RUPP/IFL Foundation of Education

B.Ed A4.2

Chapter 3: World Roots of American Education

1. In This Case

The Old and the New

• This case study is mainly talking about teaching approaches: Homeric teaching style and Socratic
Method.

• The story began in one history class, taught by Professor Eddie who adopted Homeric teaching
style – telling the students most of the information. In this story, Eddie spent most the time
telling the information based on the memorization for the upcoming exam.

• After observing Eddie’s teaching, Dr. Allredd, supervising professor, gave Eddie a lot of advices
to improve his teaching style. He should not use only Homeric teaching like he had learnt from
his previous history teacher.

• Dr. Allredd suggested him to employ the Socratic teaching which is asking question in class and
drawing out the knowledge the students have or giving them a chance to research the
information with their peers and report their findings to the whole class.

• On the top of that, Dr. Allredd illustrated to professor Eddie about teaching approach which
current teaching methods may need to include in order to help students develop their critical
thinking skill as well as their memorization of the basic information that required on the test.

• Replying back, Eddie accepted that he thoroughly enjoyed his history classes and he added that
if he emphasize his students’ abilities to think and work to develop their reasoning abilities, he
will be using concepts straight out of the Enlightenment.

• Finally, Dr. Allredd gave the last message to Eddie to keep thinking about what the purpose of
schooling today and what could mean for each of the students.

• “Not everything done in the past is appropriate for today”.

2. Education in Preliterate Societies

• Before the invention of reading and writing, education was in the form of cultural transmission
from our ancestors to the next generation. This is the origin of informal learning in families
which still remains even today.

• Preliterate people struggled with surviving in an environment such as drought and floods, wild
animals, and attack from hostile groups. By trial and error, they developed cultural patterns
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from survival skills. For culture to continue, young generations learned the language and skill
from the elder and preserved the moral and religious values.

• From time to time, group developed the moral codes through childhood to adulthood with the
ritual dancing, music and dramatic acting and the young learnt the acceptable behaviors and
forbidden behaviors through these.

• Without writing to record their lesson in the past, our preliterate people transmitted their
cultural heritage though oral tradition like storytelling or songs which described about their
heroes, victories, and defeats. Through songs and stories, young people developed their spoken
language and abstract thinking about time and space.

• Also, stories and storytelling are important educational strategy for preschools and the primary
grades today. They will learn from and meet their culture its heroes and past.

• By using languages, our ancestor began to create and use symbols in signs, pictographs, and
letters to express their ideas. They created a written language constituted our great cultural leap
to literacy and then to schooling.

3. Education in Ancient Chinese Civilization

• In this context, it is discussing about the educational traditions- especially Confucianism- that
originated in imperial China still have influence today.

• Chinese civilization’s long history and vast influence offer significant insight into education’s
evolution as China was a great empire which was ruled by a series of dynasties spanning more
than forty centuries, from 2200 B.C to A.D 1912. This empire’s civilization reached the summit of
political, social, and educational development.

• The early Chinese, like other peoples, were ethnocentric and believed only their culture and
language was superior to all others so their educational heritage reveals persistent efforts to
maintain unbroken cultural continuity.

• By nineteen century, the imperial’s reluctance to acknowledge the technology, as a result, China
was isolated weakened and vulnerable to foreign exploitation.

• Still, China and other countries are struggling with educational issue today because of the
challenge to adapt to new idea, especially in science and technology, and maintenance of their
own culture.

• This issue helps teacher to understand more about how he can provide students accept the
cultural and scientific achievements of the past with an openness to social and technological
change and helps teacher to understand the relationship between cultural continuity and
change and how education promote one or the others.
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Confucian Education

• Confucius was the world's greatest philosopher and teacher.

• He lived during "the warring states period" of Chinese history.

• To improve the society to be better, Confucius formulated an ethical and educational philosophy
to restore peace and harmony in China.

• His educational goal is to develop persons of noble characteristic, who follow the path leads to
benevolence rather than violence.

• He believed in hierarchical relationship.

• He also wanted students to respect their teachers. Teachers are masters.

Key Terms

• Character education of equality: people should treat each other as equal and that we should
respect and value their difference from us.

• However, character education of Confucius: ones need to learn their roles in society and to fulfill
their prescribed role behavior that will ensure social harmony.

