EFN 112: HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION

Purpose of the Course

The purpose of this course is to facilitate a critical and analytical thinking on the development of
education by analyzing the historical development of the discipline from time immemorial to the
present.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

History of education involves an evaluation of past educational developments in the context of social,
cultural, economic and political changes in human history, comprising the historical survey of
educational theory and practice. This unit traces the development of education from immemorial time
to the present. This will help the student to understand the development of education in his country and
the foundations that provide the base for the current educational policies, theories and practices. The
unit is divided into three main parts: One, the evolution of western education systems, secondly,
introduction and development of western education in Africa and lastly the rise and development of
education in Kenya

• General objective: understand how education has evolved over centuries

• specific objectives

i. Describe the role and importance of studying history of education.

ii. Explain the factors and movements which have influenced the development of western
education

iii. State how the evolution of ideas on education have helped to shape modern systems of
education in Africa

iv. Explain the existence and importance of indigenous education in Africa and its relevance to the
theory and practice of modern education

v. Examine the contribution of some educational thinkers to modern systems of education in Africa

vi. Explain how education has developed in Kenya.

Course content
 History

Historians have defined history as the record of all past human experience showing how groups
of people have evolved. It is concerned with political, social, economic, scientific, and
technological factors that have shaped the growth and development of mankind (The story of
man).

Education

Educationists have defined education as;

 The total process by which human abilities and behavior are developed.

 The organized and continuous instructions in an imparting knowledge, skills, attitudes,

values, norms, traditions, and understanding necessary to full participation in life.

 It is a social process through which a member of a society achieves individual growth,

development and competence.

History of Education

It is defined as the study past development of educational systems, theories and institutions
within the general historical framework of political, social, economic, scientific, and cultural
changes that different societies have gone through overtime.

Scope of History of Education

 Formal

 Informal

 Non-formal

i)Formal Education

This refers to the institutional form of learning found in educational institutions or schools.
These schools are of different levels which societies have established to be agents of
transmitting knowledge, norms, attitudes and skills

ii)Informal Education

It refers to total cultural and educative contact into which individual is born, grow and mature.
Through this, individuals acquire cultural roles that needed to be accepted and be useful
members of society. The agents include: family, church, print and mass media, peer groups etc.

iii)Non-formal
 This refers to the planned educational activities and programmes such as Drama, Athletics,
Music, Debates, Science Congress, and Educational Tours.

Characteristics of non-formal education

 Needs oriented

 Targets a particular out-of-school group of people

 Is flexible in terms of time-tabling, age

 It is not competitive.

 It is highly utilitarian and diversified to meet the needs of the beneficiaries.

 It is not structured in levels.

In summary, therefore, education is enculturation and there are three forms of education;

i) Formal education – occurs in formal institutions e.g. schools through organized curriculum.

ii) Informal education – takes place outside formal structures & its unorganized e.g. traditional
African education.

iii) Non-formal education – its organized education learning outside formal school structures
e.g. workshops, seminars, civic education.

Reasons for studying history of education by a teacher

a) Improving quality of education:

The study of the past education systems theories and practices have lessons which can be used
to improve our education system.

The problems and challenges that we face in our education system aren’t unique. Others
experienced the same challenges in the past and attempted solutions with varying degrees of
successes and failures. We can borrow their past successes and avoid past failures.

b) Understanding our education system better.

 History not only teaches us what education is but also where it came from, where it is and
where it is likely to be in future

 This study of History of Education helps us to appreciate the road travelled by education to
reach where it is today.
c) Strengthening professional competence of the teacher

The study of History of education affects the way teachers conduct the personal and
professional activities.

It strengthens the professional competence of a teacher by encouraging the teacher to examine,

evaluate, accept or modify cultural heritage and become an educational critic and agent of
change rather than to accept blindly unchallenged claims.

d) Making comparisons within historical perspective.

By studying history of education a teacher is able to draw comparisons of several ideas and
practices in education in different societies. Thus the teachers will be able to formulate better
principles and patterns.

