Education in Preliterate Societies Education in Ancient Chinese Civilization Education in Ancient Egypt The Hebraic Tradition in Education Education in Ancient Greek and Roman Civilizations Islam, Arabic Learning, and Education Medieval Culture and Education Renaissance Classical Humanism The Religious Reformation and Education The Enlightenment’s Influence on Education Great Philosophers & Educational Theorists

1. AGA INSTITUTE
Foundations of Education
Year 401, Semester 1
Lecturer: MR. VATH VARY
Chapter 3:
World Roots of
American Education
• Email: varyvath@gmail.com
• Tel: 885 17 471 117

2. Contents
1. Education in Preliterate Societies
2. Education in Ancient Chinese Civilization
3. Education in Ancient Egypt
4. The Hebraic Tradition in Education
5. Education in Ancient Greek and Roman Civilizations
6. Islam, Arabic Learning, and Education
7. Medieval Culture and Education
8. Renaissance Classical Humanism
9. The Religious Reformation and Education
10. The Enlightenment’s Influence on Education
11. Great Philosophers & Educational Theorists
Mr. VATH Vary

3. •Why study
the global
origins of
American
education?
Mr. VATH Vary

4. Mr. VATH Vary
An examination of the
global origins of
American education
provides us with
opportunity:
to think
historically about
education,
especially how the
purposes of education
were constructed.

5. Focus Questions of Chapter 4
1. How were knowledge, education, schooling,
teaching, and learning defined in the major
historical periods?
2. How were the purposes of education expressed
and developed during each period of history
discussed in this chapter?
3. How did racial, gender, and socioeconomic
class affect educational opportunities in the
past?
4. When and how has schooling been used for
cultural transmission or change?
5. What curricula (the content of education) and
what teaching methods were used in the various
historical periods?
6. How did the ideas of leading educators
contribute to the purposes and context of
contemporary education?
Mr. VATH Vary

6. Preliterate Societies: Before writing began
- No writing
to record
their past,
oral
tradition
was
practiced—
to transmit
the cultural
heritage.
- Children learn
group’s language and
skills and assimilate
its moral and
religious values –
enculturation
- Myth and historical
facts, songs, and
stories helped
develop:
- identity about
group’s heroes,
victories, and
defeats, and
values
- Earliest
technology:
spears, axes, and
other tools
- Human: as
language users
created and
manipulated
symbols:
- signs,
pictographs,
and letters
Mr. VATH Vary

7. Six elements
Prelitera
te
Educational
Goals:
teach group
survival skills and
group
cohesiveness and
transmit
traditions and
cultures
Influences on
Modern
Education:
Emphasis on
informal
education to
transmit
skills and
values
Students
:
Children
in the
group
Agents:
Parents,
tribal
elders, and
priests
Instructional
Methods:
Informal
instruction;
children
imitating
adult skills
and values
Curriculum:
Survival skills
of hunting,
fishing, food
gathering;
stories,
myths, songs,
poems, dances
Mr. VATH Vary

8. Ancient Chinese Civilization 3000 BCE-CE 1900
- To examine the origins of Chinese education, we go back to 3rd century BCE,
when China was beset by political and cultural upheaval, focusing on
PRESERVING or CHANGING the culture
- 3 competing philosophies proposed different paths/purposes of education
Legalism (Ch’in
dynasty) Taoism
- imposed Chinese
culture through
indoctrination (to
accept law and order)
- a highly disciplined
authoritarian
government was
used to uphold order
- Shih Huang Ti
- advised people to
stop trying to control
other people and live
simply and
spontaneously.
- encourage self-
reflection and search
for the path to true
reality.
- Lao Tzu
a) Educational
philosophy based on a
hierarchy of
responsibilities flowed
downward, touching
everyone in society
b) Character education:
appropriate behaviors
associated with the
person’s role and rank
Confucianism (Han
dynasty)
Mr. VATH Vary

9. Ancient Chinese Civilization 3000 BCE-CE 1900
Confucianism
- Clear models of
behavior were
practiced
- Teachers need to
model civility in
their classrooms.
- since a person is
defined as a father,
mother, brother, sister,
ruler, or subject
- Thus status, duties,
and responsibilities,
and civility were clear
Social Harmony
Mr. VATH Vary

