The Ancient Greek’s believed there were four aspects to education. These were: Music, Gymnastics, Mathematics, and Dialectics.
Plato saw the human person as having three parts, appetitive, spirited and rational. I wonder how much we can equate this with the more modern notion of body, mind, and heart/soul. The appetitive being the body, the spirited being what we call the heart or soul, and the rational being what we call the mind.
Different subjects were used to develop these different parts of our humanness, so that a balance was maintained between the different aspects of our nature.
Music was believed to feed the spirit, music included good stories, and we can see how this all flows together when the great literature of the time was epic poetry.
Gymnastics developed and strengthened the appetitive body. My understanding of the word gymnastic as it was used during this time was that it refereed to all physical training, exercises and sport.
The music and gymnastic together were thought to create a balance between the soft part (heart) and the savage part (body) of a person.
Mathematics uses pure reason and was the subject used to train the rational intellect. Math was how one became wise. In modern times we do not tend to think of math as having anything to do with wisdom, but perhaps it is time to rekindle that connection.
These three first aspects of education were all considered to be the preparation needed to be able to learn dialectic, which is asking and answering questions to gain philosophical insight and truth. Socrates believed that truth was the ultimate value and that truth could be discovered through reason and logical discussion. Dialectic would be introduced and taught only after a child had spent years mastering their music, gymnastics, and mathematics.
What if adults in our culture knew how to discuss arguments, or opposing positions with rational logic, in order to seek truth? Some believe Socrates point with dialectic discussion was simply to bring every one back to point where they had to admit they did not know something. That the process was not so much about seeking truth, but about proving our own human ignorance to ourselves over and over again.
To admit that we don’t have all the answers and our education does not end in us knowing every truth about everything. I think the pursuit of truth and the pursuit of proving and accepting our own ignorance are both noble endeavors that our current culture would do well to remember and revive.
But we must start with the idea of balance in education. The old idea that education is not just for the mind, or rational intellect, but for all aspects of the child. To have a well-balanced adult we must educate all the aspects of the humanness of the child, mind, heart, and body.
In a future post I will explore how I think an intuitive need for this balance is perhaps one of the root causes of why modern culture finds its child’s days overscheduled…because we seek to fill in the missing pieces.
Interesting I think we need to allow kids to identify what they want to learn. Teach them practicalities of life how to do the everyday things as they grow up, then let them ask and identify other more subject orientated learning :)
Yes, I agree practical life skills are very important and often all but ignored by our current culture. I do a lot of life skills, and some student led learning, but I found my kids picked the same topics over and over again. When I introduced them to other things, they then became interested in those things. I think there has to be some basic knowledge of something in order to spark the curiosity needed to desire further study. I still find this idea of balancing the person intriguing, and also feel that we ignore the life skill of how to have a good conversation, which in a way could perhaps be similar to the ancient practice of teaching dialectic.
Yes I agree a good point. However my gripe with our parrot learning system is that everyone is apparently the same. Kids are taught to repeat fact and figures and not investigate them or discover things for themselves. Through my schooling I was a visual learner with Dyslexia, this meant I was not normal and did not conform with the said system therefore I was lacking concentration and ability because the system we are told we MUST learn by was not suitable. Even today 20 years on children who have learning difficulties or even require a different type of learn are basically wrong. This system takes away individuality and character making everyone the same, its outdated, controlling and lacking diversity :)
You are so right on all these points, and I completely agree with you. This is one of many reasons parents turn to home schooling these day. A kid who learns a little differently can flourish with a little creativity in how things are presented. My oldest has visual processing problems and although I did not choose to home school because of that, I have met many over the years who have. The school system is just not giving their kids the support they need. Yes, the system needs to change, every child deserves more than the current system provides.
Discussion is the first step things a re changing. Lets hope these thing pick up some momentum
Many homeschooling families choose the classical approach which is related to what you have described. Education is divided in the grammar, logical and rethorical phases.
What do you think it is the reason for that? In other words, why do you think parents choose the classical approach over the traditional approach?
Traditional in the context of the United States.
I'm making the assumption that you live in the United States(22% of Steemit users are).
I think one of the reasons that classical education is chosen is a desire to provide a more in depth and holistic education than is seen in the traditional approach, as it is currently being taught in the United States. Parents want more, and classical style homeschooling is one of many educational styles they may adopt in search of that. For those who choose classical education they are reaching back into the roots of history in their quest to provide a richer and more rigorous education for their children. I am not a purist of any particular style myself, but feel that both history and modern science have a lot to teach us about learning.