Reflection 7

Like today, children in ancient Egypt imitated adult behavior. The difference between the children today and back then is that the children were being taught their eventual trade or duty by that very imitation. As the child got older they took on more of the duties on the farmers, the workshops, the vineyards and aquired pratical skills and knowledge from their elders. Their parents taught them most of their ideas about the world, about folk rituals, their religious views, their thoughtds on correct behaviors toward other people, and towards their deities. Formal vocational training and scribal and at home teaching existed. Young men didn't choose their own careers after. Usually they followed in the family trade or duty, even up to the highest offices in the land, only if they had the blessing of the king. There had to be exception to the job by heredity, like if a man didn't have a son to follow him. They often used adoption to instill property inheritance and funeracy provisioning. There was also succession in the profession. The girls learned how to maintain a household, how to sing, dance, and play musical instruments. These skills would be helpful if the girl took on temple service for musicians. The children of farmers were usually included in the scenes of harvesting, fishing, or caring for cattle. The textbook they used back then is now called the "Papyrus Arestes I", they used this book for teaching geography in Asia and math in a military context. They didn't have to learn foreign languages or religious texts and rituals. Only princes learned physical education. Students did their math silently. They said their text aloud until they knew them by heart. They would try and write them down from a teacher's model or from their own memory. Mesopotamia created education similar to Egypt, with respect to it's purpose and training, the purpose of formal training was to become a scribe. It included basic reading, writing, and religion to higher learning in law, medicine, and astrology. Only the youth from the upper class were being prepared to become scribes. The priests in Mesopotamia took over the intellectual and educational domain as well as the applied. Intellectual activity and training was centered around the library. The library was towned in temples that were watched by influential priests. Memorization, oral repetion, copying of models, and individual instruction were the methods of teaching. Education was long and rigorous with harsh discipline. Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, all had systems of apprenticeship. Apprenticeship was covered in code. The code demands that in apprentice was to be dealt with like an adopted son. "If a artisan takes a son for adoption and teach him his handy craft, one may bring claim for him. If he does not teach him his handy craft, that adopted son may return to his fathers house."