Universities and the tradition from antiquity. The aims of teaching methods

Authors

• Juha Himanka Helsingin yliopisto

Abstract

The roots of teaching at a university level extends all the way to antiquity. Lecturing, that is the way of teaching where the professor speaks and the students listen, is still a popular method, even though nowadays it is difficult to justify it pedagogically. Lecturing scarcely supports independent and active learning. In order to find arguments for lecturing as a teaching method in higher education, we need to go back all the way to Aristotle. On the other hand, the legacy of antiquity has also aimed for other kinds of learning than passive listening, from Plato on. For instance, in the Socratic tradition the professor does not distribute his or her knowledge, but rather assists the students to learn by themselves. Thus, we have inherited both good and bad practices from antiquity. By recollecting the origins of our tradition, we may comprehend better our present views and also find possibilities to revise them.