Education of Civilizations

Teacher Ahmad Khalifa

Chinese Civilization
 Educational Goals:
Ancient official school education refers to a whole set of education systems sponsored by central and local
governments of slave and feudal societies. It aimed to train talent of various kinds for the ruling classes,
whose rise and fall was related to social and political developments in ancient China
 Students:
Originally ancient China education was only for the sons of noble families. Young men would enter school
to learn about the teachings of Daoism, Monism and Confucianism. They would also learn how to read,
write, mathematics, culture and music. The sons of noble families would later be able to become Gentry
Scholars and obtain better jobs within the government. Girls were not allowed to attend school. They were
expected to learn how to take care of the household from their mothers. Mothers taught their girls to cook,
clean and about child care. Sometimes girls were taught by their mothers to read and write but not often.

 Instructional Methods:
Ancient Chinese education was taught almost exclusively by rote memory. Students were expected to
memorize large amounts of information.  This contributed to a focus on the conservation of knowledge
rather than the expansion of it. If something new or unusual happened it was difficult to deal with since there
was no prior way already developed to address it.
 Curriculum:
Ancient Chinese education began with classic works, namely, the Four Books and the Five Classics (Great
Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Analects, and Mencius; Classic of Poetry, Book of Documents, Book of
Rites, and Spring and Autumn Annals), regarded as cardinal texts that one had to learn, in order to
understand the authentic thought of Confucianism. Beginning from the time of the Xia dynasty (2070-1600
BC), it was traditional for ancient kings and emperors to select well-educated officials to assist them in
administering their kingdoms.
 Agents:
The civil service examination system for selecting
officials was established by Emperor Yang (569-618 AD)
of the Sui dynasty (581-618). It was further refined by
Emperor Taizong (598-649) of the Tang dynasty (618-
907). It was not until the late Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
that the civil service examination system was dismantled
by Yuan Shikai (1859-1916), and replaced by a more
western education system. Since the foundation of the
People's Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese
education system has been modeled on the Russian system, with perhaps more spoon-feeding and rote-
learning than in some other countries.
Emperor Wu (156-87 BC) of the Western Han dynasty (206 BC-9 AD) established government-sponsored
imperial colleges, and teachers were selected from among learned and accomplished officials, who were
called boshi (present-day doctors). The chief boshi was given the title pushe in the Western Han dynasty
(206 BC-9 AD) and jijiu in the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD). Students from the imperial colleges were
called boshi disciples. The number of boshi disciples (roughly equivalent to present-day college students)
reached over 30,000 during the Shundi Emperor's (115-144 AD) reign.
Emperor Wen, Cao Pi (the son of Cao Cao), who reigned from 220 to 226 AD, developed further the
imperial college system in Luoyang in 224. The Imperial Academy was established by Emperor Wu (Sima
Yan reigning from 236 to 290) during the Western Jin dynasty (265-317), and it was explicitly stipulated by
Emperor Hui (259-307) that only children of 5th-rank officials or higher were allowed to study in the
Imperial Academy. The Confucian Academy was established by Emperor Wen (422-453) in 438 AD, in a
suburb of Jiankang (presently Nanjing of Jiangsu Province), followed by the Metaphysics Academy, History
Academy and Literature Academy.
 Influence on Education:
An important educational legacy from ancient China was its system of national examinations. Chinese
educators developed comprehensive written examinations to assess students’ academic competence.
Students prepared for the examination by studying ancient Chinese literature and Confucian texts with
master teachers at imperial or temple schools. The examinations emphasized recalling memorized
information rather than solving actual problems. Alternative thinking was regarded as a waste of time that
detracted from memorizing and reciting the texts (“teaching to the test”). The examination process, like the
society, operated hierarchically and selectively. Students had to pass a series of rigorous examinations in
ascending order; if they failed, they were dismissed from the process. The educational and examination
systems were reserved exclusively for upper-class males. Women, ineligible for government positions, were
excluded from schools as well.

