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Evolution of education - a history of schooling

The Evolution of Education: A Look Back at the History of Schools

We have become so accustomed to education worldwide that people seldom wonder how schools began. Today, we generally consider education a mandatory part of growing up. Modern education implies a process where the individual acquires or imparts basic knowledge to another. Schooling today helps people develop the skills they need for daily living. It is also vital for learning social norms and developing sound reasoning and judgment. Research has also found that education plays an essential role in eradicating poverty and hunger, allowing people a chance at better living. Although we all recognize the significance of schooling today, its evolution to this state is not well documented. This article examines the history of schools and how education metamorphosed into what it is today.

Why Is Schooling Important?

People go to school for various reasons, mainly to improve their careers and livelihoods. Generally speaking, most of the benefits of schools relate to the individual’s life goals and future well-being. Quality education helps people develop good communication skills, teaching the arts of reading and writing. Evidence also shows that education helps students develop critical thinking skills, thereby boosting creativity and improving time management. For most people, however, education is an important tool for meeting individual basic qualifications for work. In modern society, the more educated you are, the higher your chance of landing a well-paying job.

Education helps individuals meet basic job qualifications while promoting gender equity and helping empower girls and women. Students get to develop enhanced problem-solving skills and become more self-reliant. Schools also offer opportunities for interaction and developing social skills. Moreover, quality education increases stability and financial security while supporting the economic growth of nations.

What Are the Various Types of Education?

Generally, three main types of education are formal, informal, and non-formal. Formal schooling entails education that takes place in traditional classroom settings and academic institutions. This form of schooling allows students to acquire basic skills like reading and writing. However, students also learn more complex academic concepts and acquire the theoretical knowledge needed to thrive in the workplace. Today, the education sector has changed greatly, and students can easily order assignments from platforms like essaywriter.org .

The second type of education is the informal variant, where students learn outside the premise of formal academic institutions. Often informal learning allows people to acquire skills and knowledge from home through self-driven approaches. It includes browsing through educational sites and visiting libraries.

The third type is the non-formal variant, which combines formal and informal schooling. While it follows a timetable and systematically develops curricula like formal instruction, it also allows greater flexibility and self-direction. Moreover, it does not require students to attend formal school systems. Online education is one such form of non-formal instruction. Check out this essaywriter review on insights on how students can use the internet to get help with assignments.

A Brief History of Education

A history of education

The history of schooling is longstanding, with intricate development shaping how people seek and interact with knowledge. Schooling dates back to written records in ancient ages. According to research, education in Asia can be traced back to the teachings of three major religious and philosophical traditions: Hinduism, Islam, and Confucianism. Continually, towards the end of the 18 th century, education in East Asia metamorphosed according to the wave of Neo-Confucianism. The British introduced a radical change in South Asia by launching more modern schools. The main objective was to prepare future government officials and train interpreters. As a result, this led to diminished ties between students and communities, thereby changing South Asia’s conventional objective of education.

In America, education was not a requirement in the 17 th century, although it remained a dream of many. The main form of education during that era was Puritan, where parents were mandated to teach their children morals and religion. As the settler population increased, each colony was mandated to have at least one school teaching academics. However, these schools mostly served the wealthy members of the community. Harvard was the first college established in 1636, with the first academic for girls created in 1787.

The growth of public schools continued, with technology emerging to transform the education sector in monumental ways. The introduction of technology in education in the 1970s sped up the sector’s growth, with immense evolution following in the 20 th century. Today, students can easily get help with projects online. Check out this essaywriter review for tips on how to get assistance with assignments.

School and education have been around for a while, though standardized education is fairly new. It is important to note that modern education is much more than attending school and earning a degree. It entails the process of widening an individual’s skillset and knowledge base.

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Global Education

By: Hannah Ritchie , Veronika Samborska , Natasha Ahuja , Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Max Roser

A good education offers individuals the opportunity to lead richer, more interesting lives. At a societal level, it creates opportunities for humanity to solve its pressing problems.

The world has gone through a dramatic transition over the last few centuries, from one where very few had any basic education to one where most people do. This is not only reflected in the inputs to education – enrollment and attendance – but also in outcomes, where literacy rates have greatly improved.

Getting children into school is also not enough. What they learn matters. There are large differences in educational outcomes : in low-income countries, most children cannot read by the end of primary school. These inequalities in education exacerbate poverty and existing inequalities in global incomes .

On this page, you can find all of our writing and data on global education.

Key insights on Global Education

The world has made substantial progress in increasing basic levels of education.

Access to education is now seen as a fundamental right – in many cases, it’s the government’s duty to provide it.

But formal education is a very recent phenomenon. In the chart, we see the share of the adult population – those older than 15 – that has received some basic education and those who haven’t.

In the early 1800s, fewer than 1 in 5 adults had some basic education. Education was a luxury; in all places, it was only available to a small elite.

But you can see that this share has grown dramatically, such that this ratio is now reversed. Less than 1 in 5 adults has not received any formal education.

This is reflected in literacy data , too: 200 years ago, very few could read and write. Now most adults have basic literacy skills.

What you should know about this data

  • Basic education is defined as receiving some kind of formal primary, secondary, or tertiary (post-secondary) education.
  • This indicator does not tell us how long a person received formal education. They could have received a full program of schooling, or may only have been in attendance for a short period. To account for such differences, researchers measure the mean years of schooling or the expected years of schooling .

Despite being in school, many children learn very little

International statistics often focus on attendance as the marker of educational progress.

However, being in school does not guarantee that a child receives high-quality education. In fact, in many countries, the data shows that children learn very little.

Just half – 48% – of the world’s children can read with comprehension by the end of primary school. It’s based on data collected over a 9-year period, with 2016 as the average year of collection.

This is shown in the chart, where we plot averages across countries with different income levels. 1

The situation in low-income countries is incredibly worrying, with 90% of children unable to read by that age.

This can be improved – even among high-income countries. The best-performing countries have rates as low as 2%. That’s more than four times lower than the average across high-income countries.

Making sure that every child gets to go to school is essential. But the world also needs to focus on what children learn once they’re in the classroom.

Featured image

Millions of children learn only very little. How can the world provide a better education to the next generation?

Research suggests that many children – especially in the world’s poorest countries – learn only very little in school. What can we do to improve this?

  • This data does not capture total literacy over someone’s lifetime. Many children will learn to read eventually, even if they cannot read by the end of primary school. However, this means they are in a constant state of “catching up” and will leave formal education far behind where they could be.

legacy-wordpress-upload

Children across the world receive very different amounts of quality learning

There are still significant inequalities in the amount of education children get across the world.

This can be measured as the total number of years that children spend in school. However, researchers can also adjust for the quality of education to estimate how many years of quality learning they receive. This is done using an indicator called “learning-adjusted years of schooling”.

On the map, you see vast differences across the world.

In many of the world’s poorest countries, children receive less than three years of learning-adjusted schooling. In most rich countries, this is more than 10 years.

Across most countries in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa – where the largest share of children live – the average years of quality schooling are less than 7.

  • Learning-adjusted years of schooling merge the quantity and quality of education into one metric, accounting for the fact that similar durations of schooling can yield different learning outcomes.
  • Learning-adjusted years is computed by adjusting the expected years of school based on the quality of learning, as measured by the harmonized test scores from various international student achievement testing programs. The adjustment involves multiplying the expected years of school by the ratio of the most recent harmonized test score to 625. Here, 625 signifies advanced attainment on the TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) test, with 300 representing minimal attainment. These scores are measured in TIMSS-equivalent units.

Hundreds of millions of children worldwide do not go to school

While most children worldwide get the opportunity to go to school, hundreds of millions still don’t.

In the chart, we see the number of children who aren’t in school across primary and secondary education.

This number was around 244 million in 2023.

Many children who attend primary school drop out and do not attend secondary school. That means many more children or adolescents are missing from secondary school than primary education.

Featured image

Access to basic education: almost 60 million children of primary school age are not in school

The world has made a lot of progress in recent generations, but millions of children are still not in school.

The gender gap in school attendance has closed across most of the world

Globally, until recently, boys were more likely to attend school than girls. The world has focused on closing this gap to ensure every child gets the opportunity to go to school.

Today, these gender gaps have largely disappeared. In the chart, we see the difference in the global enrollment rates for primary, secondary, and tertiary (post-secondary) education. The share of children who complete primary school is also shown.

We see these lines converging over time, and recently they met: rates between boys and girls are the same.

For tertiary education, young women are now more likely than young men to be enrolled.

While the differences are small globally, there are some countries where the differences are still large: girls in Afghanistan, for example, are much less likely to go to school than boys.

Research & Writing

Featured image

Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not. We are all losing out because of this.

