EDUCATION AS THE BRIDGE BETWEEN ERAS IN HUMAN EXISTENCE

 Education and Human Development

Education: Education is defined as the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself and others for mature life (dictionary reference. co). 

Inko-Taria, also defines education as a process of developing a person in all aspects of life, to be able to function properly as an individual and be useful to society (P.30). From the above definitions, we can see that education is a life-long process which enables the continuous development of a persons capabilities as an individual and as a member of a society.

Education can take three different forms: informal, non-formal and formal. The focus of this paper is on formal education which is associated with schooling. It comprises all forms of organized learning experiences acquired by an individual in a school structure, under the guidance of a teacher. Bergevin in Ezele defines formal education as systematically arranged educational programmes in which students are enrolled or registered to follow established courses, either on full-time or part-time basis.

Human Development Era

Historians rely on written records and archaeological evidence to understand more about human history. They use these resources to divide human existence into five main historical eras: Prehistory, Classical, Middle Ages, Early Modern, and Modern eras. 

Prehistory (to 600 B.C.)

The Prehistoric era in human history reflects the period between the appearance of humans on the planet (roughly 2.5 million years ago) and 600 B.C. (Before Christ) or 1200 B.C., depending on the region. It indicates the period on Earth in which there was human activity, but little to no records of human history. This era is also known as the Foundational era, as many foundations of human civilization occurred during this span of time.

Major Periods of the Prehistoric Era

The Prehistoric era can be divided into three shorter eras based on the advancements that occurred in those time periods. They include:

The Stone Age (2.5 million B.C. to 3000 B.C.) - documents the human migration from Africa. 

The Bronze Age (3000 B.C. to 1300 B.C.) - humans settle in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley and ancient Egypt; invention of the wheel and metalworking

The Iron Age (1300 B.C. to 600 B.C.) - formation of planned cities, introduction of ironworks, steel, and writing systems

Classical Era (600 B.C.-A.D. 476)

The Classical era, also known as Classical antiquity, began roughly around 600 B.C. in most of the world. It marked the beginning of a philosophical period in world history as well as the first recorded sources of human history. Politically, the Classical era saw the rise  and fall  of most world empires.

Classical Civilizations and Empires

The Classical era was mainly centered around the civilizations on the Mediterranean Sea and their contributions to world culture. These empires included:

Ancient Greece (600 B.C. to A.D. 600) - foundation of democracy, philosophy, mathematics, drama, and poetry.

Ancient Rome (753 B.C. to A.D. 476) - political power that developed the legal system, irrigation, architecture, city roads, and Christianity

Persian Empire (550 B.C. to 330 B.C.) - Middle Eastern empire that practiced Zoroastrianism before Islam and fell to Alexander the Great in 330 B.C.

Byzantine Empire (A.D. 285 to A.D. 1453) - Mediterranean culture that incorporated practices and beliefs from ancient Greece and Rome; the only major power not to fall until after the Renaissance.

The Middle Ages (A.D. 476 -A.D. 1450 )

The Middle Ages is also known as the Medieval or Post-Classical era. Historians refer to the early part of this period as the Dark Ages due to the loss of recorded history after the fall of the Roman Empire in A.D. 476.

Significant Periods of the Middle Ages

Early Middle Ages (A.D. 476 to A.D. 1000) - also known as Late Antiquity; this period shows most powers rebuilding after the collapse of the Roman Empire and the beginning of Islam in the Middle East

High Middle Ages (A.D. 1000 to A.D. 1250) - 250-year period that saw the height of the Catholic churchs power in the Crusades

Late Middle Ages (A.D. 1250 to A.D. 1450) - a period that saw the Black Plague, the beginning of European exploration and the invention of the printing press.

Early Modern Era (A.D. 1450-A.D. 1750)

The Early Modern Era, which immediately followed the Middle Ages, saw a resurgence of the values and philosophies from the Classical era. When you think of Leonardo da Vinci, William Shakespeare, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Christopher Columbus, you are thinking of the Early Modern Era.

Movements of the Early Modern Era

Renaissance Humanism (A.D. 1400 to A.D. 1500 ) - break from medieval scholasticism that incorporated Classical thought into Early Modern ideas

Protestant Reformation (A.D. 1517 to A.D. 1648) - religious movement in which Lutheranism (started by Martin Luther) broke with the Catholic church and redefined Christianity.

The European Renaissance (A.D. 1450 to A.D. 1600) - known as a cultural rebirth in art, music, literature, society, and philosophy

The Enlightenment (A.D. 1650 to A.D. 1800) - an intellectual movement that is also called the Age of Reason; saw the re-examination of politics, economics and science before giving way to Romanticism in the 19th century.

