What is Education? Part 3

Defining education is difficult. Some might say it’s impossible. To try it in the broadest sense would be the description of a lifelong process that may not end the same for anyone. However, a look at the human experience may reveal what the practice had in common among cultures of world history. We can ask ourselves what the function of learning has been, and why every societal group felt a pressing need to do it. Where would we be without Education, and how has it enabled us to lead productive modern lives?

Using the cultures and civilizations profiled in Part 2 of our What is Education? Series it becomes clear that the majority fall into one of two categories. Though we’ve only reviewed several and every community is unique, we can still find patterns that resonate worldwide and share most of the characteristics profiled.

Below we separate the Part 2 list into two common educational approaches: that of the Hunter-Gatherer Society and the Complex Civilization, with essential features of each. Some of the cultures may have aspects of both but lean most heavily toward one or another.

1. Hunter-Gatherer education (including the following cultures from Part 2: Ancient Hunter Gatherer cultures, Native American culture, African Tribal culture, and Viking culture)

Features:

• The mode of education was highly informal in most instances.
• There were fewer classes and class distinctions that caused education to change according to the recipient.
• Instruction by apprenticeship was often used as a means of acquiring life skills.
• Education was more in tune with nature and the rhythms of nature.
• Education occurred on a smaller scale with fewer participants

2. Education in Complex Civilizations (including the following cultures from Part 2: Ancient Mesopotamia, India, Ancient Egypt, Medieval Europe, The Maya, The Maori, and Ancient Rome)

Features:

• The more complex the civilization, the more ‘formal’ the education, leading to abstract forms of study.
• The greater the class distinctions, the larger number of abstract subjects were pursued (for ex. History, Geometry, Philosophy).
• Apprenticeship was almost solely used in the education of lower and/or middle class children.
• Complex civilizations tended to have larger study ‘programs’ including designated ‘schools’ combined into what might currently be termed a ‘school system’, with greater numbers of participants.

If we wanted to blend the above methods into a ‘system’ for our own children today, what would it look like? The argument could be made that we do that already, but if we composed a plan for kids that were to incorporate all of these, what would the evolution of their ‘Preparation for Life’ be? Perhaps it might go something like this:

• Up to approximately age 12, children might follow the method of learning used by early (and in some cases, continuing) Hunter-Gatherer cultures. Children would remain among relatives or close-knit community members throughout their early childhood in order to develop social skills, communicate by example, learn rudimentary job skills to later fine-tune through apprenticeship, solve problems on a basic level, observe the natural world, and develop personalized interests that may lead to future careers or more specialized skills. This educational tier represents the formative years through which a child begins to navigate the world; a process (one might argue) that is best undertaken under the tutelage of relatives or small communities.
• From age 12 to approximately 17-18, the model for ‘complex civilization instruction’ might come into play. This tier would apply to those who choose to hone skills that were introduced earlier through a more nuanced educational process, or to learn new skills altogether. Formal school or class networks might be provided by specialists in the community who could fine-tune early interests into future occupations that benefit the community in specific ways. This tier would represent a more intensive educational format that would help children branch into less usual directions as they move toward adulthood.

A model like this might be similar in many ways to the education system of today, but the difference may lie in its less formal, more family/ nature-oriented beginning, possibly more in tune with the homeschooling or ‘unschooling’ strategies introduced in recent decades. Later, as children develop more sophisticated social and life skill foundations and have matured to a point where they are able to navigate the formal environment, they may attend what ancient societies called ‘school’ and what we ourselves call ‘school’ today. A mode that might lead to selecting future careers based on mature and developed interests.

And clearly, just to add a modern twist to this idea, it seems natural to consider that children would be granted choices that were not necessarily available in the past: choices regarding which path to follow as adults that properly align with their interests and skills, whether these are ‘formal’ or ‘informal’ choices, and whether they are honed through structured education in the end or apprenticeship.