Principles of Learning

In 300 BC, Socrates (470-399BC) engaged his learners by asking questions (know as the Socratic or dialectic method). He often insisted that he really knew nothing, but his questioning skills allowed others to learn by self-generated understanding. Plato (428-348 BC), who was a student of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle. Plato founded what is said to be the first university - his Academy (near Athens) in around 385 BC. He also believed that all knowledge is innate at birth and is perfectible by experiential learning during growth. This was an early suggestion to the current theory of constructivism . Along with many others in his time, Aristotle (384-322 BC) placed a strong emphasis on an all-round and balanced development. Play, physical training, music, debate, and the study of science and philosophy were to all have their place in the forming of body, mind and soul. Like Plato before him, he saw such learning happening through life - although with different emphases at differen...

In the 5th-century BC, the philosopher Lao-Tse (also Lao-tzu) wrote "If you tell me, I will listen. If you show me, I will see. But if you let me experience, I will learn." And so began one of the first active learning philosophies. Other Chinese philosophers, such as Kung Fu-tse (Latinized as Confucius) and Han Fei-Tzu, followed Lao-Tse by using a method that closely resembles what we now call the case method or case study. A member of the study group would present a paradox, which would be in the form of a parable. They would then discuss it and explore possible resolutions. (Clark, 2008)