Ancient Egyptian Education

 Educational goals:
Ancient Egyptian Education in Egypt has political, social, and economic objectives,
namely: education for strengthening democracy and comprehensive development as a continuous process.
The main purpose of education and apprenticeship in ancient Egypt was the training of scribes and of
specialist craftsmen. Education was also necessary for the elite of Egyptian society because royal offices
generally remained in the same families for years. Ancient Egyptian education prepared the young members
of middle and upper classes for entering the labor force of the country.
 Students:
Education was common for boys to be sent off to schools from the age of eight. At the age of fourteen, sons
of farmers or craftsmen joined their dads in their professions. Those students whose parents had higher
status careers continued their education at special schools usually attached to temples or governmental
centers.
Young girls remained in their households with their mothers. They were taught how to run a household,
cooking, baking, child rearing and basic medical skills including the use of oils and herbs. Girls of higher
social status were instructed on entertaining high-status visitors and overseeing household servants and
slaves.
Girls of high birth sometimes received additional education. Depending on their father’s place in society, a
high-born girl could be expected to assist with running the family business while the father was away. A
knowledge of the arts, history and politics, were features of their education as noble women needed to be
sufficiently educated to make them an acceptable wife for an upper-class husband as well as being able to
manage the family business
 Instructional Methods:
Children in Ancient Egypt stayed with their mothers until the age of four.
During these years, a strong respect for their mothers was instilled in the
children. At the age of four, education of the boys was taken over by their
fathers.  Educated Egyptians often learned
to read at the age of four.
When young boys turned 7, they began their
formal education. Students read educational texts, called Kemty.
The students learned to recognize and pronounce several hundred
hieroglyphics, then they were taught arithmetic and finally writing.
Writing material for younger students consisted of wooden tablets to which material was copied from
existing documents. The tablets could be wiped clean after there was no further space left. Writing
kit consisted of reeds and a palette of solid inks. Papyrus, the material they wrote on, was made was
made of the pressed fibrous material of a plant, and only the richest people in Egypt could afford
it." Egyptian school exercises vary from basic exercises of grammar and orthography to copies of
actual literary or documentary texts. The pupil was taught language by doing a lot of spelling and
grammar exercises, writing passages dictated by the teacher, and copying parts of real or model
documentary and literary texts. Such model texts are found in the so-called “miscellanies”, which
could be compilations made by teachers for classroom use. Given that some of the texts copied in
schools were instructive, teaching mainly about general ethics, the Egyptian pupil was educated also
through the study of the contents of such didactic texts. Probably at a later stage, the pupils learnt
how to read and write hieroglyphs, the main script for monumental and archaizing writing during
most periods of Egyptian history. Surviving images show children seated at their desks in a
.classroom, while a teacher is seated at a larger desk

 Curriculum:
The education curriculum in ancient Egyptian education system was well-rounded and instructed children in
almost all forms of knowledge that existed at that time. Common subjects included in ancient Egyptian
education were reading, writing, mathematics, as well as religious instruction and morals. The most
important subjects taught at schools were mathematics, reading, writing, arithmetic, geometry, geography,
astronomy, medicine, and moral instruction. After finishing their education, most students followed the
professions of their fathers. However, it was also not unusual for students to choose a specialized
educational path. Egypt’s higher education system was focused on producing skilled practitioners and also
included the children of Egypt’s nobility and royal office holders. In addition, there is some evidence for the
learning of foreign languages in New Kingdom schools, a fact that historically corresponds to the era of
Egyptian imperialism and of the extension of Egyptian foreign relations.
 Agents:
Mothers were the source of education for girls who instructed them in
various disciplines such as sewing, cooking, and reading etc. Ancient
Egypt's teachers in schools fell into two categories: priests and scribes.
The role of priests was to provide lessons on religion and morality.
Scribes provided secular instruction on reading, writing and subjects including medicine and mathematics.
The same scribe would teach all the school’s subjects. This was especially common in village schools.
Specialized teachers taught in schools dedicated to teaching a specialized stream of education.
 Influence on education:
The Egyptian system of education was successful in achieving its aims
for more than 300 years . It has had a long lasting contribution to
modern education in various fields such as Literature, agriculture,
architecture, mathematics, medicine and writing.

