Profed Handout 6 (Ta)

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION |0
EDUCATION IN THE PRELITERATE SOCIETY
CULTURALTRANSMISSION: before the invention of reading and writing the

transmission was done orally.
- Trial and Error Learning enabled our ancestors to learn survival skills in an
environment that pitted them against drought and floods, wild animals,
attacks from hostile groups. Over time the survival skills became cultural
patterns.
- Moral Codes – as groups developed survival skills, they passed these on to
their children.
They marked the passage from childhood to adulthood with ritual dancing,
music and dramatic acting to create a powerful supernatural meaning and
evoke a moral response.
Children learned the group’s prescriptions (acceptable behavior) and the
proscriptions or taboos (forbidden behavior).
Oral Tradition as a means to transmit cultural heritage – elders,

priests, gifted storytellers sang or recited narratives of the group’s
past.
Combining myths and legends, the oral tradition told young people
about the heroes, victories and defeats.
Songs and stories helped young people learned the spoken
language and develop more abstract thinking about time and space.
STORYTELLING
remains a powerful tool, an engaging strategy in the classroom today.
Through stories, learners meet their culture and its heroes, legends and past.
LITERACY – as toolmakers, they made and used spears, axes arrows

and other tools – the earliest examples of technology.
As language users, they created manipulative symbols in signs,

pictographs, and letters, creating a written language was a great
cultural leap to literacy and then to schooling.
To understand the worldwide movement to develop schools in literate

society, a global reference has to be considered.
- Historical survey begins with China, India and Egypt.
KEY PERIODS IN EDUCATIONAL HISTORY:

1. Preliterate Societies: 7000 B.C. - 5000 B.C.
2. China: 3000 B.C. to A.D.1900
3. India: 3000 B.C. to the present

4. Egypt: 3000 B.C.to 300 B.C.
5. Greek: 1600 B.C. to 300 B.C.

6. Roman: 750 B.C.to A.D.450
7. Arabic: A.D.700 to A.D. 1350

8. Medieval: A.D. 500 to A.D. 1400
9. Renaissance: A.D. 1350 to A.D. 1500
10. Reformation: A.D.1500 to A.D. 1600
PRELITERATE SOCIETIES 7000 B.C. To 5000 B.C

Educational Goal Instructional Methods
To teach group survival skills and - Informal instruction; children

group cohesiveness imitating adult skills and
Students: children in the group values
Curriculum Agents
- Survival skills of hunting, Parents, tribal elders and priests

fishing, food gathering
- stories, myths, songs, poems and
dances
INFLUENCES ON MODERN EDUCATION
EMPHASIS ON INFORMAL EDUCATION TO TRANSMIT SKILLS AND

VALUES
CHINA 3000 B.C. To A.D. 1900

To prepare elite officials to govern - Memorization and recitation

the empire according to Confucian of classic texts
principles
Students: males of gentry class
Curriculum Agents
- Confucian classic - Government officials
written examination for civil service and other professions
INDIA 3000 B.C. To present

To learn behaviors and rituals - Memorizing and interpreting

based on the Vedas sacred texts
Students: males of upper castes
Curriculum Agents
- Vedas and religious texts Brahmin priests-scholars

Cultural transmission and assimilation; spiritual detachment
EGYPT 3000 B.C. To 300 B.C.
To prepare priests-scribes to - Memorizing and copying

administer the empire dictated texts
Students: males of upper classes
Curriculum Agents
- Religious or technical texts Priests and scribes
Restrictions of educational controls and services to a priestly elite; use of

education to prepare bureaucracy
GREEK 1600 B.C. To 300 B.C.

ATHENS: to cultivate civic - -Primary Schools:

responsibility and identification with drill, memorization, recitation
city-state and to develop well-
rounded persons Higher Schools:
lecture,
discussion,
SPARTA: to train soldiers and military
dialogue
leaders
Students: male children of citizens;
ages 7-20
Curriculum Agents
- ATHENS: reading, writing, ATHENS: private teachers and

arithmetic, drama, music, schools, Sophists, philosophers
physical education, literature,
poetry
- SPARTA: drill, military songs SPARTA: military officers
and tactics
ATHENS: the concept of well-rounded, liberally educated person
SPARTA: the concept of serving the military stare
ROMAN 750 B.C. To A.D. 450

To develop civic responsibility for - Primary Schools: drill,

republic then empire; to develop memorization, recitation
administrative and military skills
- Rhetorical Schools:
Students: male children of citizens; declamation
ages 7-20
Curriculum Agents
Reading, writing, arithmetic, Laws of Private schools and teachers;

Twelve Tables, Law, Philosophy schools of rhetoric
Emphasis on education for administrative skills; relating education to

civic responsibility
ARABIC A.D. 700 To A.D. 1350
To cultivate religious commitment - Lower Schools: drill,

to Islamic beliefs; to develop memorization, recitation
expertise in mathematics, medicine

and science - Higher Schools: imitation and
discussion
Students: male children of upper
classes, ages 7-20
Curriculum Agents
- Reading, writing, Mosques, court schools

mathematics, religious
literature, scientific studies
Arabic numerals and computation; reentry of classical materials on

science and medicine
MEDIEVAL A.D. 500 To A.D. 1400
To develop religious commitment, - Lower Schools: Drill,

knowledge and ritual; to prepare memorization, recitation,
persons for appropriate role in a chanting
hierarchical society
- -Higher Schools and

