Text A. History of Education

Pedagogy or paedagogy is the art or science of being a teacher. The word comes from the ancient Greek “paidagogas”, the slaves who supervised the education of slave children in whatever given trade they were forced into. The word “paidia” refers to children, which is why some like to make the distinction between pedagogy (teaching children) and andragogy (teaching adults). The Latin-derived word for pedagogy, education, is much more widely used, and often the two are used interchangeably.

The origins of the word “education” reveal one theory of its function: the Latin “educare” comes from roots suggesting a ‘leading out” or “leading forth”, with possible applications of developing innate abilities and of expanding horizons. Formal education occurs when society or a group or an individual sets up a curriculum to educate people, usually the young.

Young people in prehistoric societies were educated through apprenticeship, imitation and rituals. Through apprenticeship a young man learnt how to build a shelter by working with an older, experienced master builder.

About 3000 B.C. the Sumerians (Шумеры) and the Egyptians invented a system of writing and that was the second major milestone in education. Shortly after 3000 B.C. both the Sumerians and the Egyptians established schools to teach boys the newly invented arts of reading and writing. Teachers were priests. Only exceptionally talented boys were allowed to attend school. The training lasted from about the age of 5 to 17. Boys who completed their education formed a separate social class called “ scribes. ” Scribes were hired for any task that required knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic. Civilization spread from Sumerians and Egyptians to the eastern shores. Between about 1500 B.C. and 1000 B.C. the first alphabet was developed and it gave education one more valuable tool.

Among the topics investigated in the philosophy of education are the nature of learning, especially in children, and the purpose of education, including the question of whether, educators should attempt to develop or install moral virtues and political values. To an understanding of the material of education, psychology is the chief contributor.

Major figures in the history of the philosophy of education include Aristotle, Plato, Democritus, Confucius, J. J. Rousseau, J. Locke, J. Herbart, E. H. Willard, J. Pestalozzi, M. Montessori, Fr. Froebel, J. A. Komensky, J. Korczak, J. Dewey, B. F. Skinner, L.N.Tolstoy, K.D. Ushinsky, A.S. Makarenko, V.A. Sukhomlinsky.

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