Access to basic education: almost 60 million children of primary school age are not in school, interactive charts on global education.

This data comes from a paper by João Pedro Azevedo et al.

João Pedro Azevedo, Diana Goldemberg, Silvia Montoya, Reema Nayar, Halsey Rogers, Jaime Saavedra, Brian William Stacy (2021) – “ Will Every Child Be Able to Read by 2030? Why Eliminating Learning Poverty Will Be Harder Than You Think, and What to Do About It .” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 9588, March 2021.

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History of Education

  • First Online: 14 May 2023

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history of education in the world

  • D. N. P. Murthy 3 &
  • N. W. Page 4  

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There have been many approaches to education throughout human history. They have been largely evolutionary in nature, influenced by local needs, culture, language and community—aspects discussed in previous chapters. Some approaches have endured, others discarded. An understanding of contemporary formal education systems also requires an understanding of how these evolved and are continuing to evolve and whether or not anything of value is being lost with these changes.

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See Chapter 3 .

See Chapter 2 .

Section  4.4.2 discusses the different writing systems that evolved.

The dates are approximate as there is no universal agreement between researchers.

During his reign Assurbanipal (685 – c. 627 BC) assembled in Nineveh the first systematic library using clay tablets collected from across Mesopotamia, and Babylonia.

The Arab world (Mesopotamia and Egypt) followed the model of education as used in early civilisation.

Various adjectives have been used to describe the first levels of education. When there was only one level of formal education, the education was elementary so that was an appropriate adjective. When further years of education became available in graded schools it became common to differentiate with terms like primary and secondary.

Latin was a long standing legacy of Roman education. It was the language of the educated classes, used in commerce, government and education for about 1000 years after the fall of the Roman empire. It still has wide use in the Roman Catholic church.

This empire lasted about another 1000 years until being conquered by the Ottoman Empire.

An important contribution to the dissemination of knowledge and culture throughout the world was the invention of printing in China -first block printing in the 8th century and then movable type in the 11th century.

For more on this, see Section  12.6.3 .

These are seen as successors of the grammar schools of the Roman Empire that disappeared after the conquest of Western Roman Empire by Germanic tribes.

Knowledge from ancient Greek, Persia and India were translated into Arabic. This and the new knowledge were translated into Latin in the 12th century and marked the start of the European renaissance.

Walmsley, John Brian (1990) Wolfgang Ratke (Ratichius) and his educational writings. Doctoral thesis, Durham University. Available at: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/6048/ accessed 2nd July 2022.

Comenius’s contributed to discussions leading to the founding of the Royal Society (incorporated 1662) in England. Comenius also influenced the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz who went on to establish the Berlin Academy, a model copied elsewhere.

See for example https://ushistoryscene.com/article/rise-of-public-education/ accessed 19th January 2021.

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746–1827).

Friedrich Wilhelm Froebel (1782–1852).

Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776–1841).

Maria Montessori (1870–1952).

https://www.britannica.com/topic/education/Education-in-the-20th-century accessed 23rd May 2022.

Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776–1841) was a German philosopher and psychologist and pioneer of teaching theory.

See for example https://en.unesco.org/themes/education accessed 25th January 2021.

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Mechanical Engineering, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia

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Correspondence to D. N. P. Murthy or N. W. Page .

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Murthy, D.N.P., Page, N.W. (2023). History of Education. In: Education and Research for the Future. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29685-7_12

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Education in the 20th century

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International wars, together with an intensification of internal stresses and conflicts among social, racial, and ideological groups, characterized the 20th century and had profound effects on education. Some of the changes that had far-reaching effects were the rapidly spreading prosperity but widening gaps between rich and poor, an immense increase in world population but a declining birth rate in Western countries, the growth of large-scale industry and its dependence on science and technological advancement, the increasing power of both organized labour and international business, and the enormous influence of both technical and sociopsychological advances in communication, especially as utilized in mass media . Other pivotal changes included challenges to accepted values, such as those supported by religion; changes in social relations, especially toward versions of group and individual equality; and an explosion of knowledge affecting paradigms as well as particular information. These and other changes marked a century of social and political swings toward a more dynamic and less categorical resolution. The institutional means of handling this uncertain world were to accept more diversity while maintaining basic forms and to rely on management efficiency to ensure practical outcomes.

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The two World Wars weakened the military and political might of the larger European powers. Their replacement by “superpowers” whose influence did not depend directly on territorial acquisition and whose ideologies were essentially equalitarian helped to liquidate colonialism . As new independent countries emerged in Africa and Asia and the needs and powers of a “ third world ” caused a shift in international thinking, education was seen to be both an instrument of national development and a means of crossing national and cultural barriers. One consequence of this was a great increase in the quantity of education provided. Attempts were made to eradicate illiteracy, and colleges and schools were built everywhere.

The growing affluence of masses of the population in high-income areas in North America and Europe brought about, particularly after World War II , a tremendous demand for secondary and higher education . Most children stayed at school until 16, 17, or even 18 years of age, and a substantial fraction spent at least two years at college . The number of universities in many countries doubled or trebled between 1950 and 1970, and the elaboration of the tertiary level continued thereafter.

This growth was sustained partly by the industrial requirements of modern scientific technology. New methods, processes, and machines were continually introduced. Old skills became irrelevant; new industries sprang up. In addition, the amount of scientific—as distinct from merely technical—knowledge grew continually. Researchers, skilled workers, and high-level professionals were increasingly in demand. The processing of information underwent revolutionary change. The educational response was mainly to develop technical colleges , to promote adult education at all levels, to turn attention to part-time and evening courses, and to provide more training and education within the industrial enterprises themselves.

The adoption of modern methods of food production diminished the need for agricultural workers, who headed for the cities. Urbanization , however, brought problems: city centres decayed, and there was a trend toward violence. The poorest remained in those centres, and it became difficult to provide adequate education. The radical change to large numbers of disrupted families, where the norm was a single working parent, affected the urban poor extensively but in all cases raised an expectation of additional school services. Differences in family background, together with the cultural mix partly occasioned by change of immigration patterns, required teaching behaviour and content appropriate to a more heterogeneous school population.

Major intellectual movements

The attempt to apply scientific method to the study of education dates back to the German philosopher Johann Friedrich Herbart , who called for the application of psychology to the art of teaching . But not until the end of the 19th century, when the German psychologist Wilhelm Max Wundt established the first psychological laboratory at the University of Leipzig in 1879, were serious efforts made to separate psychology from philosophy . Wundt’s monumental Principles of Physiological Psychology (1874) had significant effects on education in the 20th century.

William James , often considered the father of American psychology of education , began about 1874 to lay the groundwork for his psychophysiological laboratory, which was officially founded at Harvard University in 1891. In 1878 he established the first course in psychology in the United States , and in 1890 he published his famous The Principles of Psychology , in which he argued that the purpose of education is to organize the child’s powers of conduct so as to fit him to his social and physical environment . Interests must be awakened and broadened as the natural starting points of instruction. James’s Principles and Talks to Teachers on Psychology cast aside the older notions of psychology in favour of an essentially behaviourist outlook. They asked the teacher to help educate heroic individuals who would project daring visions of the future and work courageously to realize them.

James’s student Edward L. Thorndike is credited with the introduction of modern educational psychology , with the publication of Educational Psychology in 1903. Thorndike attempted to apply the methods of exact science to the practice of psychology. James and Thorndike, together with the American philosopher John Dewey , helped to clear away many of the fantastic notions once held about the successive steps involved in the development of mental functions from birth to maturity.

Interest in the work of Sigmund Freud and the psychoanalytic image of the child in the 1920s, as well as attempts to apply psychology to national training and education tasks in the 1940s and ’50s, stimulated the development of educational psychology, and the field became recognized as a major source for educational theory. Eminent researchers in the field advanced knowledge of behaviour modification, child development , and motivation . They studied learning theories ranging from classical and instrumental conditioning and technical models to social theories and open humanistic varieties. Besides the specific applications of measurement, counseling , and clinical psychology , psychology contributed to education through studies of cognition , information processing , the technology of instruction, and learning styles . After much controversy about nature versus nurture and about qualitative versus quantitative methods, Jungian , phenomenological, and ethnographic methods took their place alongside psychobiological explanations to help educationists understand the place of heredity , general environment, and school in development and learning .

The relationship between educational theory and other fields of study became increasingly close. Social science was used to study interactions and speech to discover what was actually happening in a classroom. Philosophy of science led educational theorists to attempt to understand paradigmatic shifts in knowledge. The critical literature of the 1960s and ’70s attacked all institutions as conveyors of the motives and economic interests of the dominant class . Both social philosophy and critical sociology continued to elaborate the themes of social control and oppression as embedded in educational institutions. In a world of social as well as intellectual change, there were necessarily new ethical questions—such as those dealing with abortion , biological experimentation, and child rights—which placed new demands on education and required new methods of teaching.

