Avatar:Education in the World of Avatar
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<infobox> <image source="image" /> <title source="name"><default>Education in the World of Avatar</default></title> <group> <header>General information</header> <label>Type</label> <label>Examples</label> </group>
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<header></header> </infobox> Throughout the world, formal education is a central aspect of society. The importance of learning is especially emphasized among the upper class of the Fire Nation, by many in the United Republic, and to a lesser extent, by some people in Ba Sing Se.[1]
Types of education
Air Nomads
Spiritual enlightenment was central to the Air Nomad culture, as all of its members regularly meditated in addition to practicing airbending. They were taught to value all forms of life and considered it to be sacred, regardless of whether it was good or evil.[2] At least some of them also studied calligraphy and poetry, producing works of written art valued highly enough to be sought in the Earth Kingdom.[3][4]
Young airbenders were raised at the air temples instead of by their parents.[5] Airbender boys often had one monk appointed to them as a personal guardian; similarly, airbender girls were raised by nuns.[6][7][8][9] Especially in the case of the Air Avatar, there were concerns about young airbenders growing too attached to their guardians.[7]
During periods of isolationism, educators tried to actively discourage young Air Nomads from absorbing news about the outside world, fearing they would be distracted from their spiritual paths.[10] During more open times when the Air Nomads forged close ties with the other nations, Air Nomad teachings spread to other nations, and the temples supported the building of a Fire & Air Center of Learning in the Fire Nation.[11] This was opposed by the sect known as the Guiding Wind, who believed that the Air Nomads' ties with the wealthy elite classes of the world were impeding the spiritual enlightenment of people of all nations.[11]
Following the Air Nomad Genocide, the new Air Nation adapted to a world with an extremely small number of airbenders. Thusly, all airbenders were directly raised by their parents after the Hundred Year War.[12] Aside from learning their own bending art and meditation, children are taught about their history and culture, and may participate on educational trips, such as tours to the air temples.[13][14]
Air Acolytes are typically extremely well-educated about Air Nomad culture and sometimes practice nonbending martial arts that are heavily modelled on airbending.[15][16] Following the rise of new airbenders after Harmonic Convergence, many of the new airbenders grew bored of the traditonalist teaching approach of listening to lectures about famous monks, nuns, and gurus, but also struggled to adapt when Tenzin tried to implement harsher methods of airbender training. However, given time, the new airbenders and Tenzin managed to reach a healthy teacher-student relationship.[17]
Water Tribe
Besides basic skills such as reading and writing, a warrior's battlefield skills are also highly valued, as the city maintains a fairly large army and armory.[18] Waterbending is also regularly taught, with waterbenders like Master Pakku instructing and testing male waterbending students during regular dueling sessions, and female waterbenders frequently attending healing classes. Prior to the end of the Hundred Year War, female waterbenders in the North were forbidden from learning any techniques beyond healing, while healing was also prohibited from being taught to male waterbenders.[19][20] In general, education in the Northern Water Tribe is considered to be rigorous yet flexible.[21]
Prior to its near-destruction at the hands of the Fire Nation, the Southern Water Tribe deeply valued academia. The Southern business magnate Tiqriganiannig funded the Unity with the world's academic institutions in order to spread technology and knowledge in all four nations.[22] The South hosted regular classes for its students, as the tribe once consisted of several large walled villages. Unlike the North Pole, it also regularly taught waterbending to members of both sexes,[23] and gender discrimination was not an issue for budding benders. Sadly, this art was virtually lost when the Fire Nation killed or captured the South Pole's entire waterbender population, except for Katara.[23] Like the North, the South maintains a strong regard for its warrior culture. In spite of the South's dire state and its lack of contact with the outside world, the South's tribesmen are quite literate, as Sokka and Katara were capable of both reading and writing without any difficulty.[24]
During the Southern Reconstruction Project, Master Pakku possessed a waterbending school in the city, where he taught Northern Style waterbending to waterbenders who were born after the end of the war in the South.[25]
Earth Kingdom
Ideally, education is highly valued in the Earth Kingdom. The government stresses that education is the best path to social mobility. The Earth Kingdom deems this the "Commoner's Promise", which represents the possibility for anyone to rise high in the bureaucracy based on their merit.[26] In practice, education varies highly depending on region and class. In the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se, most students drop out of school around the age of thirteen or fourteen to help with family businesses,[27] while the Middle Ring and Upper Ring have expensive literature schools.[28] Nevertheless, there are still programs to help disadvantaged students. Teachers at neighborhood schools can recommend promising students for scholarships at the literature academies.[27] At the university level, low-income students receive funds to cover their tuition and meals, and are granted apartments on the grounds.[26]
