarily young people, there were going to be challenges with student behavior.

Students

It was common for university students to be boys between the ages of 12-15. In order to enroll, a young person had to bring with them a letter that attests to their character, similar to a letter of recommendation. In addition, they also needed to indicate what the planned to study, which we would call declaring a major today. If students were disruptive enough they would be whipped and sent home.

Many of these young students were sponsored by the church to serve as clergy in the future. However, it was common and even okay for young scholars to beg in order to support their studies. The idea of the starving students is much older then many of us knew.

Even though many students were essentially pre-teens the older students began to organize into groups based on the country or region they were from and make demands of the school and local government. Among the demands were the following.

• Inner autonomy-Students wanted the right to judge local problems among themselves within their country or region group
• Determine who can join the group
• Protection from foreign powers-This makes sense given the propensity for war among countries during the Middle Ages. To be in the wrong place during war could be deadly.
• Immunity from public service and taxes-Essentially, nobody likes to pay taxes throughout human history.

TO achieve these means, students would shift their loyalty to whoever supported them whether it was Pope, King or Emperor. Generally, everyone wanted the support of the students for political and or economic reasons. The Pope and Emperor want the political backing of students in order to have greater influence. The King wanted the students support because universities boosted the local economy.

Town-Gown Riots

Despite the best efforts of universities, students still found ways to get into considerable trouble. An example of this is taken from the 13th century at the University of Paris and is one of many instances of what were called “Town-Gown Riots” with town representing the community and gown representing the students.

In this particular instance, a servant of the archdeacon of the university goes to a tavern to get wine for their master. While the servant is at the tavern, he gets into an argument, is beaten, and the master’s flask (bottle) is broken. The archdeacon was English and this led to English students beating the tavern-keeper in revenge for the injury to their countrymen (remember that students live in communities by country).

To avenge the beating of their Parisian brother, the Parisian citizens attack the English boarding house and kill several students including the archdeacon. The university teachers responded by going to the king and complain about the death of the archdeacon who was their peer. Of course, they were also a little concerned about the dead students.

King was afraid of losing the university so he punished the leader of the city and gave the university more autonomy by giving it all freedom from civic authority. However, a second riot happened a few years later and led to many teachers and students leaving Paris to return to England and this contributed to the founding of both Oxford and Cambridge.

One reason for this chaos was that many universities did not own any buildings. Classes and living arrangements were chaotic and spread all over. This lack of centralization made it easy for such violence to take place.

Conclusion

Student life has always been full of challenges. For ages, students have made demands and caused trouble. Perhaps for the stressed administrator, it is reassuring that these problems are not new.

During the 9th and 10th centuries, there were several types of schools available for the education of young people. The schools mentioned in this post were primarily connected with and controlled by the church. These schools are the Claustral/Inner school, the Outer school, and the Cathedral/Episcopal school

Types of School

The Claustral or inner school was a school run within the monasteries of Europe. The inner school was inside the monastery and was for the training of future monks. In relation to cost, tuition was free since these boys were dedicating their lives to the church. The behavior of the students was strictly monitored and controlled due to their future vocation as a monk. As such, there was little individualism as uniformity was the expectation. This was probably not an education for the free-spirited.

A second school associated with monasteries was the outer school. The outer school gets its name from being outside the monastery but often near one. These were schools for future priests. However, it was also common for laypeople to send their children for education there as well. Since these schools had a dual purpose, costs were covered through tuition and also scholarships.

The final school was the cathedral or episcopal school. Each diocese of the church had episcopal schools scatter throughout it. The cathedral and episcopal schools were for the laity. Teachers came from the main cathedral school to the episcopal schools. To do this, the teacher needed to pay for a “facultas” or license to teach from the head of the cathedral school. This word “facultas” is where the word faculty comes from.

Curriculum & Instruction

The Bible, or what people said about the Bible, was one of the chief subjects of these schools, especially the monastic schools. The church did not support the study of the classics or other forms of secular literature at this time. Instead, the focus was always on what the church said was spiritual truth because this was considered immortal and unchanging. This dogmatic position stifled thinking and development in the sciences.

However, this position would change with the reemergence of Greek thought with the Reconquista of Spain and the crusades. When Aristotle was encounter among the writings of the Arabs, he was translated from Arabic into Latin and began to influence Europe. This left the church in a challenging situation in which the world wanted more secular thought that was not considered beneficial by the church elite.