10. Six elements
Ancient
China
Educational
Goals:
To prepare elite
officials to
govern the
empire
according to
Confucian
principles
Influences on
Modern
Education:
written
examination
for civil
services and
other
professions
Students
: males of
gentry
class
Agents:
Governm
ent
officials
Instructional
Methods:
Memorizatio
n and
recitation of
classic texts
Curriculu
m:
Confucian
classics
Mr. VATH Vary

11. Student and Teacher Preparing for Examinations
in 19th Century Imperial China
• An educational legacy from ancient China is
national examinations.
Mr. VATH Vary

12. Ancient Egypt: 3000 BCE–300 BCE
- One of the earliest
civilization developed
along Nile river
- Agricultural groups
established small
village, then into tribal
kingdoms then into a
large empire
- Egyptian Religious and
political principle
affirmed the divine
origin of pharaoh, the
emperor.
- This gave social,
cultural, political,
and educational
stability, endowed
with a
supernatural belief
system.
- King-priests were
practiced, acting
as guardians of
state culture
- Educational
system reinforced
power and status
- To govern and defend the
vast empire, they studied
the statecraft and
concerned with
mummification
- medicine, administration,
and embalming were
stressed
- developed a writing
system–hieroglyphics,
enabling them to create
and transmit a written
culture.
Mr. VATH Vary

13. Six elements
Ancient
Egypt
Educational
Goals:
To
prepare/train
priest-scribes
to administer
the empire
Influences on
Modern
Education:
restriction of
educational
controls and
services to a
priestly elite; use
of education to
prepare
bureaucracy
Students
: males of
upper
classes
Agents:
Priests
and
scribes
Instructional
Methods:
Memorizing
and copying
dictated
texts
Curriculum:
Religious or
technical
texts
Mr. VATH Vary

14. Hebraic Tradition (Hebrew): 1200 BCE to present
- American education, like
Western culture, is rooted in
the Judeo-Christian
tradition.
- Hebraic or Judaic education
is an important reference
point for Christians and
Muslims
- Jesus Christ, whom
Christians believe is the Son
of God, was raised in the
Judaic culture
- Jews who converted to
Christianity, such as Saint
Paul, carried Christianity
throughout the Roman
empire.
- Muslims revere Mohammed,
who was familiar with both
Judaism and Christianity,
as the prophet of Islam.
- All three religions—Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam—are monotheistic emphasized literacy
Mr. VATH Vary

15. Six elements
Hebraic
Tradition
Educational Goals:
To transmit
Jewish religion
and cultural
tradition/identity
from one
generation to the
next
Influences on
Modern
Education:
conceptions of
monotheism
and a covenant
between God
and humanity;
religious
observance and
maintaining
cultural
identity
Students:
children
and
adults in
the group
Agents:
Parents,
Priests,
scribes,
and
rabbis
Instructional
Methods:
Listening to sacred
texts, reading,
memorizing,
reciting, analyzing,
and debating
sacred texts;
reading and writing
for literacy
Curriculum:
Torah, laws–
prescriptions &
proscriptions,
rituals, and
commentaries
Mr. VATH Vary

16. Ancient Greek Civilization BCE–300 BCE
- Greek culture and education
were developing in the eastern
Mediterranean and focused on
philosophy
- Education preserved culture
based on mythic origins,
transmitted it to the young, and
shaped the character of the
young.
- Education was concerned with
questions: what is true, good,
beautiful?
- How does education prepare
good citizens? How does
education respond to
economic, social and
political changes?
- The Sophists of ancient
Greek emphasized effective
public speaking and
rhetoric.
represent the origins of western
culture and education
Greece Rome
Mr. VATH Vary

17. Ancient Greek and Roman Civilization
- Ancient Greece
was divided into
small and often
competing city-
states–Athens
and Sparta
- Greek city-states’
economies relied
heavily on slave
labor–women,
children, and
prisoners of war
Athens:
- only a minority of
exceptional women
was formally
educated.
- More fortunate young
women were taught
at home by tutors.
- priestesses of cults,
learned religious
rituals at temple
schools.
Sparta:
- young women
enjoyed a more open
life style and
education.
- emphasized
military and
athletic training,
- young women
received the
physical and
gymnastic training
that prepared them
to be healthy
mothers of future
Spartan soldiers.
Greece
Mr. VATH Vary

