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Discuss some of the ideas about education in Ancient Greek Philosophy
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It will do this by firstly discussing the work of the earliest influential Greek philosopher,
Socrates, the essay will then go on to discuss his student, Plato and thirdly, Plato’s student, Aristotle
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Socrates was a street philosopher and his education was therefore open to everyone
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The Athenian education resembled that of its politics
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“It was Socrates who allegedly
‘first called philosophy down from the sky’” (Cicero cited in McPherran, 2010:528)
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He associated knowledge with virtue
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He taught this through his method of teaching which is commonly refered to as
Socratic Method, but which is referred to in Greek texts as the Elenchos (McPherran, 2010)
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As this teaching method involves questioning, the students
must be committed to the teaching style as, “the first axiom of Socratic teaching is ‘start where the
students are’” (Swardson,2005 cited in McPherran 2010:527)
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This means that Socratic Method can be used for all
disciplines and for everyone, as long as they are committed to learn
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In this story the boy was a slave and although he was uneducated, Socrates
could still teach him as he was committed to learn
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This is because he didn’t
teach truths (Abbs, 1993)
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“Each
dialogue was an exploration whose specific unfolding depended on the personalities of those
engaged” (Abbs, 1993:1)
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It can be argued that the only reason Socrates is so influential is
because he chose to die as a martyr, however, his ideology still influences education today
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Plato was a student of Socrates and his ideas on education are very similar to that of Socrates
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This is how we are shown Socrates’ ideas, through Plato
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Plato can be seen as one of the first people who set up
education as it is today through the setting up of his Academy
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This is another way how Plato’s ideas have survived, as he
wrote lecture notes for his ‘lessons’
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“The
structure of the dialogues suggests that he did not give his disciple-students his own answers to
philosophical questions but rather encouraged them to work out for themselves a correct statement
of the problem, then the line of attack on it, and finally the solution, if one could be found – all
under guidance of the teacher [Plato]” (Myers, 1963:92)
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In doing so, he describes the curriculum – the
‘course’ that his students must run
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Plato is most famous for his philosophy on
Forms
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This idea helps us to understand Plato’s idea on
education
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but utterly real’” (Cooper, 2001:11)
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Although
everyone innately has knowledge, “education may indeed ‘clean and reignite a mental organ which
everyone has’” (Cooper, 2001:11)
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This can reflect why he believed that “women
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For students to be able to be
educated Plato believed that they needed to be committed to learn
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When a person is enlightened then they are to teach other people who are not enlightened and help
them to achieve enlightenment
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This
prisoner is shown to be the philosopher and although the other prisoners do not want to learn, the
task is to ‘drag the other prisoners as far out of the cave as possible
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In this allegory Socrates (being used as a mouthpiece for Plato)
describes how a wicked man could have as good an eye as a philosopher, but it is the task of
teachers to judge this
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He was a student of Plato’s and, although some of his principle ideas are the same, he
rejected some of Plato’s teachings, saying “Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is truth” (Aristotle
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cited in Hobson 2001:15)
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This
is why Aristotle can be seen as a realist, as he believes we obtain knowledge through the senses, not
through innate knowledge (Hobson, 2001)
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This is easier for people to
believe as they can see and prove it
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Aristotle believed that “the role of the teacher is to help the child organize this vast range of
empirical experiences, to help provide some structure” (Hobson, 2001:16)
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He also believed that education should be moral education (Hobson, 2001)
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For example, courage as a virtue - If a person is over
courageous he could be foolhardy or if they are not courageous enough then they could be
cowardly
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He also talked about the role of the parent when talking about the
education of young children
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This role does not just come down to the parent, as
in Greece, Aristotle believed, it was the role of the community to educate and a community would
not be a community without education
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a community would not really be a political one
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The political importance can be shown by how, like Plato, he believed that the role
of education was to “help develop the child’s potentialities into what he or she is best fitted to
become” (Hobson, 2001:15)
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For the lower classes, vocational education is
adequate, but for everyone else, education is needed as it makes you a “fuller and more cultured
person” (Hobson, 2001:19)
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In answering the question ‘discuss some of the ideas about education in Ancient Greek Philosophy’ I
have considered the relevance of these philosophers’ ideas in contemporary education today
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This is because when theorising about education it is important to think first
and foremost about the philosophy of ethics and morality (Carr, 2010)
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As
well as selectively interpreting Ancient Greek Philosophy, some “educational philosophy is no longer
concerned with metaphysical and moral themes (Carr, 1995:87)
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This, therefore, makes their influence
quite significant
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This has not changed throughout the centuries
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Bibliography:
Abbs, P
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In McClelland, A
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Hull: Studies in Education Ltd: 1-4
Arthur, J
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(2010) The Routledge Education Studies Textbook
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Brent, A
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London: George Allen and Unwin
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(1978) Philosophical foundations for the curriculum
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Carr, D
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The Routledge education studies textbook
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Carr, W
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Buckingham: Open University
Press
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(2006) A companion to the philosophy of Education
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Matheson, D
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London: David Fulton Publishers Ltd
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(2010) Socrates, Plato, Eros and Liberal Education
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Vol
36
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5: 527-541
Myers, E
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London: Longmans
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(2001) Fifty major thinkers on education; from Confucius to Dewey
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Schofield, H
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London: Unwin Education Books

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