Reflection Paper 19

Dame schools were quite different from public schools of today. They didn’t have many of the luxuries as public schools such as books, chalkboards, desks, or even a pad of paper to write on. Instead they had hornbooks, which was only a paddle with some nails hammered into it to hold paper, and were taught in one room in the teacher’s home; which for dame schools was a woman’s home. It was extremely important for girls, however basic the teaching might have been, because that was the main education they received. They weren’t supposed to go to school any further than that and receive a decent education like they boys did. They had to know just enough to be able to take care of the house and nothing else. They were taught by illiterate women how to read, to recite the alphabet, etc. instead of the schooling being free as public school is today, and parents of the students had to pay a fee to the teacher as it was an early form of private schooling. While the teacher was going about and doing her household chores she would teach the children and would teach the girls how to do things such as knitting, cooking, sewing, etc. Girls were never encouraged to learn more in education, they were basically told that basics were enough and that they shouldn’t want to know more and that knowledge was only for boys like most of the things in colonial times. Now, in public schools, girls are allowed to learn the same things as boys and are encouraged to want to know and to aspire whatever career they want instead of being a housewife. There is no longer a barrier between what boys can learn and what girls can learn, they are both treated equally without a second thought. Even boys can learn knitting and sewing if they choose not just the girls, subjects are being offered for both sexes and not monopolizing one or the other. I personally think that if back then, in colonial times, if the women stood up and said I would like to learn what the boys are learning that they would have had a bigger impact instead of waiting decades to achieve equality. I think that if you have a group large enough to go against something then you would win. As they always say, the more people you have willing to fight for a cause, the more chances you have at achieving what you desire.

the ruler is...

I think that the poem the ruler of… somewhat bashes the things that people do. For example in the paragraph which talks about the Christmas tree it is mocking how Christians destroy nature to worship something they think exists but do not know for sure. Also about the divining line and how we think that things will be tainted is that line is ever crossed and that it will be destroyed and how there is always the line between right and wrong. We always want things without having to give back; it has been defined as our nature. When we receive things we seem to be grateful but we do not appreciate then especially the little things like the weather of winter. Even though it is scorching hot in Miami when winter finally comes along we complain about how it is too cold. We can never make up our minds and be happy with what we are given. There is always some kind of complaint that we have as human beings, we are never satisfied. We basically suffer in our own misery, we always want things now and then never having the patience to wait and receive. I think that we are a demanding race of high maintenance and anything different we reject, again never being happy with what we are given and always wanting more. This makes us weak but also makes us stronger in the way of wanting to achieve more and making things better.

Reflection Paper 18

I agree that in America education has always been viewed as a vehicle for improving society at large. Even decades ago education had played an important role. For example back when farming was the main source of employment they had to know how much livestock, crops, etc they had so they would know if they were short in anything or were shorted with trading or buying. They would have to measure the amount of grain or whatever product they were selling or receiving to get the proper amount so that the farmers didn’t lose profits. I think that the people who aren’t educated enough as to be able to read and write and are only able to sign their names are a danger to themselves. If a person only knows how to sign their name then they are threatening themselves as well as their family because if they can’t read then they would not be able to know what they are signing. For example if an important document is given to them about their private information and they sign it without knowing what is on it then they could be signing their lives away as well as their assets to strangers thus putting their family in danger. A historical example would be the story of Helen Keller. She was born both visually impaired and hearing impaired and yet with the persistence of education she was able to learn sign language, became the first visually/hearing impaired person to obtain a bachelor of arts degree, and became an author and speaker known throughout the world. If Helen was not educated then she would have never been able to achieve any of the things she did and would have not been such an inspiration to many people. A current example would be our very own president Barak Obama. If education wasn’t such a major role in his life then he would never have been able to become America’s first African American president. As we all know you can’t just wake up and decide one day that you want to be president. There is an abundance of things that have to be known and you have to be very well educated. Without President Obama’s education je would not have even been able to be considered eligible to come near to be a candidate. Education is how we are able to function in the world. Knowledge is essential to success without it I don’t think we would be able to discern right from wrong.

Reflection Paper 17

Compared to the current United States colonial New England had very different views on things such as religion, teacher training, the length of expected school attendance, and discrimination. Religion in colonial times was their main principle of living. They lived by the Bible and God was always in front of their thoughts. Their beliefs were held above everything else to them, they controlled their actions. They always had to watch what they did for fear that it might not be what God wanted so they constantly controlled themselves. Religion in colonial times was what made a community and made their bonds strong. Those who went against their beliefs were exiled from the community. In today’s world we are not that strict anymore, we are more accepting to other religions and there are hardly any cases of being ostracized because of religious beliefs especially since there are so many different forms of religion in the United States today. For schools in colonial times children, form ages eight to fourteen, had to go to school. They went to school, out of the entire year, for 12 weeks. Unlike colonial times children are in school for many years starting from about age three to early or late twenties and are in school for about 175 days to 186 days. Teacher training in colonial times was entirely different from teacher training in the America today. The only requirements for teachers were that they only had to have minimal educational background and had to be willing to take the low-paying job as a teacher. In America people aspiring to become teachers have to have a certification of a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, or a doctorate. Discrimination was widely found throughout colonial times in many forms such as discrimination towards religion which was definitely more common since colonialism revolved around religion. There was discrimination against social classes, races, etc and there was no punishment for it. In the world today discrimination still happens but there are repercussions for it such as lawsuits. It is a big deal in America and is not tolerated because it goes against the law. No one is allowed to get away with it anymore as they were able to in colonial times.