18. Greek 1600 BCE–300 BCE: Six elements
Ancient
Greece
Educational Goals:
(1) Athens: to cultivate
civic responsibility
and identification
with city-state and
develop well-
rounded persons
(2) Sparta: to train
soldiers and
military leaders
Influences on
Modern Education:
(1) Athens: concepts
of the well-
rounded,
liberally
educated person
(2) Sparta: concept
of serving the
military state
Students:
Male
children of
citizens;
ages 7–20
Agents:
(1) Athens:
private
teachers and
schools,
Sophists, and
philosophers
(2) Sparta:
military
officers
Instructional
Methods:
Drill,
memorization,
recitation in
primary school;
lecture,
discussion, and
dialogue in
higher school
Curriculum:
(1) Athens:
3Rs, drama,
music,
physical
education,
literature,
and poetry
(2) Sparta:
Drill,
military,
songs, and
tactics
Mr. VATH Vary

19. Ancient Roman Civilization 750 BCE–CE 450
- Romans were consolidating
their political position on the
Italian peninsula and then
conquering the entire
Mediterranean area.
- From small republic to a
great empire, Romans
concentrated on the
administration, law, and
diplomacy needed to
maintain the empire
- Highly skilled in
architecture and
engineering–used arches
and columns to support
massive temples and public
buildings
- constructed an extensive
network of roads that
facilitated trade and the
rapid movement of their
military legions throughout
the empire.
Mr. VATH Vary

20. Ancient Roman Civilization 750 BCE–CE 450
- Access to education:
Only a minority of
Romans was formally
educated
- Schools (primary–ludus
and secondary) were
private and attended
only by males who could
pay tuition
- upper-class girls often
learned to read and
write at home
- Rome’s educational ideal
was exemplified in the
orator—broadly and
liberally educated in
public life—the senator,
lawyer, teacher, civil
servant, and politician
(Quintilian: Master of
Oratory)
Mr. VATH Vary

21. Roman 750 BCE–CE 450: Six elements
Ancient
Rome
Educational Goals:
To develop civic
responsibility for
republic and then
empire; to develop
administrative and
military skills
Influences on
Modern
Education:
Emphasis on
education for
practical
administrative
skills; relating
education to civic
responsibility
Students:
Male
children of
citizens;
ages 7–20
Agents:
private
teachers
and
schools;
schools of
rhetoric
Instructional
Methods:
Drill,
memorization,
recitation in
primary school;
declamation in
rhetorical school
Curriculum:
3Rs, Laws of
Twelve
Tables, law–
personal/
property
rights,
and
philosophy
Mr. VATH Vary

22. Islam, Arabic Learning: CE 700–CE 1350
MR. VATH Vary
- Islamic civilization,
originating with the
Arabs, became a
global cultural and
educational force
- The origins of Islamic
culture began with
Mohammed (569–
632), an Arab religious
reformer and
proselytizer, revered
by his followers as the
last and most
important of God’s
prophets
- His religious
mission in Arabia,
in Mecca, in 610,
where he preached
the need for faith,
prayer, repentance,
and living an
moral life.
- He organized his
ideas into Islam
with a sacred
book–Koran
(Qur’an)
- His beliefs
served as a
foundation for
Islam.
- Islamic scholars
translated the
texts of leading
ancient Greek
authors such as
Aristotle, Euclid,
Archimedes, and
Hippocrates into
Arabic

23. Islam, Arabic Learning: CE 700–CE 1350
- Islamic scholars
translated the texts
of leading ancient
Greek authors such
as Aristotle, Euclid,
Archimedes, and
Hippocrates into
Arabic
- The translated works
became important in
Islamic education
- contacts between
Arabs and Europeans
were reintroduced
into Western
education.
Mr. VATH Vary

24. Students at an Islamic School in Asia
Mr. VATH Vary

25. Islam, Arabic Learning: Six elements
Arabic
Educational Goals:
To cultivate
religious
commitment to
Islamic beliefs; to
develop expertise in
math, medicine,
astronomy, and
science
Influences on
Modern
Education:
Arabic numerals
(zero) and
computation;
reentry of
classical
materials on
science and
medicine
Students:
Male
children of
upper
classes;
ages 7–20
Agents:
Mosques;
court
schools
Instructional
Methods:
Drill,
memorization
and recitation in
lower school;
imitation and
discussion in
higher schools
Curriculum:
3Rs, religious
literature,
scientific
studies
Mr. VATH Vary

