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The
idea that education is something which people should pursue, even into
their adult years, is not new. It extends well into the distant past.
Every society has individuals who fulfill specialized roles, and some
of these require an extended education. Sometimes these people are known
as shamans, priests or teachers, and sometimes they are university professors,
doctors, architects, or artists. In all of these examples, a form of education
beyond the elementary is necessary. It may take the form of an apprenticeship,
or intense private study or contemplation, or it may take the form of
a formal higher education. Whatever the form, the purpose is the same:
to perpetuate knowledge, and to extend it.
The
idea of knowledge has been a part of every culture on Earth. However,
almost every person alive has a different notion of what is useful knowledge
and what useful knowledge should be passed on to younger people. What
knowledge is worth preserving, extending, perpetuating, what knowledge
is useless, even harmful? The history of higher education is essentially
a history of choices, made on the basis of cultural imperative, politics,
religion, need and precedent.
The
knowledge accumulated by a culture is essentially bound to that culture,
and seems to ebb with it. For instance, the knowledge of philosophy and
natural science accumulated by the ancient Greeks seemed to crumble with
their civilization, though it was later recovered in part, by various
successive cultures. The technical expertise in road building, waste management
and civic planning which the Roman civilization introduced, seems to have
been lost when the empire collapsed, causing not only the loss of skills,
but also a great deal of human suffering.
Knowledge
is so closely connected to the culture from which it originates because
it is transmitted through education, and education is essentially a cultural
institution. Every civilization and culture has its own ideas of education.
Our
own notions of education, especially higher education, are grounded in
ancient Greece. The Greek civilization began around the 6th century BC
Learning and scholarship were intrinsic to the cultural makeup of the
ancient Greek World. Some of the names of Greek scholars are still well
known today. Pythagoras, for instance, the mathematician who invented
irrational numbers, lived in the ancient Greek world. He was born in 532
BC Euclid, known for his contribution to geometry (Euclidian geometry)
was born in 300 BC Democritus not so well known, lived in Greece in the
3rd century BC He was the first scholar that we know of to suggest an
atomic theory of matter.
The
most easily recognized names from this era are the names of the great
philosophers: Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, etc. These people were the originators
of modern Western scientific and philosophical thought. They also shaped
western pedagogy, that is, the way we teach. They introduced a new way
of dealing with problems. Socrates, though he personally did not write
anything which has survived to modern times, was immortalized by Plato.
He was an innovative pedagogue (teacher), who taught through a dialogic
interaction with his students. In other words, he asked questions and
they answered until they realized that they were wrong and he was right.
Plato, his student and admirer, adopted the Socratic method and transcribed
a series of "dialogues" which featured Socrates as a teacher and various
young men as students.
Plato
was so impressed with the Socratic method of research and teaching, that
he set up the Academy in 387 B.C., to perpetuate the method and direction
of scholarship introduced by Socrates. It is commonly recognized as the
first University, or school of higher education, in the history of the
Western world. The Academy was actually quite informal by modern standards.
It was just an area, set aside in the centre of Athens, where students
and masters could interact freely, discussing issues in the fields of
philosophy and mathematics.
Aristotle
was one of Plato's students and admirers. He came to the Academy in 387
B.C., and stayed for twenty years. He left when Plato died and traveled
around the ancient Greek world, setting up similar institutions as he
went. He was interested in a broad range of knowledge, including empirical
science and anatomy as well as philosophy. He was the first to set standards
for systematic scientific research, and his ideas are the basis of modern
scientific method. Aristotle is also acknowledged as the founder of Logic,
as a method of discourse and research, and as a field of inquiry. His
other contribution to modern scholarship is the idea of dividing knowledge
into separate fields, each with its own methodology and subject matter.
In 335 B.C., Aristotle opened the Lyceum in Athens. This was the world's
first polytechnic, devoted entirely to scientific research and training.
At
the end of the Greek era, then, the idea of upper education was centred
on the interactive dialogue between a teacher and student. Questions and
answers were at the very core of the education process, as well as a way
of directing research and systematizing it.
The
basic divisions of knowledge were: Grammar, Rhetoric, Dialectic - these
were meant to help students communicate effectively, and included a study
of literature and language - Arithmetic, Music, Geometry and Astronomy.
These seven subjects later on became known as the Liberal Arts and were
still the core of the curriculum of higher education in Medieval times.
They survive in one form or another in many universities, even today.
Anatomy, Biology and Botany were also valid fields of study, but were
pursued in the Lyceum, rather than the Academy.
When
the Greek civilization fell, it seemed that all this accumulated knowledge
would disappear, but this was not the case. The Greeks had many neighbours
who admired their scholarship, and thought it was worth preserving
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