Introductions / Ancient Curriculum

 

I
 
Unit: Curriculum
 
Theme: Ancient Curriculum
 
 
Introduction
 
 Creating a safe environment in the classroom is key in providing students with higher levels of instruction. An important part of making students feel safe to learn and be creative is knowing their names. However, that is just one of the many aspects needed to actually show students that they are safe to be. Today's class provides students with important tips that help dance teachers to create a safe creative environment in their classroom or studio.
 


------------------------

 II

 

Learning Objectives


  • Know  each other's names
  • Understand the different types of curricula.
  • Explain the differences between the Toltec curriculum and the Western Modern curriculum
  • Gain an awareness of how the curriculum has changed from ancient times to the present



-------------------------------

 

I
 
Unit: Curriculum
 
Theme: Ancient Curriculum
 
 
Introduction
 
 Creating a safe environment in the classroom is key in providing students with higher levels of instruction. An important part of making students feel safe to learn and be creative is knowing their names. However, that is just one of the many aspects needed to actually show students that they are safe to be. Today's class provides students with important tips that help dance teachers to create a safe creative environment.
 


------------------------

 II

 

Learning Objectives


  • Know  each other's names
  • Understand the different types of curricula.
  • Explain the differences between the Toltec curriculum and the Western Modern curriculum
  • Gain an awareness of how the curriculum has changed from ancient times to the present



-------------------------------

 III

 

Main Lesson



1

 

a) Introduce yourself to the group by saying your name, where you come from, your major, if you have any physical training [dance, martial arts, sports, yoga, etc], your expectations about the course.

b) Write a brief introduction of yourself in which you summarize who you are for those students who are not in class. Post your introduction on  Discussion Board.   

 


2


Some Examples of Early Education

The earliest forms of education were focused on hunting and gathering wild foods and vegetables. There was no reading or writing and information was transmitted through word of mouth, songs, gestures and rituals.

 

Aims of Early Education

  • Security and Survival
  • Conformity
  • Preservation and transmission of traditions

 

 

Types of Education

Vocational 

Religious

 

Agencies of Education

Home

Environment

 

Question 1


Why was early education vocational and religious?


3

Ancient Education


A. Sumerian Education (4500-1900)

Sumer is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC.

The ancient cities of Sumer were rediscovered in the 1840s. The Sumerians were excellent mathematicians. The Sumerians developed a calendar based on the moon and the sun (lunisolar). The Sumerians were the first to develop writing.  Each of the Sumerian city states had its own god.

History’s oldest known fictional story is probably the “Epic of Gilgamesh,” a mythic poem that first appeared as early as the third millennium B.C. The adventure-filled tale centers on a Sumerian king named Gilgamesh who is described as being one-third man and two-thirds god. Over the course of twelve clay tablets’ worth of text, he goes on a classic hero’s journey that sees him slay monsters, rub elbows with the gods and search for the key to immortality—all with predictably tragic results.  

 

B. Babylonian Education

The Epic of Gilgamesh started out as a series of Sumerian poems and tales dating back to 2100 B.C., but the most complete version was written around the 12th century B.C. by the Babylonians. 

The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed c. 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organized, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It was written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hammurabi, sixth king of the First Dynasty of Babylon.  

Modern scholars responded to the Code with admiration at its perceived fairness and respect for the rule of law, and at the complexity of Old Babylonian society. There was also much discussion of its influence on the Mosaic Law. Scholars quickly identified lex talionis —the "eye for an eye" principle—underlying the two collections. Debate among Assyriologists has since centered around several aspects of the Code: its purpose, its underlying principles, its language, and its relation to earlier and later law collections. 

Question 2

 

In which way has the Hammurabi  Code influenced our Western modern society? 


C. Egyptian Education (3000 - 300 BC)

  • Aim: 
    • Training of scribes, religion, preservation of cultural                         patterns,embalming 
  • Contents: 
    • Reading, Writing, Language 
    • Religious and secular literature
    •  Metal artistry 
    • Mathematics, geometry
  • Organizations:
    • Home
    • Temple schools
    • Court schools
    • Vocational schools
  •  Methods of Instruction:
    • Internships
    • Dictation, memorization, copying, repetition
    • Observation and participation

 

Question 3

 

In which way does the aim of Ancient Egypt's education differ from our current education system? Compare and contrast.


D. Greek Education (1600 - 300 BC)

  •     Spartan 
    • Aim: military skills and discipline
    • Methods: Competition and Participation
    • Contents: Military exercises, moral and social habits and gymnastics
    • Legacy: Patriotism, discipline and military skills
  •     Athenian (The arts, democracy)
    • Aim: Good citizenship, individual excellence and development
    • Contents: Reading, music, gymnastics, writing, poetry and arithmetic
    • Methods: Human relationships and discipline
    • Legacy: Olympic games, theater and festivals
  •     Later Athenian
    • Aims
      • Critical Thinking
      • Intellectual Ruling
      • Aristotle: Rational Living
      • Sophists: Pragmatism  

             Contents: Geometry and rhetoric      

              Methods: Lecture and Q&As

              Legacy: Socratic Method, philosophy 

 

 Question 4

 

How were the Spartan and Athenian educational traditions related to dance and movement?