26. Medieval Culture and Education: CE 500–CE 1400
- The period between
the fall of Rome and
the Renaissance is
the Middle Ages, or
medieval period (c.
500–1400), spanning
the time between the
end of the Greco-
Roman Classical era
and the beginning of
what we call Modern
Period–as a decline
in learning.
- The Roman empire
collapsed and the
Roman Catholic
Church, headed by
Pope in Rome
assumed power.
- European primary
education was
connected to the
church n parish,
chantry, and monastic
schools.
- Secondary school –
monastic and
cathedral offered
religious and liberal
arts curricula.
- Universities such as
Paris, Bologna,
Salerno, Oxford, and
Cambridge offered
theology, law, and
medicine.
- Merchant and
craft guilds
established
vocational
schools to
train
apprentices.
- Knights, the
military
aristocrats,
learned
military
tactics and the
chivalric code
in the castles.
Mr. VATH Vary

27. Medieval Culture and Education : CE 500–CE 1400
Access to education:
- The majority of students
were men, studying for
religious careers as priests
or monks.
- Most serfs were illiterate.
- Girls of the serf and
peasant classes learned
household and child-
rearing chores by
imitating their mothers.
- Women of the noble classes
learned the roles
appropriate to the code of
chivalry–managing the
domestic life of castle or
manor
- Convents, like monasteries,
had libraries and schools to
prepare nuns to follow the
religious rules of their
communities
Mr. VATH Vary

28. Scholastic education (Aquinas)
- Scholasticism–the
educational approach
used by educators in
medieval universities,
involving the study of
theological (faith) and
philosophical (human
reasoning)
scholarship, and
teaching.
- The Bible and the
teachings of the
Church were revealed
supernatural truths.
- The human mind
could deduce natural
principles when
illuminated by
scriptural authority,
also led to the truth.
Mr. VATH Vary

29. Medieval Culture and education: Six elements
Medieval
Educational Goals:
develop religious
commitment,
knowledge, and
ritual; to prepare
persons for
appropriate roles
in a hierarchical
society
Influences on
Modern
Education:
Established
structure,
content, and
organization of
universities as
major institutions
of higher
education; the
institutionalizatio
n and
preservation of
knowledge based
on scholasticism
Students:
Male children of
upper classes or those
entering religious
life; girls and young
women entering
religious
communities; ages 7–
20
Agents:
Parish, chantry,
and cathedral
schools;
universities;
apprenticeship;
knighthood
Instructional
Methods:
Drill,
memorization,
recitation, and
chanting in lower
schools; textual
analysis and
disputation in
universities and
in higher schools
Curriculum:
3Rs, liberal
arts,
philosophy,
theology; crafts;
military tactics
and chantry
Mr. VATH Vary

30. Renaissance (CE 1350–CE 1500): Classical Humanism
- the transitional period
between the medieval
and modern ages in
14th and 15th centuries,
as a revived emphasis
on the humanistic
aspects of the Greek
and Latin classics,
originated in Italy.
- Renaissance educators,
called Classical
Humanists–writers,
poets, translators, and
critics looked to the
past rather than the
future
- Teaching was
based more on
LITERATURE
than theology
- Humanist
educators sought
to educate
critically minded
people who
could challenge
existing customs
and expose and
correct
mediocrity in
literature and
life.
- Humanist educators
discovered models of
literary excellence
and style and
constructed the
courtier–a tactful and
diplomatic person
- In northern Europe,
classical humanist
scholars, by critically
examining medieval
theological texts,
paved the way for the
Protestant
Reformation.
Mr. VATH Vary

31. Renaissance: Six elements
Renaissance
Educational
Goals:
cultivate
humanist
experts in the
classics (Greek
and Latin); to
prepare courtiers
for service to
dynastic leaders
Influences on
Modern
Education:
An emphasis on
literary
knowledge,
excellence, and
style as expressed
in classical
literature; a two-
track system of
schools; literacy
development:
printing press in
1423–information
revolution
Students:
Male
children of
aristocracy
and upper
classes; ages
7–20
Agents:
Classical
humanist
educators and
schools such as
the lycée,
gymnasium,
and Latin
school
Instructional
Methods:
Memorization
, translation,
and analysis
of Greek and
Roman
classics
Curriculum:
Latin, Greek,
classical
literature,
poetry, art
Mr. VATH Vary

