The Concept of Sparta Education The Expectations Of A Professional Teacher

The Concept of Sparta Education The Expectations Of A Professional Teacher

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the Sparta education and the expectations of a professional teacher, the Spartan education system was the subject of extensive – and controversial – discussion even in the ancient world. no other contemporary state provided for, and in fact, required, its citizens to attend public school. Unfortunately, because we must rely on descriptions of the system provided by outsiders, we have a kind of mirror image of the Spartan agog.  Observers reported whatever struck them as unique or different from education in their own cities, rather than reporting systematically about Sparta’s system of education

INTRODUCTION

To appreciate the current educational development and plan better for the future requires studying of the past. History of education anchors this relevance in our tertiary institutions (Teacher Education Programmes). Since education is a cultural activity of the people, it means that every cultural system has its own education process. The yardstick for measuring quality and standard varies from culture to culture. Unfortunately, some early critics on Nigerian education were of the opinion that there was no education among the people before the introduction of Arabic and Western-Styled education.

Modern education is traced to the Greek city-states of Sparta and Athens where the present alphabet was in regular use in the 7th century B.C. Sparta developed a model of education with an emphasis on the practical learning of the art of war for the defense of the State. Included in the curriculum were physical exercises of running, jumping, throwing and skills of stealth, patience, endurance, deception etc. This kind of education became known as pragmatic education because it placed emphasis on skilled learning and utility. In the eighth century B.C., Sparta was in need of more fertile land to support an ever-growing population that demanded food. Consequently, Sparta was forced to do what any ancient civilization did when in need of resources: They invaded their neighbors, the Messenia’s, and after a twenty-year war, enslaved them as their agricultural laborers, henceforth known as Helots.

The Concept of Sparta Education

Education in Sparta was completely different. The purpose of education in Sparta was to produce and maintain a powerful army. Sparta boys entered military school when they were about six years old. They learned how to read and write, but those skills were not considered very important except for messages. Military school was tough, on purpose. The boys were often hungry. They were often beaten. They slept away from home, in the barracks, with the men. If they cried, they were beaten, sometimes by their own parents. They were taught how to steal and lie and get away with it. These skills could save their life someday. Nearly everything in the Spartan educational system was about war and battle.

Spartan girls went to school to learn to be warriors. Their school was not as brutal, but all girls in ancient Sparta could wrestle and fist fight and handle a weapon. They were taught how to kill. The Spartans believed that strong women produced strong babies. Besides, the women might have to defend the city if the men were away at war. No great works of art came out of Sparta. But most of the other Greek city-states wanted Sparta on their side. The Spartans were great friends to have in times of war.

 

The Purpose of Sparta Education

The primary purpose of Spartan education, and indeed of Spartan society as a whole, differed greatly from that of the Athenians. The primary goal of Spartan education was to produce good soldiers. Training for the military began at age 7, as all Spartan boys left home to go to military school. From then until the time they were 18, they were subject to harsh training and discipline. Historical accounts tell of Spartan boys as being allowed no shoes, very few clothes, and being taught to take pride in enduring pain and hardship.

Throughout their adolescent and teenage years, Spartan boys were required to become proficient in all manner of military activities. They were taught boxing, swimming, wrestling, javelin-throwing, and discus-throwing. They were trained to harden themselves to the elements. At the age of 18, Spartan boys had to go out into the world and steal their food. Getting caught would result in harsh punishment, including flogging, which was usually a practice reserved only for slaves. The concept was that a soldier must learn stealth and cunning. At age 20, Spartan men had to pass a series of demanding tests of physical prowess and leadership abilities. Those that passed became members of the Spartan military and lived in barracks with the other soldiers. They were allowed to take a wife, but they weren’t allowed to live with her. At age 30, they became full citizens of Sparta, provided they had served honorably. They were required to continue serving the military, however, until age 60.