Reflection Paper 16

Rhetoric is when someone is trying to persuade an audience. Its relationship to Roman Education is in many ways. One way being that it was used in legal cases as seen in “The Apology” where Socrates uses the rhetoric method in his trial. Teachers would encourage their students to argue in debates it provided critical thinking in certain situations if a scenario was created. Legal cases today involve the use of rhetoric as well as things such as debates as well as presidential debates. It also gave a new style to literature. It majorly influenced storytelling and reciting by giving it a twist which the adults loved. Look at poems and plays performed, before there wasn’t much to them to be honest. Once rhetoric was used conflicts were created and made the stories, poems, etc more dramatic and exciting to watch. It left the audience stunned and entertained. Even the emperor enjoyed the conflict filled dramas, it was an entirely new style introduced and the Romans loved it. If you were to take William Shakespeare’s work you would see that it is filled with nothing but drama. If there was no drama in his plays then they wouldn’t be as popular then as they are in today’s world. I doubt we would be required to study his plays in school if they didn’t involve rhetoric. Even we wouldn’t have our wonderful dramas as we do now without it. We wouldn’t have much of a selection to choose from if conflicts weren’t involved in what we enjoy. I think that rhetoric was introduced because perhaps the Romans grew tired of the same old method that they were used to and wanted something different for a change. They were able to entertain themselves by using the rhetoric form in their writings and performances. We wouldn’t have many of the things we do today without it. Court cases would be as effective if they didn’t have rhetoric and I don’t think that their writing wouldn’t have been as strong or as influential to be remembered in our world today. Rhetoric has influenced the Roman Education in things such as law and entertainment for example but those are only a few.

Reflection Paper 15

There are numerous differences between the educations in Ancient Rome and Ancient Athenian. In Ancient Rome school was for boys only and the wealthier children had a private tutor. The less fortunate were still able to receive an education but it was less formal but they were still able to write and read. They did not have individual places for schools. Roman schools were an extension of shops and had only a curtain between them and the public eye. Whereas in Ancient Athenian, education was private, they had individual places for education and even girls were allowed to learn but only until a certain age. In Ancient Rome boys had a tough education. If they had a wrong answer they were beaten for it and for the least wrongdoing. They never questioned why something was right, the just went with it because they were glad that they didn’t receive a beating they only accepted the answer. Boys in Ancient Rome had little subjects to choose from compared to Ancient Athenian where boys learned how to read, write, quote literature, sing, play a musical instrument, and were trained as athletes for the military. In Ancient Rome there were two different schools, one for boys aged up to 11 or 12 where they learned reading, math, and writing, and the other for the older boys who studied writings of ancient Rome by great people and learned public speaking. In Ancient Athenian boys had three types of teaching at age 7 which were kitharistes, grammatistes, and paedotribae. They went to the home of the teacher and were taught writing, math, reading, singing, and playing the flute and lyre. The wealthier boys were taken care of by a household slave while attending private lessons. At the age of 12 boys were doing more athletic things such as throwing a discus and javelin, running, and wrestling. Some of the older boys were even learning subjects like science, arts, and music. Once they reached 18 they were finished with school and sent for two years in military training. There are numerous differences from the education in Ancient Rome and Ancient Athenian, these are only a few.

Reflection Paper 14

Aristotle has also been a great influence on the modern western education because of his ideas of the great chain of being, four causes, etc. His idea of the great chain of being is basically our version of the “food chain.” The lower organisms are on the bottom and the higher organisms on the top. It not only is for food but can also be used for social class as well. Aristotle even gave us the concept of species and stated that “every link is occupied, and none are occupied twice.” Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace might not have theorized their ideas on evolution is Aristotle had not have thought of the great chain of being. He stated that two species have to be of different standards. That is similar to our low, middle, and high class. We have to have that balance between the classes, as unfair as it might seem. If we all had the same social class then I don’t think anyone would be able to prosper. Money has to come from somewhere and that somewhere is from the upper class, it is how we function. Aristotle’s four causes is basically the primitive version of our classification system. He asked questions about the species and based on his answers he was able to classify them by their functions. Thanks to him students are able to learn an abundance of animal classifications. Aristotle gave us a raw version of Newton’s laws of motion with his unmoved mover theory. He says that something always has to be moving in order for another thing to move, and that motion never stops. This is one of the first principles that is learned in physics and influences quite a bit. Without this principle I don’t think that we would have discovered other areas in physics such as the law of inertia or kinetic movement. Even though his ideas of things that constantly move are related to physics, he also relates it to religion. He says that the movement involves an eternal mover and he relates that mover to God. Although that part of his theory is not taught in school we still however have his theory of motion. Even if it is called Newton’s laws of motion it is still Aristotle who was the originator of the inspiration.