Lesson

The pedagogical unit of instruction. In pre-literate societies a recitation that was memorized by hearers or a practical instruction or skill demonstration divided into sections or stages, at the culminination of which the learner demonstrated his ability to master what was transmitted. Lessons also took question and answer form as with the first Western professional teachers, the sophists, which allowed for instruction in reasoning and wisdom or philosophical inquiry. In literate societies the lesson is one chapter of a textbook, or one session with a teacher in a school. It may also be a passage in a religious scripture in some cultures in which there may be grammatical, historical, moral and other information impaited.