32. Religious Reformation: CE 1500–CE 1600
- The Protestant religious
reformation took place
during the 16th and 17th
centuries, stimulated by
significant social,
economic, and political
changes in Europe.
- The power of the Catholic
Church was weakened by
humanist Critics.
- Nation states emerged
which shifted loyalty to
monarchs and away from
the Pope.
- Protestant religious
reformers—
including John
Calvin, Martin
Luther, Philipp
Melanchthon, and
Ulrich Zwingli—
sought to free
themselves and
their followers from
papal authority and
to interpret their
own religious
doctrines and
practices.
- Luther,
Melanchthon,
Calvin, and
other
Reformation
leaders
concerned
themselves
with
questions of
knowledge,
education,
and schooling
Mr. VATH Vary

33. Religious Reformation: CE 1500–CE 1600
On questions of
knowledge:
- asserted that every
person had the
right to read the
Bible as the central
source of religious
truth – as salvation,
- promoted universal
primary schooling
to advance literacy.
- Both Protestants
and Catholics used
schools to
indoctrinate
children with
“correct” religious
beliefs and
practices.
- To carefully hire
and supervise
teachers to teach
approved doctrines
School:
- Protestants established
Vernacular schools
provided instruction
in the common
language–German,
Swedish, English
rather than Latin
- Primary schools,
conducted under
denominational
control, offered a
basic curriculum of
R3 and religion.
Mr. VATH Vary

34. Religious Reformation: CE 1500–CE 1600
- Catechisms of instruction–
question-and-answer form–was
developed , summarizing the
particular denomination’s
doctrines
- Protestant reformers
continued to reserve the
prestigious classical humanist
preparatory and secondary
schools for upper-class boys
for higher education.
- The Reformation
reconfirmed a dual-track
system of schools.
- While vernacular schools
provided primary
instruction to the lower
socioeconomic classes,
the various classical
humanist grammar
schools prepared upper-
class males for higher
education
Mr. VATH Vary

35. Illustration from a catechism
Mr. VATH Vary

36. Religious Reformation: Six elements
Reformation
Educational
Goals:
instill
commitment to a
particular
religious
denomination; to
cultivate general
literacy
Influences on
Modern
Education:
A commitment to
universal
education to
provide literacy to
the masses; the
origins of school
systems with
supervision to
ensure doctrinal
conformity; the
dual-track school
system based on
socioeconomic
class and career
goals
Students:
Boys and girls ages
7–12 in vernaculaar
schools; young men
ages 7–12 of upper-
class backgrounds in
humanist
schools
Agents:
Vernacular
elementary
schools for the
masses;
classical schools
for the upper
classes
Instructional
Methods:
Memorization,
drill,
indoctrination,
catechetical
instruction in
vernacular schools;
translation and
analysis of classical
literature in
humanist schools
Curriculum:
3Rs, catechism,
religious concepts
and ritual; Latin and
Greek; theology
Mr. VATH Vary

37. - Enlightenment
educators used
reason and
scientific method
to improve
situations and plan
for a progressive
future.
- They also drew
upon the scientific
method to
discover how the
nature and
universe worked.
- Enlightenment
educators were
aware of
children’s
progression
through stages of
development,
play, and
activities to
construct natural
method of
instruction and
incorporated this
knowledge into
teaching and
learning.
- Educational reformers—
Rousseau, Pestalozzi, and
the progressive educators
- Enlightenment view that
children were naturally
good and that teachers
should base instruction on
children’s interests and
needs.
- Leaders of the American
Revolution, Benjamin
Franklin and Thomas
Jefferson, were
influenced by the
Enlightenment.
Enlightenment (took root in the U.S)
Mr. VATH Vary

38. Major Educational Theorists to A.D. 1600
o Confucius
o The Sophists (not
major)
o Socrates
o Plato
o Aristotle
o Isocrates
o Quintilian
o Hildegard of
Bingen
o Aquinas
o Erasmus
o Luther
Mr. VATH Vary

39. Confucius (551-478 B.C.)
Philosophy:
- Developed ethical system based on hierarchical
ordering of human relationships and roles;
emphasized order and stability through
subordination.
View of Human Nature:
- Human beings need the order of a highly stable
society in which people accept the duties that
come with their station in life.
Mr. VATH Vary
Views on Education and Curriculum:
o Education prepares people for their sociopolitical roles by cultivating
reverence for ancestors and traditions; curriculum of ancient Chinese
classics and Confucius’ Analects; highly selective examinations.
Contribution and Influence:
o Confucianist ethics shaped Chinese culture for centuries, creating a value
system of enduring importance.

