An introduction to Avicenna and Jahiz's Views about the Principles of Education

The present paper seeks to elaborate on Avicenna and Jahiz's views about the principles of education. An analytical-deductive method is used in this paper which uses available resources to deduce and analyze their views about the principles of education. The findings indicate that there are similarities and differences between the principles adopted by Avicenna and those adopted by Jahiz. Attention to individual differences, recommending rationalism, changeability of attributes, moderation in learning, collective learning, preparing appropriate grounds for learning, adjusting educational programs to man's developmental stages and paying attention to learner's interest in acquiring sciences are among the similarities. The main difference between the views adopted by each of them is that Avicenna pays special attention to the principle of self-knowledge, self-refinement, occupational training, an instructor's qualification and expertise, and attention to the facilities in the process of educational work while Jahiz pays attention to no one of them.