Reflection 16

When one thinks of rhetoric, what is mostly associated with it? Automatically one may answer rhetorical question. At least that’s what popped up in my head. Rhetorical questions are the types of questions asked and not answered by whom it’s addressed. These questions are mostly associated with a parent scolding their child. They often ask rhetorical questions and the child usually knows which questions to answer and which ones are to be answered. Rhetoric was used as a way to persuade others to believe that whatever topic you were arguing was true. The Sophists were the people who often used this way to argue. They would argue the worst and make it seem like the best and argue the best as though it were the worst. Rhetoric was adopted by the Romans and made their own. They even centered their education on rhetoric in the form of declamation, which was a speech class were young men were assigned topics and instructed to give an appropriate speech on the topic that would advocate or lead to a specific course of action taken by the audience or the listeners of the speech. At the time when rhetoric was introduced to the Romans, they had a fascination with the Greeks and basically wanted to mimic them. Rhetoric derived from the Greeks and even at that time, Romans found it fashionable to even learn Greek. Ideas and traditions that arose from the Greeks were often thought suspicious but still highly regarded by the Romans. Declamation, which was taught in the schools, then began to advance into controversia, which was an invented legal case argued before an imaginary jury. This act was done publicly and was considered fashionable entertainment. Students were given the opportunity and have their parents’ as well as the community would come to witness such an event. Come to think about it, this reminds me of a person reading a monologue, expressing emotion and basically talking to the audience without any response. Rhetoric also played a role in the way literature and entertainment changed with the use of the controversia and the declamation. It even made a difference in storytelling. There was a point in time where rhetoric began to lose its weight in society and lost its intellectual edge. If you could speak properly and persuade people you were thought of as someone who was intelligent. Not to say that this isn’t true in modern society because people who have an extensive vocabulary are thought of as immaculate when at least 50 percent of the time the words they are using isn’t being used correctly.


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Athenian Education vs Roman Education

Reflection 15
Education tends to differ in multiple cultures, but overall has the same task which is to teach the way and beliefs and knowledge to the children so that it can be continued into their futures. In modern education, there are general topics that are seen as important and taught in every nation across the board. Here, we will take a brief look into the differences between ancient Athenian education and Roman education. In ancient Rome even though the poor were not able to afford schooling, they were still able to read and write. Children from wealthy families were taught by tutors in their homes. Boys were the only ones allowed to what was considered an actual school. They were even beaten if they did not know the correct information. At that time, children were taught that certain things were right, and they were not to question it at any point. Also since textbooks were merely too expensive, the lectures were often dictated and if the child didn’t know the correct information they were sometimes held down by two slaves and then whipped by their tutor. In Athens, education was affordable so that even the poorest families could send their children to school. The basis of the education was train pupils in the arts and for peace and war. Although boys were the focus as in the ancient Roman education, the curriculum wasn’t as rigorous and the children were still expected to learn the subjects being taught by the lecturing because books too were expensive in Athens. The main goal of education in Athens was to better character as opposed to Roman education where they were merely fascinated with the idea of being like the Greeks in education instead of actually taking on the beliefs of the Greeks. If the Romans focused on the character of their young people opposed to the fact that they were learning and being told what was correct (they weren’t allowed to question anything) they may have been able to realize that the whippings didn’t make better students. In modern education, teachers are not allowed to place their hands or any other threats to their students really. This can have both a good and bad effect because I feel that if a person can hear with their ears they can definitely learn by their bottom. I suppose that is due to the fact that my parenting comes from individuals who believed that very thing since they were forced to endure beatings from their teachers.



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Aristotle's Impact

Aristotle, student of Plato, had many different ideas and theories that continue to impact western education as we know it. The basis of education is to simply develop the mind; to acquire knowledge. Even though Aristotle studied under Plato, his ideas on philosophy was entirely obscured from that of Plato, which is why he wasn’t left to be the head of Plato’s school. Aristotle, on one point, taught that in order to have knowledge of a particular object, you must first have knowledge of the substance in the object. An example would be that of knowing what a chair looks like. In order to properly describe a chair and be able to tell someone who has never seen a chair before you must be able to tell them it has four legs; it has a back; it also has a seat for one to sit. If you were to describe a chair merely as a seat, one can bring a wooden stool to sit on, because it is a seat but not a chair. Furthermore, Aristotle’s causes have impacted our way of thinking and in modern western education because it lead us to what we call cause and effect, but a much simpler version of his causes. The four causes basically prove that there is more than one answer to any one question. With the four causes you can describe or talk about the same thing in four different ways. Another aspect where Aristotle leaves his mark is the way that he sees God. To Aristotle, God is the unmoved mover because He [God] is the first of all substances. According to Aristotle, God basically gives everything and everyone else the push to move, but He himself is not moved by anything. And with the idea of God being first, Aristotle also coined the idea of the Great Chain of Being where God is the first in the ladder and then it links everything in the universe. In modern society the idea that everything in the universe is related, is one that people do believe in. The chain basically arranges things form the least to the highest. This is similar to what we do like in what we call a food chain. You will see a leaf eaten by a worm which is eaten by a bird who then is eaten by a cat or snake, and so forth. So the impact of the great chain of being has lead us to the types of conclusions where everything and everyone is linked in one way or another and this can even be witnessed amongst social networks such as Facebook. You can have a mutual friend with someone that you don’t even know and the chain just goes on and on. Aristotle’s ideas have indeed greatly impacted our way of education, because what we learn and how we learn it, is then translated, or rather transferred to our children who continue our legacy.