40. The Sophists: fifth century BCE: Greece
• The Sophists—a group of itinerant educators, designed
a new approach to teaching that responded to social and
educational change …
o They promised to create a popular public image for their
students that would lead them to status and power–the
ability to speak effectively and persuade your audience to
accept your argument–oratory
o Cultural relativism–ideas and values are products of
specific cultural groups formulated during a particular
historical period, relying on the place, time,
circumstances, and situations in which they arise and
rejecting the existence of universal and eternal truths and
values. Mr. VATH Vary

41. The Sophists: fifth century BCE
• The Sophists claimed that they could educate their
students to win public debates by teaching them:
1) how to use crowd psychology to know what would
appeal to an audience;
2) how to organize a persuasive and convincing argument;
and
3) skill in public speaking—knowing what words,
examples, and lines of reasoning to use to win the
debate or the case.
 Subjects: logic, grammar, and rhetoric
Mr. VATH Vary

42. The Sophists: fifth century BCE
• Protagoras (485–414 BCE), a prominent
Sophist devised a highly effective five-step
teaching strategy:
1) delivered an outstanding speech so that Ss knew their T
could actually do what he taught; this speech also gave
them a model to imitate.
2) had the Ss examine the great speeches of famous orators
to enlarge their repertoire of possible models;
3) study the key subjects of logic, grammar, and rhetoric;
4) deliver practice orations, which he assessed to provide
feedback to students.
5) the student orators delivered public speeches.
Mr. VATH Vary

43. Ancient Greek Most Influential Philosopher
Mr. VATH Vary

44. Socrates (Education by Self-Examination): 469–399 BCE (Greece)
Philosophy:
 Idealism and political conservatism
View of Human Nature:
– Human beings can define themselves by rational
self-examination about the meaning of life, truth,
and justice.
Views on Education and Curriculum:
– He did NOT believe that knowledge or wisdom
could be transmitted from a teacher to a student
– Socrates encouraged students to use critical self-
examination to find and bring to consciousness the
universal truth that was present, but buried, within
the person’s mind.
Mr. VATH Vary

45. Socrates (Education by Self-Examination): 469–399 BCE
(Greece)
• Socratic Method/Questioning :
– An educational strategy in which a teacher encourages a
student's discovery of truth by questions.
– In answering these questions, students engaged in
rigorous discussion, or dialogue, in which they
clarified, criticized, and reconstructed their basic
concepts
– Education should cultivate moral excellence
• Contribution and Influence:
- Socratic dialogues a teaching method; teacher as a
role model.
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46. Plato 427–346 BCE (Greece)
• Socrates’ pupil: founded Academy in 387 BCE.
• His work: Protagoras–a discourse on virtue, the Republic and
the Laws, law, and education.
• Plato’s Republic divided inhabitants into three classes:
– (1) the philosopher-kings, the intellectual rulers;
– (2) the auxiliaries, the military defenders;
– and (3) the workers, who produced goods and provided services
Philosophy:
- philosophical idealist and sociopolitical conservative
View of Human Nature:
- Human beings can be classified on the basis of their
intellectual capabilities.
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47. Plato 427–346 BCE (Greece)
 Views on Education and Curriculum:
- Reminiscence–a process by which individuals recall the ideas
present but latent in their minds
- Curriculum: music (reading, writing, literature, arithmetic, choral
singing, and dancing), gymnastics, geometry, astronomy, basic
literary skills; philosophy for ruling elite of philosopher-kings.
 Contribution and Influence:
- Use of schools for sorting students according to intellectual
abilities; education tied to civic (political) purposes.
 Women education was the same as men
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48. Aristotle 384–322 BCE (Greece)
 Plato’s student: founded the Lyceum
 His work: wrote extensively on physics, astronomy,
zoology, botany, logic, ethics, and metaphysics, and
politics
 Philosophy:
- realism; view of society, politics, and education based on
classical realism
- Emphasized objective reality
- Sensation and abstraction–used to acquire knowledge
 View of Human Nature:
- Human beings have the intellect–the power of rationality,
which should guide their conduct.
Mr. VATH Vary