Discipline in school would be considered harsh by today’s standards. Children were frequently beaten for minor problems. For example, it was common for students to be beaten for failing to memorize something. At this time, the only way a person knew something was from their ability to remember it. This may have been one reason for the severity of forgetting.

By the end of the 10th century, many within Europe were convinced the world would end in 1000. This is similar to how people thought the world would end in the year 2000. With this focus on the impending end of the world, churches, houses, farming and schools were neglected.  This contributed to a temporary decline in education.

Conclusion

Education was primarily focused on spiritual development rather than for secular means. This does not mean that people were not educated for other more mundane reasons. With the focus on clerical training, there were certain restrictions placed on learning. With the reemergence of ancient secular thought led to a change in learning that would be weakened with a focus on the end of time.

The university, as we know them today, arose sometime during the 12th century. Of course, it is not exactly clear in terms of the exact date. The universities followed the example and traditions laid down by the Romano-Hellenic schools of the Roman Empire and the monastic/episcopal schools of the church.  This post will look at factors that led to universities, characteristics of universities, and the church’s view of the growing influence of universities.

Factors Leading to Universities

Several things had changed over the centuries from the fall of the Roman empire that led to the development of universities. First, the crusades had exposed Europeans to many Arab/Middle East ideas. Among these ideas was Aristotle, concepts related to medicine, and the possibility of some form of higher education.

There were also economic factors such as the establishment of free towns. Free towns were essentially free of feudalism in which you had independent artisans and other free people. With the rise of an independent middle class came a correlated need for specialization in some areas of expertise, especially medicine, law or even theology. The freeman seemed to always have issues with the nobility and clergy and wanted people who were trained separately from the monastic schools. The priest/monks lacked the expertise to thoroughly train people for practical occupations such as doctors or lawyers.

Furthermore, universities provided an education the was free from the rules and oppression of the monastic orders. The rules for monastic life can be highly arduous for a layperson. Waking up early, eating in silence, harsh living conditions, physical labor, all this was a part of the educational experiences in a way that was bewildering to the laity at times. Universities offered a similar education in a secular environment which naturally led to the release of a high amount of licentious behavior that the universities had to suppress eventually. In other words, whereas the monastics schools were too strict the universities were initially to lenient.

Despite the disdain that many had for the church, the church itself helped to contribute to the growth of universities through the stability it provided. Supposedly, if someone was a priest or scholar, they were safe to travel throughout Europe unmolested. The accuracy of this is hard to assess but if scholars could move freely it would have made it easy to start schools and move to the best positions rather than being trapped in a single place due to safety issues.

The church also provided the closes thing to an international language that Europe had through its use of Latin. Latin became the language of government and scholarship. Its influence is still felt today in the Latin names that are used in science for the classification of animals.

University Characteristics

A major difference between the universities compared to monastics schools involves the leadership style. Monastic schools were monarchies in nature in that one person made the decisions. Universities are run by a community, which is a more democratic style of leadership. Universities were also founded by major European leaders such as kings, emperors, and popes. Monastic schools were founded by lesser leaders.

In addition to the specialization, universities emphasis the three R’s (reading, writing, arithmetic). Philosophy would eventually join as well. The course of study was four years, which is supposedly an idea from ancient Greece.

Church’s View

The church supported learning that supported the church. Other lines of thought were either ignored if non-threatening or discourage if they poised a problem. The primary goal was normally the preservation of existing knowledge and the transfer of this knowledge through education. When universities first arose, the church did not have any control over them, as they were independent.

Universities initially had a large number of clergy faculty. However, this slowly changed and the clergy facility disappeared and were replaced by secular facility. With time, the church would begin to have their clergy teach in the secular universities along with starting their own universities. This is especially true with the rise of the Jesuits several centuries later. During this time, priest and monks were still trained by the monastic/episcopal schools

Conclusion

Universities are a standard part of life in the modern world. However, this was not always the case. What first began as a way to escape the power of the church eventually became an expensive requirement in the training of the middle class.

Friedrich Fröbel (1782-1852) was an influential German teacher of the 18th and 19th centuries. This post will take a look at his life and views on education.

