Lesson 1 Historical Foundations of Education

Activity 1
What do you think you know about a history of education? After completing the KWH,
find a partner and share your answer.

WHAT I KNOW OR THINK I KNOW:

I think the history of Education start from Pre-literate societies 7000 BC – 5000 BC
(before writing) where the education teaches the student survival skills, teach group
harmony, Practice hunting, fishing, songs, poems, dances where their teachers are
their parents, tribal elders and religious leaders.
Schools probably existed in China almost 4000 years ago. As a highly
developed society, the Chinese designed their schools around the perpetuation of
tradition, compliance and conventionality, to allow their youth to function in an
increasingly formal and complex society. Females for the most part were not deemed
worthy of a formal education.
3000 BC – 1900 AD China

• Educational Goals: Prepare elites to govern the empire according to Confucian

principles
• Students: Males of upper class
• Instructional Methods: Memorization and recitation
• Curriculum: Confucian classics
• Agents: Government officials
• Influence on education: Written examinations for civil service

As with many other cultures, the Japanese system of education evolved after
they developed a written language. Adapting the Chinese form of writing, the Japanese
aristocracy was the first to learn to read and write. Originally the Japanese borrowed
heavily from the Chinese culture in providing a curriculum of study. However,
eventually the needs of Japanese society became paramount and the educational
system began to reflect a Japanese culture and belief system. Education was also used
to provide for the societal needs such as the specific schools that were set up to train
young men for civil service.

The Hebrews valued education and centered their instruction around the
teachings of their bible. Harsh discipline also characterized educational practice along
with a strict emphasis on following the laws of the Old Testament. Females were not
formally educated, but instead were required to learn the skills associated with
homemaking. Teachers were treated with great respect, indicative of the value that
Hebrew society placed on education.

Ancient Hindu societies were based on a strict adherence to a proscribed

system of familial status known as the caste system, whereby an individual's status is
determined by his family's place in the society. Formal education helped perpetuate
this system by only allowing access to boys from the highest or Brahmin caste. Priests
were used as teachers resulting in a heavy emphasis on moral development, learning
to write, and harsh discipline.

INDIA 3000 BC TO PRESENT India

• Educational Goals: To learn behavior and rituals based on Vedas

• Students: Males of upper castes
• Instructional Methods: Memorizing and interpreting sacred texts
• Curriculum: Vedas and religious texts
• Agents: Brahmin priest scholars
• Influence on education: Cultural transmission and assimilation, spiritual
detachment

EGYPT 3000 BC – 300BC Egypt

• Educational Goals: To prepare priests according to scribe for the empire

• Students: Males of upper class
• Instructional Methods: Memorization and copying texts
• Curriculum: Religious or technical texts
• Agents: Priests and scribes
• Influence on education: Restriction on educational controls to priest elites

Around 500 BC, the Greeks developed a society that was divided into city-
states and was sufficiently complex to require a formal educational system. Two of the
more prominent were Athens and Sparta.

Education in Sparta was primarily for the purpose of developing a strong

military to both protect from and conquer neighboring states.

In Athens, the approach to education was designed to promote the

development of both body and mind.

Ancient Greece contributed much to our way of looking at and thinking about
the concept of education. In particular, the philosophers, Socrates (470-399 BC),
Plato (427-347 BC), and Aristotle (384-322 BC) had a profound influence on modern
educational practice. All three believed that a person's most important purpose was to
serve and improve humankind and that education was designed for this end.

ROMAN 750 BC – 450 AD Roman

• Educational Goals: Develop civic responsibility for the empire, administrative and
military skills
• Students: Male children ages 7-20
 • Instructional Methods: Memorization and recitation includus; declamation,
rhetorical schools
• Curriculum: reading, writing, arithmetic, law, philosophy
• Agents: Private schools and teachers, schools of rhetoric
• Influence on education: practical administrative skills, relate education to civic
responsibility

MEDIEVAL 500 AD – 1400 AD Medieval

• Educational Goals: Develop religious commitment, knowledge, and ritual; establish

social order, prepare for appropriate roles
• Students: Male children of upper class, girls and women entering religious
community ages 7-20
• Instructional Methods: Memorization and recitation in lower schools, text analysis
discussion in higher schools and universities
• Curriculum: Athens: reading, writing, arithmetic, philosophy, theology, military and
chivalry
• Agents: Parish, chantry, cathedral schools, universities, knighthood
• Influence on education: structure and organization of the university,
institutionalization of knowledge

RENAISSANCE 1350 AD – 1500 Renaissance

• Educational Goals: Cultivate humanist expert in Greek and Latin classics; prepare
people to serve dynastic leaders
• Students: Male children of aristocracy and upper class, ages 7-20
• Instructional Methods: Memorization and translation and analysis of Greek and
Roman classics. classical literature, poetry and art.
• Curriculum: Latin and Greek classical literature, poetry and art.
• Agents: Classical humanist educators and schools like lycee, gymnasium and Latin
school
• Influence on education: Emphasis on literary knowledge, excellence and style in
classical literature, two track system of schools

REFORMATION 1500 AD – 1600 AD Reformation

• Educational Goals: Cultivate a commitment to a particular religious denomination,

and general literacy
• Students: Boys and girls ages 7-12 in vernacular schools, young men of upper class
in humanist schools
• Instructional Methods: Memorization drill, indoctrination, catechetical instruction in
vernacular schools, translation and analysis of classical literature in humanist schools
• Curriculum: Reading, writing, arithmetic, catechism, religious concepts and rituals.
Latin and Greek theology
• Agents: Vernacular elementary school for general public, classical schools for upper
class
 • Influence on education: Commitment to universal education to provide literacy for
everyone; origins of school systems, dual track school system based on socioeconomic
class and career goals

ORIGIN OF EDUCATION
There are two theories concerning the exact
origin of Education

WHAT I WANT TO LEARN

I want to learn about the History of the Education in every country what system
or curriculum they still use from their education before and their education in the
present, what principles and theories they still add to their education system.