WRITING: Egypt was the first civilization to use writing on large

scale. They wrote hieroglyphics (pictures), hieratic (sound
systems).The two forms of writing are widely used everywhere in the
modern society.
PAPER: The Egyptians developed the rudiments of the present day paper by use of papyrus reeds that were
abundant in the Nile valley.

MODERN PRINTING AND SCULPTURE: These two arts have been borrowed heavily from the early
Egyptian forms. Their art was brightly colored so do the modern art.
ARITHMETIC: Egyptians used a complex mathematical system known as the Egyptian method to
compute the twelve months calendar based on the floods of Nile and the knowledge of Astronomy. The
Egyptian calendar is still in use in the modern society.
Egyptians also came up with several methods and formulae
for calculating distance, area, volume, mass and force. This
methodologies and formulae are being used widely today in
the field of mathematics.
MEDICINE: The book of surgery, demonstrates their
keenness in the field of medicine. They had advanced
knowledge by contemporary standards of surgery and blood
circulation. Mummification of the dead also demonstrated
their knowledge to preserve the dead. All these techniques are used by modern health expatriates.
 Hebraic

 Educational Goals:
They emphasized literacy to read their religious book and to learn its content. However, Judaism’s basic
educational aims for children were to learn how to pray and to know and observe the commandments.
 Students:
Only boys were taught at schools while girls were taught at home by their parents.
 Instructional Methods:
Education was compulsory and was achieved orally and by memorization and
recitation. Judaic education aimed at inculcating the young with their cultural
tradition through a carefully designed process of transmitting religious beliefs
and rituals from one generation to the next.
 Curriculum:
Jewish day schools combined a full secular curriculum with Jewish cultural and religious instruction. Jewish
education stressed recitation and commentary on the sacred texts and the study of laws and their moral and
ethical prescriptions and proscriptions.
 Agents:
Rabbis who are men especially learned in scripture emerged as teachers among the Jewish people.
 Influence on Education:
The following can be considered as their outstanding contributions in education and humanity:
Monotheism: the concept of one and only one God
The Ten Commandments: the general guide to ethical conduct that has set of standards for social living for
several thousand years.
Bible: that fountainhead of so much Western tradition and literature
 Education in Ancient Greek Civilization

 Educational Goals:

Ancient Greek illuminates the role of education in forming good citizens. The Greeks understood the
importance of interrelating enculturation with formal education where Greek youth were prepared to become
citizens of the society and that formal education provided knowledge to fulfil more completely the society’s
expectation of its citizens.

 Students:

Only males received formal education with a minority of exceptional women.

 Instructional Methods:

There are different instructional methods related to different philosophers of the Ancient Greek civilization.
Starting with Homeric whose method of education relied on stories, tradition, and beliefs from the past.
Moving on to The Sophists who sought to develop their students’ communication skills and specifically
persuasive speech so that they become successful advocates and legislators. After The Sophists came
Socrates who was known for the Socratic Method of education in which discussion and dialogue were used
as teaching strategies.

 Curriculum:

The Sophist’s most important subjects were logic, grammar, and rhetoric subjects that later developed in
liberal arts. However, Plato believed that children music and gymnastics where music included reading and
writing, literature, arithmetic, choral singing, and dancing.