Life

Frobel was the son of a clergyman. At an early age, his mother dies and Frobel moves to live with his uncle at the age of ten after his father remarried. As a child, Frobel developed a lifelong love of nature, which would manifest itself in many ways.

Despite being one of the most influential educators of all-time Frobel was seen as a lazy student by his teachers. By 15, Frobel was working as an apprentice to a forest manager. However, the forest manager was not much of a teacher and had little interest in helping Frobel. This compelled Frobel to study all of the forest manager’s books on his own which allowed him to develop an extensive knowledge of plants.

In 1799m Frobel goes to college and studies science, finance, history, and architecture. After completing school he worked as an architect but was not happy with his job. At the suggestion of a friend, Frobel tried teaching and immediately fell in love with it.

From 1808-1810, Frobel was under the guidance of John Pestalozzi and studied at Pestalozzi’s school. This experience had a deep impact on Frobel’s views on education and help to shape his approach towards his innovation in education know as the kindergarten.

Views

Frobel focused heavily on early childhood education and developed the idea of the kindergarten or “child’s garden”. Frobel created the kindergarten to help mothers with the training and teaching of their small children.

In the kindergarten, the play of the student was systematized and serves as preparation for regular school. The children learn through there play various concepts that will help them in the future.

It can not be understated how influential kindergarten has been. Virtually every state in America offers some form of kindergarten and the majority require it. Frobel has made a strong mark in his work in early childhood education.

Frobel believed that early education was critical and should follow the natural development of the child. He agreed with Pestalozzi that education needs to address physical and spiritual needs.

One point of departure between Frobel and Pestalozzi is in regards to early childhood education. Frobel supported early school training outside the home while Pestalozzi was not as enthusiastic. In many ways, Frobel brought Pestalozzi’s ideas down to the youngest of students.

Conclusion

Frobel mark in educational history is assured as the founder of the concept of kindergarten that is still used to this day. All though there have been changes in early childhood education as the younger ages have become more academic. The idea of kindergarten is still there at least in name throughout the world.

August Francke (1663-1727) was a Protestant minister in Germany during the 17th and 18th century. His influence on education was distinct in that he brought a distinct theological view to education. This post will examine his life and views on education.

Background

Born in Germany in 1663 Francke studied the sciences, languages, philosophy, and theology at university. His primary complaint about his theological studies was that he understood what he studied but that he did not have a corresponding experience in his heart. In other words, Francke wanted an emotional experience about the theological concept he studied.

This search for an emotional heartfelt experience led Francke to become sympathetic towards pietism. Pietism was a theological movement that believed protestants should replace the dead orthodoxy of scholastic theology with an emotional or theology of the heart. In many ways, this was exactly what Francke was looking for and he embraces this immediately.

Around the same time circa 1687, Francke starts a school but soon leaves to become a professor at the University of Halle in 1691. It was while working at Halle that Francke reached out to the poor. Initially, his ministry was simple Bible studies. However, with time Francke and his people opened several schools and other institutions to support the poor in Germany. All this was done while he still taught at the university.

Educational Views

Francke believed that education should be linked with the future vocation of the student. This in stark contrast to the generalized education that is common in most countries today. Students destined for trades should have different education form students who are going to be merchants.

With his focus on the emotions, Francke had a lot to say in particular about classroom management. For example, he stated that a teacher should never discipline in anger. This may be because the children will think that discipline is about how people feel rather than right or wrong.

The teacher also needs to maintain discipline without being harsh and severe. Of course, this is easier said then done but it still needs to be said. On the other hand, a teacher also needs to avoid the other extreme of being too nice as this is equally detrimental. Again, this is easier said than done.

Lastly, Francke counsels teachers that they must be sure that they are not the source of the students’ behavior problems. In other words, the teacher’s poor management should not be the source of the misbehavior in a classroom. Misbehavior should originate from the student and not because of an inconsistent teacher.

Conclusion

Francke was a man who was looking for an emotional experience to support his theological knowledge. In reality, what he was looking for was the practical application of his theological knowledge. This is said because as Francke helped people according to his religion he also experience the emotional satisfaction he so desperately needed.

John Comenius (1592-1670) was a Czech educator who has had a tremendous influence on education. This post will take a look at his life and educational philosophy.