Unlike their Athenian counterparts, Spartan girls also went to school at age seven. There they learned gymnastics, wrestling, and did calisthenics. These schools were similar in many ways to the schools Spartan boys attended, as it was the Spartan opinion that strong women produced strong babies, which would then grow into strong soldiers to serve the state. Somewhat ironically, women in Sparta had much more independence than women in other city-states, partially because their husbands never lived at home, and partially because Spartans had tremendous respect for Spartan mothers.

 

THE OVERVIEW OF SPARTAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

Spartan education began soon after birth, where babies were inspected by Ephors and cast onto the slopes of Mt Taygetus if the Spartan health standards were not met. Boys were raised by their mothers until the age of seven, at which point they entered the agoge. Within the barracks, they immediately joined an Angelia, or herd of boys. Here they learned military and basic reading and writing skills. They were taught obedience and how to fend for themselves, share responsibilities and bond with each other. At ten they were taught music, dancing, and athletics. These were integral in establishing agility and response and obedience to orders in battle, which were dictated using musical instruments. Spartans would have sung lyrics like “it is fine to die in the front line”. Along with laconic phrases like “Chilly Willy!” or “True manly qualities,” these formed an almost propaganda-like method of education that forced Spartan ideas like the nobility of death or the masculinity of rejecting delicacies into the subject’s mind.

The Expectations Of A Professional Teacher

The goal of education in Sparta, an authoritarian, military city-state, was to produce soldier-citizens. In ancient Sparta, the purpose of education was to produce a well-drilled, well-disciplined marching army. Spartans believed in a life of discipline, self-denial, and simplicity. They were very loyal to the state of Sparta.  Every Spartan, male or female, was required to have a perfect body.

However, the study of the history of education such as the Spartan education system will help a provisional teacher to understand how the past events shaped the present education systems, theories and related phenomenon in the area of teacher education in particular and education in general. Secondly, it will enable you to appreciate the importance of education to mankind since time immemorial across the generations. By so doing, you will be able to critically examine the fundamental part which education plays in the transformation of society. Note that as a teacher, you are a change agent so learning the history of education will prepare teachers in training to examine present trends and dynamics in education, draw practical lessons from the past, avoid possible mistakes, and initiate more viable plans for the benefit of Society. Specifically, the expectations of professional teachers in the learning of the history of education, such as that of Spartan education will:

1.    Help professional teachers to appreciate the various aspect of our past education process so as to link them to the present.

2.    Enables professional teachers to know what type of education we had and the purpose it served in the past.

3.    Gives professional teachers the opportunity of knowing our past mistakes in our education with the view to making necessary amends.

4.    Gives professional teachers the opportunity of studying other people’s educational ideas and programs with the aim of developing ours.

5.    It also gives professional teachers a solid foundation to plan for our present and future education development.

6.    Guides us to proffer some positive solutions to our present-day educational problems.

7.    The study of the history of education helps teachers in training to appreciate the various aspects of their past educational process so as to link them to the present;

8.    It enables professional teachers in training to know what type of education we had and the purpose it served in the past;

9.    It gives professional teachers in training the opportunity of knowing our past mistakes in our education with the view to making necessary amends;

10. History of education gives professional teachers in training the opportunity of studying other people’s educational ideas and programmes with the aim of developing ours

CONCLUSION

Inconclusiveness, The typical Spartan may or may not have been able to read. But reading, writing, literature, and the arts were considered unsuitable for the soldier-citizen and were therefore not part of his education. Music and dancing were a part of that education, but only because they served military ends. At 18, Spartan boys became military cadets and learned the arts of war. At 20, they joined the state militia–a standing reserve force available for duty in time of emergency in which they served until they were 60 years old. Unlike the other Greek city-states, Sparta provided training for girls that went beyond the domestic arts. The girls were not forced to leave home, but otherwise, their training was similar to that of the boys. They too learned to run, jump, throw the javelin and discus, and wrestle mightiest strangle a bull.