 

E. Roman Education (750 - 450 BC)

Education in Rome progressed from an informal familial system of education in the early Republic to a tuition based system during the late Republic and the Empire. The Roman education system was based on the Greek system as many of the private tutors in the Roman system were Greek slaves or freedmen.

  • Early Roman Education
    • Aim: Utilitarian, military, civic and moral
    • Contents: Law, physical and military exercises and vocational
    • Methods: Memorization, grammar and intensive drill of speech
    • Legacy: Organized body of laws


  • Later Roman Education
    • Aim: Oratory, management and civics
    • Contents: Applied science, history, natural sciences, reading, writing and calculation
    • Method: Memorization and public speaking
    • Legacy: Methods of organization, administration and management


Question 5


What is questionable about the Roman method of memorizing and speaking publicly as a form of learning?

 

 

                                             ---------------

IV

 

A Note to Remember 


The main purpose of early ancient education was to guide children to be good members of their tribe or band. There was a marked emphasis on training children for citizenship because of a high concern with the growth of individuals as tribal members as well as on their thorough comprehension of their way of life.


 

--------------------

 V

Case Study

 

 The Toltecs

 The Toltec culture is a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture that ruled a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico in the early post-classic period of Mesoamerican chronology (300 BC - 800 AD). The Toltecs represent 1000 years of splendor of the Anahuak. Zapotecs and Mayans were all influenced by the knowledge gathered by the Toltecs, mainly the existential consciousness of the universe. The pyramids, called poyans, were centers of investigation. Something happened to this centers of knowledge. They were destroyed and covered with dirt.




LINKS

 

Sacred Dance Meditations: Introduction


Connecting the Dots in World History (page 120)

 

On the Toltec Path / Right and Left-Side Teachings

 

 

Toltec Curriculum

Exercises and martial arts (dance): For the child to learn how to control their bodies.

Meditation: For the child to analyze how the mind works.

Concentration & Deep Memory: For the child to learn how to memorize dreams.

 

Question 6

In which way does the Toltec curriculum differ from the kind of curriculum currently used in the West?



--------------------------------

VI


ACTIVITY 


Get in groups. Choose the system of early education you like most and explain why you would used it to infuse our current education system.


-------------------

VII


Journaling

Write a reflection on your experience in class today. Mention takeaways, first impressions and how you felt.



---------------

VIII


Glossary

 

Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that considers words and thought as tools and instruments for prediction, problem solving, and action, and rejects the idea that the function of thought is to describe, represent, or mirror reality. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics—such as the nature of knowledge, language, concepts, meaning, belief, and science—are all best viewed in terms of their practical uses and successes.

 

A sophist was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught arete – "virtue" or "excellence" – predominantly to young statesmen and nobility.


-------------------

IX

Sources


 Faisal, Neha. Education in Primitive Societies. Explore Literature with Me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPGwEYD2RJA&list=PLbgN1UfI1afcq1R35kCYczj187a1nCrMY&index=2

What is the oldest known piece of literature. https://www.history.com/news/what-is-the-oldest-known-piece-of-literature


 

 

 III

 

Main Lesson


1

 

a) Introduce yourself to the group by saying your name, where you come from, your major, if you have any physical training [dance, martial arts, sports, yoga, etc], your expectations about the course.

b) Write a brief introduction of yourself in which you summarize who you are for those students who are not in class. Post your introduction on  Discussion Board.   

 


2


Some Examples of Early Education

The earliest forms of education were focused on hunting and gathering wild foods and vegetables. There was no reading or writing and information was transmitted through word of mouth, songs, gestures and rituals.

 

Aims of Early Education

  • Security and Survival
  • Conformity
  • Preservation and transmission of traditions

 

 

Types of Education

Vocational 

Religious

 

Agencies of Education

Home

Environment

 

Question 1


Why was early education vocational and religious?


3


A. Sumerian Education (4500-1900)

Sumer is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC.

The ancient cities of Sumer were rediscovered in the 1840s. The Sumerians were excellent mathematicians. They developed a calendar based on the moon and the sun (lunisolar). They were the first to develop writing.  Each of the Sumerian city states had its own god.

History’s oldest known fictional story is probably the “Epic of Gilgamesh,” a mythic poem that first appeared as early as the third millennium B.C. The adventure-filled tale centers on a Sumerian king named Gilgamesh who is described as being one-third man and two-thirds god. Over the course of twelve clay tablets’ worth of text, he goes on a classic hero’s journey that sees him slay monsters, rub elbows with the gods and search for the key to immortality—all with predictably tragic results.  

 

B. Babylonian Education

The Epic of Gilgamesh started out as a series of Sumerian poems and tales dating back to 2100 B.C., but the most complete version was written around the 12th century B.C. by the Babylonians. 

The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed c. 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organized, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It was written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hammurabi, sixth king of the First Dynasty of Babylon.  

