Reflection 16

Rhetoric is one of the oldest disciplines of the entire world. The earlist sophist for rhetoric is found in the classical Greece. Originally, rather than texts the study of speech with the onset of wilder literacy rhetoric became more closer associated with the written word. Students were still required to learn grammar, letter writing, and a more modern version of rhetoric consiting largely of delivery and style. As the writings of Greeks and Romans rhetorical scholars became lost during the Middle Ages. Rhetoric kept losing it's intellectual edge. People put forth a lot of effort but as time passed on rhetorical theory was going through a long period of sad neglect. Even though rhetoric was still a part of the curriculum it was impoverished and most likely limited to the study of tropes or maybe even the figure of speech. Peter Ramus was a person who did a lot to push the margins of rhetoric. He chose to divide the the traditional cannons of rhetoric into a dialect version and a modified version of rhetoric which contained style and delivery. The Age of Enlightment did very little to bring the rhetoric fortunes, even though the rise of sciences during this time wanted clarity. Because of this the rhetoric turned it's back on the study of ornamentation and more towards issues of properness and the ignoring of fallacies even though it stayed a body of technical skills. Rhetoric found an advocate during the enlightenment who try to re-start rhetoric's epistemological dimension and it's overall importance to science and and also to humanities. This person was Giambattista Vico. But just like Augustine wasn't able to pull rhetoric out of the restrictive box religion put on it, Vico failed to save thetoric from the scientific reason of "new religion." Since rhetoric started to specialize in form and style, instead of content, it later on becanme a problem. Rhetoric itself, was imported from Greece anyways. Therfore, it was highly regarded and very suspious. The rhetoric specialty fascinated the adults, dominated the schools, and even gave a style to both literature and oratory. Later on it became a genre of it's own right. Controversia was a more difficult and advanced do5rm rhetoric. It was a made up legal case with a fake jury. It was broken down into three parts. The three parts were: sentantiae, divisio, and colres., Sentantiae were the arguments for and against during the case. The divisio was a skeleton statement of the legal points included. Last but not least, the colores was the conjectures abut motive or the reasons or explanmations for what happened.

Reflection 15

In the Roman Empire during the early Republic, there were no public schools. The boys were taught to read and write by their parents. In some cases the educated slaves also know as the "paedagogi" taught the boys how to read and write they were usually from the Greek original. The main focus in education for the boys was teach train them in agriculture, Roman traditions, warfare, and public affairs. Little boys learned about accompanying their fathers to political and religious functions. At the age of sixteen, the sons of nobles were given to highly prestiged politicqal position. At the age of seventeen, the sons of nobles were campaigned to the army. The practice of education followed the Hellenic kingdoms and the resulting Greek influence. However, the Roman education still had differences from the Greek education system. Unlike the Greeks, if parents coudn't afford for their children to go to school, at the young age of seven boys and a few girls were sent to a private school outside of their homes. These private school were called a "ludus." The teacher of this school was a " magister ludi". They taught their students reading, arithmetic, writing, sometimes Greek. At the age of twelve, the students would move on to secondary school. The teachers were then called "grammaticus". They learned both Roman and Greek literature. By the time the student was sixteen their educational level was based on their legal careers. The students were even required to memorize Roman laws. Students went to school every single day unless there was a religious festival or maybe a market day. Unlike the Greeks there was also summer holidays. The differences between the Greek and the Romans were easier to see at the highest tiers of education. Romans students went to Greece if they wanted to study Greece philosphy. The Roman educational system found it's own final form of education. Rome was growing in size and power after the Punic Wars. The value of a family as a central unit began to change. They put a lot of Greek educational precepts to their own system. The older Roman school system was carried out by paterfamilies. This gave way to a new and fresh educational system supported by Romans among the Hellenistic Greeks. Now, formal school were established. It was normal for boys and girls to be educated although they didn' neccesarily have to work together.

