History of Education

Education can take place outside the four walls of a classroom. History is a study or focus on past events. It could be either about various theories, systems or other related phenomenon of the past. The study of past Education enables us understand how it has evolved and developed.
History is therefore the study of the past, analysing of the present and for casting the future.

GREEK EDUCATION
People from Greece are called ‘greeks’. The land of Greece is known as ‘THE BALANCE PENINSULA’. It is close to the Mediterranean Sea. The people of the modern Greece are a mixture of the ARYAN RACE and the inhabitants of Balkan peninsula. Ethnic groups settled in towns like:
▪Sparta
▪Athens
▪Corinth
(These were City states/towns) Their objectives of Education will be futher explained later on.

In terms of Religion the Greeks were and are still polytheistic- meaning they served many God’s and goddesses like Zeus, Hermes, Apollo, Aphrodite, Athena, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Persephone and many others.
Among the City states Sparta confined themselves to agriculture and the arts of war as well as parochial cultural. The people of Athens and Corinth were martime in character and became commercial centers devoted to the Arts of peace and cultivation of the human mind and body.

SPARTAN EDUCATION
There were two major factors which affected Spartan Educational system;
▪Social Military nature of Sparta
▪Geographical nature of Sparta
A question frequently asked on spartan education is…
**What were the objectives of Education in Ancient Sparta and how did Education prepare students for their roles in the society?
  Spartans believed in a life of discipline, self-denial and simplicity; and so the purpose of education was, simply to produce an army. When babies were born, soldiers came to check the child. If it appeared healthy and strong, they would be assigned to a brotherhood(boarding facility) or a sisterhood(boarding facility); however if the baby appeared weak, feeble and small, the infant would be left to die on the hillside or taken away to be trained as a slave. It was ‘survival of the fittest’ in ancient Sparta.

BOYS

Male spartan children were left to live with their parents from age 0 – 7years. At the age of 6 or 7 they were sent to military school. They lived with their brotherhood. School courses were very hard and painful for boys, and school was described as a brutal training period; they stayed in the boarding facility for eleven (11) years; 7 – 18years. In the brotherhood they were made to engage in physical education i.e Sports 

The boys went through different things to toughen them up. They were made to walk barefooted, they were made to sleep on hard surfaces for beds, they were taught to respect authority figures- they were made to put their hands behind their back and bow their heads while walking through the city as a show of respect to the city. At age 18, Spartan boys had to go out into the world and steal their food, getting caught would result in harsh punishment, which included flogging, which was usually practiced only for slaves. The concept was that a soldier must learn to be stealth and cunning. They were trained not to eat to fill their stomachs but to eat to stay alive. 

They were taught in such a unique way to make sure that they come out tough.

Between the age of 18 and 20, Spartan male had to pass a fitness test, military ability and leadership skills. If he didn’t pass, he becomes a person who has no political rights and is not considered a citizen called Perioidos. If he did pass, he would continue to serve in the Military and train as a soldier until he is 60, when the soldier can retire to live with his family.

Merits of Spartan Education 

》Exposing sickly children meant that the society did not include weaker individuals who might not be strong enough to fight - all would be able to do this

》From a very young age they were prepared by their mother/nurse to be physically fit, disciplined and taught Spartan ideology 

》Separation from home -> eirenes/paidonomes; who were the officers incharge of  the boarding facilities would introduce them to the Spartan spirit

》Did not allow the boys to be diverted from their duty by less important matters: idleness, laziness and girls

》Made the boys respect authority figures and Spartan society: even when the graduates were made eirenes, they were supervised - they would walk the streets with their heads bowed and told to face the ground

》Politics:Their foreign policy ensured the state was protected from outside contamination: Spartans were forbidden from travelling beyond Sparta's borders

》The constitution was well balanced: no single body could gain too much power.

》Any member of the Ecclesia was eligible to serve as an ephor( each of five senior Spartan magistrates).

》Their constitution ensured the mistakes of the past were not repeated: Lykourgos, creator of the constitution, observed there was a great inequality of wealth and he felt that all Spartans should be equal; his reforms meant to prevent another helot rebellion, after the Second Messenian War

》Women: More independent than women in other city-states because they were seen as important: they gave birth to strong, healthy babies; they managed their husbands' farms; they supported the Spartan ideology

Furthermore, they, including men, had more freedom; Spartan women were sexually promiscuous. If it was believed a younger warrior had a better chance of impregnating an old warrior's wife, he would allow the young man to sleep with her.

》The Helots: They could be freed for an outstanding act of courage or service on military campaigns

》The Perioikoi: As long as they obeyed their Spartan masters, they were allowed to get on with life in their communities.

》Origins: Dorian settlers living around Laconia

》Politcal Status: They lived in self-governing, where they had local citizenship

》Rights/duties: Their chief contribution to Spartan life was economic - they were traders and craftsmen of materials such as clothing, shoes, furniture, storage pots, metalwork, while communities living near the coast  in a corrupt way

The Gerousia had too much power, considering that its members were likely to be elderly and perhaps out of touch with Spartan society, or even senile! It was centred upon the repression of the helots; the ephors declared war upon the helots at the start of each year.

The decisions of the Ecclesia could be overturned if the Gerousia were unhappy with them

》Women:They had no political rights. They were still ruled by traditional and, what we would consider to be, sexist roles - similar to the role of Athenian women

Non-Spartans were given menial jobs an were treated harshly:

》The Helots/Origins: Either conquered Messenians or original Achaean inhabitants of Laconia

》Political Status: state-owned slaves who had no political rights

》Rights/duties: they had to farm Spartan lands and supply a fixed amount of produce annually to their Spartiate masters. Acted as servants to their masters in times of war (as skirmishers); women helots were household slaves and were famed for being good nurses for babies.

Spartiates used to force helots to get drunk to warn young Spartans about the dangers of drunkenness.

They were also humiliated by being forced to sing ridiculous songs, to dress up in animal skins, and to receive regular public beatings.

Targets of the brutal Krypteia

》The Political Status: They had no role or say in Spartan government

The economic state of Sparta depended on people, most of whom were deposed by the Spartans, who could cause strife within the society whenever they liked