The rapid development of industry and commerce in Athens has created a lot of wealth for the country, promoted the development and prosperity of science, technology, culture and art, and accelerated the division within the slave-owning class. The contradiction between industrial and commercial slave owners and traditional agricultural slave owners with growing economic power is very fierce. They both strive to win the support of freemen, which has had an important impact on the education in Athens.
Like Sparta, the rulers of Athens attached great importance to the education of the younger generation. "Educating children is the responsibility of the state and every father, but it does not interfere with the details of the whole education, nor does it absolutely control education." In Athens, there are both public schools and private schools.
In order to make the future Athenians better adapt to the needs of developing industry and commerce, participating in the political and cultural life of the country and defending the country, the Athenian rulers emphasized that education should not only cultivate the qualities of loyalty, courage and strength that individuals need when participating in defending the country and handling personal leisure activities, but also enable them to have all kinds of talents, be eloquent, be good at communication, and be able to handle business and various public affairs rationally, justly and intelligently.
In Athens, children have to undergo strict physical examination after birth, and only healthy children can be allowed to survive. Children are mainly raised by their parents at home from birth to 7 years old. After the age of 7, girls continue to stay at home, and their mothers are responsible for their education, learning knowledge and skills in textile, sewing, daily life and diet. After the age of 7, the boy was sent to school for formal education.
In Athens, "the task of primary education is to lay a good foundation for children to participate in civic activities and serve the country in the future." After the age of 7, boys study in private grammar schools and music schools for 5-6 years. The former enables children to learn the knowledge and skills of reading, writing and calculation, while the latter enables them to master the skills of music, singing and recitation. /kloc-after the age of 0/3, children in Athens continue to learn theoretical knowledge in grammar schools and music schools, and at the same time receive strict physical training in gymnastics schools to help them have a strong body and form a good personality.
15- 16 years old, most people began to look for jobs in the society, and a few rich and powerful aristocratic children entered the national gymnasium to receive comprehensive physical education, intellectual education and aesthetic education for about two years.
In Athens, young people aged 18-20 belong to the preparatory stage of citizenship, and they can receive systematic military education in the youth military training group organized by the state. By the age of 20, after some ceremony, they were officially awarded the title of citizens of Athens.
As can be seen from the above introduction, the education in Athens has the following characteristics: (1) distinct class nature. In Athens, education was the privilege of nobles and civilians, and slaves were not qualified for education at all.
(2) Attach importance to the role of cultural knowledge in the process of students' growth, and emphasize that education should cultivate Athenians with comprehensive and harmonious development of physical strength, intelligence, aesthetic feeling and moral character.
(3) There are two kinds of schools in Athens: public schools and private schools.
(4) Athens seriously neglected women's education.
Because the rulers of Athens attached great importance to education, the role of cultural knowledge in students' growth and the harmonious development of students' body and mind, they trained groups of high-quality talents with various abilities, which effectively promoted the development of Athens' industry and commerce and promoted the democratization process of the country. Education in Athens is an important part of the world's educational heritage, which has a great influence on the education of later generations (especially the education in ancient Rome and the education in Renaissance Western Europe).