In addition the teacher will understand the circumstance under which a particular theory or
practice developed and the purpose it was intended to serve.

e) Satisfying intellectual curiosity.

History of Education has its own body of knowledge and conventional ways of acquiring that
knowledge.

Human beings, teachers and student teachers have inherent desire or curiosity to understand
what education is where it came from, where it is and what is bound to be in the future.

Studying history of education satisfies this innate curiosity.

F) Developing power of Thinking.

Study of history of education disciplines the faculty of reason, excites curiosity encourages self-
expression and can cultivate the attitude of the mind that characterizes and educated person i.e
attitude of criticism and skepticism

g) Exposing one to knowledge in other discipline.

Historians of education must always go beyond the confines of their discipline in order to
understand the nature of the phenomena they are studying they make use of knowledge in
other disciplines such as: Sociology, Philosophy, and Comparative Education &Psychology.
 EDUCATION IN THE ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

Education in Ancient Egypt

Egyptian Civilization

 Egyptian civilization is the oldest in the world.

 It precedes the Chinese, Indians, Greek and Roman civilization

 It reached its peak between 400Bc- 1000 BC

 It’s also the earliest civilization with a recorded history

 The Egyptian civilization is as a result of the presence of River Nile which provided water for
irrigation and political unity between upper and lower kingdom in 3100 BC by Pharaoh Menes

 Egyptian Religion. In Egypt all the things including life were inseparable from religion

The Egyptians had gods and goddesses in excess of 2000, had over 2000 gods.

This made the father of Greek history: Herodotus to describe the Egyptians as extremely
religious.

Example of the gods: RA-Sun-god

Osiris –Judge of the death and gods

ISIS-the wife of Osiris

Pharaoh was considered the deity /god king on earth he owned all the land he ensured the gods
were worships and sacrifices offered to them. The Egyptians believed physical life after death as
a result they developed a sophisticated method of body preservation known as mummification.

Social Classes

Egypt society was divided/ stratified into three classes.

 Upper class: nobles, members of royal family and priests

 Middle class: professionals scribes

 Lower class: Serfs/fellahin’s/manual worker.

Aims of Education – Egypt.

a) Perpetuate social stability and to maintain status quo

 b) To produce professionals and labour oriented personnel therefore Egyptian education was
practical, technical and utilitarian.

c) With River Nile being the heart of Egypt civilization education aimed at development and
piety/respect to gods.

Structure of Education

Education was structured at three levels.

 Elementary education

 Secondary education

 Higher education.

Elementary education

It began in 3000 BC -2000 BC in response to the needs of the people.

Initially it was vocational with no literacy skills. Literacy skills were restricted to the sons of the
clergy later it was extended to those of other classes.

The few lucky boys began school at the age of 4 years and left at the age of 14 years when they
were ready for the world of work.

Content of Elementary Education.

i. Mastering signs and symbols of writing

ii. Elementary science

iii. Geometry

iv. Astronomy

Methods of teaching

i) Copying of texts

ii) Memorization

iii) imitation

iv) Participation

v) Observation
 These methods did not encourage higher level of thinking, spirit of enquiry and problem solving

 The teachers hardly explained their lessons

 Discipline was very harsh and cruel, it included use of corporal punishment

 Laziness was discouraged and severely punishable

 Good manners was encouraged, physical fitness and cleanliness

 To Egyptians cleanliness had a religious significance

 The unlucky boys were informally trained at home by their fathers in other skills rather than
literacy

 They were taught through oral tradition and apprenticeship

 Girls and slaves did not receive education

 Girls were taught domestic duties at home by their mothers.

Secondary Education

It was conducted in the same premises as elementary education

It was a continuation and consolidation of skills learned at elementary education especially the
skills of writing and craftsmanship

Boys from the upper class were informally taught etiquette appropriate to their class.

Higher and Professional Education

It was provided in temples, colleges and universities (TEL-EL-ARMAN- resembles modern

university buildings) higher education was secretly guarded, offered to close relatives, colleague
and those of social equals.

