Why is Elizabeth I important for Education?
In the first classes of this year, we covered the life
and work of Elizabeth I, who became Queen of England in 1558. This period was
known as The Golden Age because of
the efforts made during her reign. This led to her country to achieve several
triumphs, to obtain the position as one of the world’s major powers and to give
England a great prestige around the world and throughout the history. All this
created in us the memory of a queen with perfect skills and great ideals which
remain until today.
Based on this historical facts and the success
reflected by the image of Elizabeth, it is possible to have a necessary and
very useful example to insert it and relate it (in a positive way) to the
contemporary education. But… why is Elizabeth so important for education? The
answer to this is what is going to be explained in this report, analyzing
several authors and showing important factors related to the topic.
First, Flores (1994) quoted by Bazán (2008, p.21),
says that "education is the social
process whereby society incorporated or assimilated to its members according to
its own rules, values, ideology and knowledge shared by the majority of society".
You can found all these factors in the story of Elizabeth I that is mentioned
above so we can say that she is part of big culture. We must learn from it and
make our students and ourselves to do it also; to incorporate their values to
education such as confidence, certainty, decision and perseverance, which are
very important to educate and learn, too.
What I propose is that Elizabeth can become a role
model for students; to discuss this idea in more detail it is necessary to
begin by sorting the elements involved in this education and how she is related
to.
It doesn’t mean that the idea is not to forcing
students to believe in a stereotype of person to imitate and take their
ideology but to take from her the ideas and values. The main “actors” involved
are the teachers and the students so we'll see how it can affect both roles.
Firstly, it is useful for teachers to introduce
Elizabeth to students as content, given that we know that our profession is
devalued and we need to add new strategies to teach and motivate students. It
is necessary to motivate them, because learning is the responsibility of both
the teacher and the student; if the latter does not feel interested in the
matter, their results will not be optimal neither in the acquisition of
knowledge or in skills.
This idea has existed for many years. Rousseau (1762)
proposed that “a child should receive education
from their senses”, for example, stimulating the need to learn. So I
believe that presenting a model guide would be a very good alternative,
considering all the positive aspects that the personality of Elizabeth I has.
Here is where we find that teachers “could teach”
something but most of the times they “have to teach" something, which is
determined by the educational establishment in the so-called
"curriculum". Defined as the
selection of the knowledge and skills to be transmitted through the educational
Act (Bazán, 2008), it is what is expected for students to learn, planning
the content to teach, processes in which the teacher has the main role, must be
attentive to different processes of learning for each student and should be
able to innovate and to recognize possible problems.
As Boggino (2006) proposes
that the curriculum always must be open and flexible. For example, it must
always be possible to include other content not provided. Then it is a feasible
option to include the personality of this Queen, as a guide.
Elizabeth, whose strong personality led her to defend
her ideals and who knew how to deal with all the problems that were submitted
resolving them successfully, is, without doubt, a perfect example of overcoming
and perseverance for pupils in times when the education becomes complicated.
And it is also for teachers an innovative tool to teach, giving also a new
chance for learning teachers.
Education is not only transmitting knowledge, but also
forming people of integrity. Education is to create culture for our students.
And the primary responsibility for this, are we as future teachers.
Elizabeth I was a Queen of England who made a memory
of her based on their attitudes and skills. She became part of the culture,
shifting borders.
She is the subject of historical research, films and
political studies that includes the relationship between the female gender and
power. In a time where everything was more complicated for women, she learned
how to succeed.
She had the courage to face their enemies, make
decisions that sometimes not liked but she knew he was right, and that made it
succeed and became part of the story.
It is under this point of view that I relate the need
to study and to include it in our own education as a positive example for
students and as a tool for teachers.
Following the thoughts of many authors throughout
history, I made sure it is necessary to motivate children to learn in a
positive way. It is also essential that teachers investigated and renew the
teaching methods.
With the purpose of improving the quality of the
people we educate, transmitting not only knowledge, but also values which we
can rescue on the life of Elizabeth as the decision, perseverance and
confidence in oneself.
In this way the students and teachers began to create
their own identity and create culture for all. Because the responsibility that
the education is optimal, it is not only on a master or a student, is both and
the society, and are appropriate the teachers who guide their students to
rescue only the positives offered by the world.
As Bazán (2008, p.27) says, "…and this teacher should be a professional to promote integral
development (read intellectual, emotional and social values of our children and
young people)."
Finally, because of all this I make the invitation and
recommendation for future teachers who include Elizabeth I, a very interesting
topic, within their content, and link it with the skills of their students and
their environment, with the society in which they are, and with which intended
to live.
Bibliography:
·
Elizabeth
I, Biography
·
Domingo Bazán Campos, (2008) “El oficio del
Pedagogo: aportes para la construcción
de una práctica reflexiva en la escuela”. Rosario. Homo Sapiens
Ediciones.
·
Norberto Boggino (2006) “Diversidad,
Aprendizaje e integración en contextos escolares”. Buenos Aires. Homo Sapiens Ediciones.
·
Jean Jacques Rousseau ( 1762) “ Emilio, o De
la Educación”.
Gabriel Vega.
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