Moses

Moses is a seminal figure in the religious traditions of Judaism but also Christianity, and Islam. He is recognised as a prophet, lawgiver and leader who lived around the 13th to 15th centuries BC.

Born to Hebrew parents in Egypt when the Pharaoh ordered the death of Hebrew male infants, Moses was saved and raised in Pharaoh's palace, then later fled Egypt after killing an Egyptian taskmaster and eventually encountered God in the form of a burning bush. Driven by God, Moses returned to Egypt to lead the Israelites out of slavery in the Exodus. In terms of teaching, he is best known for receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. Moses is traditionally considered the author of the Torah's first five books, which are foundational texts in Judaism.

Moses's Teaching

Just as Jesus employed parables and sermons to impart spiritual truths, Moses had his unique approach to teaching. Moses conveyed explicit laws and commandments received directly from God to the Israelites. This included the Ten Commandments and a comprehensive legal code covering religious, moral, and social conduct. These are clear and authoritative instructions and served as a moral guide for individuals and societies, promoting values like honesty, respect, and responsibility.

Moses instituted rituals like the Passover, which served both as acts of worship and as teaching tools to remind the Israelites of their deliverance from Egypt.

Like the later Confucius, he regarded rituals as essential for cultivating moral character, maintaining social harmony, and promoting a well-ordered society, incorporating symbolic actions or rituals in teaching can enhance memory and understanding.

Storytelling was, of course, another method used by most religious founders. He frequently reminded the people of their shared history, the covenant with God, and past experiences to motivate and guide them. Themes from his life—journey, struggle, covenant—are archetypes in storytelling.

Critique

While Moses's approach has been influential, his absolutism in his laws left little room for dialogue or questioning. The laws were universal and did not account for individual differences among the people. Today's educational best practices emphasize differentiated instruction tailored to diverse learning needs. Instances of severe punishment would be seen by modern observers as uncesarrily harsh and many of Moses's teachings were specific to the historical and cultural context of the Israelites. Applying them directly without adaptation does not align with current societal values and educational goals.

Influence

Moses's influence permeates religious thought, legal systems, cultural narratives, and leadership models. His prominence in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam makes him a unifying figure in interfaith dialogues. His life and teachings have shaped the moral and ethical foundations of societies around the world. The core principles he promoted—justice, compassion, law, faith, and leadership—continue to inspire and guide people today.

Conclusion

Moses's methods of teaching offer valuable lessons in clarity, and the power of shared narratives. His emphasis on clear communication, the use of ritual and leading by example are timeless principles that remain relevant. However, a modern educator has to balance authority with openness, encourage critical engagement and adapt teachings to meet the diverse needs of learners, avoiding fundamentalism.

Hypatia

Hypatia (360 - 415 AD) of Alexandria was a renowned philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician in ancient Alexandria. As one of the first female mathematicians about whom substantial details are known, we know that her father was the mathematician and astronomer Theon of Alexandria. Under his guidance, she was educated in an environment where she could flourish academically, eventually surpassing her own father.

She became the head of the Neoplatonic school at Alexandria, and was famous for her eloquence, modesty, and virtuous life and one of the most respected scholars of her time.

Teacher

As a teacher and scholar, her life and work bear several similarities to the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. Both Hypatia and Socrates were known for their dialectical approach to teaching, engaging students with questions and discussions rather than simply providing them with information. This method encourages critical thinking and a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

She taught the works of both Plato and Aristotle and as Damascius describes would “used to put on her philosopher’s cloak  and walk through the middle of town and publicly interpret Plato, Aristotle, or the works of any other philosopher.” We have evidence from one of her pupils, Synesius, of her pupils’ love of her as a teacher. There is also an account of her popularity as a teacher at her home.

Decades after her death the poet Palladas celebrated her fame:

“For your work touches Heaven Hypatia

You sacred ornament to literature

Pure shining star of teaching that is wise”

However, as a Neoplatonist, and non-Christian, despite her virtuous life, as a stated virgin , the Christian Pope Cyril, fermented rebellion, attacked the Governor Orestes, who she was associated with. She was eventually surrounded by a mob and brutally murdered. It signalled the end of the Classical age and start of a more religious period.

