История письма и чтения. Асафова Г.К. - 143 стр.

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bourgeoisie. Most boys and quite a few girls born to these classes were taught their

letters very early. The child’s nurse, if she could read, initiated the teaching, and

for that reason had to be chosen with utmost care, since she was not only to

provide milk but also to ensure correct speech and pronunciation. Children learned

to read phonetically by repeating letters pointed out by their nurse or mother in the

book of alphabet sheet. They were made to repeat the sounds again and again. The

image of a teaching mother-figure was as common in Christian iconography as the

female student was rare in depictions of the classroom. There are numerous

representations of Mary holding a book in front of the Child Jesus, and of Anne

teaching Mary, but neither Christ nor his mother was depicted as learning to write

or actually writing.

After the letters had been learned, male teachers would be brought in as

private tutors (if the family could afford them) for the boys, while the mother

busied herself with the education of the girls. By the fifteenth century, most

wealthy houses had the quiet space and equipment to provide teaching at home.

Most scholars recommended that boys be educated away from the family, in the

company of other boys. It was not appropriate for girls to learn to read and write

unless they wished to become nuns.

In the sixteenth century, the scholastic method was prevalent in universities

and in church schools throughout Europe. The physical aspect of the schools did

not change much from those times. Classes were conducted in a large room. The

teacher usually sat at an elevated lectern, or sometimes at a table and on an

ordinary bench (chairs did not become common in Christian Europe until the

fifteenth century). The students sat on benches, holding lined pages or wax tablets

for taking notes, or stood around the teacher with open books.

The passage from the scholastic method to more liberated systems of

thought brought another development. Until then, the task of a scholar had been –

like that of the teacher – the search for knowledge, inscribed within certain rules

and canons and proven systems of learning. The responsibility of the teacher

had been felt to be a public one, making texts and other different levels of