Ancient Learning: The Evolution of Education from Babylon to Medieval Universities

1. Ancient Learning Evidence that implies teaching & learning • Babylon Scribe class/tablet writers/commerce/ Royal courts • Egypt Scribal instruction/basic literacy • Greeks Sophists (5th C BCE) – Greek teachers of wisdom; spoke out on social issues, regarded as paid teachers, and taught others how to live successfully

2. Ancient Learning The “Greats” • Socrates (469—399 BCE) Dialectic to define essence of anything Instruction does not require buildings—marketplace. Plato created an academy outside of Athens (335 BCE – 529 AD) Plato studied w/Socrates and Aristotle studied w/Plato. Additional schools of philosophy in Greece • Alexandria Museum, 300 BCE Collecting place for manuscripts, attracts scholars, research center, library holding 120,000 single books • Similar Centers Mark Anthony, Julius Caesar, Asia Minor

3. Ancient Learning • Learning supported by Royal Court w/o much interference • Christian Rome replaces Greek as center of learning • Emergence of licensing of schools, allocation of space for schools • 8th C AD Church controls education to Dark Ages • 11th C Europe begins to emerge from Dark Ages • Trade, commerce, formation of guilds • Pope Gregory VII supports cathedral schools to educate clergy

4. Ancient Learning Women in Education • Education reserved for males • Some mention of learned nuns and women teachers of the young • Apostle Paul stated “A woman must be a learner, listening quietly and with due submission. But I suffer not a woman to be a teacher, nor should a woman be allowed to usurp a man’s authority, but must remain silent.”

5. Ancient Learning Women in Education cont. • Aristotle: woman was defective male  • Role: Marriage and children or convent • Some exceptions: Dorotea Bocci 1390 philosophy/Bologna

6. Ancient Learning Early Medieval (7th -12th C in Europe) • Obstacles to Education: • Church main educator • Universities suppose to search for Classical and Christian thought • Political situation • Lack of interest • Thought of as Vocational Institutions • Open Access • Lack of physical equipment

7. Ancient Learning • Pre-1500 era • Universities provided little social status • 11th and 12 centuries • Universities went from Monasteries to Cathedral schools • Academic Life: Theology & Law (Canon) • Subjects taught: The Seven Liberal Arts Trivium: grammar, rhetoric, and dialect Quadtrivium: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music 12th C. Philosophy included

8. Ancient Learning 12th Century Europe • 4 Stages in the Development of the Medieval University • Written laws – 1210 Paris reference to a written document • Right to be sued – 1212 University of Paris sued in Papal Court by local religious authority • Official seal – proof of existence of funds to pay debts (Dartmouth case) • Approval to collect money and engage in transactions – 1215 Pope gives Univ. of Paris authority to make its own rules etc.

9. Ancient Learning • Chancellor: • Paris – had restrictive authority • England – Broaden authority (spiritual, civil, criminal jurisdiction) • Students • Teachers • Townspeople • University/Town relationship • Murder • Tavern Fights • Hostile Mayors

10. Ancient Learning • Prerequisites for becoming a student Latin, read, write, speak, typical age: 14; course of study: 5 years • Letter of Recommendation • Poor Scholars

11. Ancient Learning Student schedule-Bologna 1517 Rise – 4 am Arts Lecture – 5 am Mass & Breakfast – 6 am Classes – 8 to 10 am Formal debates before noon meal Repetitions (questions about lectures) Lectures – 3to 5 pm Disputations (explanation of a statement or theory) – 5 to 6 pm Repetitions – after evening meal (beer was common) Bed – 9 pm • Fines (gambling, handball, swordplay, animals, prostitution) **Only Latin spoken in the Halls** ***No weapons*** • Punishment: deprivation of commons or meals (Flogging?)

12. Ancient Learning Course of Study • Baccalaureate 5 years Determination – exam given by a faculty member and open to the public during lent • Master’s Additional study Proscribed readings/disputations/permission to teach, pass an exam • PhD 1366 theology 16 years beyond master’s 35 years old

13. Ancient Learning Oxford & Cambridge The roots of US Higher Education • Oxford Full university towards the close of the 12th C Specialized: Arts, civil and canon law, theology, medicine (added 13th C) • Cambridge Specialized: Arts, canon law, theology, civil law, medicine (later time) 14th C students: at least 14 years, average age 15-17, undergraduate curriculum-classical