Background

Comenius was born in 1592. Early in life lost his parents and was raised by guardians. Due to this chaos, there were some delays in Comenius education as he did not study Latin until he was 16, which was considered late during this time.

Comenius late exposure to Latin allowed him to observe with a critical eye how it was taught compared to if he had studied as an uncritical small child. This would lay the foundation for his views towards language teaching and education in general.

Comenius would later go on to college and would graduate and take the position of minister in his church. These first few years were peaceful as he would work and marry. In addition, Comenius continues to nourish his views on education. However, were would soon break out and Comenius would lose all of his property in the process.

From here, Comenius goes fully into education and teaches and writes. Comenius would work in several countries writing about education as well as teaching. He focused a great deal on reforming how language was taught in particular Latin. In addition, he produced several highly influential books such as”The Gate of Tongues Unlocked” which may be one of the first language teaching books ever and “Didactic Magna” which may be one of the first books on teaching methods. In 1670, Comenius died at the age of 77.

Educational Views

Comenius believed that education should not only improve the main but should be focused on the development of the whole man which means physical, mental, and social development. The teaching should be inductive and based on examples. this means that you teach by using examples and have the students make conclusions.

The focus on inductive teaching and observation made Comenius critical of rote memorizing. Instead, understanding should be the primary goal. Lastly, Comenius was a support that everyone should be educated and not just males. This idea was somewhat ahead of its time.

Comenius is most famous for proposing grade levels. His system had four levels.

1. Level 1 Domestic school-Home with mother
2. Level Proper School-Basic reading and writing
3. Latin School-College Preparation
4. University

Comenius also had views on specifically teaching language. He supported teaching the mother tongue first until mastery. His point was that comprehension of the language must move in step with the tongue.  Comenius claimed there was no benefit to teaching a language without understanding. Of course, this is in strong contrast to Audiolingualism which is a strong support of nonsense repetition.

He also believed that learning by doing was the most appropriate way to learn a language. After the students do it you can teach them the rules. This allows the students to build on their strengths.

Conclusion

The life work of Comenius is an example of practical Reformation of educations. Many of his ideas and views are still influencing education to this day.

The Middle Ages (500-1500 CE) is often viewed as a low point in the world of education. This was a time a strong superstition among people and a lack of scientific progress.

The European world was divided into three classes or estates which were the Priest, Nobility, and lastly, everyone else. These were the three estates. The Priestly estate held significant power over the other two estates. The priests would use the psychological terror of removal from having access to the sacraments of the church to maintain power.

When an individual was denied the sacraments it was called excommunication, when a region loss access to the sacraments it was called an interdict, final if an entire province or kingdom was denied the sacraments war was then declared and this was called a crusade.

There were two common forms of education below the university and these were the Knightly schools and the Burgher schools.

Knightly Schools

Knightly schools trained boys to become knights. The training was divided into 3 segments of seven years each. The first segment was from 0-7 years of age under the care of the mother. From ages 7-14, the boy would live with another knight perhaps as a page. The third stage from 14-21 had the boy serving as a squire. At the age of 21, a young man was declared a knight.

The subjects taught in the KNightly practicum focused on the physical, artistic, and strategic. Music, chess, manners, poetry, and military training were all part of the curriculum. There was almost no intellectual training but an obsession with practical learning.

Burgher Schools

Burgher Schools were for tradesmen and artisans and provided a basic education. The subject taught included reading, writing, and arithmetic as well as geography, history, natural science, and Latin.

THere was a constant power struggle between commoners and the priest for control of these schools. Locals wanted to control these schools themselves. However, technically only the church had permission to teach. This resulted in alternating back and forth in terms of control.

Teachers in these schools were paid almost nothing and traveled from school to school as vagrants. Teaching was not seen as a noble profession at this time thus having a powerful effect on the quantity and quality of education.

Conclusion

Education in the Middle Ages was designed to meet the needs of the three estates. People would often attend school corresponding to their rank in society. This system had an air of stability until rapid social changes brought about the decline of this system.

During the early Middle Ages (500-1000 CE) monastic schools began to take shape and heavily influence education. Their influence was felt for over a millennia providing education directly or indirectly to a countless number of people.

