During the 800's the King Charlemagne of France decreed that the Church would provide free education to boys. This was a radical idea. Could a kingdom really be stronger if the subjects were educated? could they handle the extra knowledge they were given or would they rebel?
It turns out (surprise) that an educated people is stronger.
In medieval times, boys were taught Latin, grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music. Doesn't this sound familiar? We are required to gain a basic understanding of mathematics, English and art, which were all things that those boys had to do.
Any of the boys that proved themselves worthy of furthering their education could go on and become a doctor (similar to our doctorate degrees now)
Along with schools, came discipline. Students were kept under strict control. If a mistake was made or any of the rules disobeyed, they were punished with being birched (hit with a wooden cane). Maybe this started the fear of failing for many students. Fear of being punished for being wrong. Don't we all want to do everything right for fear of the consequences?
Girls were not often schooled unless they became a nun or were of a wealthy family. This began to change as it became more needful for women to learn to read and write. For example, a woman may need to help her husband keep the books or keep a record or trades.
The above is a video of the music heard within a monastery. I just love the chants so I put this in. Of course there would probably not have been an organ in the background, but the singing is still amazing.
Music began as a form of worship. The Church kept a close eye on music and only allowed music that was from certain keys with direct ties to worshiping God. One melody chants were sung. No harmonies, no orchestral accompaniment, and no unnecessary notes were used. The point was to be able to understand the words said.
As more people were educated in the new form of writing music, they became more creative. Harmonies were added and different words were even sung at the same time. Did the move to educate more people create this surge in creativity?
I don't know that education directly relates to creativity, but a people that is willing to give time to activities that aren't hunting/gathering let's some of that time go to education and producing creative pieces. So I think that both rise together but aren't necessarily a cause/effect relationship.
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree, it's an example of correlation but not causation. So you talked a lot about the education itself, but I was wondering, how does the education make a stronger nation like you said it did?
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you talked about the similarities between now and then. Today's educational system is categorized by subject. Yet, as we talked about today as a group, we are (usually) lectured at, not involved in a group discussion. This is a concept we've touched a lot on before.
ReplyDeleteAlso, going along with the comment discussion, I agree that it's an example of correlation but not causation; arts grew with the rise of education.
So do you think that school helps or hinders creativity?
ReplyDeleteI think it really depends on the teacher and subjects. If the teacher only values in the box learning objectives, than they have a lot of the power to hinder those students.
ReplyDeleteI agree that to some degree it depends on the teacher, but I think that in general more education = broader world view = greater creativity, simply because you have tasted more subjects.
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