Against the various “progressive” lines of 20th-century education, there were strong voices advocating older traditions. Those voices were particularly strong in the 1930s, in the 1950s, and again in the 1980s and ’90s. Essentialists stressed those human experiences that they believed were indispensable to people of all time periods. They favoured the “mental disciplines” and, in the matter of method and content, put effort above interest, subjects above activities, collective experience above that of the individual, logical organization above the psychological, and the teacher’s initiative above that of the learner.

Closely related to essentialism was what was called humanistic, or liberal, education in its traditional form. Although many intellectuals argued the case, Robert M. Hutchins , president and then chancellor of the University of Chicago from 1929 to 1951, and Mortimer J. Adler , professor of the philosophy of law at the same institution, were its most recognized proponents. Adler argued for the restoration of an Aristotelian viewpoint in education. Maintaining that there are unchanging verities, he sought a return to education fixed in content and aim. Hutchins denounced American higher education for its vocationalism and “ anti-intellectualism ,” as well as for its delight in minute and isolated specialization. He and his colleagues urged a return to the cultivation of the intellect.

Opposed to the fundamental tenets of pragmatism was the philosophy that underlay all Roman Catholic education . Theocentric in its viewpoint, Catholic Scholasticism had God as its unchanging basis of action. It insisted that without such a basis there can be no real aim to any type of living, and hence there can be no real purpose in any system of education. The church’s

whole educational aim is to restore the sons of Adam to their high position as children of God. [It insists that] education must prepare man for what he should do here below in order to attain the sublime end for which he was created. (From Pius XI , encyclical on the “Christian Education of Youth,” Dec. 31, 1929.)

Everything in education—content, method, discipline—must lead in the direction of humanity’s supernatural destiny.

New foundations

The three concerns that guided the development of 20th-century education were the child, science, and society. The foundations for this trilogy were laid by so-called progressive education movements supporting child-centred education, scientific-realist education, and social reconstruction.

Peter Gray Ph.D.

A Brief History of Education

To understand schools, we must view them in historical perspective..

Posted August 20, 2008 | Reviewed by Matt Huston

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When we see that children everywhere are required by law to go to school, that almost all schools are structured in the same way, and that our society goes to a great deal of trouble and expense to provide such schools, we tend naturally to assume that there must be some good, logical reason for all this. Perhaps if we didn't force children to go to school, or if schools operated much differently, children would not grow up to be competent adults. Perhaps some really smart people have figured all this out and have proven it in some way, or perhaps alternative ways of thinking about child development and education have been tested and have failed.

In previous postings I have presented evidence to the contrary. In particular, in my August 13 posting , I described the Sudbury Valley School, where for 40 years children have been educating themselves in a setting that operates on assumptions that are opposite to those of traditional schooling. Studies of the school and its graduates show that normal, average children become educated through their own play and exploration, without adult direction or prodding, and go on to be fulfilled, effective adults in the larger culture. Instead of providing direction and prodding, the school provides a rich setting within which to play, explore, and experience democracy first hand; and it does that at lower expense and with less trouble for all involved than is required to operate standard schools. So why aren't most schools like that?

If we want to understand why standard schools are what they are, we have to abandon the idea that they are products of logical necessity or scientific insight. They are, instead, products of history. Schooling, as it exists today, only makes sense if we view it from a historical perspective. And so, as a first step toward explaining why schools are what they are, I present here, in a nutshell, an outline of the history of education, from the beginning of humankind until now. Most scholars of educational history would use different terms than I use here, but I doubt that they would deny the overall accuracy of the sketch. In fact, I have used the writings of such scholars to help me develop the sketch.

In the beginning, for hundreds of thousands of years, children educated themselves through self-directed play and exploration.

In relation to the biological history of our species, schools are very recent institutions. For hundreds of thousands of years, before the advent of agriculture, we lived as hunter-gatherers. In my August 2 posting , I summarized the evidence from anthropology that children in hunter-gatherer cultures learned what they needed to know to become effective adults through their own play and exploration. The strong drives in children to play and explore presumably came about, during our evolution as hunter-gatherers, to serve the needs of education. Adults in hunter-gatherer cultures allowed children almost unlimited freedom to play and explore on their own because they recognized that those activities are children's natural ways of learning.

With the rise of agriculture, and later of industry, children became forced laborers. Play and exploration were suppressed. Willfulness, which had been a virtue, became a vice that had to be beaten out of children.

The invention of agriculture, beginning 10,000 years ago in some parts of the world and later in other parts, set in motion a whirlwind of change in people's ways of living. The hunter-gatherer way of life had been skill-intensive and knowledge-intensive, but not labor-intensive. To be effective hunters and gatherers, people had to acquire a vast knowledge of the plants and animals on which they depended and of the landscapes within which they foraged. They also had to develop great skill in crafting and using the tools of hunting and gathering. They had to be able to take initiative and be creative in finding foods and tracking game. However, they did not have to work long hours; and the work they did was exciting, not dreary. Anthropologists have reported that the hunter-gatherer groups they studied did not distinguish between work and play—essentially all of life was understood as play.

Agriculture gradually changed all that. With agriculture, people could produce more food, which allowed them to have more children. Agriculture also allowed people (or forced people) to live in permanent dwellings, where their crops were planted, rather than live a nomadic life, and this in turn allowed people to accumulate property. But these changes occurred at a great cost in labor. While hunter-gatherers skillfully harvested what nature had grown, farmers had to plow, plant, cultivate, tend their flocks, and so on. Successful farming required long hours of relatively unskilled, repetitive labor, much of which could be done by children. With larger families, children had to work in the fields to help feed their younger siblings, or they had to work at home to help care for those siblings. Children's lives changed gradually from the free pursuit of their own interests to increasingly more time spent at work that was required to serve the rest of the family.

Agriculture and the associated ownership of land and accumulation of property also created clear status differences. People who did not own land became dependent on those who did. Also, landowners discovered that they could increase their own wealth by getting other people to work for them. Systems of slavery and other forms of servitude developed. Those with wealth could become even wealthier with the help of others who depended on them for survival. All this culminated with feudalism in the Middle Ages, when society became steeply hierarchical, with a few kings and lords at the top and masses of slaves and serfs at the bottom. Now the lot of most people, children included, was servitude. The principal lessons that children had to learn were obedience, suppression of their own will, and the show of reverence toward lords and masters. A rebellious spirit could well result in death.

In the Middle Ages, lords and masters had no qualms about physically beating children into submission. For example, in one document from the late 14th or early 15th century, a French count advised that nobles' huntsmen should "choose a boy servant as young as seven or eight" and that "...this boy should be beaten until he has a proper dread of failing to carry out his masters orders."[1] The document went on to list a prodigious number of chores that the boy would perform daily and noted that he would sleep in a loft above the hounds at night in order to attend to the dogs' needs.

With the rise of industry and of a new bourgeoisie class, feudalism gradually subsided, but this did not immediately improve the lives of most children. Business owners, like landowners, needed laborers and could profit by extracting as much work from them as possible with as little compensation as possible. Everyone knows of the exploitation that followed and still exists in many parts of the world. People, including young children, worked most of their waking hours, seven days a week, in beastly conditions, just to survive. The labor of children was moved from fields, where there had at least been sunshine, fresh air, and some opportunities to play, into dark, crowded, dirty factories. In England, overseers of the poor commonly farmed out paupers' children to factories, where they were treated as slaves. Many thousands of them died each year of diseases, starvation, and exhaustion. Not until the 19th century did England pass laws limiting child labor. In 1883, for example, new legislation forbade textile manufacturers from employing children under the age of 9 and limited the maximum weekly work hours to 48 for 10- to 12-year-olds and to 69 for 13- to 17-year-olds [2].

history of education in the world

In sum, for several thousand years after the advent of agriculture, the education of children was, to a considerable degree, a matter squashing their willfulness in order to make them good laborers. A good child was an obedient child, who suppressed his or her urge to play and explore and dutifully carried out the orders of adult masters. Such education, fortunately, was never fully successful. The human instincts to play and explore are so powerful that they can never be fully beaten out of a child. But the philosophy of education throughout that period, to the degree that it could be articulated, was the opposite of the philosophy that hunter-gatherers had held for hundreds of thousands of years earlier.

For various reasons, some religious and some secular, the idea of universal, compulsory education arose and gradually spread. Education was understood as inculcation.