Hypatia made significant contributions to science and philosophy. She wrote commentaries on Diophantus, Apollonius, and other works, although none of these texts survive to this day. She is credited with the invention or improvement of several scientific apparatuses, and her work in astronomy and mathematics was highly regarded.

Influence

Despite living ethical lives of knowledge and virtue as thinkers and teachers, both were killed as their teachings and influence were seen as threats. Socrates was sentenced to death by the Athenian government, and Hypatia was murdered by a mob. Tet both remain iconic figures.

Although none of her known written works survive, as one of the earliest female mathematicians, astronomers and philosophers, she is still seen as an inspiration as a female scholar, teacher and martyr. Her role was taken up as an example of secular, scientific inquiry against religious dogmatism during the French Enlightenment, Voltaire in particular, also by later women’s rights movements

Her brutal murder is an event that marks the end of the Classical period, virulent Christianity was on the ascent and moving away from open inquiry.  On visiting the illustrious Alexandrian Library, the Roman historian Orostius, only five years after Hypatia’s death, noted the empty shelves. The scholars had departed back to Athens in the face of dogmatic opposition. Polytheism was giving way to Monotheism and a period of dominance by the major religions, the age of belief.

Bibliography

Nisbet G. (2020) Epigrams from the Greek Anthology. OUP

Issa I., (2023) Alexandria The city that changed the world. Sceptre.

Euclid and Archimedes

Euclid (~ 300 BC)

A parallel figure in the foreground of Raphael’s fresco, on the right is Euclid, from the Greek colony Alexandria in Egypt, by far the most important Greek mathematician, leaning down to demonstrate his mathematical proofs, on what looks like a slate, with calipers, where the students are in discussion, working through the proofs in their heads. Again, this contrast exists between the didactic teaching of a canon and the more learner-centric view of the learner as someone who has to learn by doing and reflecting. 

Elements, in 13 books, is his most famous work, where his theorems and, more importantly, proofs were deduced from axioms. Familiar examples include the proof that the angles of a triangle add up to 180 degrees and Pythagoras’s Theorem. It is this logical rigour that is remarkable, influencing the entire history of mathematics and science. It was used as the main textbook in mathematics for over 2000 years, well into the 20th century and all University students for centuries used this book as part of the quadrivium.

One fascinating feature of Euclid’s Elements, was the first ever algorithm in print, a method to calculate the Greatest Common denominators for any given number, an oft-quoted forerunner for the current age of algorithms.

Beyond this he wrote on the rigour of mathematical proof, conic sections, the geometry of spheres and number theory. In his Phaenomena, Euclid aims at astronomy with a treatment of spherical geometry.

Archimedes (287-212 BC)

Eureka! Is the word most associated with him, where he supposedly submerges a Golden Crown in a bath of water, measuring the displaced volume. The next step, where he divided the mass of the golden crown by its volume, determined whether it was silver or gold. But the story does not appear in any of Archimedes writings.

His reputation rests on his mathematics but also on the practical application of this mathematics. In addition to explanations of levers and fluid mechanics, he is said to have invented the Archimedes Screw for lifting irrigation water, compound pulleys, and many war machines, including an optical device to focus the sun’s rays on invading Roman ships and a crane and claw for sinking ships and improved catapults.

It is his work on circles, spheres and cylinders, parabolas, centres of gravity, law of the lever, curves, conoids, spheroids and floating bodies, along with that famous number ‘pi’, that has ensured his lasting fame. He also appears to have anticipated modern calculus by using a method of exhaustion, increasing the sides of a polygon towards a complete representation of the circle. Archimedes is arguably the greatest of the Greek mathematicians. In the same period, Eraytosthenes (~250BC) used geometry to estimate the circumference of the earth. He noticed that the sun shone down a well in Aswan at midday. On the same day of the year he also measures the shadow of the sun from a column further north in Alexandria, From this he ingeniously calculated the circumference of the earth. 

Influence

Euclid and Archimedes, along with other Greek mathematicians and astronomers put mathematics, mostly geometry, at the heart of the western educational system. It was an indispensable feature for many of the major Greek thinkers who saw it as the foundation for rigorous thinking about the world. They gave mathematics a status in Western thought that has never waned. Its emphasis on geometry, proof and the need for quantitative rigour lies at the heart of later scientific revolutions.