HOW I CAN LEARN THIS

By reading history books and researching related context about education, I
can learn and understand the history and the foundation of education. Studying the
history of education is essential to understanding the development and origin of
various educational theories, practices, and ideas in different communities. Hence, it
helps us formulate better principles, patterns, and ideas concerning education in the
present.

WHAT I LEARNED
I have learned that education develops in preliterate societies by teaching
students’ survival skills, teaching group harmony, practicing hunting and fishing,
singing songs, poems, and dances, and their teachers are parents, tribal elders, and
religious leaders.
I also learned that each country has a different teaching style or educational
system. I also learned that each religious society values education and bases their
teaching on the teachings of their religion. In the past males are upper class than
females.
Each developing country has previously different educational goals such as:
China educational Goals: Prepare elites to govern the empire according to Confucian
principles.
India Educational Goals: To learn behavior and rituals based on Vedas.
Egypt Educational Goals: To prepare priests according to scribe for the empire.
the Greeks developed a society that was divided into city-states and was sufficiently
complex to require a formal educational system. Two of the more prominent were
Athens and Sparta
Education in Sparta was primarily for the purpose of developing a strong military to
both protect from and conquer neighboring states. Both boys and girls were subjected
to a rigorous survival test of exposure to the elements during infancy to determine if
they had the necessary capabilities to become warriors or mothers of warriors. Boys
were then given physical and moral training to designed to develop a strong military.
Development of the intellect was not considered to be of particular usefulness.
In Athens, the approach to education was designed to promote the development of
both body and mind. Boys were formally educated from the age of eight to sixteen in
various disciplines, which emphasized the principles of moderation and balance. From
ages sixteen to twenty, the boys underwent military training. Girls were educated in
the home.
Roman Educational Goals: Develop civic responsibility for the empire, administrative
and military skills.
Medieval Educational Goals: Develop religious commitment, knowledge, and ritual;
establish social order, prepare for appropriate roles.
Renaissance Educational Goals: Cultivate humanist expert in Greek and Latin
classics; prepare people to serve dynastic leaders.
Reformation Educational Goals: Cultivate a commitment to a particular religious
denomination, and general literacy.

20th CENTURY EDUCATION IN EUROPE AND AMERICA • Education in the fields of psychology and
sociology increased

MUSLIM/ISLAMIC KINGDOMS Educational Goals: Cultivate religious commitment to Islamic beliefs;

expertise in mathematics, medicine and science

In history of education there are a lot of important educational theorists which they
followed their theories and principles. Like Western/European example CONFUCIUS Philosophy:
Developed ethical system based on hierarchy.: human relations and roles, emphasized order
and stability View of Human nature Human beings need the order of a stable society. People
accept duties that come with their station in life.
Let Us Analyze
1. What do you feel after discussing your answer with your partner
I think that the study of history allows us to develop a better understanding of
contemporary education. As we build knowledge and understanding of early education
in preliterate times, other early societies, empire, and colonial times, education evolves
and allows us to develop a much better understanding of education today.

2. Are your answers the same? Or not?

Yes, we are the same answer of my classmate Revelyn Chavez about the history
of education, she generalizes the history of the pre-literate period which the teaching
is all about the surviving skills and the Western period of education is about
mathematics and sciences including the political and social studies we are still the
same of the context that education evolved over time.

3. What are you going to do now to improve your knowledge about the history of education?
I need to study more or understand the history of education to improve my
knowledge and understanding of education in the past and compare the origins and
development of different ideas, practices, and theories of education in different
societies. In this way, I can formulate better ideas, patterns, and principles and take a
broader perspective.

Abstract
1. Through the use of a graphic organizer trace the evolution of education from the preliterate
societies to the 20th century.
2. Write a brief discussion on the important concept timelines related to the growth and
development of education.

The transition from the ancient to modern gives us to reflect on and interpret
contemporary events in light of past experiences. The reflection that arises in the
present and is illuminated by the past can help us see a better future for our students,
our country and the world.
The knowledge of human growth and development helps teachers to provide
appropriate help for students with developmental problems. By understanding the
different stages that a student's life goes through, educators can more efficiently
develop each learner to achieve their full potential.

Today I learned that

I learned that understanding the contexts of historical events gives us a better

view of what took place in the past in connection with the present. It allows everyone
to take critical views of every event, practices, and theories. It encourages critical
thinking and logical reasoning since it involves the analysis of historical events at the
same comparing theories of one person to the other. Studying history enables a future
teacher to understand better the different pedagogy, methods, and techniques used in
the teaching and learning process.