Global Patrons Of Teaching: Imhotep, Ahmed Baba, Fatima Al-Fihri And More
World Teachers' Day series: Global Patrons of Teaching
Happy Teachers' Day from all of us at Nkuzify.
Recognised by Nkuzify as Patron Teachers of the Year.
Every teacher stands in a long line. Long before anybody held a piece of chalk, a boy in ancient Egypt was already teaching the world how to build, how to heal and how to write. On this World Teachers' Day, Nkuzify looks back at the ones who stood at the very beginning, and we start with Imhotep.
Our patron: Imhotep
Imhotep lived about 4,600 years ago, around 2667 to 2600 BCE. The story that has come down to us says he was born a commoner, rose to become vizier to Pharaoh Djoser and high priest of Ra at Heliopolis, and is credited with designing the Step Pyramid at Saqqara. He is also remembered as a healer who taught early doctors to examine the patient first.
Read the full story: Imhotep: The Master Builder And Healer Of Ancient Egypt
Teachers Of The Ancient And Medieval World
Ptahhotep
A vizier of ancient Egypt, in the late 25th or early 24th century BC, credited with the Instruction that carries his name: advice from a father to his son about listening, speaking and treating people well. It is one of the oldest teaching texts we still have, though its exact date and authorship are debated.
Read the full story: Ptahhotep: The Egyptian Vizier Who Wrote Advice For The Young
Ahmed Baba of Timbuktu
Born in 1556 near Timbuktu, he was one of the city's most celebrated scholars and wrote dozens of works. After Morocco invaded in 1591 he was exiled, and by his own account more than 1,600 of his books were taken. He returned to Timbuktu in 1608 and died in 1627.
Read the full story: Ahmed Baba Of Timbuktu: The Scholar Whose Library Was Seized
Fatima al-Fihri
A woman from Kairouan whose family settled in Fez. She used her inheritance to found the al-Qarawiyyin mosque in 857 or 859, which grew into a centre of learning. The university that carries its name is acknowledged by Guinness World Records as the oldest degree-granting university still operating.
Read the full story: Fatima Al-Fihri: The Woman Who Built Al-Qarawiyyin
Al-Farabi
Probably born around 870 in Farab, in what is now Kazakhstan, he worked in Baghdad and died in Damascus. He was called the Second Teacher, after Aristotle, for his commentaries on Aristotle and Plato, and he influenced thinkers such as Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd.
Read the full story: Al-Farabi: The Second Teacher After Aristotle
Educators Who Changed How The World Learns
- Savitribai Phule: opened a school for girls in Pune, India, in 1848 with her husband Jyotirao. She is remembered as one of the first women teachers in India.
- Maria Montessori: an Italian doctor who built the Montessori method around children learning by doing, from 1907.
- Anna Julia Cooper: African American teacher and scholar. Her 1892 book A Voice from the South argued for educating Black women, and she earned a doctorate in Paris in 1925.
- Septima Clark: trained ordinary people to read through citizenship schools in the US civil rights movement. She lost her teaching job over her civil rights membership. This happened in 1956, when she refused to give up her NAACP membership.
A Living Teacher
Peter Tabichi: a Kenyan science teacher who won the 2019 Global Teacher Prize, worth one million dollars. He teaches at a rural school in Nakuru County and is known for giving most of his income to support poor students.
Happy Teachers' Day to every teacher in this long line.
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