They also made advances in what we would now call engineering, the practical application of science and mathematics into machines and architecture. Beyond this, astronomy also benefited from their mathematical bent.

Aristotle (384-322 BC)

Teacher to Alexander the Great and Plato’s pupil, Aristotle is in some ways a more important educational theorist and philosopher than Socrates or Plato. His work has resonated down the ages, and although we have only fragments from his book On Education, we have enough secondary evidence to piece together his theories on the subject.

Empirical, scientific approach

Like Plato, he founded a school, The Lyceum, but his teaching ran counter to Plato’s love of abstract reason, as he did not believe in a transcendental system of Forms, Aristotle introduced a more empirical approach to theory and learning with more emphasis on the physical sciences. Of course, much of his science is wrong, and his idea of purposefulness wrong-headed, but he set us on a path towards investigation, observation and knowledge, based on experience, that would prove to be his positive legacy over the last 2000 years.

Greek ideal

As a proponent of the Greek ideal of an all-round education he recommended a balance of activities that train both mind and body, including debate, music, science and philosophy, combined with physical development and training. This ideal has had a profound influence on the West’s idea of education and schooling. Character and ethical behaviour was also important, extolled through his theory of the Golden Mean (everything in moderation). Modern schools and universities have, to a degree, this classical ideal in their core values.

Practice as well as theory

Despite his position as one of the World’s greatest philosophers, he showed great concern for practical and technical education, in addition to contemplation. He would be genuinely puzzled by our system’s emphasis on theory rather than practice. Learning by doing was a fundamental issue in his theory of learning. 'Anything we have to learn to do we learn by the actual doing of it...’ he says, echoing many a modern theorist. This is not to forget theory and theorising, only to recognise that education needs to be habitually reinforced through practice. Not that we should read too much into this, as he, like Plato, still had an essentially elitist view of education, with what we would see as vocational training an activity for the lower classes.

Moral education

To be moral one must behave morally but also be informed by reason. This is interesting, as Aristotle recognised that one can teach young people to be moral without them having to understand why. He understood that altruism was built-in and that teaching by example was fine, only later do we engage in reflection on why this is so. Music education was of particular interest for Aristotle. He saw it as an important educational technique, a builder of character and good for the soul, as well as a useful pastime. You learn how to recognise and control the different hues of emotion. To be clear, he meant learning how to play a musical instrument and sing, not just listening to music.

Lifelong learning

Education was for Aristotle a fundamental activity in life, an intrinsic good and should not be seen as instrumental. ‘Better a philosopher unsatisfied, than a pig satisfied’ to quote his peer and contemporary, Plato. And this philosophical view of education is one of his main concerns. Education is not the mere transmission of knowledge, it is a preparation for participation in a fulfilled life that reflects and acts on ethical and political grounds. It is as much about rights, than getting things right and should be state controlled until 21, then continue for the rest of one’s life.

Logic

He was the first to study formal logic in his Prior Analytics on deductive reasoning, and other texts which together form the Organon, the ‘tool’ for argument. where he laid out types of syllogisms, or forms of logical argument. Although not complete as a system of logic, this formed the basis of formal logic for two thousand years and was to greatly influence later philosophical logic and mathematics. 

Critique

His logic, Bertarand Russell argued, was flawed, and fossilised logic for two thousand years as the Catholic Church turned it into dogma. His ideas on science were also regarded as truths, often hindering progress into biological phenomena and other subjects.

Influence

The schism between Plato and Aristotle, theory and practice, teaching and research, humanities and science, lives on in our curricula, schools and Universities. Aristotle, in the western tradition, was the first to break with philosophical reasoning as the primary approach to education. He was a thorough empiricist, a scientist and logician.

As a logician he laid down the foundations for our current computational age. He was to have a huge influence on George Boole and Boolean Logic, which lies beneath much contemporary electronics, computer science, programming and artificial intelligence.

However, his theories, along with those of Plato, also gave rise to scholasticism that was to send the search for knowledge and education into more than a millennium of introspection. Nevertheless, Aristotle remains a towering figure and we have recovered components of the Greek ideal through the Renaissance (rebirth) to build educational systems that recognise this legacy.

