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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Journal CI 8904: March 5, 2013

Reflections on:

Smith, W. Anton. (1955). Ancient education. New York: Philosophical Library.
Chapters 2-3.

I am glad I am familiar with Ancient Civilizations, as this text was a lot like reading an ancient history textbook.  It told me a lot about what happened educationally with the Sumerians, Hyksos, Egyptians, Aryans, Indians, and others, and gave some background as to why the forms of education that arose, did so.

What I found interesting, is in almost every case, education was one of two things: functional and practical for the learning of skills, and often a privilege for a particular group and gender of the civilization. These groups were often males that were members of royalty or religious orders.

So it seems that the concept of education being for particular sub group within a society has been long in standard, and many would say, is true even today in American Education…meaning: education in the US is equally available to all, but does it equally educate all?   Does the system, methods and curriculum denote privilege to particular groups?  The answer is, “yes”.

The roots then of privilege in education are deep and longstanding.  As I reflect on this piece however,  I note the biggest difference between ancient education and American education is not a question of equity.  Ancient peoples weren’t aware or interested in that concept.  However, we as American educators are, and more importantly, interested in justice as well.  Equality is not the same as justice.


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