EDF 1005- Reflection 7

A way of educating children in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia was by homeschooling them so that they can learn by watching and imitating their own parents. Similar to what we would call today as the modeling method of teaching. They would learn all the tasks they had to do. For instance, farming. Kids had experience by working with their fathers. While the young boys were learning the dirty farm work, young girls would learn how to dance, sing, play instrument, and manage their household. This kind of reminds me of that "wife school."
This is very similar to our own alternative teacher preparations, in which students who are aspiring teachers learn and are prepared through a structured apprenticeship. It is similar because they also have a sort of "on-the job" training. Ancient civilizations had apprenticeships as well. Most of these apprenticeships led their students to a very high and successful place. I think a great example of this would be Socrates' student, Plato! Socrates never wrote his philosophies on paper, but Plato (which I think was probably his favorite student) wrote them down (kind of how we take notes in class today!) and published them later. Plato turned out to be a very famous and important philosopher of this ancient time and began the academy at his own house. He brought perception into our thoughts and gave us the idea of the world of forms. Today, these apprenticeships are great because we can experience the jobs we're aspiring first hand and it gives us a better understanding to know whether we're sure this is what we want or not.
China's main goal is to mold the character of their students and girls were taught individually from the boys to learn "woman stuff" like raising children and maintaining your husband and home.. Proper respect is very important. Also, they are very family oriented. It is important to respect your relationships and family and keep them first in your life in China. China's schools are much longer and rigorous than American schools. Did you know: China has the highest suicide rate of students in the whole world and because of the their government is trying to discourage so much hard work? But in China, children rarely went to school. It was mostly reserved for the elite noble and their children.
A final teaching approach was in the temple schools where they learned writing and arithmetic. In these schools they taught their students how to master cuneiform, which to our knowledge is the first form of writing ever. People who mastered the writing were known as scribes, and they were held up very prestigious because they were the ones who were literate and could write. Therefore, they were also the ones who recorded history. They knew everything that was going on. These students would be severely punishment for making mistakes because they had to write on clay tablets so they were unable to undo any mistakes. The clay was very expensive, which is why mistakes were not allowed.