 Agents:
1. Homer: Homer’s epic helped Greeks define themselves and their culture. Homer’s
dramatic portrayal of the Greek warrior’s battles against the Trojans served important
educational purposes.
2. The Sophists: A group of educators who designed a new approach to teaching that
responded to this change which was to prepare them to take political power.
3. Socrates: He believed on what was universally true at all times and places. He also
encouraged his students to use self-examination and critical thinking to find and bring to
consciousness the universal truth that was present in each persons’ mind.
4. Plato: The student of Socrates and he founded the academy “philosophical school”
which is Idealism.
5. Aristotle: Plato’s student and he established realism which prepares learners to live life
as it is by emphasizing an objective reality.
 Education in Ancient Rome:

 Educational Goals:

Romans concentrated on educating practical politician, able administrators, and skilled generals in order to
maintain the empower.

 Students:

Only minority of the Romans were educated and specifically males who could pay the tuition. Boys were
escorted to schools whereas upper-class girls often learned to read and write at home or were taught by
tutors.

 Instructional Methods:

Boys were escorted to schools by educated Greek slaves called pedagogues.

 Curriculum:

Quintilian discussed in his educational treatise the education preparatory to studying rhetoric, rhetorical and
educational theory, and the practice of public speaking or declamation. He emphasized the need to base
instruction on the learner’s readiness and stage of development.

 Agents:

The ideal Roman orator was the broadly and liberally educated man of public life such as the senator,
teacher, lawyer, and politician. Quintilian was the master of oratory.

 The Greek and Roman Influence on Education:

Western culture and education inherited a rich legacy from ancient Greece and Rome. The Greeks and
Romans gave education an important role in promoting a society’s political well-being. Many ideas of the
Greeks and Romans influenced Arab scholars, who preserved and interpreted them. As Europeans
encountered Arabic scholarship, these ideas were transmitted to European and later American culture.
Islam, Arabic Learning, and Education:

 Educational Goals:

Education in Islam unequivocally derived its origin from a symbiotic relationship with religious
instruction. However, education in Islam is twofold which includes acquiring intellectual knowledge and
developing spiritual knowledge.

 Students:

Young male children beginning as early as age 4

 Instructional Methods:

Pious and learned Muslims taught the faithful in what came to be known as the “Kuttab”. The kuttab
served a vital social function as the only vehicle for formal public instruction for primary age children
and continues so until Western models of education were introduced in the modern period.

 Curriculum:

The curriculum first was the Quran only but then Islamic scholars translated the texts of leading Ancient
Greek authors such as Aristotle and Archimedes into Arabic.

 Agents:

Ibn-Rushd who wrote important commentaries on Aristotle that influenced Medieval European
scholastic educators.

 Influence on Education:

Islamic scholars contributed to astronomy, mathematics, and medicine. In mathematics, Arab scholars
adopted the number system from the Indian but made the crucial addition of zero.
 Medieval Culture and Education
Historians designate the millennium between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance as the middle Ages, or
medieval period. It is what we call the beginning of modern period. The medieval period was characterized
first by a decline in learning and then by its revival by Scholastic education.
After the Roman Empire in the west collapsed, the Catholic Church headed by the pope in Rome, partially
filled the resulting political, cultural, and educational vacuum. European formal primary education fell to the
church in parish, and monastic schools. At the secondary level, both monastic and cathedral schools offered
a general religious studies and a liberal arts curriculum. Universities such as Cambridge provided higher
education, namely in theology, law, and medicine. Merchant and craft guilds also established vocational
schools to train their apprentices’ specific trades.
As in the earlier Greek and Roman eras, class and gender limited schooling to only a small minority.
Women’s education in medieval society varied according to their socioeconomic class.
Aquinas: Scholastic Education
By the 11th century, medieval educators had developed Scholasticism—a method of theological and
philosophical scholarship, and teaching. Aquinas was primarily concerned with how to link Christian
doctrine with Aristotle’s Greek philosophy. Aquinas used both faith and reason to answer basic questions
about the Christian concept of God, the nature of humankind and the universe, and the relationship between
God and humans.
Scholastic teachers were clerics, and schools were governed and protected by the church. The curriculum
was organized into formal subjects, following the Greco-Roman liberal arts tradition.
The Medieval Contribution to Western Education
The medieval educators recorded, preserved, and transmitted knowledge by presenting it in a scholastic
framework based on the Christian religion and Aristotle’s philosophy.
 Educational Goals:
Scholasticism—a method of theological and philosophical scholarship, and teaching. Linking Christian
doctrine with Aristotle’s Greek philosophy.
 Students:
Schooling was limited to only a small minority. Women’s education varied according to their
socioeconomic class.
 Instructional Methods:
Using both faith and reason to answer basic questions about the Christian concept of God, the nature of
humankind and the universe, and the relationship between God and humans.
 Curriculum: The curriculum was organized into formal subjects, following the Greco-Roman
liberal arts tradition.
 Agents: Scholastic teachers were clerics.
  Influence on Education: Knowledge was recorded, preserved, and transmitted by presenting it in a
scholastic framework.
Renaissance Classical Humanism
The Renaissance, a transitional period between the medieval and modern ages, began in the 14th and
reached its zenith in the 15th century. Like the medieval Scholastics, Renaissance educators, called classical
humanists, looked to the past rather than the future. However, unlike the Scholastics, they based their
teaching more on literature than on theology.
In Italy, humanists saw themselves as critics and “custodians of knowledge.” Dante, a great writer of his
age, wrote in the Italian language rather than Latin. The Renaissance humanist educators were literary
figures—writers, poets, translators, and critics of society and taste. However, they kept a distance between
themselves and the mass of people.
The Renaissance Contribution to Western Education
Renaissance humanists emphasized knowledge of Latin and Greek as hallmarks of the educated person.
Rather than approaching their human subjects through scientific inquiry, however, humanist educators
explored their concerns through literature.
The invention of the printing press in 1423 in Europe advanced literacy and schooling dramatically. Before
the printing press, students painstakingly created their own copy of a text by taking dictation from teachers.
 Educational Goals:
Teaching was based more on literature than on theology.
 Students: Schooling was limited to only a small minority. Women’s education varied according to
their socioeconomic class.
 Instructional Methods:
Rather than approaching their human subjects through scientific inquiry, however, humanist educators
explored their concerns through literature.
 Curriculum:
Knowledge of Latin and Greek; mainly literature.
 Agents:
Renaissance humanists
 Influence on Education:
Literacy and schooling advanced dramatically due to the invention of printing press.
 Religious Reformation & Education
Educational Goals:

The Goal of a Child’s Education Is Both Theological and Applied and Includes Study of Nature and the
Natural WorldThe reformers’ doctrine of God’s providence and sovereignty over all creation impacted how
they approached the study of all topics, not just religion. As Jacob Hoogstra writes in his book, John Calvin:
Contemporary Prophet, there is not a single fact in the universe that is not a God-centered fact…all facts
derive their significance and meaning from the mind of God.And the following excerpt from Mark
Thompson’s book,  Engaging with Calvin, shows the importance the reformers placed on studying the
natural world:According to Calvin, science was a gift of God, created for the benefit of mankind. The real
source of natural knowledge was the Holy Spirit. Whoever dealt with it acknowledged God, obeyed the call
of God and focused on God’s creation. Thus, biology was also theology. The reformers believed that their
movement would grow through a study of the arts and sciences seen through the lens of scripture.
Some of the main goals’ classifications:
1. The love of God
2. Obedience
3. Knowledge
4. Reverence
Students:
Education Should Prepare Students to be Good Citizens of the Church and of the State
John Calvin started the Genevan Academy, which would become the model for colleges and universities for
hundreds of years. The Academy was a university that offered higher learning in a number of subjects,
including theology, training pastors and those preparing for other vocations. The school also saw their job as
raising up those who would be prepared to serve in the church and in government.
Moreover, among other historians, tells us that wherever the followers of the Reformation went, they
founded churches, schools, and colleges. Many of our early colleges like Yale, Harvard, and Princeton were
originally based on the model of the Genevan Academy.Clearly, the Reformation sparked needed change in
more than the church. Education was just one of its beneficiaries, but those benefits have spanned eras and
continents as a result of the concerns and guidance voiced by Luther, Calvin, and other reformers.
Instructional Methods:

The reformers’ interest in education did not stop at literacy. They were interested very broadly in the “what”
as well as the “how” of education.