Aristotle

Aristotle The Nicomachean Ethics, London: Penguin. 

Aristotle The Politics (A treatise on government), London: Penguin.

Bauman, R.W. (1998) Aristotle’s Logic of Education New York Peter Lang.

Barnes, J. (1982) Aristotle, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Howie, G (ed) (1968 Aristotle’s on Education, London, Collier-Macmillan

Jaeger, W. W. (1948) Aristotle, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Plato (428-348 BC)

It is through Plato that we know Socrates, but Plato is no mere mouthpiece. All western philosophy was described by Whitehead as ‘footnotes to Plato’. Like Socrates, he believed in the power of questioning as a method of teaching and most of his writing is in the form of ‘dialogue’. Indeed his dialogues do not feature Plato himself, they illustrate by example his view that learners must learn to think for themselves through dialogue. But he was a direct, detailed, and controversial commentator in his utopian vision of education in The Republic, The Laws and other dialogues.

Plato’s emphasis on abstract ideas was based on his belief in pure reason, the realm of ideas, mathematics and pure form. He had a contempt for the real world and this influence has spanned over two millennia. He was only interested in the education of the elite. This has had a devastating effect that still haunts us today. Religious education continued this tradition for centuries, in being scholastic, abstract and unworldly. It also led to the demotion of worldly or vocational learning. 

Plato’s Academy

Plato’s Academy is thought by many to have been the first University, open to both men and women. He founded ‘The Academy’ in 387 BC, a philosophical school that remained in use until AD 526, when it was finally closed down by the Emperor Justinian. Astonishingly, having run for 900 years, it rivals any current western university for longevity. Above its door were the words Do not enter here unless you know geometry, as he saw mathematics as important training for the mind, along with the idea of clear hypotheses, deduction and proofs. We also get a detailed account of what a good education and curriculum should consist of:

3 Rs

School, he proposes, should start at six with the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic. A strict curriculum is recommended in the early years and the educational system should be designed to determine the abilities of individuals and training apply to their strengths and abilities. In other words, a severe form of streaming. These ideas were to be revived by the humanists during the Renaissance and shaped the Western schooling system with its focus on the 3 Rs: reading, writing and arithmetic. 

Mathematics, he thought, provides an education in sound reasoning towards the immaterial Forms, simply amassing knowledge was seen as wasteful. However, and this is where we should take note, he did not recommend that young minds should be introduced to mathematics and abstract reasoning too early. This simply induces rejection and rebelliousness. At this early stage one must develop character.

Censor fiction

Now here comes a recommendation that sounds shocking to modern ears, that we should reject the teaching and consumption of fiction at an early age; literature and especially poetry and drama. For those who believe that education is about ‘storytelling’ Plato has some salutary warnings. Fiction can cloud a child’s mind and reduce their ability to make judgments and deal with the real world. More than this, he thought that fiction could lead to self-deception, in particular acting, where learners develop a false-sense of themselves. He also thought that they may be tempted to emulate some of the immoral behaviour in such texts. Morality was, for Plato, the bedrock of the educational process and education was a structured and intense process.

In the Phaedrus, he also cautions us about being too reliant on a technology such as writing. It may have the opposite educational effect from that intended, as it creates a sense that something is learnt but actually results in forgetfulness. He warns us that writing may be the enemy of memory, as one is not recalling from one’s own mind but the written text. Interestingly this is a strong finding in recent cognitive science, where effortful learning through retrieval is recommended. 

Mind and body

Music and sports should be brought into the curriculum with more serious attention paid to military training at the age of 18. The Greek ideal of body and mind is seen in an educational context with a structured approach to education across one’s entire lifetime. The Gymnasion was literally a “school for naked exercise”, common in Greek cities, with complex buildings, run by public officials, often linked to games and festivals. The Olympic games ran every four years for over a thousand years. Educational activities such as lectures, philosophical discussion and the reading of literature were also held there. 

Lifelong learning

We must remember that Plato doesn’t see education for all, and certainly not slaves, merely a minority destined to rule, although The Republic can also be seen as an analogy for the individual mind. He sees the mind developing over time with age as an important factor in education. The child is not capable of sound reasoning and must be protected from harmful cultural influences but in time, at 18 and 21, higher educational goals are introduced, with philosophy at 30. It is only at the age of 50 that the educated person should be allowed to rule – as philosopher kings. 