Background

The monastic schools grew out of the philosophy of Asceticism. Asceticism is the belief in a life of severe self-denial from the viewpoint that the body was evil. Practitioners of asceticism would forego marriage, financial gain, and most earthly pursuits, in order to focus on spiritual development usually in isolation. This a strong reaction to the non-Christian world’s focus on eating a drinking

There were two common ways to follow Asceticism. Hermits would often live in nearly complete isolation to pursue spiritual development. Monks, on the other hand, practice asceticism as well but would stay near communities of people in order to provide spiritual care for others. In addition, monks would live together in monasteries to support and encourage each other. Of course, at least in the past, monks were only men. Women could become nuns if they desired to live in similar conditions among women.

The largest order of monks was the Bendectin Order. The monasteries served as an asylum for the oppressed, as a missionary station, and most importantly as a preserver of knowledge.

Curriculum

The curriculum of the monastic schools consisted of the 7 liberal arts. These seven subjects can be broken into two categories, which are the trivium and the quadrivium.

The Trivium consisted of three subjects which were Latin, logic, and rhetoric. Latin was the lingua Franca of the Chuch at the time so its grammar was taught extensively. Logic was derived from the ideas of Aristotle and included deductive and inductive reasoning. Rhetoric is another term for public speaking and this was studied for the purpose of developing communication skills.

The quadrivium consisted of four subjects which were arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. Many of the subjects are not studied as they are today. Arithematic study the mysterious or gnostic properties of numbers. Geometry was studied superficial and of little use. Astronomy was treated almost the same as astrology.

However, music was studied for the purpose of worship. The chants that the monks sang came to be called Gregorian chants named after Pope Gregory who had the chants codified. This is some of the earliest written version of western music. The notational system was different from modern notation using four lines instead of five and use squares instead of ovals to indicate notes.

The significance of Gregorian chants cannot be overestimated as they laid the foundation for modern music. Chants in the halls of monasteries provided the beginnings of most music found today.

Conclusion

Radical views in terms of the body led to the idea of asceticism. From this focus on self-denial comes the idea of living among like-minded people in monasteries. While in monasteries the monks would pursue education for personal development. This led to the liberal arts curriculum that is still used in part to this day.

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Pythagoras was a highly influential educator during the time of ancient Greece. In this post, we will take a brief look at his life and impact on education.

Early Life

Pythagoras was born around 570BC on the island of Samos. His early life was spent in private study. However, as a young man, Pythagoras traveled to Egypt to acquire additional education.

Down To Egypt

While in Egypt, Pythagoras studied with the Egyptian priest. The Egyptian priest were the masters of education in Egypt and was the only class in Egypt that received an advanced education. Under their tutelage, Pythagoras was exposed to various math and science subjects as well as some of the religious practices of Egypt. He was particularly touched by their way of life and it led him to develop his own style of living that would eventually be called Pythagoreanism.

After completing additional studies in Egpyt, Pythagoras moved to Italy and founded his own school. The school had essentially two levels which were the exoteric and esoteric. Students began in the exoteric studies and stayed there for at least 3 years. After completing exoteric studies a student would begin esoteric studies with Pythagoras himself.

In Italy

The subjects taught at Pythagoras’ school includes physics, geography, medicine, math and even metaphysics. In terms of math, it was Pythagoras who gave algebra students the Pythagorean theorem which states that the square of a  hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the square of the base and the square of the height as shown in the expression below

 base² + height² = hypotenuse²

Pythagoras also had distinct metaphysical views. He believed in one true called as a form of monotheism. This was in stark contrast to the commonly held beliefs of Greece at the time. This could have made him unpopular in a world of polytheism

Pythagoras also believed in the transmigration of the soul. This essentially means that when an animal died they would come back as a lower animal. This is in many ways a form of reincarnation. It was simply another way of saying “You shall not really die” which was an idea shared in a garden by a snake to a woman.

Pythagoras’ school was known for being authoritative, strict, and even have a habit of being aristocratic. This along with other ideas made Pythagoras school unpopular. So unpopular that a mob would eventually burn his school down to the ground.

Conclusion

It is not clear if Pythagoras died in the flames or lived on as scholars are still debating this. What can be seen is that Pythagoras view of education has continued to live on to this day. His way of life had an influence on many people and his contribution to mathematics has touched the life of practical every algebra student on the planet.