As industry progressed and became somewhat more automated, the need for child labor declined in some parts of the world. The idea began to spread that childhood should be a time for learning, and schools for children were developed as places of learning. The idea and practice of universal, compulsory public education developed gradually in Europe, from the early 16th century on into the 19th. It was an idea that had many supporters, who all had their own agendas concerning the lessons that children should learn.

Much of the impetus for universal education came from the emerging Protestant religions. Martin Luther declared that salvation depends on each person's own reading of the Scriptures. A corollary, not lost on Luther, was that each person must learn to read and must also learn that the Scriptures represent absolute truths and that salvation depends on understanding those truths. Luther and other leaders of the Reformation promoted public education as Christian duty, to save souls from eternal damnation. By the end of the 17th century, Germany, which was the leader in the development of schooling, had laws in most of its states requiring that children attend school; but the Lutheran church, not the state, ran the schools [3].

In America, in the mid 17th century, Massachusetts became the first colony to mandate schooling, the clearly stated purpose of which was to turn children into good Puritans. Beginning in 1690, children in Massachusetts and adjacent colonies learned to read from the New England Primer, known colloquially as "The Little Bible of New England" [4]. It included a set of short rhymes to help children learn the alphabet, beginning with, "In A dam's Fall, We sinned all," and ending with, " Z accheus he, Did climb the tree, His Lord to see." The Primer also included the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Ten Commandments, and various lessons designed to instill in children a fear of God and a sense of duty to their elders.

Employers in industry saw schooling as a way to create better workers. To them, the most crucial lessons were punctuality, following directions, tolerance for long hours of tedious work, and a minimal ability to read and write. From their point of view (though they may not have put it this way), the duller the subjects taught in schools the better.

As nations gelled and became more centralized, national leaders saw schooling as means of creating good patriots and future soldiers. To them, the crucial lessons were about the glories of the fatherland, the wondrous achievements and moral virtues of the nation's founders and leaders, and the necessity to defend the nation from evil forces elsewhere.

Into this mix we must add reformers who truly cared about children, whose messages may ring sympathetically in our ears today. These are people who saw schools as places for protecting children from the damaging forces of the outside world and for providing children with the moral and intellectual grounding needed to develop into upstanding, competent adults. But they too had their agenda for what children should learn. Children should learn moral lessons and disciplines, such as Latin and mathematics, that would exercise their minds and turn them into scholars.

So, everyone involved in the founding and support of schools had a clear view about what lessons children should learn in school. Quite correctly, nobody believed that children left to their own devices, even in a rich setting for learning, would all learn just exactly the lessons that they (the adults) deemed to be so important. All of them saw schooling as inculcation, the implanting of certain truths and ways of thinking into children's minds. The only known method of inculcation, then as well as now, is forced repetition and testing for memory of what was repeated.

With the rise of schooling, people began to think of learning as children's work. The same power- assertive methods that had been used to make children work in fields and factories were quite naturally transferred to the classroom.

Repetition and memorization of lessons is tedious work for children, whose instincts urge them constantly to play freely and explore the world on their own. Just as children did not adapt readily to laboring in fields and factories, they did not adapt readily to schooling. This was no surprise to the adults involved. By this point in history, the idea that children's own willfulness had any value was pretty well forgotten. Everyone assumed that to make children learn in school the children's willfulness would have to be beaten out of them. Punishments of all sorts were understood as intrinsic to the educational process. In some schools children were permitted certain periods of play (recess), to allow them to let off steam; but play was not considered to be a vehicle of learning. In the classroom, play was the enemy of learning.

A prominent attitude of eighteenth-century school authorities toward play is reflected in John Wesley's rules for Wesleyan schools, which included the statement: "As we have no play days, so neither do we allow any time for play on any day; for he that plays as a child will play as a man."[5]

The brute force methods long used to keep children on task on the farm or in the factory were transported into schools to make children learn. Some of the underpaid, ill-prepared schoolmasters were clearly sadistic . One master in Germany kept records of the punishments he meted out in 51 years of teaching, a partial list of which included: "911,527 blows with a rod, 124,010 blows with a cane, 20,989 taps with a ruler, 136,715 blows with the hand, 10,235 blows to the mouth, 7,905 boxes on the ear, and 1,118,800 blows on the head"[6]. Clearly, that master was proud of all the educating he had done.

In his autobiography, John Bernard, a prominent eighteenth-century Massachusetts minister, described approvingly how he himself, as a child, was beaten regularly by his schoolmaster [7]. He was beaten because of his irresistible drive to play; he was beaten when he failed to learn; he was even beaten when his classmates failed to learn. Because he was a bright boy, he was put in charge of helping the others learn, and when they failed to recite a lesson properly he was beaten for that. His only complaint was that one classmate deliberately flubbed his lessons in order to see him beaten. He solved that problem, finally, by giving the classmate "a good drubbing" when the school day was over and threatening more drubbings in the future. Those were the good old days.

In recent times, the methods of schooling have become less harsh, but basic assumptions have not changed. Learning continues to be defined as children's work, and power-assertive means are used to make children do that work.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, public schooling gradually evolved toward what we all recognize today as conventional schooling. The methods of discipline became more humane, or at least less corporal; the lessons became more secular; the curriculum expanded, as knowledge expanded, to include an ever-growing list of subjects; and the number of hours, days, and years of compulsory schooling increased continuously. School gradually replaced fieldwork, factory work, and domestic chores as the child's primary job. Just as adults put in their eight-hour day at their place of employment, children today put in their six-hour day at school, plus another hour or more of homework, and often more hours of lessons outside of school. Over time, children's lives have become increasingly defined and structured by the school curriculum. Children now are almost universally identified by their grade in school, much as adults are identified by their job or career .

Schools today are much less harsh than they were, but certain premises about the nature of learning remain unchanged: Learning is hard work; it is something that children must be forced to do, not something that will happen naturally through children's self-chosen activities. The specific lessons that children must learn are determined by professional educators, not by children, so education today is still, as much as ever, a matter of inculcation (though educators tend to avoid that term and use, falsely, terms like "discovery").

Clever educators today might use "play" as a tool to get children to enjoy some of their lessons, and children might be allowed some free playtime at recess (though even this is decreasing in very recent times), but children's own play is certainly understood as inadequate as a foundation for education. Children whose drive to play is so strong that they can't sit still for lessons are no longer beaten; instead, they are medicated.

School today is the place where all children learn the distinction that hunter-gatherers never knew—the distinction between work and play. The teacher says, "you must do your work and then you can play." Clearly, according to this message, work, which encompasses all of school learning, is something that one does not want to do but must; and play, which is everything that one wants to do, has relatively little value. That, perhaps, is the leading lesson of our method of schooling. If children learn nothing else in school, they learn the difference between work and play and that learning is work, not play.

In this posting I have tried to explain how the history of humanity has led to the development of schools as we know them today. In my next posting I will discuss some reasons why modern attempts to reform schools in basic ways have been so ineffective.

And now, what do you think about this? … This blog is, in part, a forum for discussion. Your questions, thoughts, stories, and opinions are treated respectfully by me and other readers, regardless of the degree to which we agree or disagree. Psychology Today no longer accepts comments on this site, but you can comment by going to my Facebook profile, where you will see a link to this post. If you don't see this post at the top of my timeline, just put the title of the post into the search option (click on the three-dot icon at the top of the timeline and then on the search icon that appears in the menu) and it will come up. By following me on Facebook you can comment on all of my posts and see others' comments. The discussion is often very interesting.

----------- Notes

1. Quoted by Orme, N. (2001), Medieval children, p 315. 2. Mulhern, J. (1959), A history of education: A social interpretation, 2nd edition. 3. Again, Mulhern (1959). 4. Gutek, G. L. (1991), An historical introduction to American education, 2nd edition. 5. Quoted by Mullhern (1959, p 383). 6. Again, in Mullhern (1959, p 383). 7. From “Autobiography of the Rev. John Bernard,” Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 3rd Ser., 5 [1836]: 178-182. Extracted in J. Martin (Ed.) (2007), Children in Colonial America.

Peter Gray Ph.D.

Peter Gray, Ph.D. , is a research professor at Boston College, author of Free to Learn and the textbook Psychology (now in 8th edition), and founding member of the nonprofit Let Grow.

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From 1871 to 2021: A Short History of Education in the United States

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In 1600s and 1700s America, prior to the first and second Industrial Revolutions, educational opportunity varied widely depending on region, race, gender, and social class.

Public education, common in New England, was class-based, and the working class received few benefits, if any. Instructional styles and the nature of the curriculum were locally determined. Teachers themselves were expected to be models of strict moral behavior.

By the mid-1800s, most states had accepted three basic assumptions governing public education: that schools should be free and supported by taxes, that teachers should be trained, and that children should be required to attend school.