Contribution of Egyptian Education to Modern Education.

In art- modern painting and sculpture borrowed from Egyptian education

In architecture- the Egyptians were the first to successfully use mass with stones in copying
massive desert cliffs’ to build pyramids.

In medicine- the Egyptians set blood circulation, physiology and surgery. They are believed to be
originators of Hippocratic Oath.

They came up with advanced mortuary science. I.e. mummification.

In mathematics- the Egyptians system of multiplication was used until recently in Eastern Europe
and Asia.

In literature, the Egyptians used proverbs, similes, aphorisms, etc,

to teach moral conduct, methods that are in extensive use in today's

teaching.

In astronomy they produced the best calender in the ancient world which was later

refined by the romans

In writing- the Egyptians system of writing known as hieroglyphics they wrote on papyrus (a
plant) using a stylus.

By developing a very elaborate education system the egyptians set off the course

of human civilisation which ended up influencing the course of modern civilisation.

It influenced the Greek educators and great thinkers.

They taught Archimedes, Pythagoras [both became great Mathematicians],

Herodotus [Father of History], Plato and Aristotle [great philosophers and educators]

EDUCATION IN ANCIENT GREECE

-The Greeks/ Hellenes settled in the Greek peninsula sometimes around 2000 BC.

-They formed themselves into 20 cities or polis

-Each city state was independent. However the Greeks were united by common language,
common religion and civilization.

-The Greek society was stratified into three classes

Namely: - Citizens

- Non-citizens

- State owned slaves

-Provision or non-provisions of education depended on the class one was in the Greek
civilization divided into two period’s; old and new period.

-The old period lasted from 900bc -776BC that was the year of first Olympiads. Olympic games
were held for the first time in the world.

-This period was communicated by Homer, a Greek Literary philosopher hence it was referred to
as Homeric Period

-This period was theoretically and discipline based and represented by the city state of Sparta.

The new period Lasted from 431 BC to 4th century when Greece had become an integrate part of
the Roman Empire. This period was oriented towards peace and war.

EDUCATION IN ANCIENT SPARTA

-Education in Sparta was regulated by a constitution of Lycurgus 850-800BC

-The constitution established a socialist military state, with a state controlled education

-Sparta was situated in the middle of hostile conquered neighbors whose population both
within and outside the polis greatly outnumbered the Spartans e.g. in 9 th century the population
of Spartans was 9000 while those of Non-Spartans were 250,000

For this reason the aims of Spartans Education were:

-To produce brave warriors for the survival of state

-Instill loyalty and patriotism among the Spartan youth

-Instill endurance

-Instill obedience
 Structure of Education in Sparta

-At birth the infants were inspected by state officials known as superintendent to know if they
are deformed or well formed

-They were exposed to ice and snow in the mountains [elements of weather to weed out the
weaklings

-At 7yrs the boys were taken to barracks

-Life in the barracks was harsh e.g. that bathed using cold water, given a small ratio of food and
received severe beatings from elders

-At 18yrs old, the boy became a cadet citizen or aphelia then the boy began a two-year intensive
training

-At 20yrs old, the boys were to be posted to the boarder where they stayed for 10yrs

-At 30yrs old, the boys now became a full citizen and were allowed to marry but they continued
living in communal barracks

Content of education

-Reading

-Arithmetic and writing but those three were not emphasized.

Others were:

-Physical training

-Military training these were emphasized

-Gymnastics

-Drills

-Girls did not receive formal education

-They were taught gymnastics at home.

-They aim of teaching girls gymnastics

- Make them big so that they would produce brave and big boys for Spartan war
machine.

Spartan education produced no Arts, Literature, Philosophy or even Science

Education emphasized
 - strength of character

- stamina

- Endurance

- discipline

- patriotism

- loyalty

- physical fitness

ATHENIAN EDUCATION

-It’s not known for certain when Athenian education began

-Oral traditional pointed to legislation in 594BC which was given by a leader known as SOLON
directing Athenian Boys to be taught reading and swimming.