Modern scholars responded to the Code with admiration at its perceived fairness and respect for the rule of law, and at the complexity of Old Babylonian society. There was also much discussion of its influence on the Mosaic Law. Scholars quickly identified lex talionis —the "eye for an eye" principle—underlying the two collections. Debate among Assyriologists has since centered around several aspects of the Code: its purpose, its underlying principles, its language, and its relation to earlier and later law collections. 

Question 2

 

In which way has the Hammurabi  Code influenced our Western modern society? 


C. Egyptian Education (3000 - 300 BC)

  • Aim: 
    • Training of scribes, religion, preservation of cultural                         patterns,embalming 
  • Contents: 
    • Reading, Writing, Language 
    • Religious and secular literature
    •  Metal artistry 
    • Mathematics, geometry
  • Organizations:
    • Home
    • Temple schools
    • Court schools
    • Vocational schools
  •  Methods of Instruction:
    • Internships
    • Dictation, memorization, copying, repetition
    • Observation and participation

 

Question 3

 

In which way does the aim of Ancient Egypt's education differ from our current education system? Compare and contrast.


D. Greek Education (1600 - 300 BC)

  •     Spartan 
    • Aim: military skills and discipline
    • Methods: Competition and Participation
    • Contents: Military exercises, moral and social habits and gymnastics
    • Legacy: Patriotism, discipline and military skills
  •     Athenian (The arts, democracy)
    • Aim: Good citizenship, individual excellence and development
    • Contents: Reading, music, gymnastics, writing, poetry and arithmetic
    • Methods: Human relationships and discipline
    • Legacy: Olympic games, theater and festivals
  •     Later Athenian
    • Aims
      • Critical Thinking
      • Intellectual Ruling
      • Aristotle: Rational Living
      • Sophists: Pragmatism  

             Contents: Geometry and rhetoric      

              Methods: Lecture and Q&As

              Legacy: Socratic Method, philosophy 

 

 Question 4

 

How were the Spartan and Athenian educational traditions related to dance and movement?

 

E. Roman Education (750 - 450 BC)

Education in Rome progressed from an informal familial system of education in the early Republic to a tuition based system during the late Republic and the Empire. The Roman education system was based on the Greek system as many of the private tutors in the Roman system were Greek slaves or freedmen.

  • Early Roman Education
    • Aim: Utilitarian, military, civic and moral
    • Contents: Law, physical and military exercises and vocational
    • Methods: Memorization, grammar and intensive drill of speech
    • Legacy: Organized body of laws


  • Later Roman Education
    • Aim: Oratory, management and civics
    • Contents: Applied science, history, natural sciences, reading, writing and calculation
    • Method: Memorization and public speaking
    • Legacy: Methods of organization, administration and management


Question 5


What is questionable about the Roman method of memorizing and speaking publicly as a form of learning?

 

 

                                             ---------------

IV

 

A Note to Remember 


The main purpose of early ancient education was to guide children to be good members of their tribe or band. There was a marked emphasis on training children for citizenship because of a high concern with the growth of individuals as tribal members as well as on their thorough comprehension of their way of life.


 

--------------------

 V

Case Study

 

 The Toltecs

 The Toltec culture is a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture that ruled a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico in the early post-classic period of Mesoamerican chronology (300 BC - 800 AD). The Toltecs represent 1000 years of splendor of the Anahuak. Zapotecs and Mayans were all influenced by the knowledge gathered by the Toltecs, mainly the existential consciousness of the universe. The pyramids, called poyans, were centers of investigation. Something happened to this centers of knowledge. They were destroyed and covered with dirt.




LINKS

 

Sacred Dance Meditations: Introduction


Connecting the Dots in World History (page 120)

 

On the Toltec Path / Right and Left-Side Teachings

 

 

Toltec Curriculum

Exercises and martial arts (dance): For the child to learn how to control their bodies.

Meditation: For the child to analyze how the mind works.

Concentration & Deep Memory: For the child to learn how to memorize dreams.

 

Question 6

In which way does the Toltec curriculum differ from the kind of curriculum currently used in the West?



--------------------------------

VI


ACTIVITY 


Get in groups. Choose the system of early education you like most and explain why you would use it to infuse our current education system.


-------------------

VII


Journaling

Write a reflection on your experience in class today. Mention takeaways, first impressions and how you felt.



---------------

VIII


Glossary

 

Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that considers words and thought as tools and instruments for prediction, problem solving, and action, and rejects the idea that the function of thought is to describe, represent, or mirror reality. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics—such as the nature of knowledge, language, concepts, meaning, belief, and science—are all best viewed in terms of their practical uses and successes.

 

A sophist was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught arete – "virtue" or "excellence" – predominantly to young statesmen and nobility.


-------------------

IX

Sources


 Faisal, Neha. Education in Primitive Societies. Explore Literature with Me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPGwEYD2RJA&list=PLbgN1UfI1afcq1R35kCYczj187a1nCrMY&index=2

What is the oldest known piece of literature. https://www.history.com/news/what-is-the-oldest-known-piece-of-literature


 

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