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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