The term “normal school” is based on the French école normale, a sixteenth-century model school with model classrooms where model teaching practices were taught to teacher candidates. In the United States, normal schools were developed and built primarily to train elementary-level teachers for the public schools.

The Normal School The term “normal school” is based on the French  école normale , a sixteenth-century model school with model classrooms where model teaching practices were taught to teacher candidates. This was a laboratory school where children on both the primary or secondary levels were taught, and where their teachers, and the instructors of those teachers, learned together in the same building. This model was employed from the inception of the Buffalo Normal School , where the “School of Practice” inhabited the first floors of the teacher preparation academy. In testament to its effectiveness, the Campus School continued in the same tradition after the college was incorporated and relocated on the Elmwood campus.

Earlier normal schools were reserved for men in Europe for many years, as men were thought to have greater intellectual capacity for scholarship than women. This changed (fortunately) during the nineteenth century, when women were more successful as private tutors than were men.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, newly industrialized European economies needed a reliable, reproducible, and uniform work force. The preparation of teachers to accomplish this goal became ever more important. The process of instilling in future citizens the norms of moral behavior led to the creation of the first uniform, formalized national educational curriculum. Thus, “normal” schools were tasked with developing this new curriculum and the techniques through which teachers would communicate and model these ideas, behaviors, and values for students who, it was hoped, through formal education, might desire and seek a better quality of life.

In the United States, normal schools were developed and built primarily to train elementary-level teachers for the public schools. In 1823, Reverend Samuel Read Hall  founded the first private normal school in the United States, the Columbian School in Concord, Vermont. The first public normal school in the United States was founded shortly thereafter in 1839 in Lexington, Massachusetts. Both public and private “normals” initially offered a two-year course beyond the secondary level, but by the twentieth century, teacher-training programs required a minimum of four years. By the 1930s most normal schools had become “teachers colleges,” and by the 1950s they had evolved into distinct academic departments or schools of education within universities.

The Buffalo Normal School Buffalo State was founded in 1871 as the Buffalo Normal School. It changed its name more often than it changed its building. It has been called the State Normal and Training School (1888–1927), the State Teachers College at Buffalo (1928–1946), the New York State College for Teachers at Buffalo (1946–1950), SUNY, New York State College for Teachers (1950–1951), the State University College for Teachers at Buffalo (1951–1959), the State University College of Education at Buffalo (1960–1961), and finally the State University College at Buffalo in 1962, or as we know it more succinctly, SUNY Buffalo State College.

As early as the 1800s, visionary teachers explored teaching people with disabilities. Thomas Galludet developed a method to educate the deaf and hearing impaired. Dr. Samuel Howe focused on teaching the visually impaired, creating books with large, raised letters to assist people with sight impairments to “read” with their fingers.

What Goes Around, Comes Around: What Is Good Teaching? Throughout most of post-Renaissance history, teachers were most often male scholars or clergymen who were the elite literates who had no formal training in “how” to teach the content in which they were most well-versed. Many accepted the tenet that “teachers were born , not made .” It was not until “pedagogy,” the “art and science of teaching,” attained a theoretical respectability that the training of educated individuals in the science of teaching was considered important.

While scholars of other natural and social sciences still debate the scholarship behind the “science” of teaching, even those who accept pedagogy as a science admit that there is reason to support one theory that people can be “born” with the predisposition to be a good teacher. Even today, while teacher education programs are held accountable by accreditors for “what” they teach teachers, the “dispositions of teaching” are widely debated, yet considered essential to assess the suitability of a teacher candidate to the complexities of the profession. Since the nineteenth century, however, pedagogy has attempted to define the minimal characteristics needed to qualify a person as a teacher. These have remained fairly constant as the bases for educator preparation programs across the country: knowledge of subject matter, knowledge of teaching methods, and practical experience in applying both are still the norm. The establishment of the “norms” of pedagogy and curriculum, hence the original name of “normal school” for teacher training institutions, recognized the social benefit and moral value of ensuring a quality education for all.

As with so many innovations and trends that swept the post-industrial world in the twentieth century, education, too, has experienced many changes. The names of the great educational theorists and reformers of the Progressive Era in education are known to all who know even a little about teaching and learning: Jean Piaget , Benjamin Bloom , Maria Montessori , Horace Mann , and John Dewey to name only a few.

As early as the 1800s, visionary teachers explored teaching people with disabilities. Thomas Galludet developed a method to educate the deaf and hearing impaired. He opened the Hartford School for the Deaf in Connecticut in 1817. Dr. Samuel Howe focused on teaching the visually impaired, creating books with large, raised letters to assist people with sight impairments to “read” with their fingers. Howe led the Perkins Institute, a school for the blind, in Boston. Such schools were usually boarding schools for students with disabilities. There are still residential schools such as St. Mary’s School for the Deaf in Buffalo, but as pedagogy for all children moved into the twentieth century, inclusive practice where children with disabilities were educated in classrooms with non-disabled peers yielded excellent results. This is the predominant pedagogy taught by our Exceptional Education faculty today.

As the reform movements in education throughout the twentieth century introduced ideas of equality, child-centered learning, assessment of learner achievement as a measure of good teaching, and other revolutionary ideas such as inquiry-based practice, educating the whole person, and assuring educational opportunities for all persons, so did the greater emphasis on preparing teachers to serve the children of the public, not just those of the elite.

This abridged version of events that affected teacher education throughout the twentieth century mirrors the incredible history of the country from WWI’s post-industrial explosion to the turbulent 1960s, when the civil rights movement and the women’s rights movement dominated the political scene and schools became the proving ground for integration and Title IX enforcement of equality of opportunity. Segregation in schools went to the Supreme Court in 1954 with  Brown vs. Board of Education.  Following this monumental decision, schools began the slow process of desegregating schools, a process that, sadly, is still not yet achieved.

As schools became more and more essential to the post-industrial economy and the promotion of human rights for all, teaching became more and more regulated. By the end of the twentieth century, licensing requirements had stiffened considerably in public education, and salary and advancement often depended on the earning of advanced degrees and professional development in school-based settings.

In the second half of the twentieth century, the Sputnik generation’s worship of science gave rise to similarities in terminology between the preparation of teachers and the preparation of doctors. “Lab schools” and quantitative research using experimental and quasi-experimental designs to test reading and math programs and other curricular innovations were reminiscent of the experimental designs used in medical research. Student teaching was considered an “internship,” akin to the stages of practice doctors followed. Such terminology and parallels to medicine, however, fell out of vogue with a general disenchantment with science and positivism in the latter decades of the twentieth century.  Interestingly, these parallels have resurfaced today as we refer to our model of educating teachers in “clinically rich settings.” We have even returned to “residency” programs, where teacher candidates are prepared entirely in the schools where they will eventually teach.

As schools became more and more essential to the post-industrial economy and the promotion of human rights for all, teaching became more and more regulated. By the end of the twentieth century, licensing requirements had stiffened considerably in public education, and salary and advancement often depended on the earning of advanced degrees and professional development in school-based settings. Even today, all programs in colleges and universities that prepare teachers must follow extensive and detailed guidelines established by the New York State Education Department that determine what must be included in such programs. Additions such as teaching to students with disabilities and teaching to English language learners are requirements that reflect the changing needs of classrooms.

As the world changed, so did the preparation of teachers. The assimilation of the normal school into colleges and universities marked the evolution of teaching as a profession, a steady recognition over the last 150 years that has allowed the teacher as scientist to explore how teaching and learning work in tandem and to suggest that pedagogy is dynamic and interactive with sociopolitical forces and that schools play a critical role in the democratic promotion of social justice.

Campus Schools and Alternative Classroom Organization During the ’60s and ’70s, new concepts of schooling such as multigrade classrooms and open-concept spaces, where students followed their own curiosity through project-based learning, were played out right here at Buffalo State in what was then the College Learning Lab (Campus School). Campus School shared many of the college’s resources and served as the clinical site for the preparation of teachers. School administration and teachers held joint appointments at the college and in the lab. Classrooms were visible through one-way glass, where teacher candidates could observe and review what they saw with the lab school teacher afterward. Participation in these classrooms was a requirement during the junior year. (I myself did my junior participation in a 5/6 open class there.)

However, as the SUNY colleges became less and less supported by New York State budgetary allocations, the Campus School was soon too expensive to staff and to maintain. The baby boom was over, and the population was shrinking. Job opportunities for the graduates of Buffalo State were rare. A 10-year cycle of teacher shortage and teacher over-supply continues to be a trend.

Standards and Norms In the 1980s, education in America once again turned to “norming,” but now the norms were not measuring one child against others; rather, each child was assessed as he or she approached the “national standards” that theoretically defined the knowledge and skills necessary for all to achieve.  

