economics24.com

August 21, 2008

Medieval Education

Education
Steve asked:


Medieval education is about education that was conducted in the medieval period. Medieval education is seen as quite an unusual form of education. However, by the 15th century, there were options for a student to be educated further. Some schools even housed both genders, but this was during the day only. Children were taught their basics, such as how to read and write. This is because these were the basic requirements if they wanted to be accepted under apprenticeship in any guild. Medieval education also consisted of peasant children going to school. However, they made up a very small number. They were taught how to read and write, and also studied basic math. This education for peasants was usually conducted at a monastery. As part of medieval education, noble girls and even boys were sent to learn at nunneries. There, they would receive their basic education. The nuns taught these students how to read and write too. They would also teach them how to pray. Girls were additionally taught how to spin and do needlework amid other domestic skills. http://www.360career.com  These were inculcated in order to prepare them for later life, as these were basic skills required when a woman got married. If a child took his or her education seriously at a monastery, he or she would have a monastic life. However, this was quite rare for an average townsman or peasant. Also, these individuals would be carefully selected for these ranks. If they were deemed suitable according to their demeanour, they would be brought up by the monks. Today, medieval education practices are still visible. The same monastery education students are given is a clear reflection of it. The education that children receive at missionary schools in various parts of the world also reflects similar forms of education. A major difference that is seen is the widespread existence of books. In medieval times, there were many schools that operated without the use of books. Students were taught by skilled masters, and were often educated for dubious benefits. The rich or others that did provide education in medieval times did so for their personal gain. There were very few that really wanted to educate people in the true spirit of enlightening more minds.
As time has passed by, some aspects of medieval education have faded while others have remained. It can be argued that the aspects of medieval education that were useful for the purpose of education have remained. Regardless of some characteristics remaining, the overall process has changed a great deal. This is because education could not have the same face as it did hundreds of years ago. Today’s education is different from medieval education in so many ways. For example, you have the inclusion of group work and activity based learning. You also have the inclusion of computers for education in this modern age. No one in the medieval period would have ever contemplated the use of such items.
Another important development to mention, and one that is used almost throughout the world is the Montessori method. This is something that did not exist in the medieval period, and it took many years for it to be popularized since Maria Montessori first used it. Indeed, the Montessori Method cannot be likened to any medieval method of education. It was developed independently as an innovative teaching method. In addition to the Montessori Method, there are other teaching areas today that have been developed without any medieval education influence.
Though medieval education has provided the fundamentals for formal education, some people prefer to deny medieval education methods the credit it is given. They believe that the formal method of students being seated in classrooms would have developed later anyway, whether medieval education used this arrangement or not. This does make sense because it is unthinkable for any other arrangement to be used. It is further argued that it is more likely that this would have been the case in modern education because student interaction is encouraged. For better student interaction, a classroom of a suitable number of students would have been recommended. Regardless of these arguments, we still find many traces of medieval education in our modern setups today.
For more about Medieval Education visit:  http://www.360career.com/content/Medieval-Education.asp


August 19, 2008

Diversity in Education

Education
Steve asked:


Diversity in EducationDiversity in education covers a large number of areas that deal in improving education and providing a greater number of opportunities to those who want to learn. While this is one way of looking at diversity, other descriptions would entail including all types of learners and including a wide number of subject areas and disciplines. The impact of this has led to a greater number of people from different backgrounds being able to seek an education.Diversity in education is a subject that has been discussed and researched in detail. Prior to the idea of education diversity, it was believed that there many people being denied their right to an education. http://www.360career.com  Also, those who had opportunities did not get to study the things they really wanted to. This led to much controversy, debate, etc. which has only been good for education as a whole. Different regions of the world have since then managed to include disciplines in education that can benefit their learners more. Today, there is a wider variety of subjects available to learners that were never available before. Indeed, there has been much subject diversification under the belt of education diversity. Many years ago, there was just the limited range of academic subjects and courses that students of a fixed age bracket were compelled to study. Today, this has been transformed. There are courses now available to people regardless of the age bracket they may come under. There are also many more subjects to study. For example, performing arts is a broad category under which a number of arts can be studied. This broad category has been developed extensively over the last 30 years. Today, it is a specialized field of study that only serious musicians, actors, artists, etc. pursue. Diversity in education also encompasses a variety of learning preferences. While there is a mainstream means of learning through formal school education, there are also methods that have been discovered. Many years ago, people shunned learners that could not fit into this formal learning system. As a result, there were many people who ended up wasting their lives without achieving an education. Many of these shunned individuals were later discovered to be ones that had different forms of intelligence. This included dyslexics for example, who proved that they were alternative thinkers. Many learners who could not fit into the mainstream learning environment were deemed to be deviants or mentally impaired. However, the reality was quite different. While some mainstream thinkers thought these individuals could not learn other experts discovered that these people were not taught according to their perceptive skills. For example, some of them required more attention in order to get them to study. These very learners would eventually become speedy learners once they were propelled into a learning method that suited them. It is true to say that many people who cannot fit into the mainstream learning system, require a greater amount of attention. Not many schools were willing to spend the extra time required. However, today, there are specialized education boards and institutions that deal with alternative learning abilities. Some of these organizations have discovered learners that only appear to be under average, but are actually super creative individuals. The sad truth is that many individuals with alternative learning abilities were brutally ignored in the past. The good news is that many or these individuals are being discovered today, and they are being allowed to develop themselves in a manner that suits them.  Diversity in education, as we have seen here, covers several areas, and these areas themselves encompass issues and topics that are of a great variety. Diversity in education itself is a healthy ongoing debate that is a must for future development in education. Without doubt, it can be said that education has developed a great deal thanks to debates in diversity. However, there may be a lot more to discover, and given that many large portions of the world population lack opportunities to get an education, efforts must be sustained. This is said with due consideration given to the fact that there are many alternative or unconventional learners in developed and developing countries that are still being ignored. Therefore, the debate must continue.For more information about Diversity in Education visit:http://www.360career.com/content/Diversity-in-Education.asp

Powered by WordPress