Influence

In education, the ‘classical’ education that so influenced 19th century schooling, still so influential in Western Universities, shows that this Greek tradition lives on. Greek is still taught in many schools and the Glory that was Greece is still recognized in the philosophy, history and drama that is still studied to this day.

The word gymnasium lives on in Germany as a form of school and elsewhere as a place for physical exercise and sports. An education involving both mind and body lived on in the European tradition of education with its focus on competitive sports and the revival of the Greek ideal of the Olympics. We even have the Greek lettered fraternities in the US.

Plato’s lasting contribution to educational theory has pros and cons. It led to severe, selective streaming, cast doubt on the use of literature, poetry and drama and put an undue emphasis on abstract, academic knowledge at the expense of the vocational. This last point is perhaps the most pertinent, as it was based on a very abstract and metaphysical theory of knowledge (Forms). On the other hand, it led to rigour in mathematics and reason, laying the foundations for The Academy, the forerunner of the modern University. Theoretically, he mapped out a developmental educational theory that rested on the Greek ideal of mind and body and saw education as developing at different ages, an early conception of lifelong learning. 

Plato

Plato (1955) The Republic, London: Penguin (translated by H. P. D. Lee).

Plato (1955) The Laws, London: Penguin (translated by H. P. D. Lee).

Murdoch, Iris (1977) The Fire and the Sun: Why Plato banished the Artists, Oxford University Press.

Hare, R. M. (1989) Plato, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Brown, P.C., Roediger III, H.L. and McDaniel, M.A., (2014). Make it stick. Harvard University Press.

Socrates (469-399 BC)

Socrates was one of the few teachers who died for his craft, executed by the Athenian authorities for supposedly corrupting the youth. That in itself has earned him eternal fame. Most learning professionals will have heard of him through their acquaintance with the ‘Socratic method’ but few will know that he never wrote a single word describing this method, fewer still will know much detail about that method.

How many have read the Socratic dialogues? How many know what he meant by his method and how he practised his approach? Socrates, in fact, wrote absolutely nothing. It was Plato and Xenophon who recorded his thoughts and methods through the lens of their own beliefs. We must remember, therefore, that Socrates is in fact a mouthpiece for the views of others. In fact the two pictures painted of Socrates by these two commentators differ somewhat. In the Platonic Dialogues he is witty, playful and a great philosophical theorist, in Xenophon he is a smart but dull moraliser.

Socratic method

That the teacher should be an intellectual midwife to the student’s own thoughts is his great educational principle. His mother was indeed a midwife and he was among the first to recognise that, in terms of learning, ideas are best generated from the cognitive effort of the learner in terms of understanding, realisation and retention. Education is not cramming in, but a drawing out, uncovering preconceptions. Often the learner would discover that they did not know something, that they were actually in a state of ignorance.

He would claim that he taught nothing as he had nothing to teach and his lasting influence is the useful idea, that for certain types of learning, questioning and dialogue allow the learner to generate their own ideas and conclusions, rather than be spoon-fed. 

What is less well known is the negative side of the Socratic method. He loved to pick intellectual fights and the method was not so much a gentle teasing out of ideas, more the brutal exposure of falsehoods. He was also roundly ridiculed in public drama, notably by his contemporary Aristophanes, in Clouds, where he uses the Socratic method to explore idiotic ideas using petty, hair-splitting logic.

Socratic questions

Socratic questions were designed to elicit reflection in the learner:

Clarifying Concepts: He would ask for definitions or meanings of words to clarify vague or ambiguous concepts. For example, "What is justice?" or "What is virtue?"

Probing Assumptions: Socrates often questioned the assumptions that underlie people's thoughts and beliefs. For instance, he might ask, "Why do you think that is true?" or "What leads you to believe that?"

Exploring Reasons and Evidence: He would ask for the reasoning behind people's beliefs, prompting them to provide evidence or logical support. Questions like, "How do you know this?" or "Can you give me an example?"

Questioning Perspectives: Socrates sought to understand different viewpoints and challenge one-dimensional thinking. He might ask, "Is there another way to look at this?" or "What if you considered it from this perspective?"

