60 CHAPTER 3: The World Origins of American Education
rhetoric The theory and practice of
public speaking, declamation, and oratory in ancient Greece. During the Middle Ages, it tended to emphasize written discourse as well as speaking. Along with grammar and logic, rhetoric was part of the trivium of the liberal arts.
For the Sophists, the purpose of education was to develop their students’ communication skills so they could become successful advocates and legislators. The Sophists’ most important subjects were logic, grammar, and rhetoric, which developed into the liberal arts. Logic, the rules of correct argument, trained students to organize their presentations clearly, and grammar developed their powers of using language effectively. Rhetoric, the study of public speaking, was especially important for future orators. The Sophists claimed they could educate their students to win public debates by teaching them how to (1) use crowd psychology to appeal emotionally to an audience; (2) organize a persuasive and convincing argument; and (3) be skillful public speakers who know what words, examples, and lines of reasoning to use to win a debate or legal trial. Critics of the Sophists, such as Socrates and Plato, however, accused them of teaching students to argue for any side of an issue to win the case rather than being committed to the truth. The Sophists were like modern image makers who use the media to package political candidates and celebrities or to sell products to consumers. Although today’s political debates take place on television rather than in the Athenian town center, the Sophists would argue that their techniques remain useful. It is still important to know one’s audience, to appeal to their needs, and to use skilled persuasion to convince them. They would consider modern focus groups, public opinion polls, and negative political advertising to be useful and persuasive tools. Protagoras (485–414 BCE) was one of the most prominent Sophists.30 He developed an effective five-step teaching strategy in which his students (1) listened to him deliver an eloquent oration so they had a model to imitate; (2) analyzed speeches of famous orators to enlarge their repertoire of exemplary speaking styles; (3) studied logic, grammar, and rhetoric; (4) delivered practice orations, which he critiqued to provide feedback; and (5) delivered public speeches. Protagoras’s method resembles present-day preservice teacher-education programs in which prospective teachers take courses in the liberal arts and professional education, practice a variety of teaching methods, and engage in clinical experience and student teaching supervised by an experienced cooperating teacher.
3-5e Socrates: Education by Self-Examination Socrates (469–399 BCE), who believed in universal truths that are valid at all places and times, challenged the Sophists’ opportunism and relativism.31 Socrates affirmed the ethical principles that a person should strive for moral excellence, live wisely, and act rationally, which were far superior to the Sophists’ promises of prestige and power. He rejected the Sophists’ claim that they could transmit the truth to their students. Rather than telling students what was true and good, Socrates encouraged them to use critical self-examination and reflection to bring the universal truths present in their minds to consciousness. As a teacher, Socrates asked leading questions that stimulated students to think deeply about and reflect on the meaning of life, truth, and justice. In answering these questions, students engaged in rigorous discussion, or dialogue, in which they clarified, criticized, and reconstructed their basic concepts.32 Plato illustrated the use of the Socratic method in Meno, a dialogue between Socrates and Meno, a student of Gorgias, a prominent Sophist. When Socrates asks Meno to define virtue, he identifies particular instances of virtue such as the prudence of the judicious legislator, the love of a caring mother, and the courage of a brave soldier. Through further questioning, Socrates leads Meno to acknowledge that these
Van Johannes M. Ophuijsen, Protagoras of Abdera: The Man, His Measure (Brill, 2013). Paul Johnson, Socrates: A Man for Our Times (New York: Penguin Books, 2012). 32 Gary Alan Scott, Plato’s Socrates as Educator (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000), pp. 1–12. 30 31
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