Curriculum:

Protestants established vernacular schools to instruct children in their common spoken language (rather
than Latin). These schools offered a basic curriculum of reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion. Only
members of the officially sanctioned church were hired as teachers, and teachers were carefully supervised
to make certain they taught approved doctrines. In fact, teacher supervision and licensing developed during
the Reformation period.

By emphasizing popular literacy and increasing school attendance, the Protestant Reformation increased
participation in schooling and raised literacy rates. However, Protestant reformers continued to reserve the
prestigious classical humanist preparatory and secondary schools for upper—class boys.

Agents:

Marten Luther John Calvin

The Reformers saw the job of the teacher as extremely important. They viewed teachers as “officers and
servants of the church” and required that they not only be trained in the subjects they would teach but also
obtain a degree in theology and “be of mature and good character”. They also argued that teachers’ pay
should be generous enough to allow for poor children in their classroom who could not afford to pay for
their schooling.

Protestant religious reformers such as John Calvin and Martin Luther sought to free themselves and their
followers from papal authority during the 16th and 17th centuries. They wanted to interpret their own
religious doctrines and practices by formulating their own educational theories. So, they established their
own schools, structured their own curricula, and reared their children in the reformed creeds. They
concerned themselves with questions of knowledge, education, and schooling because they wanted these
powerful weapons to advance the Protestant cause. One question of knowledge, they asserted that every
person had the right to read the Bible as the central source of religious truth.

Influence on Education:

The Protestant Reformation in the 16th century led not only to deep changes in the doctrine, the rituals and
the leadership of the Church, but also to an aftermath that may be seen on an ecclesiastic level, as well as on
a larger level, socio-cultural and political. This European movement also had repercussions in point of
education, and the Reformers constantly evinced, among others, the necessity of a consistent religious
education provided to the young, based on the Scripture. The Protestant Reformation proved favorable to the
education of the masses, of all children, regardless of gender and social status.
Resources for Chinese:

China Highlights China Ancient Education, History of Education in China

https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/ancient-education.htm
Resources for Ancient Eygpt:

http://factsanddetails.com/

https://givemehistory.com/

http://www.legendsandchronicles.com/ancient-civilizations/ancient-egypt/ancient-egyptian-education/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336842816_Education_in_Ancient_Egypt_till_the_End_of_t
he_Graeco-Roman_Period_Some_Evidences_for_Quality

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1074487

https://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/education-ancient-egypt.html

https://mysominotes.wordpress.com/2018/08/25/history-of-education-4a-iii-what-are-the-
contributions-of-egyptian-education-to-human-civilization/

https://listverse.com/2016/08/06/10-ways-ancient-egyptians-influenced-modern-life/

https://www.relativelyinteresting.com/5-ways-the-ancient-egyptians-continue-to-influence-our-
modern-lives/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt

https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/Middle
%20East/0312egyptedu_background.pdf

https://connect.ebsco.com/s/article/History-Social-Studies-Studying-Ancient-Egypt

Resources for Hebraic :

 PowerPoints and Handouts

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcVC-nZ4mQc
 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Parmarth4.jpg
 https://educheer.com/essays/the-contributions-and-achievements-of-the-ancient-hebrews-greeks-and-
romans/
Resources for Greek and Islamic :

PowerPoint presentation and handouts

https://www.mei.edu/publications/islamic-civilization
https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2133/Islam.html
Resources for Religious Reformation & Education
Marta López Ballalta
Preacher of  the Protestant Church of Barcelona-Center
Available via license: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Goals of Protestant Reformed Education by Fred Hanko, Sr.