Universities: textual analysis
Students: children of upper classes and disputation
or those entering religious life, ages
7-20 - Higher Schools: imitation and
discussion
Curriculum Agents
- Reading, writing, arithmetic, Parish, chantry and cathedral

liberal arts; philosophy, schools; universities,
theology; crafts; military apprenticeship, knighthood
tactics and chivalry
Established structure, content and organization of universities as major

institutions of higher education; the institutionalization and preservation
of knowledge
RENAISSANCE A.D. 1350 To A.D. 1500

To cultivate humanist experts in - Memorization, translation

the classics (Greek and Latin); and analysis of Greek and
Roman classics
to prepare courtiers for service
to dynamic leaders
Students: male children of

aristocracy and upper classes, ages
7-20
Curriculum Agents
- Latin, Greek, classical Classical humanist educators and

literature, poetry, arts schools such as the lycee,
gymnasium, and Latin schools
Emphasis on literary knowledge, excellence and style as expressed in

classical literature; a two-track system of schools
REFORMATION A.D. 1500 To A.D. 1600

To instill commitment to a - Memorization, drill,

particular religious denomination; indoctrination, catechetical
to cultivate general literacy instruction in vernacular
schools;
Students: boys and girls ages 7-12 - translation and analysis of
in vernacular schools; classical literature in
humanist schools
young men ages 7-12 of
upper class backgrounds in
humanist schools
Curriculum Agents
- Reading, writing, arithmetic, Vernacular elementary schools for

catechism, religious concepts the masses; classical schools for the
and ritual; Latin and Greek; upper class
theology
A commitment to universal education to provide literacy to the masses;

the origin of school systems with supervision to ensure doctrinal
conformity; the dual-track school system based on socioeconomic class
and career goals
-END-

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PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION |0

EDUCATION IN THE PRELITERATE SOCIETY

CULTURALTRANSMISSION: before the invention of reading and writing the

Oral Tradition as a means to transmit cultural heritage – elders,

LITERACY – as toolmakers, they made and used spears, axes arrows

As language users, they created manipulative symbols in signs,

To understand the worldwide movement to develop schools in literate

- Historical survey begins with China, India and Egypt.

KEY PERIODS IN EDUCATIONAL HISTORY:

3. India: 3000 B.C. to the present

5. Greek: 1600 B.C. to 300 B.C.

7. Arabic: A.D.700 to A.D. 1350

PRELITERATE SOCIETIES 7000 B.C. To 5000 B.C

To teach group survival skills and - Informal instruction; children

- Survival skills of hunting, Parents, tribal elders and priests

INFLUENCES ON MODERN EDUCATION

EMPHASIS ON INFORMAL EDUCATION TO TRANSMIT SKILLS AND

CHINA 3000 B.C. To A.D. 1900

To prepare elite officials to govern - Memorization and recitation

- Confucian classic - Government officials

INFLUENCES ON MODERN EDUCATION

written examination for civil service and other professions

INDIA 3000 B.C. To present

To learn behaviors and rituals - Memorizing and interpreting

- Vedas and religious texts Brahmin priests-scholars

INFLUENCES ON MODERN EDUCATION

Cultural transmission and assimilation; spiritual detachment

EGYPT 3000 B.C. To 300 B.C.

Educational Goal Instructional Methods

To prepare priests-scribes to - Memorizing and copying

Students: males of upper classes

- Religious or technical texts Priests and scribes

INFLUENCES ON MODERN EDUCATION

Restrictions of educational controls and services to a priestly elite; use of

GREEK 1600 B.C. To 300 B.C.

ATHENS: to cultivate civic - -Primary Schools:

- ATHENS: reading, writing, ATHENS: private teachers and

INFLUENCES ON MODERN EDUCATION

ATHENS: the concept of well-rounded, liberally educated person

SPARTA: the concept of serving the military stare

ROMAN 750 B.C. To A.D. 450

Educational Goal Instructional Methods

To develop civic responsibility for - Primary Schools: drill,

Reading, writing, arithmetic, Laws of Private schools and teachers;

INFLUENCES ON MODERN EDUCATION

Emphasis on education for administrative skills; relating education to

ARABIC A.D. 700 To A.D. 1350

Educational Goal Instructional Methods

To cultivate religious commitment - Lower Schools: drill,

expertise in mathematics, medicine

- Reading, writing, Mosques, court schools

INFLUENCES ON MODERN EDUCATION

Arabic numerals and computation; reentry of classical materials on

MEDIEVAL A.D. 500 To A.D. 1400

Educational Goal Instructional Methods

To develop religious commitment, - Lower Schools: Drill,

- -Higher Schools and

- Reading, writing, arithmetic, Parish, chantry and cathedral

INFLUENCES ON MODERN EDUCATION