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(Another) Feminist Icon and Defender of Women’s Education

Who said women in the seventeenth century weren’t smart? Schurman was a brilliant thinker who was powerful in her own right.

She was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1607 to wealthy parents but lived most of her life in the Netherlands. She was known to speak fourteen languages, including English, German, French, Dutch, Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, Greek, Persian and even Ethiopic!

Ancient Greek thinkers, writers, philosophers, artists, poets, playwrights, architects, historians, mathematicians, engineers and scientists laid the foundational bedrock of western civilisation. Due to limited space here, I can only briefly summarise the profound impact of these intellectuals in our lives and society.

Students can get distracted for many reasons during lessons, from stress and anxiety to classroom noise and conditions affecting concentration, such as ADHD and autism. Lack of interest and understanding of the topic as well as lack of engagement with the teaching style can also be big factors. Not everyone learns the same!

Archytas (428 BC-345BC) was an Ancient Greek mathematician, a music theorist, statesman and scientist from the ancient city of Taras (modern day Taranto), Southern Italy. He was also a philosopher, a friend of Plato, and affiliated with the Pythagorean School. He is now regarded as the founder of Mathematical Mechanics.

I was once flicking through many images of portraits from the seventeenth century, and I was stopped in my tracks by a stunning portrait of a lady. The gorgeous shine of her blue silk and velvet dress, the attention to detail and her striking gaze made this woman shine illustriously from the screen. She looked so lifelike, yet so dreamlike. I had no idea who she was. I saved the image onto my camera roll for a long time, and then I decided to see what I could find out about this captivating lady. Little did I know that she would have the most fascinating backstory.

Euclid (fl. 300 BC) was a Greek mathematician and is considered as the “Father of Geometry”. He devised the modern process of abstract mathematical thinking, including the technique of proving theorems from propositions and axioms by deductive reasoning. He is mainly known for his 13-volume treatise entitled “The Elements”. This treatise established the foundation of geometry that dominated the field of mathematical teaching until the end of the nineteenth century, although it is still used in modern schools up to A-Level mathematics.

“The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child’s own natural desire to learn.”

I was recently talking to a friend who wants to become a primary school teacher. One lady came instantly to mind. “Have you heard of Maria Montessori?”, I asked. “She might prove to be a great inspiration to you,” I added. We then proceeded to send some beautiful quotes back and forth, like the one mentioned in the opening of this article.

As a young man, Cicero (106-43 BC) studied under the best minds in Rome. The youth of the aristocratic nobility in Rome were commonly taught by Greeks, and this was no exception for Cicero, who was a brilliant student. He rose swiftly and was renowned for the brilliance of his mind and his dazzling oratorial skills.  

I recently visited the British Library for their exhibition on Medieval Women. There were many fascinating women from all walks of life mentioned in the exhibition, but one lady stood out to me the most. Christine de Pizan was born in Venice, Italy, in 1364. She benefited from a wealthy upbringing that was full of learning. Pizan’s father was Italian but worked as an astrologer to Charles V at his French court. Christine was fluent in both French and Italian and knew some Latin.

I very much enjoyed art and creative subjects at school and thought it was a welcome break from the more academic subjects. I personally felt it helped with my self-expression and confidence. It also taught me about the power of perspective and visualisation as well as perseverance. Studying art taught me to believe in myself. Studies have shown that the arts subjects have positive effects on numerous aspects of a child’s cognitive development and social skills and improves wellbeing. To me, one aspect which is most important, is that these subjects, especially art and design or photography, encourage students to view the world around them differently and helps them to express themselves in a positive way.

We all have experienced periods of stress at school and have all got our own ways of dealing with it. It should never stop us from trying to achieve our goals and actually enjoy our school life. So, are schools really beginning to take note of this? I have recently come across some intriguing articles that have got me thinking.

The exam season is nearly upon us yet again and for all those of you who are feeling anxious about this tricky time of year, I have an important selection of revision tips. I’ll list these in order of priority.

In this blog article, I thought it may be interesting to take a look at the educational systems and ethos of primary and secondary schools in Japan and the Netherlands. It is important to note that both countries are listed in the world’s most educated nations. I hope this article will inspire and educate. I aim to give an insight into how other countries teach their younger generations and ultimately shape them into better people for the good of the future. Perhaps we can all learn from these nations and reflect and seek to improve ourselves. Some points mentioned in this article must be remembered in our everyday lives and may not be reserved just for the classroom.

As humans, we have evolved a complex brain that has the capacity to process sensory information from our surroundings. This has contributed to our survival against all odds over hundreds of thousands of years. Our unique brain has enabled us to out-compete other, more powerful animals with better and more specialised sensory organs than ourselves. Consequently, we have developed sophisticated agricultural societies from our early beginnings as hunter-gatherers.

Bertrand A. W. Russell (1872-1970), third Earl Russell, was a Welsh mathematician, logician, philosopher, pacifist and public intellectual. He made substantial contributions in mathematics, logic, set theory and various areas of analytic philosophy. Among his major works was a book he wrote with his former teacher, A. N. Whitehead, entitled Principia Mathematica. This book was a milestone in the development of classical logic and a major attempt to reduce the whole of mathematics to logic.

Cassini is one of the most important seventeenth century observational astronomers after Galileo and Kepler. He was born in Perinaldo, now a part of Italy, in 1625. Cassini’s fascination with astrology in his early years later developed into an interest in astronomy. He was employed by a wealthy marquis as an astronomer in Bologna. Here, he was able to use cutting-edge instruments to observe the skies. His work demonstrated his talents for precision and clarity which would later earn him positions in academia.

Spinoza was born Baruch Spinoza in Amsterdam in 1632. His parents were of Spanish-Jewish decent and fled to Amsterdam to flee the Spanish Inquisition and became part of the Jewish community there. His father Michael was a merchant and was well-liked within the community. Hanna, Spinoza’s mother, would die in 1638, a little while before Spinoza was to turn six. Spinoza was influenced by Greek philosophy, including Platonism, stoicism and by Renaissance and enlightenment thinkers, including Maimonides, Machiavelli, Descartes, and Hobbes.

Apollonius of Perga was an ancient Greek mathematician and astronomer (c.240 BC- 190 BC) known for his work on solid geometry and mathematical theorems. Perga was a Hellenized city in Pamphylia, Anatolia (modern Turkey), whose ruins still stand, and was a centre of Hellenistic culture. Apollonius derived the four conic sections that modern mathematicians use: the circle, ellipse, parabola and hyperbola. He achieved this using the section obtained from a plane cutting through two inverted cones. Apollonius defined the definitions of the terms of ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola that we still use today, and he derived a number of other mathematical theorems on plane and solid geometry.

Catherine the Great is one of the most interesting female figures in history. She led an eventful but fruitful life, and she was a strong advocate for Enlightenment thinking. In this blog article, we take a look at her studious character and her influence on the educational reforms of Russia. During her unhappy marriage to Peter III, Catherine passed the time reading. She was particularly interested in works on political philosophy, literature, and history. She devoured the works of thinkers such as Plato and Voltaire, which Is how she became introduced to the French Enlightenment.

Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher born in Athens during the classical period around 428 BC to 348 BC. Plato founded the Academy in Athens, a school of philosophy and research. His teachings and ideas would later become known as Platonism. Plato was a pen name, derived from a nickname given to him by his wrestling coach when he was a young man, which referred to his broad shoulders (as platon means flat in Greek). His actual name was Aristocles.