1.4 The historical development of learning and teaching

Throughout history, parents have been their children's first teachers, initiating them into the culture of their tribe or community. As civilization began to develop, some parents wanted their children to have knowledge and skills beyond that of peasants, servants, and the common people.

In antiquity, the Middle Ages, and up until the mid-1800s, teachers were almost entirely men, but this has changed in the last 100 years in all parts of the world. Teachers have been held accountable by those funding them.

In ancient Athens, teachers were accountable to the parents of children they were tutoring; monks and priests were accountable to the church in the Middle Ages; teachers in America by a school board representing their communities. Throughout history, teachers and teaching have tended to reflect the culture and needs of the society in which they were located.

For example:

In Athens boys were taught to be productive citizens.

In Sparta, the emphasis was on military prowess.

Chinese education emphasized the literature of some philosophers such as Confucius and Lao-tse.

Expectations of teachers reflect their culture - the extent of their knowledge and skills, their status in the community, and their moral dispositions.

1.4 The historical development of learning and teaching

As civilizations developed and the knowledge/skills base of society became more complex, education became more important. Teachers have functioned in two basic environments:

Instructing a single person. Individual instruction occurred in early civilizations such as Greece, Rome, and

Mesopotamia as wealthy citizens engaged slaves or employed poor but educated citizens as tutors to teach their children.

Or, teaching a group or class of persons. The second and more traditional environment for teaching involves a group of students.

4.1    Education in Islam

Education in Islam is uniquely different from other types of educational theory and practice largely because of the all-encompassing influence of the Koran. The advent of the Quran in the seventh century was quite revolutionary for the predominantly illiterate Arabian society. In the early Islamic era, reading and writing for the purpose of accessing the full blessings of the Koran was an aspiration for most Muslims.

Pious and learned Muslims (mu' allim or mudarris, i.e. teacher), dedicated to making the teachings of the Koran more accessible to the Islamic community, taught the faithful in what came to be known as the kuttab (plural, katatib).

The kuttab could be located in a variety of venues: mosques, private homes, shops, tents, or even out in the open. Historians are uncertain as to when the katatib were first established, but with the widespread desire of the faithful to study the Quran, katatib could be found in virtually every part of the Islamic empire by the middle of the eighth century.

1.4 The historical development of learning and teaching

The curriculum of the kuttab was primarily directed to young male children, beginning as early as age four, and was centered on Koranic studies and on religious obligations such as ritual ablutions, fasting, and prayer.

The focus during the early history of Islam on the education of youth reflected the belief that raising children with correct principles was a holy obligation for parents and society. The approach to teaching children was strict, and the conditions in which young students learned could be quite harsh. Corporal punishment was often used to correct laziness or imprecision.

The transformation from kuttab (traditional Quranic school) to more modern Islamic education (Madrassas, i.e. schools) was slow but evident. Madrassas have evolved from the centers of Islamic learning to the centers of secular knowledge acquisition, to the current state of greater emphasis on Islamic teachings only. However, increasingly, some Muslim scholars have emphasized that secular knowledge should be taught in light of the knowledge revealed in the Koran. From early on, Islam emphasized two types of knowledge: Revealed and Earthly.

1.4 The historical development of learning and teaching.