The Pedagogical Roots of Technical Learning and Thinking

The early history of technical learning for the purposes of this account includes the period from 700 BC to the Industrial Revolution. The earliest forms of ‘technical being’ were associated with the controlling of fire. Through fire, humankind was able to cook food, melt metals and shape simple tools. Eventually people became miners, smiths, carpenters, masons, weavers and so on. Systematic learning, if there was such a thing during this stage, is not well documented. It was a trial and error process. The first evidence of organized learning came from groups who valued a trade, skill or craft. In ancient times, the Jews, for example, sent their children to school for religious studies in the morning and skill development in the afternoon. Failure to give a Jewish boy an honest means of livelihood (manual trade) was excluding him from becoming a useful member of the community (Bennett 1926). Furthermore, the Jewish people felt that labour held religious significance. It was regarded as a man’s [sic] duty.