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Wendy Robinson, age 15, of Biloxi, Miss., for her question:

WHAT WERE THE OLDEST KNOWN SYSTEMS OF EDUCATION?

The oldest known systems of education had two important characteristics in common: they taught religion and they promoted the traditions of the people. The oldest known systems were found in Egypt, India, China, Persia and Greece.

In ancient Egypt the temple schools taught not only religion but also the principles of writing, the sciences, mathematics and architecture. Similarly, in India much of the education was carried on by priests. India was the fountainhead of the Buddhist doctrines that were taught to Chinese scholars and they in turn spread the teachings of Buddha to the various countries of the Far East.

The methods of physical training that prevailed in Persia were highly praised by several Greek writers. As a result, the educational systems of ancient Greece stressed gymnastics as well as mathematics and music.

The Bible and the Talmud are the basic sources of information about the aims and methods of education among the ancient Hebrews. They were urged by the Talmud to teach their children such subjects as vocational knowledge, swimming and a foreign language.

The educational systems in the countries of the Western world were based on the religious tradition of the Jews, both in its original form and in a version modified by Christianity.

A second tradition was derived from education in ancient Greece where Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were the influential thinkers on education. The Greek aim was to prepare intellectually well rounded young people to take leading roles in the activities of the state and of society.

In later centuries, Greek concepts served as the basis for the liberal arts, the teaching of the various branches of philosophy and cultivation of the aesthetic ideal.

As the Roman Empire declined, Christianity became a potent force in the countries of the Mediterranean region and in several other areas in Europe. The earliest types of Christian education were schools for converts; the more advanced catechetical schools were for Christians and the episcopal, or cathedral, schools trained priests.

The early Church fathers, especially St. Augustine, wrote on educational questions in light of the newly adopted Christian concepts.

Many monasteries or monastic schools as well as municipal and cathedral schools were founded during the centuries of early Christian influence.

Collections or compendiums of knowledge centered on the seven liberal arts: the trivium, composed of grammar, rhetoric and logic, and the quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music.

From the 5th to the 7th century these compendiums were prepared in the form of textbooks that generally disseminated existing knowledge rather than introducing new knowledge.

 

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