The European Renaissance, or rebirth, occurred during this period, as well as the discovery and colonization of the Americas and the Age of Enlightenment

Modern Era (A.D. 1750-Present)

The influences of both the Renaissance and the Enlightenment led to a technological boom in the Modern era, also known as the Late Modern era. The world of politics was rocked by wars, revolution and the end of the monarchy in many countries. The Modern era is truly a cumulation of million's of years of human development.

Major Periods of the Modern Era

Because our history of the last three centuries is so well documented, its possible to examine each period of the Modern era on its own. These eras include:

First Industrial Revolution (A.D. 1760 to A.D. 1840) - beginning of the modern era that saw several technological innovations, including the invention of the cotton gin, the increase of city factories and mills and the completion of the Erie Canal

Revolutionary Period (A.D. 1764 to A.D. 1848) - period of revolutions around the world, including the American Revolution, French Revolution, Spanish-American Wars for Independence, Italian Revolutions, Greek War of Independence, and the Spring of Nations.

Age of Imperialism (A.D. 1800 to A.D. 1914) - century of time in which France, Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United States colonized in other nations around the world

Victorian Era (A.D. 1837 to A.D. 1901) - reign of Queen Victoria I that saw increased urbanization, the American Civil War and the end of African slavery

Second Industrial Revolution (A.D. 1869 to A.D. 1914 ) - often referred to as the Technological Revolution; period in which the light bulb, the telephone, the airplane, and the Model T automobile were invented

World War I (A.D. 1914 to A.D. 1918) - worldwide conflict centered in Europe; also known as the Great War

Great Depression (A.D. 1929 to A.D. 1939) - extended period of worldwide economic hardship that started with the stock market crash in 1929

World War II (A.D. 1939 to A.D. 1945) - wartime period that began with Germanys invasion of Poland and ends with the surrender of Japan, the last standing Axis power

Contemporary Period (A.D. 1945 to current) - also known as the Information Age; the period in which technological advances define social, economic and political life

Rediscovering a World of Ideas

Prior to the age of exploration, exploding into life after Columbuss westward journey across the Atlantic in 1492, a different exploration of an unknown world occurred after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. 

For well over a millennium, the Byzantine empire was the eastern stronghold of Christendom, paralleling the Roman church in the west. The Ottomans with superior military technology breached the walls of the famous imperial capital, simultaneously ending the Medieval assumption that Christendom was unassailable. Byzantine scholars seeking to protect the vast stores of manuscripts housed in Constantinople emigrated to Northern Italy, bringing with them Greek texts long forgotten in the west. These texts fueled an already burgeoning intellectual environment in such cities as Venice, Florence and Milan

A new form of humanism was gaining traction in the north of Italy, reacting to the calamities of the late Middle Ages. The black plague decimated perhaps a third of Europes population, exacerbated by poverty and famine. The fracturing of Roman Catholic hegemony through internal warfare, such as the war of the Roses in England or the hundred years war between England and France, brought an end to an economically, politically and religiously unified Europe. Yet a number of institutions carried over from the heights of the Middle Ages into the Renaissance, chief among them the universities.

 Italian universities such as Bologna, Padua, Rome and Turin shared a history with the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Paris. The scholasticism that flourished in the medieval universities instigated a tireless search for classic texts, as scholars sought to reconcile theology and philosophy through dialectical reasoning.

 Humanism, the study of classical antiquity, offered a new vision by looking to the past. The texts brought to Northern Italy after the fall of Constantinople added fuel, in the form of Greek classical texts, to the fire of the emerging humanism. Works by Aristotle and Plato, long forgotten in the west, arrived in Venice and Florence in the hands of Byzantine scholars. 

Soon a concerted effort to translate Greek texts into Latin became a project of primary importance. The old universities were a happy home in which the Renaissance humanists could partake in this new project.

Renewing Educational Goals

Renaissance education inherited a ready-made structure developed in the middle ages.

 The humanist ideal of rebirthing civilization by drawing upon classical antiquity was happily situated within this educational structure. Today, the classical Christian school movement has likewise drawn upon the very same structure. The liberal arts were comprised of the trivium and quadrivium. Lets see how the trivium met the goals of Renaissance educational goals.

Grammar was the initial art of the trivium. Not only were the parts of speech learned, but students would also theorize about the nature of language and how thoughts were shaped through the use of words. The study of Latin and Greek were essential to the Renaissance enterprise, especially since both ancient languages were not spoken in the West. Young scholars would learn these languages in order to interact directly with the rediscovered manuscripts from the East, written predominantly in Greek. Or students would acquire Latin, the language of scholarly pursuit, so that they could read the newly available translations of Aristotle and Plato.

