Rome and Its Contribution Towards Education

Rome & its Contribution
Many methods and procedures that standardize today’s education are said to be products of early agricultural practices. Rome, one of the oldest civilizations to first stress the importance of education, has inadvertently influenced today’s educational format. Their focus on war and politics made it possible for roman individuals to set forth techniques that we would one day consolidate and thus produce the educational system of today.
Once a small republic state, Rome had begun to develop into a vast empire whose focal points were in need of altering. Romans, whose emphasis was once on agriculture, warfare, roman traditions, and public affairs, began to concentrate on “the administration, law, and diplomacy needed to maintain their new empire” (p.76). As opposed to Greek mentors, who’s focus was on philosophical issues, Romans focused on educating “practical politicians, able administrators, and skilled generals” in order to continue running their prosperous domain (p.76). One of Rome’s most highly educated instructors was that of Marcus Fabius Quintilianus. He was a senator, lawyer, teacher, civil servant, and politician whose concentration dealt with oratory; the art of public speaking.
Although he was well noted for his fancy and decorative way of speech, Quintilian was also recognized as one of the first to develop stage-based learning through a program founded on rhetorical studies. “Quintilian emphasized the need to base instruction on the learner’s readiness and stage of development” (p.77). He understood the fact that there are differences between students and stressed that the information and instruction given to the student be appropriate to their “readiness and abilities”. He encouraged instructors to teach their lessons by making them interesting and engaging.
Quintilian’s early version of stage-based learning consists of four intricate stages “that corresponded to the patterns of human development” (p.77). His first stage, from birth until age seven, proposes well trained and well spoken individuals teaching the student. His second stage of education, from seven to fourteen, proposes that the student should learn from self experience and from clear ideas. Instruction in reading and writing should be slow and thorough. He directed students to learn the alphabet by tracing the letters. He supported breaks for recreational games that, he believed, would invigorate and revitalize the student. His third stage, from fourteen to seventeen, emphasized the study of liberal arts. Students would gain knowledge in Greek and Latin grammar, literature, history, and mythology along with the study of music and geometry. This stage promoted bilingual and bicultural elements. His fourth and final stage, from ages seventeen to Twenty-one, brought forth Quintilian’s program of rhetorical studies.
Subjects such as drama, poetry, philosophy and law were evident throughout this stage. However “declamation – systematic speaking exercises – were of great importance” and thus “after being properly prepared, the novice orator spoke to a public audience…and returned to the master rhetorician for expert criticism” (p.78). Here we see a form of instruction based on authority and patience which helped the student achieve a sense of comfort and reassurance while continuing to learn.
Many of Quintilian’s educational attributes are very evident in modern education today. We see that in the same way in which Quintilian divided his former stages of human development in order to instruct; modern education has altered these stages generating a numeric system therefore allowing students to learn amongst other students within the same stage of development. Patience, persistence, repetition, consideration and deliberation are all tactics and strategies that overwhelm many of our public schools. The same breaks, recreational games, and fun activities in which Quintilian proposed made it possible for students, such as me, to views education in a positive manner.

Work Cited
Ornstein, Allan C., Daniel U. Levine, Gerald Lee. Gutek, and David E. Vocke. Foundations of Education. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

Cited: Ornstein, Allan C., Daniel U. Levine, Gerald Lee. Gutek, and David E. Vocke. Foundations of Education. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.