Key periods in educational history

1. Key Periods in
Educational History
-Justine Marie Q. Par
BSEII ENGLISH

2. Below are key periods in educational history from 7000 B.C. to AD 1600. Study the table thoroughly. The notes should
make you see that education and school are a function of society and schools reflect the nature and character of society
itself. What society considers important is what education focuses on to preserve society.
Table1.PointsofEmphasisonEducation inHistory
Key Periods in Educational History, 1000 BC to A.D. 1600.
Historical Group or
Period
Educational Goals Curriculum Agents Influences on
Western Education
Primitive societies 7000
B.C.- 5000 B.C.
To teach group survival
skills; to cultivate group
cohesiveness
Practical skills of
hunting, fishing, food
gathering stories,
myths, songs, poems,
dances.
Parents, tribal elders,
and priests.
Emphasis on the role of
informal education in
transmission of skills
and values.
Greek 1600 B.C.-300
B.C.
To cultivate civic
responsibility and
indentity with city-state;
Spartan: to develop
soldiers and military
leaders.
Athenian: reading,
writing, arithmetic,
drama, music, physical
education, literature,
poetry
Spartan: drill, military
songs and tactics
Athens: private
teachers and schools;
Sophists; philosophers
Sparta: military
teachers, drill sergeants
Athens: The concept of
the well-rounded,
liberally educated
person
Sparta: The concept of
the military state
Roman 750 B.C.-A.D.
450
To develop sense of
civic responsibility for
republic and then
empire; to develop
Reading, writing,
arithmetic, Laws and
Twelve Tables, law,
philosophy
Private schools and
teachers; schools of
rhetoric
Emphasis on ability to
use education for
practical administrative
skills; relating education

3. Primitive Societies
are small-scale, without writing, money or political centralization.
to teach survival skills
children learned through their parents, tribal elders
there are often little formal learning little of what one would
ordinarily school or classes or teachers.
Instead, the entire environment and all activities are frequently
viewed as school and all adults act as teachers

4. Greek
Greek was divided into two types of education (Athens and
Sparta)
In Athens, the purpose was to produce good citizens, children was trained in
music, art, literature, science, math and politics.
In Sparta, the purpose of education was about the military skills, it is built around the
need for a strong military.
In Athens, boys were considered as citizen, they were educated to be good
citizens. They learned to read and write
In Sparta, they turn boys into soldiers and the training was comprehensive and also
focused on physical training.
In Athens, girls were not formally educated, rather their mothers would have
taught them the skills they would need to run a household. They married young, often to
much older men. When they married, Athenian women had two main roles: to bear
children and to run a household.
In Sparta, women were educated as well as the boys. They received training in
wrestling, gymnastics. The emphasis behind a girl receiving a great education was that
strong women produced strong children who could grow up to be strong warrior.

5. Roman
Most education was based around Greek traditions, but it also included things
like Roman politics and different religious beliefs.
The Roman picked up ideas about from Greeks. They felt that Greeks had a great
educational system and they wanted to try this out for themselves.

6. 6
Historical Group or
Period
Educational Goals Curriculum Agents Influences on Western
Education
Arabic A.D. 700-A.D.
1350
To cultivate religious
commitment to Islamic
beliefs; to develop
expertise in
mathematics, medicine,
and science
Reading, writing,
mathematics, religious
literature; scientific
studies
Mosques; court schools Arabic numerals and
computation; re-entry of
classical materials on
science and medicine
Medieval A.D. 500-A.D.
1400
To develop religious
commitment knowledge,
and ritual; to re-establish
social order; to prepare
persons for appropriate
roles
Reading, writing,
arithmetic, liberal arts;
philosophy, theology;
crafts; military tactics
and chivalry
Parish, chantry, and
cathedral schools;
universities;
apprenticeship;
knighthood
Establishing the
structure, content, and
organization of the
university as a major
institution of higher
education; the
institutionalization and
preservation of
knowledge
Renaissance A.D. 1350-
A.D. 1500
To cultivate a humanist
who was expert in the
classics-Greek and
Latin; to prepare
courtiers for service to
dynastic leaders
Latin, Greek, classical
literature, poetry, art
Classical humanist
educators and schools
such as lycee,
gymnasium, Latin
grammar school
An emphasis on literary
knowledge, excellence,
and style as expressed
in classical literature; a
two-track system of
schools
Reformation A.D. 1500-
A.D. 1600
To cultivate a sense of
commitment to a
particular religious
Reading, writing,
arithmetic, catechism,
religious concepts and
Vernacular elementary
schools for the masses;
classical schools for the
A commitment to
universal education to
provide literacy to the

7. Arabic
To cultivate religious commitment to Islamic beliefs.
To teach on how they should be religious and taught Islamic
beliefs
Allah is their one and only God
Spread of Islam and Muslim culture
To develop and expertise in mathematics, medicine and
science

8. Medieval
Education was completely religious
Education was undertaken by church.
Only wealthy people can afford to study
Only upper class women can study

9. Renaissance
(Rebirth)
Education in Renaissance was created with humanist
ideals. Humanism, considered by our dictionary today, is
Philosophy, a variety of ethical theory and practice that
emphasizes reason, scientific inquiry and human fulfillment
in the natural world and often rejects the importance of God.

10. Reformation
Prior the Reformation, education was strictly the purview of the clergy and
aristocrats, but the reformers believed that education should be available to
everyone. The schools they started were the first, in line with Jesus and Paul, to
educate girls and desired that every child of God reach their full potential for
God’s glory. Luther expressed, “Even if there were no soul, and men did not
need schools and languages for the sake of Christianity and the Scriptures; still,
for the establishment of the best schools everywhere, both for boys and girls,
this consideration is of itself sufficient, namely, that society, for the maintenance
of civil order and the proper regulation of the household, needs accomplished
and well-trained men and women” (1524). Joel Beeke in Calvin for Today
states, the later reformers like John Calvin “opened the way for people to raise
themselves by education and by the diligent use of their knowledge and
abilities.”

11. In primitive societies survival against natural forces was the need and so what were taught were survival skills and values
to cultivate group cohesiveness.
For the Athenian in ancient Greece, what mattered most in education was the rounded development of every individual
while for the Spartan it was the development and military leaders.
For the early Romans, schools needed to develop a sense of civic responsibility and to develop administrative and military
skills as citizens of the Roman Empire.
For the ancient Arabic world where Islam rose the most important concern of education was to cultivate religious
commitment to Islamic beliefs.
During the Medieval period, schools were concerned with the development of religious commitment, knowledge and ritual to
establish order.
Renaissance period was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” following the Middle
Ages. Education was focused on the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art.
The Reformation period had as for its educational goals the cultivation of a sense of commitment to a particular religious
denomination and general literacy.

12. thank you
-Justine Marie Q. Par
BSEII ENGLISH