-Like the Spartans Athenian believed in the supremacy of the state but unlike the Spartans they
believed that individual fulfillment or self-actualization was good for the welfare of the state.

-Athenian education was both general and liberal

-The training of the body was linked to the training of the mind.

-The Athenians fostered to develop humanities and sciences

-Athenians teachers lived on fees paid by the private students

-Position of a teacher in a society was very low

-It was even abusive to be called a teacher

-At birth parents decided whether to expose their child or spare.

-Both boys and girls were trained at home by their mothers and nurses up to 7 years of age

-At 7years the boys went to school

-Girls did not receive formal education but were taught domestic duties by mothers at home
-Girls and even women did not get the privilege of becoming citizens

-They were regarded as aliens

-The boys attended two schools

- gymnastic schools for physical training

- Music school for literacy and music

-It was possible that the boys attended both schools in one day

-Discipline both at home and in school was very harsh

-It included corporal punishment

-At 16 years the boy became a cadet citizen

-At 18 years the boy became a full citizen

-The boy attended private schools between 7-15 years

-From 16-18 years he attended state schools.

NEW ATHENIAN EDUCATION.

-This education began in 5th century

-In 480 BC the country of Persia under the leader known as Pericles invaded GREECE.

-Athenians mobilized other city states and defeated Persia

-Athens now extended its territory, in extending their territory; new people came in, foreigners,
traders, and travelers.

-Citizenship was opened to all

-Individual prosperity was seen to be more important than birth

-There was Cultural Revolution

-There was a high demand for education

-This led to a rise of people known as sophists

-Sophists were paid travelling teachers

-They moved from one place to another teaching and were paid for the services.
 -They claimed they could teach anything

-They argued on both sides of a case

-To the sophists everything was relative including truth and morality

-They had negative influence on the youth and created a moral gap between the youth and the
old.

-Great mediators attempted to bridge the gap

-The mediators attempted to bridge the gap.

-Those mediators were 3; Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Greek philosophers

-They came up with an education system of three levels; elementary, secondary and higher
Education

Elementary Education

-It was attended by boys aged 8- 13 years

-They were taught: reading, arithmetic, writing and chanting/ music

-Secondary Education: was attended by boys aged 14-16 years

-They learned geometry, grammar, astronomy, drawing, literature.

Higher education: was attended by boys of aged 17 and above

-They emphasized on clear thinking, debate and elaboration.

-University of Athens was an intellectual centre in the world up to 529AD when it was closed
down by a Roman Empire; JUSTIMAN. He accused it for promoting paganism.

EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ROME

Rome begun as a small city state in the Italian Peninsula.

Between 509BC – 250BC there were two classes of people in Rome; Patrician& Plebicians

Patrician: they were land owners

 They elected 300 members to the senate which made policies

 The policies were executed by two elected councils who served for one year.
 The council had

- Executive

- Political

- Judicial

- Religious

- Military powers in Rome

Plebecians

-They were the second class citizens.

-They were of low socio economic status

-They did not have political and land rights. However, they were the majority in the military.

-They threatened to secede or to break away from Rome and establish their own city state.

-The patricians conceded and allowed the plebicians to elect ten members to the tribunal to
represent them in the senate.

-With time the wealthy plebecians intermarried with the patricians and the class difference
between them was narrowed

EDUCATION IN THE OLD ROME

-The home was the main educational agency and the father played an important role in the
boy’s education.

-The boy accompanied the father to his place of work and learned from whatever the father
was doing.

Content of education

 Physical training

 Military training

 Roman training

 Moral training

 Religious training

 Reading
 Writing

 Arithmetic

 Learning Roman laws- written on stone tablets

Characteristics of an Educated Person

-One must be highly practical.

-One must be able to supervise slaves

-Manage land effectively

-One must be patriotic and should know roman laws and traditions

Greek Influence on the Roman Education

-The Romans conquered Greece and made it to be part of their empire

-The Romans realized that Greek language was very important particularly in commercial
activities.