49. Aristotle 384–322 BCE (Greek)
 Views on Education and Curriculum:
- Objective and scientific emphasis; plays, stories, basic
numeracy and literacy, physical education, physics, cosmology,
biology, psychology, logic, and metaphysics, philosophy.
- Knowledge as concepts based on objects, NOT latent ideas
- Education as cultivation of rationality
 Contribution and Influence:
- Emphasis on liberally educated, well-rounded person;
importance of reason.
- Aristotle’s philosophy has had great significance in Western
education.
 Women education was limited
o believing women were intellectually inferior to men
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50. Isocrates: Oratory and Rhetoric 436–388 BCE (Greece)
Philosophy:
- Rhetorician; oratorical education in service of self and society.
View of Human Nature:
- Humans have the power to use speech (discourse) for social
and political improvement.
Views on Education and Curriculum:
- Rhetorical studies–trivium–grammar, rhetoric and logic; basic
literary skills; politics, history, rhetoric, ethics, declamation,
public speaking.
- Teachers as models demonstrate knowledge, skill and ethical
conduct
Contribution and Influence:
- Use of knowledge in public affairs and in political leadership;
teacher education has both content and practice dimensions.
Mr. VATH Vary

51. Quintilian CE 35–95 (Roman)
 Philosophy: Rhetorician; oratory for personal gain and public service.
 View of Human Nature:
- Certain individuals have the capacity for leadership, based on their disposition,
liberal knowledge, and oratorical skill.
 Views on Education and Curriculum:
- (1) the education preparatory to studying rhetoric, (2) rhetorical and
educational theory, and (3) the practice of public speaking or
declamation.
- Stage-based learning: base instruction on the learner’s readiness and
stage of development; sense experiences, form clear ideas, and train
his memory; recognized the importance of early childhood in shaping
the patterns of adult behavior
- Basic literary skills; grammar, history, literature, drama, mythology,
geometry, astronomy, and gymnastics, philosophy, public speaking –
declamation, debate, and law.
 Contribution and Influence:
- Role of motivation in learning; recognition of individual differences
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52. Hildegard of Bingen 1098-1179 (German)
Philosophy:
- Medieval abbess and educator; Christian spirituality and
natural medical science.
View of Human Nature:
- Human beings need spiritual development and natural
knowledge in the community
Views on Education and Curriculum:
- Women should have a multidimensional education in religion,
nature studies, and music.
Contribution and Influence:
- Teacher as mentor and guide to the individual’s spiritual,
natural, and moral development.
Mr. VATH Vary

53. Aquinas: Scholastic Education CE 1225–1274 (11th century)
Philosophy : Thomism
- Christian theology and Aristotelian (realist) philosophy–scholasticism
as a method of teaching.
View of Human Nature:
- Human beings possess both a spiritual nature (soul) and a physical
nature (body).
Views on Education and Curriculum:
- Education should be based on human nature, with appropriate studies
for both spiritual and physical dimensions.
Contribution and Influence:
- Teacher as moral, skilled, and reflective agent; education related to
universal theological goals; synthesis of the theological and
philosophical; basis of philosophy used in Roman Catholic schools–
faith school.
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54. Erasmus CE 1465–1536
(Dutch Renaissance Critic & humanist)
Philosophy:
- Christian orientation; the educator as social and intellectual critic.
View of Human Nature:
- Human beings are capable of profound achievements but also of great stupidity.
Views on Education and Curriculum:
- Education for a literary elite that stressed criticism and analysis.
- Method of teaching Literature:
- 1) present the author’s biography; (2) identify the type, or genre, of the work; (3) discuss
the plot; (4) reflect on the book’s moral and philosophical implications; (5) analyze the
author’s writing style.
Contribution and Influence:
- Role of secondary and higher education in literary and social criticism; emphasis on
critical thinking.
- most concerned with the teaching of literature; motivate students to read good books;
have them explore an author’s meaning in their own lives; conversation, games, and
activities to illustrate a book’s meaning
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55. Martin Luther CE 1483–1546 (German Protestant)
Philosophy:
- Protestant theological orientation; salvation by faith and individual
conscience.
View of Human Nature:
- Human beings are saved by faith; individual conscience shaped by
scripture and Reformed theology.
Views on Education and Curriculum:
- recognized education as a potent ally of religious reformation
- Elementary schools to teach reading, writing, arithmetic, religion; secondary
schools to prepare leaders by offering classics, Latin, Greek, and religion;
vocational training; Advanced education in the gymnasium and in universities
would prepare well-educated ministers
Contribution and Influence:
- Emphasis on universal literacy; schools to stress religious values,
vocational skills, knowledge; close relationship of religion, schooling, and
the state.
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56. Mr. VATH Vary