Fearing America’s loss of stature as the technologically superior leader of the free world, A Nation at Risk , published in 1983, cast a dark shadow over teaching and schools for many years to come until its premises were largely disrupted. During the time after this report, however, being a teacher was not a popular career choice, and teaching as a profession was called into question.

By 1998, almost every state had defined or implemented academic standards for math and reading. Principals and teachers were judged; students were promoted or retained, and legislation was passed so that high school students would graduate or be denied a diploma based on whether or not they had met the standards, usually as measured by a criterion-referenced test.

In the 1980s, education in America once again turned to “norming,” but now the norms were not measuring one child against others; rather, each child was assessed as he or she approached the “national standards” that theoretically defined the knowledge and skills necessary for all to achieve.

The pressure to teach to a standards-based curriculum, to test all students in an effort to ensure equal education for all, led to some famous named policies of presidents and secretaries of education in the later twentieth century. National panels and political pundits returned to the roots of the “normal school” movement, urging colleges of teacher education to acquaint teacher candidates with the national educational standards known as Goals 2000 . The George H. W. Bush administration kicked off an education summit with the purpose of “righting the ship” since the shock of A Nation at Risk .  Standards-based curriculum became a “teacher proof” system of ensuring that all children—no matter what their socioeconomic privilege—would be taught the same material.  This “curriculum first” focus for school planning persisted through the Clinton administration with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the George W. Bush administration with No Child Left Behind , and the Obama administration with Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the accompanying federal funding called Race to the Top .  Such packaged standards-based curriculum movements once again turned the public eye to a need to conform, achieve, and compete.

For teachers, the most important development from this pressure to teach to the standards was the controversial Common Core , a nationalized curriculum based on standards of education that were designed to give all students common experiences within a carefully constructed framework that would transcend race, gender, economics, region, and aptitude. So focused were the materials published on the Common Core that schools began to issue scripted materials to their teachers to ensure the same language was used in every classroom. Teacher autonomy was suppressed, and time for language arts and mathematics began to eclipse the study of science, social studies, art, music.

Now What? That takes us almost to today’s schools, where teachers are still accountable for helping student achieve the Common Core standards or more currently the National Standards. Enter the COVID pandemic. Full stop.

Curriculum, testing, conformity, and standards are out the window. The American parent can now “see into” the classroom and the teacher can likewise “see into” the American home. Two-dimensional, computer-assisted instruction replaced the dynamic interactive classroom where learning is socially constructed and facilitated by teachers who are skilled at classroom management, social-emotional learning, and project-based group work. Teacher candidates must now rely on their status as digital natives to engage and even entertain their students who now come to them as a collective of individuals framed on a computer screen rather than in a classroom of active bodies who engage with each other in myriad ways. Last year’s pedagogical challenges involved mastery of the 20-minute attention span, the teacher as entertainer added to the teacher as facilitator . Many of our teacher candidates learned more about themselves than they did about their students. Yet, predominately, stories of creativity, extraordinary uses of technology, and old-fashioned persistence and ingenuity were the new “norm” for the old Buffalo State Normal School.

There has been nothing “normal” about these last two years as the world learns to cope with a silent enemy. There will be no post-war recovery, no post-industrial reforms, no equity of opportunity in schools around the world. But there will be teaching. And there will be learning. And the Buffalo State Normal School will continue to prepare the highest quality practitioners whose bags of tricks grow ever-more flexible, driven by a world where all that is known doubles in just a few days. Pedagogy is still a science. Teaching is a science, but it is also a craft practiced by master craftsmen and women and learned by apprentices.

Teaching has been called the noblest profession. From our earliest roots as the Buffalo Normal School to the current challenges of post-COVID America, we have never changed our dedication to that conviction.

Ultimately, however, as even the earliest teacher educators knew, the art of teaching is that ephemeral quality that we cannot teach, but which we know when we see it at work, that makes the great teacher excel far beyond the competent teacher.

Teaching has been called the noblest profession. From our earliest roots as the Buffalo Normal School to the current challenges of post-COVID America, we have never changed our dedication to that conviction. We are still doing what the words of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai encourage us to do: “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” That was and always will be the mission of Buffalo State, “the Teachers College.”

Wendy Paterson speaking at a lectern

This article was contributed as part of a guest author series observing the 150th anniversary celebration of Buffalo State College. Campus authors who are interested in submitting articles or story ideas pertaining to the sesquicentennial are encouraged to contact the editor .

Wendy Paterson, ’75, ’76, Ph.D., dean of the School of Education, is an internationally recognized scholar in the areas of early literacy and reading, developmental and educational technology, and single parenting. She received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service in 1996.

Read other stories in the 150th anniversary guest author series:

Pomp, Pageantry Seize the Day in 1869 Normal School Cornerstone Laying

Transforming Lives for 150 Years: Memoir of a 1914 Graduate

Buffalo Normal School Held Opening Ceremony 150 Years Ago Today

New Buffalo Normal School Replaces Outgrown Original

The Grover Cleveland–E. H. Butler Letters at Buffalo State

Test Your College Knowledge with a Buffalo State Crossword Puzzle

Photo: Staff of the Record student newspaper, 1913 .

References:

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/teachereducationx92x1/chapter/education-reforms/

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_school

https://britannica.com/topic/normal-school

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1216495.pdf

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Normal_school

http://reformmovements1800s.weebly.com/education.html

http://www.leaderinme.org/blog/history-of-education-the-united-states-in-a-nutshell/

history of education in the world

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Education History Timeline

The history of education is a fascinating journey that spans thousands of years and involves various civilizations and cultures. this timeline explores important milestones and developments in education, from the earliest learning methods to the establishment of formal educational institutions. more less, ancient education, development of the ancient greek education system.

500 BC - 499 BC

Ancient Greece introduced the concept of formal education for citizens, emphasizing physical education, music, mathematics, and philosophy, with notable philosophers like Socrates and Plato contributing to educational theories.

Image source: Education in ancient Greece

Development of the Ancient Greek Education System

Medieval and Renaissance Education

Foundation of the first university in bologna.

The University of Bologna, established in Italy, is recognized as the world's oldest university, laying the groundwork for higher education institutions that followed.

Image source: University of Bologna

Gutenberg's Printing Press Revolutionizes Education

Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing press enabled the mass production of books, making knowledge more accessible and accelerating the spread of education.

Image source: Printing press

Gutenberg's Printing Press Revolutionizes Education

Modern Education Systems

Establishment of the first public school in boston.

Apr 23, 1635

The Boston Latin School, founded as the first public school in the United States, aimed to provide education to all, regardless of social status or wealth.

Creation of the First Normal School in France

The École normale, established in France, served as the first teacher training institution, shaping modern teacher education programs worldwide.

Image source: Normal school

Creation of the First Normal School in France

Compulsory Education Laws Enacted

1800 - 1999

Many countries introduced compulsory education laws, making it mandatory for children to attend school, ensuring widespread access to education and reducing illiteracy rates.

Image source: Compulsory education

Introduction of the First Kindergarten by Friedrich Fröbel

Friedrich Fröbel's establishment of the first kindergarten in Germany revolutionized early childhood education, emphasizing play-based learning and social development.

Image source: Friedrich Fröbel

Introduction of the First Kindergarten by Friedrich Fröbel

The Morrill Act Establishes Land-Grant Universities

Jul 2, 1862

The Morrill Act in the United States granted federal land for the establishment of universities focused on agriculture, engineering, and practical education, expanding access to higher education.

Image source: Morrill Land-Grant Acts

Formation of UNESCO

Nov 16, 1945

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was established to promote international cooperation in education, science, culture, and communication.

Image source: UNESCO

Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court Ruling

May 17, 1954

The landmark Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, leading to the desegregation of schools in the United States.

Image source: Brown v. Board of Education

Establishment of the International Baccalaureate Organization

The International Baccalaureate (IB) organization was founded, offering an internationally recognized curriculum and assessment system for students worldwide.

Image source: International Baccalaureate

Implementation of the Bologna Process in European Higher Education

Jun 19, 1999

The Bologna Process aimed to harmonize higher education systems across Europe, facilitating student mobility, and promoting the recognition of qualifications.

Image source: Bologna Process

Introduction of the No Child Left Behind Act

Jan 8, 2002

The No Child Left Behind Act in the United States aimed to improve educational standards and accountability, emphasizing standardized testing and increased federal involvement.

COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts Education Globally

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education worldwide, leading to school closures, the rapid adoption of online learning, and highlighting the importance of digital infrastructure and remote teaching.

Image source: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education

Educational Reform and Innovations

Introduction of montessori education.