-The Romans used Greek boys who were captured as slaves to teach the Roman boys Greek
language.

-They didn’t have education system and education was provided by private agencies.

-Later they adopted an education system based on Greek model

-They came up with education system of 3 levels: elementary, Secondary& Higher education.

Elementary education

-It was attended by boys aged 7-14

Content:

 Chanting/music

 Reading

 Arithmetic

 Writing

Secondary education
 Was attended by boys aged 14-16

They learned:

 Grammar

 Poetry

 Composition

 Latin grammar

Higher Education

-Was attended by boys aged 17 and above

-They learned rhetoric as a preparation of political life/public workers

-Oratory skills were very important .e.g. to influence force in the senate and also to control the
crowds and inspire the troops

-A good orator was seen to be an educated person

EDUCATION DURING MEDIEVAL PERIOD

Introduction

-The term medieval refers to a period in European history which stretched from 5th century to
15th century (AD)

-It is also known as middle Ages; or

Dark ages in European History.

-During this period the Roman Empire had collapsed and there was chaos, disorder and
hopelessness in Europe and the world.

MAIN STREAM RELIGIONS & EDUCATION IN MEDIEVAL PERIOD IN EUROPE

CHRISTIANITY DURING MEDIEVAL PERIOD

 Christianity began as a small sect in 1st century in Palestine

 It attracted followers from the low class in the society

 Towards the end of the first century it started attracting followers from the upper class
 4th C. AD, Constantine become the first Roman emperor to be converted to Christianity.

 He declared Christianity to be a state religion in the whole empire of Rome.

Church Related Educational Institutions.

The Roman Catholic Church had administrative system similar to that of the Roman Empire.

Church established education institution for its own interest

The Roman Catholic Church wanted the church theologians, catechists, teachers, lawyers and
administrators in their institution.

Educational institutions set up by the church were:

l) Parish schools - They were established within each parish

- The parish priest were supposed to be in charge but he appointed somebody to

supervise

- It was attended by boys within the parish.

- The boys learned reading, writing, arithmetic, religious instructions, religious

rituals.

- They are similar to today’s Sunday schools

II) Monastic schools - They were established within in monasteries

- They specialized in 7 liberal arts

- The liberal arts were divided to 2; elementary liberal art

Advanced liberal art

- Elementary liberal art was known as trivium (grammar, logic & rhetoric)

- Advanced liberal art was known as Quadrivium arithmetic, geometry,

astronomy, music

- The monastery is equivalent to today’s secondary schools.

lll)Convent schools- they were attended by girls within the convent and the surrounding
family.

- The curriculum was similar to that of parish schools

- In addition girls learned domestic science/home science

 iv) Song school - Established by Pope Gregory the great in 540- 604 AD for elementary
classes.

v) Chantry/music schools - it reflected peoples thinking at that time

- People believed that life on earth wasn’t important, what was important was
life to come.

- They believed that when a person died the soul had to stay for some time
purgatory.

- The rich man donated land and the money to the priests.

- The proceeds from the land and the money were to be used by the priests to
train the boys for choir/Music so that they could sing when the bodies of the rich
were brought to church for mass.

- The priest did as they were instructed but later they taught boys other subjects
such as reading, writing, arithmetic, religious ritual and instructions

- The chantry school started providing education for the poor in the society.

vi) Cathedral schools- this provided the highest level of education.

The curriculum included liberal arts

They also taught additional courses such as: mathematics, law, philosophy, literature &
theology.

These courses were offered depending on the availability of masters

Later some cathedrals become universities.

ISLAM AND EDUCATION IN THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD

 Islam means surrender to the will of God (Allah)

 The founder of the religion in Islam was known as Mohammed

 Mohammed was born in 570AD in Mecca.

 The religion of Islam was revealed to Mohammed by God through angel Gabriel

 The teachings of Islam were based on two Holy books:

 Quran- this teaches about religious practices

  Hadith- it’s about prophets’ tradition

In 622 AD Mohammed fled from Mecca to Medina the flight called Hegira.