Reflection 14

Aristotle came after Socrates and Plato. He was also a philospher that left a great imapct on the western civilization. Aristotle was interested in more than just the biological world. He tried to build a theory on the world as a whole. He believed that nature could be seen as a continum of organization from lifeless matter to the most difficult forms of life such as earth, water, fire, and air. He saw humans as different from other animals because of our capacity of reason and thought. Aristole called our reason of thought " The Great Chain og Being." With this he tried classification or taxonomy. He just wanted to make sense of the relationships among all things that are living. To him, all species could be placed in some sort of order. He put all living things from lowere which were the worms in the Eatrth and the highest as God on top. He saw the world as perfect. It was perfect to him because there were no links in his chain. In addition, there was no link with more than one type of species. This idea imapcted the western civilization for centuries. Even today, it holds a major influence on how we think today. The Great Chain idea put's restraints on how we think of species today. If every link is taken up or being used then no species can move or two species coudn't be put together. That means that in his perfect universe species could never alternate or change. Aristotle also had an idea called the unmoved mover. It was more like a principle that the universe than a God as Jews and Christians and Muslims think of God. It doesn't intervene and it is not to be prayed. This is more like a principle of some sort of physics. He also had the idea of the four causes. The classificatory causes are the first and second causes. The first cause question that you ask is "What kind of being is it?" The answer to this is the formal cause. The form is seen as an example of the particular being or class beings. The form is actually inside of them. The second cause question is "Whats is the thing or being made of? What sort of stuff is it composed of?" The answer is the material cause. The last two causes which are the third and the fourth causes are reffered to as the dynamic cauises. The third cause question to ask is " For natural kinds, what are the functions of their mature state? For artifacts, what is their specific function?" The answer to the question is the final cause. You can always think of a reason but don't become too theological here. You should think much more biological about it. The fourth cause question to be asked is " How did the thing or being come to be?" The answer to this question is the efficient cause. The parents are usually the efficient cause. People who create the art are the efficient causes for artificacts.

Reflection 13

Plato focused on idealism. Idealism is the theory based on the absolute forms or truths and not on materialisms. His theory of idealism is one of the oldest systemstic philosophies in the western culture. Plato was a student of Socrates. After being inspired by Socrates who was known for challenging materialists convention he developed a theory of his own. He greatly influenced the future of public education. Socrates had a method that challenged the views of life of the Greek citizens dialect which was done orally there was nothing written down. After Socrates was executed, Palto interpreted and added on to some of Socrates dialogues. Nowadays, scholars usually prefer to refer the ideas of both of the philosophers as the Platonic philosophy. Platonic idealism consists of the of the ideas of the Greek philospher Plato. Plato be;ieved in the Socratic or elenchus method. Plato opened a school after Socrates died. The school was based on the search for truth in all things. The first principle and basis for platonic idealism is the idea of absolute truth. According to Plato, people should for look for the truth because the truth is perfect and eternal. Plato professed that the truth is in all things. Because there are universal truths in math, Plato saw that there must be the same in other fields like politics, education, and even religion. He was against materialism so he wrote his second principle in which was in the republic. The concept of good was the source of all true knowledge. The world of idea and the world of matter are seperated. In order to progress toward good, he taught that people should encourage ideas and reject matter. The world of matter was constantly changing so that made it untrustworthy. He then had a third principle. The third principle was that he believed knowledge wa not created but discovered. He believed that people were born with true knowledge but it was lost during the birth process. As you grow that knowledge comes back to you. It may take a person a lifetime who remember these forgotten truths. His education wanted for students to embrace the concept good and the world of truths that already exists. He saw a society where everyone were given an equal opportunity. Boys and girls could push themselves to the fullest but he encouraged those who had a problem with abstract thinking should pursue more practical jobs. The practical jobns were in three classes which were workers, militia and rulers. The others who showed great skill in dialectic would become philosophers who would lead others to attain the good. Forgotten truths are what matter and what we know. Whenever we call many things by one name, it is only because we think one name confers a specific trait in those things. This pivots the ideas of forms or ideas.

Reflection 12

A curriculum is something that teachers struggle with. A curriculum is a description of the class beign offered, or a description of what the students should be learning. Over time the curriculum changes. It all depends on what century the student is in. During the colonial time which is the seventeeth century schools were focused on the "two r's". The "two r's" were religion and reading,. Schools were focused on the puritan morality. The few to graduate were forced to remeber a lot Latin and Greek. Sadly, for females, African Americans, Nati ve Americans, or poor you were not allowed an education. The would lock the school house doors because they felt that these people were not worthy of an education. The eighteenth century was focused on building the new nation. The new nation emphasized on the secular to free the formal curriculum from the strict bonds of religion. The classes were still based on reading, religion, and morals. However, math and writing were the center of attention. In the secondary level, students were able to learn vocational skills. Some examples of the vocational skills were, surveying, bookkeeping, accounting, and even navigating. At this time there was still a color barrier but more and more women were going to school. In the nineteenth century students had a more secure curriculum. The more and more the nation developed, so did the curriculm. Elementary schools really focused on math, spelling, behavior, writing, and even geography. Secondary students were most likely enrolled in an academy. They had a choice to focus on the original Latin curriculum or the new English curriculum. They both included public speakinhg, history, grammar, science , algebra, modern language and so much more. Luckily for students in the first half of the second century education was more progressive. Many new immigrants dominated the curriculum. It was good to be creative and in the arts. The curriculum consisted of arts, and the original courses like history, geography, civics, reading, writing, spelling. These were squeezed into the language arts and the social sciences. One of the most intriguing of the change of curriculums was the in the 1950s through the 1960s. When the Soviet Sputnik which is the first artificial satellite launched, the low point for the West in the Cold War was launched. The American schools used as the scapegoat for the U.S failure to win against the Soviets in space. The prestigious universities were made to create a more demanding curriculum. The focus was mainly science, math, and foreign language. Students weren't taught for memorization but on being taught to think like mathematicians or scientists. All of the problems going on around the students caused the students to be higher-order thinkers.