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Plato's Ideas (reflection 13)

Plato’s impact on modern western education is evident in many areas. One particular area stems from the saying “It takes a village to raise a child.” Plato established this idea when he believed that children should be raised by the society instead of just their parents. This is a statement that a lot of people would find that they agree with. I remember stories that my mom used to tell me about living in Jamaica. The parish or the county that you lived in, everyone knew everyone. So if you did something wrong, you were not just getting a whipping from your own parents, but everyone else’s too. And vice versa; If a child was caught doing something wrong, your mom would scold him and then he would go home and his own mother scold him as well. Another one of Plato’s impact on modern education comes from the idea that having the right people in charge whether it is a king, president, or principal, will bring out the highest capabilities in human social aspects. I can agree with this because I went to a school (that shall remain unnamed) that had at least four principals while I was there(a high school); and with different principals, the school’s academic levels and overall performance fluctuated often. When the principals were involved the performance level was high and the other way around when the principal was hardly around. Plato’s theory of idealism is considered the basis of public education. Plato taught there is truth in all things and it is up to the pupil to discover that truth. Plato also taught that there are universal truths; what can also be known as general knowledge in modern society. A universal truth that he believed was that 2+2=4 in mathematics and therefore believed that there were universal truths in other subjects such as politics and religion. Plato’s ideas of forms help to provide examples of objects. In his allegory of the cave Plato demonstrated his belief that people are born ignorant and surrounded by shadows and illusions. He also felt that those who did find the truth and who were enlightened had a duty to fulfill by enlightening the others in their society. Plato also impacted the modern education because he believed that both boys and girls should have the opportunity to fully develop their minds to the highest capacity. The belief that boys and girls should have the same opportunity is not shared by everyone in all places. Especially at the time when girls were thought to be caretakers for the home and usually learned how to maintain a home opposed to learning subjects as did male children. Plato’s ideas will definitely continue to impact the modern western education.

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Reflection 12

Sputnik was launched in 1957 by the Soviets. The launching of Sputnik affected the U. S. education because it led to a reform in education. This reform was brought on because of the large ego of the United States. The Soviet Union and the United States were basically racing each other to see who could get into space first. With the launch of Sputnik this proved the failure of the U. S. beating the Soviets into outer space. In this reform, schools were instructed to create a more rigorous curriculum especially in the areas of math and science. They were trying to prepare students to think like both scientists and mathematicians. In doing so, the federal government passed acts like the National Defense Education Act (more commonly known as the NDEA). This act was one to support more training for teachers and among other things, to fund scholarships of college students who were majoring in an area that would benefit national defense. At this point, it is realized that with the launch of Sputnik, the United States felt threatened and was basically placed on guard and was determined to train the young people to become scientists and engineers. The NDEA was one that truly surprised many being that according to the Constitution, the federal government was to have no dealings with education seeing as how it was a state responsibility yet they were able to not only pass this act but in other ways to have their hand in education. It used to be feared by many Americans to not have a central body governing all things, education included. Before the launch of Sputnik, the curriculum wasn’t seen as rigorous as some people would have loved. The launch of Sputnik cause the debate on progressive education to cease and the people who were against this type of education had won the argument after all. With the Soviet’s launch into outer space, the United States turned to a more educational approach for education. This approach wasn’t the best simply because it concentrated on those who were more prone to succeed in the areas of mathematics and science. This approach also left behind those children who were at a disadvantage in those areas. In modern day society with the No Child Left Behind proposal, this reform in the curriculum of schools would not have lasted for too many years as it did not when it was first established.
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Reflection 11

Socrates, a great teacher who didn’t think of himself as a teacher at all, is known for the thought:”All I know is that I know nothing.” His impact on Western education had to be from the Socratic Method where he wouldn’t provide a direct answer but instead would ask a series of questions which ultimately lead the student to their own conclusion. In a way, Prof. McNair teaches similar to what is known as the Socratic Method. I’ve also witnessed different times were he will ask questions that causes his students to have to think. One event where this is noted is when he required the different readings on rites of passages and initiations ceremonies. He understood that his students had not yet stumbled upon this sort of information and led us to become knowledgeable, to a certain extent, of what happens in different cultures that are different from our own. Another major impact in modern western education is with the usage of the elenchus where students are taught to question things of their belief and even the opposing side. This too, is another aspect of Prof. McNair. In modern western education, teachers aid their students in the thinking process by asking a series of questions which will in turn lead to other questions. Socrates felt that he wasn’t a teacher yet his way of teaching was so profound that it leads others to imitate his style. Socrates’ way of teaching was by leading other to think. This, by all means, is the greatest skill of all. I can think back when I was in elementary school and if a child didn’t know something the teacher would respond, “yes you do, you’re just not thinking.” The Socratic Method can be witnessed in other places other than in education. Like with entertainment for example. I’m sure everyone, in some way shape or form is familiar with Blue’s Clues. If not it is a cartoon show that plays on Nickelodeon. One major concept of the show is to help kids think and figure things out. The host asks different questions about clues which lead the audience to the correct answer. Before recently, I was never truly exposed to the elenchus as much in a classroom as I would in other situations; although it is common for police work. It is very interesting that we are unaware of the impact of different philosophers in our education. It’s like they are hidden from us unless we venture for the knowledge of knowing. In a civilization like our own, we really need to give credit where it is honestly due.
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