By the time Mohammed died in 632 AD Islam had become a world religion

Aims of Islam Education

 To facilitate the worship of God Allah education is a religious duty and a must for all practicing
Muslims irrespective of race or gender Mohammed himself was illiterate but he encouraged
Muslims to seek knowledge anywhere irrespective of the source.

 Education is a long-life process from birth to death

 For moral and character refinement

 To exploit natural and cultural resources for the betterment of human life

 For vocational and industrial skills so that one participates in various trades eg
entrepreneurship, marketing, design, finance.

Structure of Education

It was structured at 3 levels

o Elementary education – it provided institutions known as Kuttah

o It’s for both girls and boys

o It’s free

o Curriculum: reading, writing, geography, ethics, history,

arithmetic

o Quran is mainly emphasized

o It is also referred to as Koranic schools

o Secondary education - it’s provided in institutions known as madrasas

o It’s attended by children of the wealthy because fees is paid

o Head of madrasas is a Rector

o The teachers are highly qualified and well educated

o Higher education - it’s offered in institutions known as Jamii / universities

 o At the universities faculties/ schools specialize on science
discipline.

o They have well equipped labs and medical clinic where students
do experiments.

Features of Islamic education

a) There are no rules and regulations

b) Teachers’/ pupils relationship is cordial or friendly

c) Fees is nominal it can be paid in cash or in kind

d) There are these sessions in a day whose beginning and ending at teachers decision

e) Schools run from Saturday to Wednesday

f) During Ramadhan pupils accompany teachers to the preaching grounds

g) The teachers can declare holiday during; burial, naming ceremony

h) Qualifications of teachers vary.

i) The walimat graduation ceremony is very important in a Muslims life.

Contributions of Islamic Education to Modern Education.

 They pioneer in the study of sciences: as pioneers they transformed ancient alchemy to
chemistry they came up with chemical substances: potash, alcohol, sulphuric acid and citric acid.

 In mathematics they came up with the decimal and digital zero and algebra

 In medicine knowledge in blood circulation, diet and surgery in surgery they use anesthesia

 In physics they came up with pendulum

 They taught geography using globe

 In agriculture they came up with use of fertilizers, crop rotation, scientific breading of cattle and
horses

 They spent a lot of resources in building libraries.

 Establishment of scientific of institutions and institutes of higher learning.

 The first conference of science was held in Bagdad in the 8th Century before establishment of
western countries.
 THE RISE OF MEDIVAL UNIVERSITIES

Universities are institution of higher learning

Republic of scholars committed to three things:

– dissemination of knowledge through teaching

- Advancement of knowledge through research

- Conservation of knowledge through libraries.

European universities came into existence from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries

The last migratory Teutons, accepted a settled life in the tenth and eleventh centuries.

In the resulting quest for universal knowledge, the need arose

for higher education, for dialectic discussions and for intellectual interests.

Cathedral and monastic schools came into prominence.

These schools were later to be known as universities

The essential elements of early universities were students and teachers.

They found their models in the universities of Spain.

Factors for the Rise of Medieval Universities.

a) The crusades –This were the wars between western Europe (Christian) and eastern Europe
(Muslims)

- The crusades lasted for several years

- The wars brought Western Europe in contact with Eastern Europe.

- Europeans realized Muslims had superior civilization

 - Muslim civilization was as a result of their education

- Knowledge was respected and schools were built in every village universities in towns.

- On their return home the Europeans established educational institutions similar to those in the
Muslim world.

b) The Roman Catholic Church – They gave universities charters.

They provided universities with building and also with financial resources.

c) The Kings-Like the Roman Catholic, the kings gave universities charters other than that the King gave
universities other privileges e.g. university students were exempted from compulsory military
services.

