EDF1005-Reflection #15

Education in these two cities had many similarities and a few differences. Education in Ancient Rome was taken very seriously. Most of them were taught how to read and write. The people of the higher class though, were tutored privately at home. “Schools” which we know them as today, were supposed to be only for boys. As soon as they did something wrong they would get beaten or hit. There were no books and not many subjects to be learned. The regular school day for them was much longer than ours is today. Girls were also allowed to go to school but it was done at home. Their week consisted of seven days and they had no weekend to rest. No tests were ever given out but there was much competition. Almost everything was considered a competition for them. The teachers didn’t really have an assessment. Anyone can just walk in town and claim to be a teacher. On the other hand, education in Athens was pretty much to get the children ready for the arts. They weren’t worried about specifying them for a certain job like most of the Romans were. They wanted them to know a little bit of everything and be well rounded. The girls were taught the same things they were in Ancient Rome as well, which are to cook, clean, sew, and keep up with the household. Education for the Athenians took place in the home. They had three types of different teachers; each would have a different occupation. One was an elementary school teacher, the other a secondary school teacher, and the third was a rhetor who taught the students how to make speeches. They were each in charge of teaching something different to the students. This was a big contrast between the Romans and Athenians. I believe the teaching style of the Athenians was more effective and the closest to how our academics and curriculum are taught in today’s society. They were both similar in how they taught their girls of their society to take charge of the household. The Romans were mostly trained for fighting and for an occupation, not really any subjects unlike the Athenians. Education was an important part of both of these cities though. The Romans were more focused on getting their boys ready for the military and ready to fight. They began to train them since they were young boys. All together, both cities did not have many differences and were pretty similar to each other.