• Warring state period: a time full of chaos and conflict, rival warlords using cunning, treaties
were made and then ignored, bribery and force was used.

• Hierarchical relationship: Everyone in the hierarchy should know clearly about his or her status,
duties, responsibilities, but it is different from our society.

China's contribution to world and Western education

• The system of national examination is something that ancient China contributed to the world
today. Students need to pass entrance examination to be, for example, official governor or
students.

• Examination is used to measure academic achievement, but critics disagree because they thinks
standardized test may lead to some problem.

4. Education in Ancient Indian Civilization

• Cultural equilibrium

- From 3000 B.C. to 1500 B.C., river valley civilizations flourished on the banks of India’s Indus
River at Mohenjo-daro and Harrapa.
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- After the civilization flourish reached its peak, there was a cultural clash between invaders
and indigenous people, but then the restoration of sociocultural equilibrium that the
invaders were absorbed into India’s culture while at the same time the indigenous people
borrowed some of the invaders’ ideas.

• Brief history

- Aryans, ancestors of India’s Hindi-speaking majority, were one of India’s early invaders who

took control over India in 1500 B.C., and imposed their rule over the indigenous Dravidian
inhabitants.

- Muslims, who created the Mughul dynasty in the 13th century, followed the Aryans’ rule.

- In the 18th century the British gained control over India.

- Aryans introduced cultural changes to exert powerful social and educational influences that

continue until now.

• Hinduism

- Hinduism, a powerful cultural force in India, incorporates a wide range of religious beliefs
and elaborate rituals, which believes strongly in reincarnation.

• Caste system

- The four original castes in India were:

1. Brahmins: priest-educators

2. Kshatriyas: rulers, judges, and warriors

3. Vaishyas: merchants

4. Shydras: farmers

- The bottom of the caste was the untouchable slaves who performed the most menial work.

- Because the ancient India was a caste-based discrimination, the modern India has imposed
an affirmative action for lower caste members.

Evolution of Indian Education

• The three types of schools in ancient India were:

1. Brahminic schools were for the priestly caste, stressed religion, philosophy, and the
Vedas, which was one of the Hinduism’s sacred religious books, portraying the goal of
life as a search for universal spiritual truths via meditation.
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2. Tols were one-room schools where a single teacher taught religion and law.

3. Court schools, sponsored by princes, taught literature, law, and administration.

• Schools and teaching

- Teacher was to encourage students to respect all life and to search for truth and was to
avoid making students feel ashamed.

- Students were to respect teachers as a source of wisdom.

• Mughuls

- The Mughul dynasty introduced the Islamic religion and Persian and Arabic philosophy,
science, literature, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, art, music and architecture.

• English entry

- In the late 18th century British entered India.

- British encountered an ancient civilization with many languages and religions while they
created their colonial rule in India.

- British make English the official language of government and commerce and established
English-language schools.

India’s Contribution to World and Western Education

- From Indian’s ancient legacy, it’s clearly shown that it is an education that has made
Indian civilization endured during different culture atmospheres survive.

- Education process has made racism (like Indian caste system) in the world being
corrected.

5. Education in Ancient Egypt

• Tribal Kingdoms Large Empire ( 3000 B.C).

• The idea of divine brought by Pharaoh gave Egypt social, cultural, political, and educational
stability.

• The priest got the high status and power in educational system through King-priest concept.

Religious and Secular Concerns

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• Even though they were supernatural, Egyptian developed technology on how to build temples
and studied medicine, anatomy, and embalming.

• There were two types of schools:

- Scribal School: teach students to read, write, the religion, temple. For advanced
students, they studied mathematics, astronomy, religion, poetry, literature, medicine,
and architecture.

- Special School: for certain kind of priests, government officials and physicians.

Egypt ‘s Historical Controversies

• For traditional interpretation, Egypt was influenced by Greek.

• For Bernal ‘s theory, he said Egypt influenced on Greek.

• However, according to historians, Egypt and Greek borrowed culture and knowledge from each
other in many ways.

6. Education in Ancient Greek and Roman Civilizations

Homeric education

• Greek used Homer’s epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, to help define themselves and their
culture.

• Homer’s dramatic portrayal of the Greek’s warriors’ battle against the Trojans have three main
educational purposes:

- to preserve the culture by transmitting it from adults to the young

- to cultivate Greek cultural identity based on mythic and historical origins

- to shape the character of the young

• Using heroes as role models, young Greek learned about:

- values that made life worth living

- the behaviors expected of warrior, knights

- and the character defects that led to one’s downfall

Citizenship education

• Ancient Greece also showed education’s role in forming good citizen.