- They were exempted from paying taxes

- Taxes Jurisdiction could go to town eat what they want, drink what they want and no legal
action was taken on them.

d) Growth of towns and cities – They provided buildings for lecture halls, offices and students
accommodation.

e) Growth of wealth: By 10th people had moved to the urban centres.

- They engaged in commercial activities, this led to rise of middle class such as merchants,
bankers etc.

- This middle class had money which they invested in education

- Investment in university education was very profitable because the skill acquired at universities
were on high demand.

f) Peace and stability – By 10 century AD peace had returned to Western Europe after wars with the
Muslims had come to an end.

With peace there was hope, people could plan and invest for the future.

g) Influence of Muslim scholars/Islamic influence: Muslims had established universities before

Europeans.

Europeans studied in Muslim institutions. After completing their education they returned to
their countries and established new educational institutional or modified the existing ones
based on their experiences in the Muslim world.

h) Improvement of means of transport: By 10th century AD in Erope,means of transport had improved

- This facilitated movement of students and masters

- The European traders came in conduct with traders; this facilitated the exchange of ideas.

- Development taking place in one area replicated in another.

ORGANIZATION OF MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITIES.

 Masters – People teaching in universities

 They organized themselves according to faculty and elected the head who had the title dean.

 Student – grouped themselves according to regions they came from.

 They elected the student’s council to represent them from the day to day affairs in the
university.

 Representation of the masters and students representative elected the head of the university
known as rector.

Teaching Methods

The teaching methods were;-Lecture method: The master dict dictated a text to the students

- He explained what other commentators had said about the text

- Explain his view and asked the students what they thought.

Extra – Ordinary lecture method –Students were given a topic to research after which they did a
presentation in class to other students which would also ask questions.

Disputation –The students were given a topic for research and presentation done to the whole
university

Examinations;-Oral exam and written exam

Degrees Awarded

There were – Bachelors – It took 4 years

- Masters – It took 5 -7 years

- Doctorate – it took 8-12 years

 RENAISSANCE AND EDUCATION.

The term renaissance means – rebirth of knowledge revival of learning.

This took place in Europe between 1320 AD and1600

This period emphasis was worldliness (secularism, scholarly exactness)

Differences between medieval period and renaissances periods

- Medieval emphasis focus on God and heaven – Focuses on man/worldliness

- Rejection of the body –Glorified the body

- Faith was emphasized- Reason was more important than faith

- Things happened because of miracles- Things happened by scientific laws

- Hopelessness –Period of optimism

Causes of Renaissance

1. The spirit of discussion in medieval universities –the universities with the new faculties of
law and medicine which supplemented theology encouraged spirit of inquiry and investigation.

2. The crusades of 1095-1270 AD– It led to the rise of a middle class. The middle class had
desire for new products and even new commodities. The middle class had new manner of living.

The crusades brought European trades to come in contact with Muslim traders.

3. Age of discoveries-The explorers e.g. Magellan discovered that the earth was spherical. The
scientist come up with some discoveries e.g. Copernicus who also said the earth as spherical.

4. Nationalism – In nationalism, people grouped themselves based on their language religion

and even boundaries. When they grouped themselves they formed nations in education they
used vernacular as a medium of instruction.

5. Invention of printing – Paper was introduced to Western Europe from Eastern Europe initially
people wrote on manuscripts this led to invention of printing. Bodies were available in large
quantities – the prices were now low .Many people could access information in the text books.

6. The degeneration of the Roman Catholic Church –The church collapsed because of
corruption. A part from that, the main problem was the sale of indulgences (forgiveness of sins)
people lost faith in church and focused on contemporary and worldly things.
 The Order of Chivalry

The order of chivalry, a secular ideal adopted by the rich,

emphasised prowess and character. This led to greater faith in human

capacities and possibilities in opposition to the dogmatic ecclesiastical

bondage.

Impact of Renaissance on Education

i) Liberal education: Renaissance encouraged freedom of the individuals. Education aimed at

producing a free man.

ii) Humanistic Education: It encouraged the study of Greek and roman languages i.e.
humanities. It contained elements of modern education.