Thinkers and Society
In a society that is reflective of what we see in the media, are there particular people who "seem" to affect how you think?
(film industry, music industry, politicians, authors, political activists)
Civic Humanism
Civic Humanism - A person who believes that being a responsible citizen means to educate yourself about history and political issues to help promote a better society
Education is valued in society today. One reason it is so important is assisted by how the renaissance viewed education. Civic humanists historically and today embrace the belief that responsible citizens must be educated in history and political issues to help improve society.
Think to your own view on education. Why do you feel it is important to be informed OR why do you feel it is not important to be informed?
What might make a student determine the importance or value of being well educated in a certain subject only?
What would be the benefit to a person to rethink this rationale and begin to look at education as the humanists did historically?
Humanist Education
"never wasted time loitering, but returned home after business and spent his time in studying Greek and Latin"
~ Leonardo Bruni speaking of a wealthy merchant
Educating the Whole Child
Think about the many subjects you are offered at school today. Do you think the subject areas are based on what teachers think are important or are these subjects based on what the humanists believed? Many of the humanists were teachers in their own schools. They felt that teaching children should be taught about character, body and the mind would help them become a better students. They also felt it was important to encourage their students to be more curious and seek a questioning attitude. The subjects studied were maintained from the Middle ages to the new era, however humanistic approaches and content were added.
Record the information from the chart below onto the your Venn Diagram. Subjects that are similar between two or three Models of Education, record in the appropriate location. Add subjects that are offered today in our school or in other schools across the world.
Humanism and Religion
Many of the texts that were studied by the scholars in the Renaissance were written before Christianity. Although Christianity continued to play an important roll in the lives of the Europeans, but many thinkers put emphasis on the value of individual achievement, history and the arts.
A perfect example of this was by Desiderius Erasmus, who lived in Rotterdam, Netherlands and who assisted in a revision of the New Testament (section of the Bible).
~ "When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes."
Group Activity
Class Debate
Step 1: Using page 69 #2 as a guide, in small groups, discuss your opinion.
Step 2: What are your thoughts to beginning of question #2. Record your thoughts as jot notes/points on a sheet of loose leaf.
Step 3: In a group of 2 or 3, discuss what your thoughts are. Change or add more details to your previous list, based on what others have said and what you may now feel.
Step 4: Select a side to the following question:
The House is banning charitable donations to organizations that are anonymous.
Step 5: You will be divided into teams to debate on this topic, but you do not know what side you will have, so you MUST prepare both sides of the issue.
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