Maria Montessori developed a child-centered educational approach, emphasizing self-directed learning and hands-on activities, which had a significant impact on early childhood education.

Image source: Montessori education

Introduction of Montessori Education

Establishment of Open University

Jan 1, 1971

The Open University in the United Kingdom was founded, pioneering distance learning and providing accessible higher education opportunities to non-traditional students.

Image source: Open University

Establishment of Open University

Introduction of the One Laptop per Child Initiative

The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) initiative aimed to provide low-cost laptops to children in developing countries, bridging the digital divide and enhancing educational opportunities.

Image source: One Laptop per Child

Introduction of the One Laptop per Child Initiative

Launch of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

MOOCs, such as those offered by platforms like Coursera and edX, revolutionized online learning by providing free or affordable courses from prestigious universities to a global audience.

Image source: Massive open online course

Launch of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Adoption of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 4

Sep 25, 2015

The United Nations adopted Sustainable Development Goal 4, aiming to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all, promoting lifelong learning opportunities.

Image source: Sustainable Development Goal 4

  • Education has been a fundamental aspect of human societies since prehistoric times.
  • In ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China, education was mainly reserved for the elite and focused on preparing individuals for specific careers.
  • The establishment of the first universities, such as the University of Bologna in Italy, marked a significant milestone in the history of education.
  • The Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries brought about major changes in education, with the introduction of public schools and compulsory education laws.
  • In the 20th century, education became more accessible to a wider population, with the establishment of free public schools and advancements in technology that led to distance learning and online education.

This Education History timeline was generated with the help of AI using information found on the internet.

We strive to make these timelines as accurate as possible, but occasionally inaccurates slip in. If you notice anything amiss, let us know at [email protected] and we'll correct it for future visitors.

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History of Education Society

Group of young women reading in library of normal school, Washington, D.C. Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-100288

Native American men and a boy posed outside of Carlisle Indian School. LC-USZ62-124294

Education in rural school. Williams County, North Dakota. LC-USF34-030766-D

Questa, New Mexico. Spanish-American students in the grade school LC-DIG-fsa-8d25973

Veazy, Greene County, Georgia. The one-teacher African American school, south of Greensboro LC-USF34-046270-D

Welcome to the History of Education Society

Devoted to promoting and teaching the history of education across institutions.

We are an international scholarly society devoted to promoting and teaching the history of education across institutions. You will find detailed information about us, what is happening in the organization, our annual meeting, and our publication by browsing our site.

Annual Meeting

2024 Conference and Hotel Registration NOW OPEN

We hope you will join us at the Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park, 200 N Columbus Drive, Chicago, IL 60601, November 7-10, 2024 for our annual meeting.

Please click the Annual Meeting button to register for the conference, the hotel, and the banquet.

Blog Articles

Expert needed for project on high school history.

Carol Lloyd, VP Editorial Director for GreatSchools, a nonprofit providing resources to parents and communities to improve children's learning, is overseeing a 2-year project that involves the creation and distribution of information for parents about high school...

Presidential Addresses

Learn More About Us

News and announcements, 2023 conference registration now open.

Aug 28, 2023

Please join us at the Loews Atlanta Hotel November 1-5, 2023 for our annual meeting. Please use this link to register for the meeting and for the Saturday evening banquet, always a great community-building event. Our meeting will be held at the Loews Atlanta Hotel,...

March 3 Online Book Talk with Sharon S. Lee

Mar 1, 2022

An Unseen Unheard Minority: Asian American Students at the University of Illinois Online Book Talk with Dr. Sharon S. Lee, Teaching Assistant Professor, Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Thursday, March 3, 2022...

CHEA/ACHE Conference 2022

Feb 1, 2022

The Canadian History of Education Association (CHEA)/Association canadienne d’histoire de l’éducation (ACHÉ) biennial conference will be held in-person on October 13-15, 2022 in Victoria, BC.   View the Call for Proposals here.  Deadline for submissions is April 4,...

Two Tenure-Track Positions with a History of Education Focus

Nov 29, 2021

TWO Full-Time, Tenure-Track Faculty Positions:  Critical Multicultural Education, Social Justice Education, Ethnic Studies, UNLV, College of Education, Department of Teaching and Learning Position #1: History of Black Education Focus Assistant Professor of Cultural...

history of education in the world

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2024 Theses Doctoral

Eighty Years of Mathematics Education in Haiti: A Historical Study

Maitre, Jonathan

This research traced the history of mathematics education in Haitian secondary schools from 1935 until 2015. While there is not much explicit historical evidence of how mathematics education evolved in Haiti, its development gave some insight into the history of mathematics education in a Caribbean country with a colonial past. One might ask, “Does the Haitian curriculum reflect its past colonizers, or has it developed an identity of its own?” The purpose of this study was to examine the development of mathematics education in secondary schools in Haiti from 1935 to 2015 under the influence of cultural and sociopolitical changes in the country. To accomplish this purpose, the researcher investigated objectives, content, instructional practices, curricula, and the impact of internal and external influences and ideologies. Haitian parochial and private schools have developed curricula that emulate those of France, the United States, and Canada. This study examined how these colonial countries may have influenced the development of secondary mathematics education in Haiti. Furthermore, the researcher sought to understand whether Haitian mathematics education curricula were more reflective of modernized French curricula or the New Math movement in the United States during this period of the study. This study was based on multiple primary sources, including documents from the Haitian Ministry of Education, the Internet archive Republique D’Haïti Ministère de l’Éducation Nationale et de la Formation Professionnelle (Republic of Haïti Ministry of National Education and Professional Training), textbooks during the respective years, and other sources. The analysis of textbooks and curricula revealed patterns that seem very general. Recent trends towards developing students’ perceptions and conceptual understanding or teaching applications and real-world problems find their way into Haitian textbooks. Even before that, trends towards the study of more advanced and abstract mathematics were also reflected in Haiti. The mathematics course turns out to be focused on European models, primarily on the former—albeit, many years ago, metropolis—France. This is reflected not only the fact that the primary language of instruction is French even though only a small part of the population speaks it, but also in the way the curriculum is structured.

Geographic Areas

  • United States
  • Mathematics--Study and teaching (Secondary)
  • Education, Secondary
  • Education, Secondary--Curricula
  • Haitians--Education
  • Imperialism

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Article contents

The city beautiful movement, 1890–1920.

  • John D. Fairfield John D. Fairfield Department of History, Xavier University
  • https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.558
  • Published online: 26 April 2018

The City Beautiful movement arose in the 1890s in response to the accumulating dirt and disorder in industrial cities, which threatened economic efficiency and social peace. City Beautiful advocates believed that better sanitation, improved circulation of traffic, monumental civic centers, parks, parkways, public spaces, civic art, and the reduction of outdoor advertising would make cities throughout the United States more profitable and harmonious. Engaging architects and planners, businessmen and professionals, and social reformers and journalists, the City Beautiful movement expressed a boosterish desire for landscape beauty and civic grandeur, but also raised aspirations for a more humane and functional city. “Mean streets make mean people,” wrote the movement’s publicist and leading theorist, Charles Mulford Robinson, encapsulating the belief in positive environmentalism that drove the movement. Combining the parks and boulevards of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted with the neoclassical architecture of Daniel H. Burnham’s White City at the Chicago’s World Columbian Exposition in 1893, the City Beautiful movement also encouraged a view of the metropolis as a delicate organism that could be improved by bold, comprehensive planning. Two organizations, the American Park and Outdoor Art Association (founded in 1897) and the American League for Civic Improvements (founded in 1900), provided the movement with a national presence. But the movement also depended on the work of civic-minded women and men in nearly 2,500 municipal improvement associations scattered across the nation. Reaching its zenith in Burnham’s remaking of Washington, D.C., and his coauthored Plan of Chicago (1909), the movement slowly declined in favor of the “City Efficient” and a more technocratic city-planning profession. Aside from a legacy of still-treasured urban spaces and structures, the City Beautiful movement contributed to a range of urban reforms, from civic education and municipal housekeeping to city planning and regionalism.

  • city planning
  • municipal reform
  • urban beautification
  • public sculpture
  • World’s Columbian Exposition
  • urban aesthetics
  • Frederick Law Olmsted
  • Daniel H. Burnham
  • Charles Mulford Robinson

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date: 05 September 2024

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  • Habari za Kenya Swahili

Rebecca Cheptegei: List of Achievements of Ugandan Athlete Set on Fire

  • Rebecca Cheptegei sustained life-threatening burns after her ex-lover allegedly set her on fire on September 1
  • The two have reportedly had a longstanding disagreement over a piece of land before the unfortunate turn of events
  • TUKO.co.ke looks at some of the achievements of the Ugandan athlete who represented Uganda at the recent Olympics

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The world is still reeling from shock after the worst form of humanity depicted itself in Western Kenya on Sunday.