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• Ancient Greece was divided into small and often competing city-states like:

- Athens: became a democracy that emphasized the shared public responsibility of its
citizens.

- Sparta: was an authoritarian military dictatorship.

Enculturation and formal education

• Enculturation: was immersion and participation in the city-state’s total culture.

• The Greeks gave values to enculturation with formal education.

• Enculturation Greek youths were prepared to become citizen while formal education provided
knowledge to reach society’s expectation of good life.

• E.g. The Athenians believed that a free man needed a liberal education, while Sparta used
formal education for military training.

The role of slaves

• The majority of slaves, including women and children, were prisoners of war or decided to
servitude.

• In Athens, most slaves were trained to perform specific framing and commercial skills.

Education of woman

• Generally women were not common to get any formal education, and only a minority of
exceptional women received.

• In Athens, few attended school, and more fortunate young women were taught at home from
tutors.

• In Sparta, young women received athletic and military training to prepare them to be healthy
mothers of future Sparta soldiers.

Education in Ancient Rome

• On the Italian peninsula and throughout the western, the Romans were consolidating their
political position focusing on the education of practical politicians, able administrators, and
skilled generals in order to maintain the empire Mediterranean while Greeks were noted for
philosophy in the eastern.

• Education was accessible for Romans monitories and for the school aged who was able to pay
the tuition fee.

• Upper-class girls received home schooling. They learned how to read and write from tutors.
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Boys who were taught by Greek grammar teachers attended school of 3 stages: a ludus, a
primary school and secondary schools.

Quintilian: Master of Oratory

• The term Quintilian was from highly recognized imperial rhetorician Marcus Fabius Quintilians
(A.D 35-95)

• Quintilian’s Institutio Oratoria included:

- The education preparatory to studying rhetoric
- Rhetorical and educational theory
- The practice of public speaking or declamation
• It focuses on shaping childhood behavior based on 4 stages of human growth and development:
1. Stage 1 (under 7 years old) where children were impulsive and concerned with immediate
need or desire.
- Children should be accompanied by well-trained and well-spoken nurses, pedagogues
and companions.
2. Stage 2 ( age 7-14) where children learn to sense experiences, form clear ideas, and train his
memory.
- Children learned how to write and read thoroughly from qualified teachers.
- Modern teaching – games and recreation – was suggested by Quintilian.
3. Stage 3 (age 14-17) where students should shape their liberal arts.
- Children studied Greek and Latin grammar, literature, history, mythology bilingually and
biculturally, music, geometry, astronomy and gymnastics.
4. Stage 4 (age 17 – 24) where prospective orators were specially nurtured in rhetorical studies
and performed to the public.
- Rhetorical studies suggested by Quintilian included drama, poetry, law, philosophy,
public speaking, declamation, and debate.
- Criticism by means of patience, tact, and consideration would be made after the
performance on behalf of the master rhetorician.

The Greek and Roman Contributions to Western Education

• Western culture and education was developed from Greece and Rome who gave education an
important function in society’s political well-being.
• Greeks and Romans ideas influenced Arab scholars who then was encountered by Europeans
and later was transmitted to American culture.
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7. Islam, Arabic Learning, and Education

• Islamic culture was originated from Arab by Arab religious reformer and proselytizer,
Mohammed (569-632) who preached the need for repentance and living an upright, moral life.
He organized his ideas into a new religion which is called “Islam”.
• Mohammed’s speech was believed to be recorded in the Koran, Islam’s most sacred religious
book and the authoritative ethical and legal source.
• After establishing Islam as the official region in 661 in some cities, the followers began to extend
Islamic culture through conquest and conversion.
• Islam is the dominant religion in the Arab countries and its influence extends to other countries
in Asia.
• Translated works, which were done from many ancient Greek authors into Arabic, became more
important in Islamic education. They were later reintroduced into Western education through
contacts between Arabs and Europeans.
• In the 21st century, despite a great deal of conflict between the west including the United States
and Islamic groups, Americans pay more attention to and learning more about the contributions
of Arabic civilization and the Islamic culture especially after the tragic event of the attack on the
World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.