Given the time we are in, we decided to talk, obviously, about education at the beginning of the school year. However, to focus a little more on our area of interest, we said let's talk about this educational system in relation to women. It really is vs. Women or not?

PS: If you read to the end of the article, you will have a small bonus to help you this school year. 

Women and education 

     In order to be able to talk about the relationship between women and education, I say that we should know what exactly is the matter with education. We all heard philosophers and orators at school, and I still know what from thousands of years ago. Personally, I was confused by the Latin teacher with Cicero and Seneca. So we all have a vague idea of education, we just all go through it, its origins and evolution. But to be a little more concrete what we are going to talk about, how we went back to school, let me give you a little history lesson about education.

The evolution of education

• Between 3500 and 600 BC the first writing systems were created, the first educational system by the Xia dynasty, bone writing, the use of cuneiform writing, and the Buddhist and Indian educational systems were created. 
• From the 7th to the 3rd century, Spartan schools were created in Greece and Rome, the Mayan script began to be used, and the Academy of Gundishapur was established.
• With Early Middle Ages the Education of the Roman Catholic Church was established. 
• The 11th and 12th centuries saw the invention of the Phoenician writing system and the first medieval institutions, in Italy, France and England, for the study of the arts, law, medicine and theology. 
• In the High Middle Ages, modern education systems were established in Europe. 

       Going a little further into the future…

     In the 1800s, teachers were usually men who had other professions such as farming. By the end of the 19th century, public, state schools appeared. And around 1900, teachers began to receive certificates.

The evolution of women in school

     So, in short, this was the evolution of education. As far as women are concerned, however, their history in relation to education only begins with 1237 when in Italy, Bettisia Gozzadini obtains a law degree at the University of Bologna, to then, two years later, teach law at the same university. It should be noted that Gozzadini was the first woman who taught at a university.

     The Greek province of Sparta was unique at the time in allowing women and men the same levels of (basic) education on an identical curriculum, given that "Beginning with ancient Greece and Rome, pundits frequently equated educating women with unleashing an evil force upon the world". In those areas, however, women's education was much worse. In ancient China, for example, women were often educated only in good manners. So there was since then a discord of opinion regarding women and their education.

     Beginning with the medieval era, however, things begin to change: 

• Beatriz Galindo excels in Latin, studies at one of the institutions dependent on the University of Salamanca, writes commentaries on Aristotle and becomes the Queen's teacher. 
• Swedish Church Ordinance 1571 states that both boys and girls should receive basic schooling, such as learning to read, write and count, as well as how to manage some sort of basic trade skills. 
• Anna Maria van Schurman, a Dutch woman of German origin, studied as the first student at the University of Utrecht, but without getting a degree. 
• Laura Bassi, an Italian woman, earned a Ph.D. She graduated from the University of Bologna in Italy and taught physics at the same university, where she was the first salaried professor and at one point was the highest paid employee. She was also the first woman member of any scientific institution when she was elected to the Academy of Sciences of the Bologna Institute in 1732. 
• At only 16 years old, Countess Benigna von Zinzendorf founded the first boarding school for girls in America, sponsored by her father Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf. 

     In the 19th century, the flowering of higher education for women really began to accelerate around the world. 

• In 1873, for example, Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon founded Girton College in Cambridge, an all-female college.
• Some American women, such as Emma Hart Willard, argued that women needed a college-level education in order to be well-educated mothers in the new America. Others, such as the early proto-feminist Judith Sargent Murray, stated that it went beyond this and that education is a means to women's empowerment. 

     There are so many names I could have added, but I said not to bore you too much. In any case, we can easily see how many women left their mark on education, despite the fact that they had the opportunity to participate much later than they would have liked. 

Women and canonical authors

     On another note, I don't know about you, but I just entered 12th grade. Yes, the fun of learning about 20 essays from those with "In my opinion...", whether it's my opinion or not. In any case, what I wanted to get at, as you probably know, these works unchanged for more than 30 years, are chosen to be learned because of their apparently canonical authors. Before I started reading these works, honestly, I wasn't too interested in why they would be canonical. I knew, as you probably know, that canonical authors are "those authors we have in high school". 

