Philosophy of Education

L4 OverviewFrom Stoicism to the Renaissance

Roman senate

(Stoic) Epictetus, Manual

• In Manual III,12-13, five economies:• Emotion to bear with being reviled; ‘education is this,

to learn what is one’s own and what is not’ IV,5• Impulse to monitor the action of the will (control)• Judgement what to assent to, what to avoid (control)• Being towards reality and away from display (control)• Solitude to be able to suffice for oneself

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Augustine 354-430 CE• Lawyer, non-Christian, stoic, then convert to Christianity in

386, reacted against stoics on basis of ‘compassion’• Realises that he lives “outside” himself, that God lives

“inside” himself• Characterises human life as restless (Confessions 1.1)• This issue is related to the story of the Garden of Eden, to

Exodus and the search for the promised land• We are illuminated by the truth and we find ourselves in a

way that matches our understanding of the world

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Augustine

• God is the real teacher who illuminates the mind to understand reality

• On the Teacher #40, “It is not I who teach him the things of the inner eye…He is taught not by my words but by the things themselves which inwardly God has made manifest to him.”

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Origin of Knowledge?

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Teaching Tools

• Monks probably used the biblical crosses as teaching tools.

• Scenes from the Bible are described on its surface.

• Important position on sites indicates that they were intended for use by public.

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Celtic Golden Age

• 810 Celtic scholar Dungal explains a double eclipse of the sun to the emperor Charles.

• 822 Pope Eugene II insists on schools for each diocese – Cathedral schools

• 855 Charles Bald started public schools for religious and secular study. Scotus Eriugena scholar of Greek.

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Muhammad 570-632• The laws of Islam were codified

in the Shariah during the two centuries following Mohammad’s death.

• Muhammad (may his name be praised) was regarded as the last and most perfect prophet.

• God’s words through the angel Gabriel are written in Arabic in the Qur’an.

Averroes (1126-1198)

• Abu'l-Walid Ibn Rushd (Averroes) argued for Rational knowledge against the Ash'arite theologians (Mutakallimun), led by al-Ghazali (d. 1111).

• No incompatibility between rational knowledge and revealed knowledge

• Commentator of Aristotle• Arabic translations of Aristotle

launched Latin scholasticism

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Maimonides 1135-1204The Eighth Foundation

is that the Torah is from Heaven. This means that we must believe that this entire Torah, which was given to us from Moshe Our Teacher, may he rest in peace, is entirely from the mouth of the Almighty. In other words, that it all was conveyed to him from God, blessed Be He…

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Aquinas (1225-1274)

• “a powerful mind understands better than a less powerful mind and can communicate this loftier vision to others by presenting a succession of more and more abstract phantasms which can be grasped by the mind” (ST Q117 a1 R ad 2)

• Instruction is “leading the pupil through a process of discovery towards a form of articulation unknown to the pupil but known to the teacher” (De veritate q11 a2 R ad 4)

• Can God teach? Do angels teach?

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The Renaissance Context• 15century marked the rediscovery

of Roman and Greek philosophy; Printing discovered; Cicero 1411, Quintilian 1417 and Seneca 1430s

• Great revival of classical and humanist learning

• Erasmus (1467-1536) was a theologian, a scripture scholar

• John Calvin’s first book was on Seneca 1531?

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William Shakespeare 1564-1616

• A grammar school education. During Elizabeth’s reign, 160 grammar schools opened

• School Began at 6am summer and 7am winter

• Parents provided ink, paper, quills and wax candles

• 1571 sent to Big School, Church Lane, Stratford?

               

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Shakespeare• Politeness “to thy parents duty yield,

unto all men be courteous, and mannerly in town and field”

• “to learn godly learning and wisdom being fit for grammar school” – Charter of school

• One of the masters, Simon Hunt taught William from 1573 to 1575 when he left to join the Jesuits

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Tudor Education (16 Century)• Chunks of literature learned off:

rote learning• Imaginative life depended on rich

folklore, criticised by Puritans as “part pagan, part papistical”

• In Harrow in 1580 pupils of 8 or 9 had to engage in debate on classical themes (Caesar and Brutus)

• They had to read Ovid fluently

Francis Bacon 1561-1626• in reign of Elizabeth I and James I• Critic of 4 idols impairing the truth:

– Idols of Cave (idiosyncacy of individuals, pet likes and dislikes)

– Idols of Tribe (tendency to distort and exaggerate)

– Idols of the Theatre (hasty learning, hasty conclusions beguiled by impressions)

– Idols of the Market Place (fashionable thoughts might be wrong)

• Influenced:• The rise of the new

science and its separation from the humanities

• The issue of the ‘two’ cultures

• Separation of science from religion

• Experimental method

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Readings

• Hargreaves, A., & Fullan, M. (2000). Mentoring in the New Millennium. Theory into Practice, 39(1), 50. pdf blackboard

• Long, F. (2005). Seneca on Fortuna or the Lesson of Luck. Religion, Education and the Arts, 5, 71-78. pdf blackboard

• Thorndike, L. (1940). Elementary and Secondary Education in the Middle Ages. Speculum, 15(4), 400-408. pdf blackboard