Students learned how to reason carefully by acquiring skills in logic. The dialectical method drew opposing viewpoints together in order to establish the truth of statements. Aristotle reigned supreme, his theory of syllogism providing powerful tools to thinkers of all eras by carefully defining premises and conclusions by way of deduction. Several of Aristotles works were already known during the Middle Ages, but texts from Constantinople were quickly translated into Latin and formed the new logic (logica nova). Professors quickly added numerous commentaries on these Aristotelian texts, which often extended the dialectical method into the realms of philosophy, theology and ethics.

An Educational Renaissance Today

Society is due for a rebirth today, and perhaps is observing the sparks of one in an educational renaissance that parallels that of Italy and broader Europe in the 15th century. In her essay The Lost Tools of Learning, Dorothy Sayers proposes a return to an old form of education as a mean of accomplishing renewal today. She writes:

If we are to produce a society of educated people, fitted to preserve their intellectual freedom amid the complex pressures of our modern society, we must turn back the wheel of progress some four or five hundred years, to the point at which education began to lose sight of its true object, towards the end of the Middle Ages.”

This statement lays out three important ideas. First, the success of a free, democratic society depends upon the quality of education its people receive. Publishing her article in 1947, Sayers would have been all too aware of the dangers of the far-right authoritarianism of Nazi Germany as well as the emerging threat of authoritarian communism in the Soviet Union at the outset of the Cold War.

 However, the most significant threat to democracy was not fascism or Marxism in foreign lands, but the loss of the liberal arts tradition within our own lands. This leads to Sayers second point, that the wheel of progress had made certain unfulfilled promises. Progressivist educational theory almost completely took over schools in earnest during the late 1800s, although Sayers is correct that progressive educational thought had been around since Locke and Rousseau.

 The cultural and moral relativism of the progressive program eroded a sense of truth residing outside the individual. Instead, the internal motivations of the child took on central importance, guided by insights in the fields of psychology and sociology. Education took on more utilitarian aims, forsaking the long-held notion that education imparts the norms and ideals of society. 

Finally, Sayers points to the educational model of the Middle Ages, the liberal arts tradition that was part and parcel of Western civilization, which we have seen was foundational to the educational goals of the Renaissance, during which a renewal of society took place.

The claim has been made that Western civilization has fallen. Rod Dreher for instance traces a centuries-long decline of Western society through key revolutions. In his book The Benedict Option, he considers how we are seeing a cultural decline today that parallels the decline of Roman culture in the 6th century. Dreher looks to the past in how Benedict formed intentional communities to preserve the heart of Christian culture and to weather the fall of Western society.

 Similarly, we can look to the past to identify educational theories, methods and practices that will enable us to rebuild and renew Western civilization. Yet for several decades now there has been a growing sense that educational reform is needed and in some sectors already occurring. Add this to the growing literature on neuroscience and educational psychology. We find ourselves at the very same intersection Renaissance intellectuals found themselves: the recovery of that which was long-forgotten in a context of burgeoning intellectual pursuit. We are ready for an educational renaissance.

English Language and Human Development in Nigeria

Having identified education as a major tool in human development earlier, it is essential to note that the language through which education is acquired is also of utmost importance. As shown in the last section, English is the language of education in Nigeria. 

Every form of education is expressed and acquired through language. It is through English language that formal education is acquired in Nigeria. In other words it is through English language that the skills and knowledge needed for human development is acquired. Therefore, by extension, English language is a primary instrument for human development in Nigerian.

The benefits of education (acquired via English language) are enormous; they include: Improved social relations

- Better job opportunities

- Higher family income

- Higher productivity

- Access to better health facility

- Improved standard of living

- Ability to participate in the life of the community

Besides these benefits, English language has conferred on Nigerians other privileges that bear on human development as well as national development, both on the home front and on the global scene. 

On the home front, English language is essentially regarded as a unifying factor. It has allowed Nigerians to co-exist peacefully even in their diversity. It is this peaceful co-existence that engenders development either on individual or national basis.

 Considering the multilingual nature of the country, the communication crises that would have occurred among people from different linguistic background is bridged by the use of English. It is possible for Nigerians irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds, to study or work in any part of the country.

NAME: ADEKUNLE NUHA ADEGOKE

CODE NO: OS/21A/1504

COURSE: BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

INSTITUTION: THE POLYTECHNIC, IBADAN

STATE OF ORIGIN: OYO STATE