Reflection 11

Socrates was a Greek philosopher and a very important founder of the Western philosophical traditon. His major contribution to the Western train of thoought is his method of enquiry also known as the method of elenchos. The method of elenchos is the foundation of much later Western philosophy. His main focus were the five virtues which are : piety, wisdom, temperance, courage and justice. He would question other men that were known to be wise and lead them to believe that their beliefs made no sense at all. He himself taught to be ignorant in those types of matters. However, because he was aware of his ignorance he felt that meant he was wise. Unfortunately, Socrates left no writings. The only reason we know of his work is because of his contemporaries such as, Plato and Xenophon. He lived during a transitional time from the height of the Anthenian Empire was defeated by the Spartan coalition. People who were supposed to be wise back then did not appreciate his questions. Socrates believed that the unexamined life was not worth living. To him the purpose of life was to "inquire into ethics." Socrates did not teach in schools and he did not charge for his teachings. His method of teaching was by asking questions to someone and forcing them to believe in their own beliefs of ethics. He claimed that he did not have knowledge. He felt that he only had knowledge when iot came to elenchus which dod not include epistomology. He did not see hisself as a teacher. He only taught by getting those who would listen to him to think. According to Socrates, the highest type of wisdom was practical and definitely not general. To Socrates, happiness was moral excellence. His main interest was the five cardinal virutes. When he asked questions about these virtues people would realize the flaws in their beliefs. A virtue is simply a chracter trait that is conbsidered to be the right thing to do in a society. On the contray, a vice is the corruption of a virtue. One of the five virtues that he focused on is piety. This is basically the desire and willingness to practice religious tasks. Because religion is like the only way to win the forgiveness of deitities, piety is a traditional virtue. Next, is wisdom. The definition of wisdom is the ability to incline and make choices that stand the test of time. It is very important to understand that a wise choice usually is to be made from information that is not complete. The justification does not have to be based upon a reak belief. Another virtue is temperance. It is the practice of moderation. In the Hellenic culture temperance is very vital. It can be applied to as the avoidance of crazy behavior. The fourth virtue that Socrates was interestred in is courage. Courage is the ability to overcome your fears during pain, danger, or intimidation. Last but not leastm, there is justice. It is the ability to recognize ones debts and to simply pay them.

Reflection # 9

The Sumerian education came from their invention of writing. This was a big contribution that the Sumerian's had given to the world. The tablets however, were not dealt with firectly with the school system. The information found from the Sumeria neducation came from the first half of the second millenium B.C. Evacuated tablets have bewen found that have all kinds of practices for the pupils. It goes from a not so good first grader to a more advanced and older pupil. The tablets didn't say much about the style of teaching in the Sumerian school. Luckily, the teachers themselves wrote about the schools and their styles of teaching. Now, we can understand more about how the First school were organized. The original goal of Sumerian school were to train the scribes to take good care of the economic and all of the administrative demands of the land, mainly those in the temples or the palace. Later on the education moved on and became the center of learning and culture in Sumur. Unlike, present schools today the Sumur schools was also the center of creative learning. Most of the graduates of the Sumur schools became either scribes or teachers themselves. the teachers got paid out of the tuition of the students attending the schools. Education wasn't something that everyone was forced to have like it was more for students coming from wealthy familes. Poor students couldn't afford the expenses of the schools or had enough time that a prolonged education demanded. The head of the school was called the "ummia" , which means the expert or the proffesor. They would also be called the "school father" while the student was called the "school son." They called their assistant principal the "big brother." Like the original goal of the Sumerian schools the Egyptian students were being taught their trade or occupation. Most of the students in Egypt were home schooled. Their parents instiled in them their views of life and taught them what their job was to the society. If a man did not have a son to teach their was adoptian to take care of property inheritance and succesian in proffesion. The girls that weren't from wealthy households learned how to manage a household. The priests were the teachers for the students in Egypt. Like the Sumerians the students were usually being taught to become scribes. Paper was very expensive. If the students made even one mistake the consequences were harsh. They had to recite what they learned over and over so that they could remember. The Sumerian and the Egyptians schools were not so different. Teacher effectiveness today compared to then has changed tremendously. The students can choose to look up to the teachers or not. Teachers can not discipline their students anymoree. Teachers do not teach students according to what their future occupations will be, unless the student is in college. Students can even be disrespectful to the teachers.