The evolutionary process of the teaching and learning sub-branches of Business
Studies (Commerce, Accounting, Economics, Typing, Office Practice, Secretarial Studies
and Shorthand) is usually traced to the Middle Ages (900 AD – 1350AD) and
Renaissance period (1400AD-1800AD) in European history. It has been asserted that by
the 9th Century AD apprenticeship system of training young people was practiced in
France. It then spread to other European nations-notably Germany and Britain. By the
11th century AD, craftsmanship in various business trades had flourished in Europe and
Asian continents.
Apprenticeship system of training young people in the Business trades had began in
earnest in Europe, middle Eastern countries, the Indian Sub-continent, South-East Asia,
China and Japan. Parents and guardians of young people would approach a craftsman
in a specific trade (Master) to apprentice their youths on agreed terms (usually a
premium was paid) and working conditions (usually 5-9 years). A master was a skilled
Artisan in a specific trade. Youths would then be attached to a master to undergo on job
training practice to learn knowledge, skills and attitudes for the required or specific
trade for an agreed number of years. Professional trades were then referred to as trade
crafts. Guilds or gilds were professional associations which had fully been established
during this time of Middle Ages (900AD-1400AD) in a number of European countries.
These guilds (or gilds) were established during this time to protect the interests of the
masters of the same professional trade. Professional business trades which had
developed during the Middle Ages were Needle working, Milling, Baking, Blacksmith,
Carpentry, Gold and Silver smith, Surgeons, Gloves, Mercers (fabric dealers), Drappers
(clothes and woolen dealers) Haberdashers (shopkeepers who were selling raw
materials for making clothes), Grocers, the General smiths, Masonry, etc.
Youths undergoing apprenticeship system of training by that time would observe keenly
what the masters were doing, were imparted with knowledge, skills and attitudes and
occasionally under the guidance of a master helped the masters in carrying out their
professional trades. After serving the master for a specified period of attachment, a trainee was required to produce (prepare) a masterpiece for examination by the judges
of the specified professional trade.
If the masterpiece was judged as satisfactory by the standards set for the specific trade,
a trainee would graduate into a Journeyman (a new graduate who has been recognized
and accepted by the masters of the specific trade as a skilled Artisan (a craftsman)).
After graduation, a journeyman would start his/her own trade or would choose to
continue working for the master, on agreed payment and working conditions so as to
gain more skills, insights and the experience. A journeyman would quit his or her
master’s trade to start his or her own trade as a new master ready to apprentice other
youths.
During the middle ages and the early Centuries of the Renaissance period,
apprenticeship system of training youths in Europe was restrictive and slow method of
training skilled Artisans. When industrial revolution period began in Europe in the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, there was high demand for graduates of
specialized (sophisticated) skills. The apprenticeship system of training youths was
slow and restrictive and therefore, could not produce enough graduates of the required
skills to meet the then growing job-market of the industrial revolution period. There was
a missing training gap which was filled by the emergence of professionally skilled
Itinerant tutors, who moved from one place to another, offering education and training
to the youths in the specified professions. They were paid for their services. The
challenges experienced by the Itinerant tutors led to the establishment of Grammar
trade schools in specified locations where youths would attend on regular basis to be
imparted with knowledge, skills and the required attitudes. These Grammar trade
schools are considered the pioneer institutions of the modern Technical, Industrial,
Vocational and Entrepreneurial Training institutes.
The advert of industrial revolution period in Europe brought a decline in the
apprenticeship system of training youths/people and these subsequently, gave rise to
the commercial/business education in the formal school and training system as we
know it today.
raphael answered the question on August 10, 2021 at 05:31