Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Academic Reform
As a starting point for the reform of an existing educational institution, or as a blueprint for the formation of a new school or college, the Jesuits' Ratio Studiorum (1599) is worthy of consideration. Here are some of its rules:
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- It scarcely becomes the dignity of a professor to cite an authority whose works he himself has not read. (Common Rules of the Professors of Higher Faculties, 8)
- No one shall be permitted to carry weapons either in the corridors or in the classrooms, even of the higher classes. (Rules of the Prefect of Lower Studies, 43)
- Seat-mates must be careful not to copy from one another; for if two compositions are found to be identical or even alike, both will be open to suspicion, since it will be impossible to discover which one was copied from the other. (Rules for Examinations, 5)
- Class contests are to be highly valued and are to be held whenever time permits, so that honorable rivalry which is a powerful incentive to studies may be fostered. (Common Rules for the Teachers of the Lower Classes, 31)
- Daily memory work is necessary for a student of rhetoric. (Rules of the Teacher of Rhetoric, 3)
- No one should apply himself to reading or writing for more than two hours without taking a brief respite. (Rules of the Scholastics of the Society, 10)
- All disfiguring or marking of benches, the professor’s chair, seats, walls, doors, windows, or other furniture by drawing, writing, or carving is strictly forbidden. (Rules for Extern Students, 10)
