Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31192/np.19.3.5
Educational Policy Premises in the European Union: What can we Learn about Education from Sparta and Athens?
Ivana Batarelo Kokić
orcid.org/0000-0002-8830-6252
; University of Split, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Pedagogy, Split, Croatia
Tonći Kokić
orcid.org/0000-0002-6918-0666
; University of Split, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Philosophy, Split, Croatia
Abstract
Understanding the genealogy and the social and political conditions for changes in education systems can be traced back to ancient sources: Sparta and Athens. In this paper, referring to Bereday’s model of comparative analysis, comparisons of education systems were conducted at two levels. The comparison of the social structure and education systems of ancient city-states (poleis) was carried out at the level of interpretation, while the comparison of key educational themes recognized in ancient city-states with the European Union educational policy was carried out at the level of juxtaposition. The analysis at the level of juxtaposition was made to test the hypothesis of presence of common priority educational themes in societies that have a common genealogy but differ in the degree of historical and technological development. At the level of interpretation, in the stereotypical portrayal of these two societies, Sparta is seen as a community of brave patriots soldiers, equal men, and women, while Athens is seen as a democratic community of free citizens cultivated with humanistic education. In Sparta, education was strategically important and therefore institutionally regulated in detail, it was compulsory and under the direct and absolute control of political power. Education implied a general initiation process and a specific transformation of youth to support the community’s survival and its way of life. The Athenians abandoned exclusively military life and education and directed the education of the youth towards physical exercise, music, literacy, and arithmetic. In Athens, political power did not directly manage education, nor was it formally compulsory. At the level of juxtaposition, ancient educational systems were compared to the modern European educational system. Ancient society can be considered the source of modern Western society. The ancient and modern educational systems are compared concerning the priority educational themes identified in ancient city-states: (1) the purpose of education; (2) availability of education; (3) curriculum structure and value indicators; (4) talent recognition; and (5) monitoring the quality of education. The conclusion of the paper states the limitations of the study and emphasizes the recognizable role of education in all societies and the fundamental similarity of the themes that stood out in the analysis.
Keywords
Athens; Comparative Pedagogy; Educational Policy; European Union; Philosophy; Sparta
Hrčak ID:
265523
URI
Publication date:
15.11.2021.
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