     And I was explaining to my children at one point I know what's related to the Romanian language school and I end up listing these "canonical authors" and my father looks at me with a frown "What do you mean canonical?" and I answer "I mean who enters the baccalaureate". I also woke up then to look for what canonical means.

CANÓNIC1, canonici, sm (In the Catholic Church) Member of a college of priests charged with the celebration of solemn services and having the function of leadership in the diocese. [Acc. and: canoníc] – From Lat. canonical.

     Interesting, isn't it? I sat and sat looking for a definition for what these authors are, and I can tell you honestly that the only definition I found was on liceunet.ro 

The canonical author is that original author, who managed to produce valuable works, which became a benchmark in Romanian and international literature. 

     I'm already longing for the idea, but in any case you've caught on that the Ministry of Education is inventing words to torment us more at the baccalaureate. But the reason why I told you this story now, was actually to get to the fact that nowhere in this definition of canonical authors does it say that they should be men.

     To my disappointment, the topic has not been discussed much, so it was very difficult for me to find the opinion of people who really specialize in the topic. However, I came across an investigation about the absence of female writers from the baccalaureate curriculum carried out by Observator Cultural magazine at the initiative of Mariana Gorczyca. I encourage you to read that article having the opinions of many Romanian teachers, professors from the Faculties of Letters. However, I extracted a few words that summarize part of the survey. 

     "I would say, without making it anyone's fault, that this was the environment created by the Romanian mentality. traditionally. Those that cultivate a kind of superiority of the male intellect (...) And if one would like, in a professional way, a revision of the canonical authors from the school curriculum, I don't know if there would be many names to put on the list. " 

     "I am compiling an inevitably subjective-objective list: Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu, Ana Blandiana, Ileana Mălăncioiu, Herta Müller, Gabriela Adameșteanu, Mariana Marin, Marta Petreu, Simona Popescu... I remember that, at one point, the question of attendance arose, in Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu's list of "canons". I think there is no one so ignorant as to deny the value of this great interwar prose writer! The problem that arose, however, in this case, was that of the difficulties of his work for high school teenagers. But, no matter how much we argue, the fact that the current list of canonical authors is one hundred percent male is obvious and cannot be justified…”

Two quite different perspectives I would say, what needs to be specified, the first opinion was from a female teacher, while the second, from a male teacher. 

     So is the system against women? Not quite, not exactly. Yes, granted, we got the opportunity to learn much later than we should have, and they continued to oppose us even after we earned the right to assert ourselves intellectually, but we're getting there. There are countless achievements of women in the field of education, I could not even collect them all in one article. I know, we still don't have canonical female authors, but since at one point we couldn't even go to school, the day will come when we'll complain that Hortensia Papadat‑Bengescu failed the baccalaureate.

Bonus

If you've read this far, congratulations, you've reached the bonus part of this article. I thought that since school is still starting, in addition to this story about women and education, I might as well give you some tips to get through this year a little easier and with better grades. Maybe if you're like me, passionate about doing better in school, finding better ways to learn, you've landed on studytube and found Jade Bowler, a super nice girl with some great advice. Well Jade released a book this year The only study guide you will ever need, which I encourage you to read (I would read it in two days, that's how good it is). But for a little insight, I give you 5 best ways to learn which she recommends and I started using them.

1. flashcards

It's pretty straight forward, but basically what you need to do is take some cards, write a question/term/formula on one side and the answer/definition on the other 

2. Spaced repetition

In this technique what you have to do is after you learn your material, you repeat it a day later, then 3 days later, a week and then two weeks (what you are actually doing is avoiding the forgetting curve)

3. Sherlock's Mind Palace

I think we have all heard of this method, the simplest way to explain it is that you associate familiar places, such as your home or room with the material you have to learn (eg. When you open the first drawer in your desk, you see the opinion essay about Ion)

4. Blurring

I think it's one of the simplest ways to learn, all you have to do is that after you've learned, write on a piece of paper everything you remember about the subject (so you can easily see what you know and what you don't Know)

5. Cornell Notes

It's a bit easier to show you than to explain how this works...

Let me know how you like these learning methods and if you will use them this year.