Rebecca Cheptegei, an Olympian from Uganda, is currently fighting for her life at an Eldoret hospital after her ex-lover, Dickson Ndiema, allegedly set her on fire.

Rebecca Cheptegei, Paris 2024 Olympics, Rebecca Cheptegei set on fire

Ugandan athlete set on fire

Cheptegei was reportedly waylaid by the suspect as she was coming from church with her children. She was doused with petrol before being left for dead. Doctors have reported her condition as critical, having suffered 80 per cent burns.

history of education in the world

Beatrice Chebet to run at Zurich Diamond League in first race since Olympics

PAY ATTENTION: TUKO is in WhatsApp Channels now! Subscribe and read news in favourite messenger.

TUKO.co.ke looks at some of the achievements of the athlete.

Who is Rebecca Cheptegei?

Cheptegei is a Ugandan long-distance runner who lives and trains in Kenya . She is also an officer with the Ugandan People's Defence Force.

Her latest addition to her long CV came last month when she represented Uganda at the Olympic Games in Paris. She finished 44th in the women's marathon, which Sifan Hassan won.

She began her career in 2010, specializing in middle-distance running. She won the 1500m event at the München Pfingstmeeting in Munich before returning home and winning the 10,000m race in Kampala.

Cheptegei at world cross country championships

The seasoned cross-country runner was 55th at the 2011 World Championships in Punta Umbria. She put aside the disappointing performance to finish second in the Madrid half marathon. Cheptegei was also second at the Cantalejo half-marathon.

history of education in the world

How much Mary Moraa will earn after breaking world record at ISTAF Berlin

Between 2011 and 2022, the Ugandan competed in the 10km, 1500m, and half-marathon races, posting mixed results. She won the 10km race at Santa Pola in 2014 before taking third place at the Quanzhou half marathon in China.

First win and Uganda's history books

Her first win came in 2022 when she won the Padova marathon in Italy. She set a time of 2:31:21. Her best marathon performance was the 2:22:47 she used to finish second in the Abu Dhabi marathon in December 2022.

That time places her as the second-fastest female Ugandan marathoner of all time, according to World Athletics stats.

Cheptegei was third at the Firenze marathon in Italy in November 2023 before heading to her first Olympics in Paris.

Rebecca Cheptegei's family speaks

Her family has since spoken following the troubling incident. TUKO.co.ke has reported that Cheptegei's father revealed the cause of the incident.

The father disclosed that the two had a longstanding land tussle that led to the disagreement.

Source: TUKO.co.ke

Martin Moses (Sports editor) Martin Moses is a journalist from the Multimedia University of Kenya (2021). He has practised sports journalism for over five years. He launched his career in media at MMU radio (February 2018-June 2021). Martin also interviewed distinguished sports personalities while at Sports 360 (2020-2022) before joining Sports Brief in April 2022. You can reach out at [email protected]

NBC New York

As a 57-year-old mom, I tried something new: I became a high school football coach

April florie from toms river high school east took a leap of faith and joined the school's football coaching staff., by scott stump | today • published october 20, 2023.

April Florie is an English and special education teacher at Toms River High School East in New Jersey. She’s also the first female football coach in the history of New Jersey’s 42-team Shore Conference and one of only a handful in the state.

The 57-year-old mother of two had never coached any sport before she decided to take a leap of faith at a preseason meeting in May and ask Toms River East head football Kyle Sandberg, 36, if he could use an assistant coach on his staff this fall. He took her up on the offer. She assists in coaching the wide receivers and linebackers.

I literally thought everyone would say no.

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Who knew the first person I asked would say yes?

I was so proud of Kyle in retrospect that, generationally, he took a chance on me to join the staff, and that doesn’t happen often. I mean that older people often dismiss younger people because they do things differently or they think they don’t know what they’re doing, and that (younger) generation kind of dismisses older people. ‘Oh, they’re antiquated, they don’t know technology,’ all that.

But Kyle took a chance on me and that line was blurred. That young guy took a shot on a crazy old lady, and he just had an open mind. It’s nice to know there’s people like that.

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It’s so surprising to me how many people are so ingrained in the town (of Toms River), and I felt that pretty immediately as a staff member (at the high school). I could not figure a way to really break into that and tap into that emotion, so I thought football was a great way to do it.

U.S. & World

history of education in the world

Jury selection will begin in Hunter Biden's tax trial months after his gun conviction

history of education in the world

Right-wing influencers were duped to work for covert Russian influence operation, US says

I am friends with a great group of women, and I told them, ‘I’m going to have to go to the dark side and break through some other way.’ And that was it. I just started to think about offering to coach football. It was as organic as that. It was a seed planted in my mind to be part of the fabric of the community.

I knew a lot about baseball but nothing about football. All I knew was from watching games on TV as a fan like everyone else.

After the meeting (in May) when I told my kids, they were like, ‘You’re coaching in the spring for baseball?’ And I was like, ‘No, football.’ They're used to their zany mother. I’ve had career switches. I was very fortunate to be raised by parents who embraced all my craziness. ‘If you want to change your major, not a problem. We’re good.’

I try to raise my kids like that. When I told them as an offhanded joke that maybe I’ll just try to coach, I just remember my son so clearly, as only a 20-year-old son could do it, giving me the side eye saying, ‘OK Ma, yeah you try that.’

I truly hope that they do that, too, in their lives. Just take a shot. I want them to know that they shouldn’t be afraid of giving something a chance.

People my age usually stick with what’s comfortable instead of challenging yourself to learn, and I can be no different. I don’t even want to change the car I’m leasing. It’s true. But there’s not a day that I show up at that practice field and the games that I don’t learn something new, and that’s a gift.

I plan on continuing coaching, but I don’t think I’m going to be presented with that steep of a learning curve again in my life. I do believe that now more than ever. To challenge yourself, it really is like a muscle that you’re training. And to keep it active, it’s crazy.

At the first practice in August, I was petrified. I didn’t even know where to stand. It was a mess. (Assistant coach Steve Petrosino) must’ve seen the panic on my face. He pulled me aside and said, ‘Listen, you look so scared. Just shadow me. I literally had no experience three years ago, and now it’s normal for me.’ They just walked me through everything.

I must’ve asked a thousand questions. It was like being in another world where they’re speaking a different language. I was probably facing the wrong way, or I had the offensive book when I needed the defensive book. The kids are masked and I can’t recognize them, and they have the practice jerseys on with different numbers. It was just sensory overload for me. I got home and I think I slept for two days after that.

I was going into a boys club, and I mean that sincerely and complimentary, and I know who I am. I know I don’t know anything. I walked in, I like to joke around. I don’t have thin skin, I’m a sassy Jersey Italian in all the best sense of it. I told them that I’m just looking to do something new, and do it with a bunch of good people who want to help kids.

Before I was a teacher, I did product development for home and textile companies in a male-dominated industry. That was the world, and I operated in it. I can fit in anywhere.

I do conduct myself that way — I’m going to figure it out. If it’s time for me to be quiet, I know to be humble. If I know to crack a joke, I put my two cents in. I can read a room, and that’s the only trait you need to operate in life.

To the credit of every single player on that field, I have never even heard a whisper of, ‘She doesn’t know what she’s doing.” I was nervous about that. Parents also come to practice sometimes, and I didn’t know if a parent was going to turn around and say something.

'A lot of double takes'

The first game was thrilling. There’s so much logistics involved, and we were away, so that had its own set of issues. We get to Brick High School and they don’t have any girls rooms open, so I had to ask all the players to exit the boys room so I could go to the bathroom. The bathrooms have been an issue.

Watching on television, it’s not as intense as when you hear the players hit one another from the sidelines. That was jarring and crazy how intense the players are.

The headset was like 17 crazy people talking at the same time. It’s like organized chaos. The most interesting part of that for me was the banter between the coaches during the game. They’re still coaching high schoolers and they’re fully aware of that. They’re cheering him through the headset. ‘Look at him go! I knew he could do it!’

The first two games there were a lot of double takes (from the opposing team) after the game. It was polite, but definitely a double take like ‘OK, all right.’ I have a feeling they think I’m like a team mom who’s allowed on the field sometimes.

As long as Toms River and coach Sandberg will have me, I would like to do it again. Because now I have a little bit of knowledge. My goal for the summer is to learn how to sling a ball.

I don’t think of myself as any kind of pioneer. I just told my kids, if there’s some other young girls on a (teaching) staff somewhere, I hope that they go and do it.

If I let fear be a motivator, I would’ve never stepped on that field. 

This article first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

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