Literature academies in Ba Sing Se and the major cities focus on four main areas: speech, essay, calligraphy, and poetry,[29] with history and the classics also considered extremely important.[30] Classes can be even more specialized, such as specific lessons on haiku.[28] The ceremonial Pianhai method of calligraphy is also taught at literary schools, but never at basic schools.[31] Schooling is strict, and at the most exclusive institutions, corporal punishment is used if students make simple mistakes.[28] Since most students at literature schools are wealthy, many of their families pay for private tutors to instruct them on their calligraphy and help them memorize poetic verses.[30] Even at literature academies, not all students proceed from literature academies to universities, and places at higher institutions are highly coveted.[27] Many ambitious students know the importance of making certain social connections at literary schools, and hope that association with a particular sifu or well-known family will help their long-term aspirations.[32]
At the higher educational level, one of the renowned academic institutions in the Earth Kingdom is Ba Sing Se University, and its own enrollment materials proclaiming it to be the greatest university in the world. By 296 BG, the university boasted a zoology department headed by Professor Shaw,[33] and by 100 AG young scholars could attend an extensive range of classes in both the sciences and humanities.[34] However, during the Conspiracy of Ba Sing Se, teachings on the Hundred Year War were strictly forbidden in the university, as displayed by Joo Dee when she silenced a student who was asked about the conflict by Team Avatar. At the peak of the Dai Li's power, public knowledge of the War was forbidden in the city as a whole.[35]
During Avatar Kyoshi's lifetime, education in the Earth Kingdom was known to have a certain level of corruption, as cheating on tests with the help of friends was considered a time-honored tradition.[36] It was also common for tutors to swap identities with children of wealthy families in order to pass the government tests needed for prestigious administrative jobs.[37] Later in Kyoshi's life, the Earth Sages embraced their role as wise advisors and academics, and tried to continue the policy after her death. They lectured on how to expand bureaucratic channels to benefit the poorest in society. During this time period, the world was also on the brink of a technological renaissance made possible by new universities springing up, and academic institutions around the world forging new connections with one another.[11][38]
However, during the reign of Earth King Jialun, the sages were purged for speaking out against the king's changes to the constitution. The sages were purged, with a few remaining as Grand Lectors, now loyal to only the crown. Their temples reopened as Royal Learning Halls, which were tightly controlled by the government. The Earth Kingdom was suspicious of international academic collaboration, viewing such attempts as plots to deploy spies around the world. Innovation stagnated during this time, since any new technologies were quickly seized by the crown and distributed to vassals as the Earth King saw fit.[11][38] Despite the curtailing of freedom of speech as well as research, the Earth Kingdom continued to host internationally renowned institutes of learning, as well as the earthbending schools.[39]
Other than training with family or locals, earthbenders could learn earthbending from many high level masters throughout the Earth Kingdom in earthbender schools or in dojos. One such dojo was Master Yu's Earthbending Academy in Gaoling. These masters also privately tutored rich and high class students like Master Yu did with Toph Beifong.[40] Other masters, like Jianzhu, used their status as high-level sages to fund bending schools throughout the Earth Kingdom and four nations.[41] The most common earthbending schools offer a path to learn a certain trade, such as building, or transportation reliant on earthbending. They are also often seen as a path into the military. Earthbender schools are often private and rely on paid tuition, which is often far too steep for the poorest in society.[30]
Toph Beifong established the world's first metalbending academy near the city of Yu Dao to teach earthbenders metalbending.[42] She was able to offer free tuition after the school was sponsored by Earthen Fire Industries, and hired scouts to search the Earth Kingdom for new metalbenders. Toph also accepted earthbenders who were not capable of metalbending at the academy, as well as other skilled earthbenders such as the lavabender Sun.[43]
Fire Nation
Education has been highly valued in Fire Nation since at least the lifetime of Szeto. In 296 BG, Rangi noted that it was highly rare for school to be canceled in the Fire Nation, with one notable exception being the celebrations after the Fire Sages revealed a new Fire Avatar.[44]
By the reign of Fire Lord Sozin, the Fire Nation had a Minister of Education, Science, and Technology.[45] During the first true industrial revolution, the Fire Nation and the world began to enter a period of unprecedented academic collaboration, and Sozin encouraged his people to drink deeply from the well of knowledge of other nations, while preserving Fire Nation culture within his own borders.[46]
