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IBN SINA

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IBN SINA WAYS OF TEACHING METHODE IN EVERY STAGES OF AGE

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IBN SINA WAYS OF TEACHING METHODE IN EVERY STAGES OF AGE

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1. Infants under 6 years

2. Methods at the ‘primary' stage (6 to 14 years)

3. Methods of higher instruction (age 14 onwards)

4. The teaching of girls

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http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/ibn-sina-education

http://www.ibe.unesco.org/sites/default/files/avicenne.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZCWSfMWRYI

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This study attempts to present the educational aspects of an Ibn Sina, known in the west as Ibn Sina (370-428H - 980-1037 CE), considered by ancient and modern scholars alike as the most famous of the Muslim philosophers.

Ibn Sina's most famous works are those on philosophy and medicine. His philosophical views have engaged the attention of Western thinkers over several centuries, and his books have been among the most important sources in philosophy. In medicine, his great work, al-Qanun (The Canon), was translated into Latin towards the end of the twelfth century CE, and became a reference source for medical studies in the universities of Europe until the end of the seventeenth century.

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We have pointed out that Ibn Sina is concerned at this stage with the child's sensory and motor development and with moral and emotional training. We are not aware of Ibn Sina having indicated any specific methods at this stage, apart from physical exercise and music; one for the child's growth and his physical and motor development, so that he should acquire thereby a great many moral and mental habits; and the other to refine his feelings and to heighten his emotions.

Ibn Sina is very much concerned with games at this age, as well as in primary education. He shows us the role of exercise in education and its necessary place in the child's life, and explains that exercise differs according to age, and also with the child's ability. For exercise may be much or little; it can be very vigorous, demanding considerable physical strength; it can also be slight; swift or slow; it can be rapid, combining strength and speed; and again it can be relaxing. Each of these types has its own appropriate place and necessity in the life of the young child.

But Ibn Sina is as concerned with play and exercise at this level of education as he is with ‘musical education'. We know that Ibn Sina was skilled in this art, both as a composer and a performer. So it is in the capacity of an expert that he mentions the feelings of pleasure, joy, purity and the sense of exaltation which music brings about in the child: and also the way the child can learn to perceive harmony and discord, treble and bass, and how this comes about. Ibn Sina speaks at length about music, its composition and rhythm, and the instruments used.

So sport and music are the most important components of the method in this stage. They are the two methods of instruction which prepare the child for organized ‘primary teaching' in the next stage, when he reaches 6 years of age.

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Methods at the ‘primary' stage (6 to 14 years)

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Methods at the ‘primary' stage (6 to 14 years)

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The components of study in this stage are the Qur'an and its memorization, learning to read and write, acquiring the outlines of religion and study of some Arabic poetry; besides which he is again aware of the need for play and exercise. Ibn Sina says: ‘When the boy's joints strengthen, and his tongue is apt, and he is ready for instruction, and his hearing is attentive, he begins to learn the Qur'an, and is shown letters of the alphabet, and is instructed in the outlines of religion. The boy should recite the rajaz (poetic verse), then the qasida (classic ode); the rajaz is easier and is more quickly learned because its stanzas are shorter and its rhythm lighter'.

The child should first recite the rajaz, since it is easier to remember. The verses the child memorizes must make plain the usage of good manners and of learning, and the disgrace of ignorance and foolishness; it must encourage respect towards parents, acceptable behaviour, hospitality to guests, and high moral standards. This means that the poetry which Ibn Sina wants to be presented to the child at this stage is literature with a message, which contributes to the boy's training, and giving him that moral education which Ibn Sina considers to be the human being's goal and the source of his happiness.

The curriculum put forward by Ibn Sina reminds us of society's concern at that time with Islamic culture and its basic elements: the Qur'an, poetry, devoutness and ethics. On the other hand, he does not ignore the child's need for play, movement and diversion, so that his curriculum does not really differ very much from that followed by the modern child in the majority of Islamic countries today, except for its concentration upon ‘memorizing the Qur'an' and in giving this learning ‘absolute priority'.

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Methods of higher instruction (age 14 onwards)

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Methods of higher instruction (age 14 onwards)

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Instruction at this stage is specialized according to the pupil's future occupation that has been chosen depending on his inclinations and aptitudes. This is an open-ended education, meaning that it continues throughout life. Ibn Sina says: ‘When he has finished learning the Qur'an and memorizing the fundamentals of the language, at that time one should look into what occupation is desired for him, and he should be directed on this path; if [his teacher or guardian] wishes him to study literature, then to the study of language he adds that of epistles, speeches, argument and dialogue, and similar subjects; calculation is explained, and he is initiated into administration through a practical course; care is taken with his handwriting; and if he seems destined for another discipline, he is guided accordingly'.

Ibn Sina divided the education of his day into theoretical instruction and manual or practical instruction (trade, jewellery making or another craft). This practical learning ‘is acquired by diligent practice in the activity of that craft', or by being trained in it. Theoretical education, on the other hand, is that which is acquired from ‘speech heard or understood, which naturally conveys a belief or an opinion, or creates an impression which did not exist before'. This theoretical teaching is also made up of two kinds: ‘transmitted' theoretical teaching, and intellectual or philosophical theoretical teaching. Each type of theoretical or practical teaching—and likewise every form of transmitted or intellectual teaching—has its means and methods which prepare the individual for specialization in the chosen field. We would wish that Ibn Sina had spoken in greater detail about these three methods of teaching (transmitted, intellectual and vocational). Unfortunately, he restricted himself to drawing attention to them, which does, however, indicate their existence at that time. His subsequent writings speak at greater length about the methods by which the students of the intellectual sciences were taught.

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Ibn Sina did not speak about girls as much as he did about boys. However, the fourth century of the Islamic era witnessed great activity in the field of education from which women shared to a certain extent since there were some outstanding women lawyers, poets and singers at that time. Perhaps this is due to the fact that, in Ibn Sina's view, a woman did not need to earn her living like a man, but he made it clear that the man was expected to protect and care for her, and support her financially. Thus women did not need to follow specialized or higher education, such as the man needed in order to prepare him for work or a craft from which he would earn his living in the future.

The teaching required by a woman was such as to fit her to be a wife, mother and sister. It appears that it was customary in Ibn Sina's day for this education to be carried out at home and to be taken care of by the girl's family or by a private tutor assigned to this task. It is clear that Ibn Sina acknowledged this individual style in teaching girls, and left their teaching to their families, who would give them whatever moral, religious and cultural preparation they desired.