Classical Education
Education has always existed in some form as a means to prepare children for life in the world around them. In the western world, the earliest known concept of an education based on some pedagogy is found in ancient Greece. In fact, two distinct forms of education emerged: one in Sparta, and one in Athens.
This should first discuss Athens, and then Sparta, because our concept of classical education goes back to the School of Sparta rather than the School of Athens.
Pythagoras was one of the leading pedagogists in Sparta in the 6th century BC.
He started a school to help students pursue their religious, moral, and
scientific development. To this end, youth at the school of Pythagoras studied
theology, morality, mathematics, and biology. Little attention was given to
reading and writing as those subjects were not considered important in Sparta.
On the other hand, physical exercises, gymnastics and athletics were an
important component of a student's life.
While no writings of Pythagoras or anyone associated with his school have been discovered, authors in later centuries wrote about them. Plato wrote in the 7th book of The Republic (ca. 360 BC) that the primary subjects of the School of Pythagoras were Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy, and Music.
Proclus (5th century AD) wrote in his commentary on Euclid's Elements, Book I:
"The Pythagoreans considered all mathematical science to be divided into four parts: one half they marked off as concerned with quantity, the other half with magnitude; and each of these they posited as twofold. A quantity can be considered in regard to its character by itself or in its relation to another quantity, magnitudes as either stationary or in motion. Arithmetic, then, studies quantities as such, music the relations between quantities, geometry magnitude at rest, spherics [astronomy] magnitude inherently moving."
Education in Athens was quite different. The primary subjects were reading
(spelling) and writing (copying), music (choral and instrumental), arithmetic,
theology, history, geography, biology, and morality. Youth from more wealthy
families were able to continue studying until age 18, receiving instruction in
gymnastics, music, mathematics, poetry, and philosophy. Unfortunately, the
lack of morality in society combined with greed and abuses of power on the part
of educators caused the downfall of education in Athens. Socrates, followed by
Plato, and finally Aristotle all attempted to hold strong amidst the immorality
but while their contributions to our understanding of philosophy and many other
educational subjects are substantial, they were not able to turn the tide for
Athens.
Add more here about the contributions of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in
terms of laying the foundation for the trivium.
At this point, the narrative can continue as written...
St. Severinus Boethius referred to these four subjects as the Quadrivium
(in De Arithmetica, ca. 500 AD). He states that it is "the quadrivium
by which we bring a superior mind from the knowledge offered by the senses to
the more certain things of the intellect". Of importance is also the fact that
St. Severinus Boethius provided an order for the primary subjects, stating that
arithmetic "holds the principal place and position of mother to the rest" and
that:
"Arithmetic also precedes spherical and astronomical science insofar as these two remaining studies follow the third [geometry] naturally. In astronomy, circles, sphere, a center, concentric circles, the median, and the axis exist, all of which are the concern of the discipline of geometry. For this reason, I want to demonstrate the anterior logical force of geometry. This is the case because in all things, movement naturally comes after rest; the static comes first. Thus, geometry understands the doctrine of immoveable things while astronomy comprehends the science of mobile things. In astronomy, the very movement of the stars is celebrated in harmonic intervals. From this it follows that the power of music logically precedes the course of the stars; and there is no doubt that arithmetic precedes astronomy since it is prior to music, which comes before astronomy."
While St. Severinus Boethius intended to pass on the great Greco-Roman culture to future generations by writing manuals on music and astronomy, geometry, and arithmetic, a contemporary named Cassiodorus recognised the providentiality of the monastic movement that was putting down roots in Christian lands. In the words of Pope Benedict XVI at his March 12th, 2008 general audience:
"[Cassiodorus] conceived the idea of entrusting to the monks the task of recovering, preserving and transmitting to those to come the immense cultural patrimony of the ancients so that it would not be lost. For this reason he founded Vivarium, a coenobitic community in which everything was organized in such a way that the monk's intellectual work was esteemed as precious and indispensable. He arranged that even those monks who had no academic training must not be involved solely in physical labour and farming but also in transcribing manuscripts and thus helping to transmit the great culture to future generations."
At about the same time, St. Benedict embraced monasticism and he established a
dozen monasteries in central Italy. These centers of spirituality and faith
preserved the rich heritage from the Greco-Roman culture and ensured its
survival through darker times. The monasteries provided much needed support
for the communities surrounding them, and the monastic schools associated with
them served to spread Christianity as well as culture.
The Benedictine monastic schools provided education at all levels, covering the spectrum of what we now call elementary, secondary, and higher education. They were also known to hold all their students to the same strict rule of conduct, and to educate them regardless of social status.
The monastic schools spread throughout medieval Europe from the early Middle Ages until the 12th century AD, providing a stable center of learning wherever a monastery was established.