Education was strict during the Hundred Year War and was often oriented toward the ultimate goal of indoctrinating the student population in the country's politics. There were few forms of personal expression, as such actions were considered a threat to the Fire Lord's unquestioned authority during the War. Many common arts such as dancing were thus omitted from the school curriculum.[47] There was also very strict censoring to make the students believe that the Fire Nation's war against the other nations was in fact a justified one, as Sozin's official reasoning for the Hundred Year War was to spread his nation's prosperity to others. At the beginning of every day, the students must stand up and pledge loyalty to the Fire Lord, promising to serve him for as long as they live. The Fire Nation also altered certain aspects of historical events to make it seem as though they were fighting for the greater good. For example, a school textbook stated that the Air Nomads used military force to repel Fire Nation attacks, though the peaceful nation had no such organization.[48] The authorities also fostered the impression that Fire Nation history began with Sozin's ascension, as Sozin had forbidden all knowledge of their history prior to his reign to be shared with the people.[49]
After the end of the Hundred Year War, as a result of Zuko's reforms, scholars strove to recover lost history and eliminated deceitful propaganda long taught in school texts.[49] Fire Lord Zuko also organized reforms in the education system, opening previously noble-exclusive schools to commoners and reducing the imperialist-militarist tendencies in the curricula.[50] Among other efforts, he made the Dancing Dragon movements a mandatory element in schools.[47]
Education, especially military knowledge, is generally valued for the children of the Fire Nation Royal Family, as shown in the case of Sozin,[51][52] Zuko and Azula.[53] Aristocratic children are often educated in well-respected institutions, such as the prestigious Royal Fire Academy for Boys and Royal Fire Academy for Girls.[52][54]
As of 100 AG, the Fire Nation had several universities, including at least one on Capital Island.[55] Furthermore, the country has various military academies,[56] including the aforementioned Royal Fire Academies of the capital.[52][57] Historically, it was common for nonbenders to attend the universities and firebenders to attend the military academies, though exceptions existed.[58] In the 1st century BG, it was possible for foreign students such as Jasmine Islanders to attend schools in the Fire Nation.[56]
United Republic of Nations
The United Republic has a formal education system, which covers both children and teenagers.[59] However, the school system does not reach everyone: Tenzin's children are exempt and are educated on Air Temple Island in the customs of the Air Nation.[12]
Additionally, a number of children do not attend school in cases of severe child poverty, such as Mako, Bolin, and Skoochy.[60][61] Projects have been organized to combat educational inequality in the nation, such as the Dragon Flats Reform School, with some of the best teachers being hired to educate some of Republic City's worst students in an especially disadvantaged neighborhood.[62] In general, truancy is looked down upon by middle-class citizens, and by law enforcement.[59]
The nation is home to several educational institutions of note. The Beifong Metalbending Academy in Yu Dao was the first of its kind in the world,[42] and Republic City University was quickly established as a prominent institution when Avatar Aang helped to bring scholars from all over the world to Cranefish Town.[21] The university was even respected enough that Wu, a prince of the Earth Kingdom, was enrolled there at the time of his great-aunt's assassination.[63] Higher education has tuition costs, although there are scholarship programs for the underprivileged.[64]
The educational curriculum in the United Republic takes inspiration from nations across the world, and then adapts traditional principles for a more modern and cosmopolitan environment. For example, Republic City University is partially modelled on Ba Sing Se University and tends to use Earth Kingdom teaching methods, but also adopted the flexibility found in the Northern Water Tribe.[21]
During the period leading up to the Anti-bending Revolution, radical politics became fairly common in academia, with one graduate student of Republic City University openly professing support for the Equalists and pursuing his agenda full-time in his studies.[12][65] After Amon's defeat, a non-violent Equalist revival movement remains especially popular at the university. The near-absolute pacifist Peace Lily Society is also primarily made up of Republic City's students.[66] In general, students are prone to trying to understand perspectives other than their own and to question systems in place, with universities full of lively debate.[67]
Notable educators
Notable educational institutions
- Ba Sing Se University[35]
- Beifong Metalbending Academy[42]
- Dragon Flats Reform School[62]
- Fire Nation school[48]
- Fire Nation University[72]
- Fragrant Blossoms Institute[32]
- Jin's literature academy[27]
- Master Kunyo's Firebending Dojo[9]
- Master Yu's Earthbending Academy[40]
- Master Pakku's waterbending school[25]
- Republic City University[65]
- Royal Fire Academy for Boys[52]
- Royal Fire Academy for Girls[54]
- Sunray Academy[68]
References
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