Ask anybody who their favourite and least favourite teachers were from school and most people will be able to give you an answer straight away. These teachers stand out in our minds and have a lasting impact on our attitudes to further education and our subsequent careers afterwards, according to a Harvard Study on the long-term effectiveness of teachers.
But for some teachers, impacting the lives of pupils isn’t enough; their sights are set on impacting society as a whole. Here are just a few famous teachers who have influenced history throughout the ages.
Confucius
The Chinese educator and thinker Confucius developed the moral system of Confucianism in the fifth century BCE. Confucianism is a complex system that incorporates philosophical, moral, social and political thought. Some of his most famous ideas were the notion that people should earn power based on their own merits rather than family connections and he also believed that societal structures should be held together with strong rules that determine the relationships between different people (e.g. Elder and Child, Prince and Servant etc...). His ideas were adapted as miniature stories by his students and his teachings are still used in East Asian culture and legislation today.
Hippocrates
Hippocrates the ancient Greek physician lived between 460 BC-370BC and is thought to be the father of western medicine. He was a teacher of medicine and the first person to question the gods’ involvement with illnesses. He believed that disease is caused by natural causes rather than supernatural involvement and developed the (now disproved) theory of the four humours (i.e. illness is caused by an imbalance in blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile in the body). He also developed the Hippocratic Oath that is still taken by physicians today; an oath in which physicians swear to uphold ethical medical practices and do their best to preserve the lives of their patients.
John Locke
John Locke was a 17th century philosopher at the forefront of liberal democracy. His theory of empiricism centred on the idea that the only way knowledge exists is through experience (nurture) and not what we are born with (nature). The political implications of his theory had a far-reaching effect on the American and French Revolutions, as people came to believe that everybody is born equal and therefore everyone deserves an equally good education.
Noah Webster
Noah Webster (1758-1843) is popularly known as the Father of American Scholarship and Education, having only worked as a teacher himself for a short time. He earned this title however, after developing the Webster’s dictionary (a copy of which can probably be found in every classroom throughout the English speaking world today) and writing essays campaigning against the terrible conditions in American classrooms at the time. He once famously wrote that “The pupil should have nothing to discourage him,” and it was this thought that probably inspired the modern pupil reward system of star charts, in place of harsh discipline through the use of the cane.
Can you think of any famous teachers who have had a lasting impact on history? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