Implications and Consequences: He would explore the implications of the answers given, asking about the broader impact or consequences. For example, "What effect would that have?" or "What would happen if that were true?"

Encouraging Self-Reflection: Socrates believed in the importance of self-knowledge and often asked questions that encouraged introspection, such as "What do you truly value?" or "What does this mean for your life?"

The Socratic Method was not about leading someone to a predetermined answer but rather about fostering deep, reflective thought and encouraging a greater understanding of the topic at hand.

Socratic philosophy of education

Beyond the famous Socratic method, he did have a philosophy of education that included several principles.

Knowledge and learning were seen by him as a valuable pursuit, with a ruthless pursuit of questioning even basic assumptions. This was achieved socially through dialogue, not by lecturing or the transfer of knowledge from teacher to learner. The aim of learning was to pursue, with a relentless intellectual honesty, answers to difficult questions. Ultimately, Socrates' main aim was to get us to realise that we don’t know as much as we think we know, the realisation of our own ignorance.

Socrates concerns himself largely with high-end, critical thought. His legacy is not so much in his method as being used as a model, by Plato, of the free and open thinker, unafraid to question the most basic suppositions. It is this spirit of inquiry, seen in Greek thought most intensely by Socrates, that fueled education, as the study of reason, for the next two Millenia.

Influence

The Socratic method has transformed itself into the idea of discovery learning, but there have been severe doubts expressed about taking this method too far. We wouldn’t want our children to discover how to cross the road by pushing them out between parked cars! In practice, it is most often no more than a teacher using open or inductive questions. In fact, when used crudely it can frustrate learners, especially when not combined with genuine dialogue, guidance, support and feedback. To ask open questions about facts can be pointless and result in those awful classroom sessions where the teacher asks a question, hands shoot up and the few who already know the answers answer the question, while the rest feel foolish. When used well, however, especially in subjects that deal with abstract thought and for uncovering conceptual clarity, it has lots to offer.

There is still a great deal of discussion and controversy around whether learning should be a process of exploration and discovery, as opposed to direct instruction. There are extremes on both sides. Discovery learning was taken up with enthusiasm in the modern age, while Universities in particular have stuck rigidly to direct instruction through lectures as their primary pedagogy. In practice, depending upon the age of the learners, type of learning and context both have their place.

Online learning

Interestingly, the Socratic approach is also often to be found in online learning. Roger Schank has taken the method forward into online designs based on questions which access indexed content, especially videos. One could also argue that search based inquiry through Google and other online resources allows the learner to apply this questioning approach to their own learning, Socratic learning without a Socratic teacher. Chatbots, which now support and deliver learning are now being used to emulate the Socratic model and deliver personalized support, tutoring and even mentoring to learners. Adaptive learning systems truly account for where the learner has come from, where they are going and what they need to get there. Sophisticated online learning allows us to realise the potential of a scalable Socratic approach without the need for face-to-face teaching. Interestingly, it is only in the last few decades, through the use of technology-based tools that allow search, questioning and now chatbots and adaptive learning, that Socratic learning can be truly realised on scale.

As someone who abhorred didactic, talk and chalk teaching and learning, Socrates would be appalled at current education and training. He was not an institutional figure, practiced his teaching in the public space of the Agora and thought that experts were normally fooling themselves by believing they had immutable knowledge to impart to their students. The unexamined life may not be worth living but neither is a life of absolute certainty. 

Of course, if we were to behave like Socrates in the modern school, college, university or training room, we’d be in front of several tribunals for bullying students, not sticking to the curriculum and failing to prepare students for their exams, not to mention his pederasty. We can perhaps put this to one side as a feature of the age!

Bibliography

Hamilton, E., Cairns, H. and Cooper, L., 1961. The collected dialogues of Plato. Princeton University Press.

Tarrant, H. ed., 2003. The last days of Socrates. Penguin.

Mackendrick, P., 1974. Aristophanes. Lysistrata. The Acharnians. The Clouds. Trans. AH Sommerstein.(Penguin Classics.) Harmondsworth: Penguin. 1973. Pp. 255. 40P. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 94, pp.185-186.

Ferguson, J., 1970. Socrates: a source book.

Woodbridge, F.J.E., 1934. The Son of Apollo (Boston and New York, 1929)