Early History of Education

1. Early History of Education Tom Huber

2. The Beginnings of Education • All people throughout history have cared for their children and attempted to prepare them for life’s challenges. • Even the earliest humans used simple methods to educated their youth, such as by example and admiration. (think: monkey see, monkey do) • Skills needed to survive as adults and continue life were all that were necessary for these primitive cultures and formal educational systems were non existent. • Written language didn’t exist in these early cultures so few records exist, but early societies in China, Africa, and Native America flourished. • Unfortunately we can not fully understand these early informal educational systems without sufficient documentation, but a discovery of a cuneiform math textbook dating back to 2000 BCE suggests that formal education existed in Middle Eastern and Chinese cultures at that time.

3. Western Education began to flourish and generated a concern for formal education around 500 BCE in Greece during the Age of Pericles. • Athenian boys attended a series of public schools between the ages of 8 and 16. These schools consisted of a grammar school, a gymnastics school, and a music school. Athenian girls were educated at home. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, among others, made great strides for educational advancement as philosophers. The Socratic Method is widely popular and is still commonly used by teachers today, uses a series of questions to lead the students to a certain conclusion.

4. Education in the Middle Ages • The Dark Ages brought about an initial regression in learning and knowledge. Church played a large role in the disinterest of education, as many only sought to gain passage to heaven. • During the Dark Ages the first sign of hope was during the reign of Charlemagne. He realized the value of education and used his position to establish schools and encourage learning. • Charlemagne appointed Alcuin to serve as his educational advisor, and he became the most famous educator of the time. The term liberal arts was made common during this time and was used to describe the seven subject areas in the curriculum. • Despite the efforts to increase education during this time, little progress was made during the Dark Ages. It would take a few hundred years until the next big stride in educational progression would be made.

5. The period between 1000 and 1300, or The Age of the Revival of Learning as it is often referred to, was the first time in centuries that mankind regained interest in education. • Rediscovery of writings from ancient philosophers sparked interest in knowledge. • Thomas Aquinas helped to change the church’s view on education and started the first medieval universities. These universities were the beginning of what we know to be today, most notably Oxford University (1214).

6. Education in Transition • The educational transition period between 1300 and 1700 and was marked by the Renaissance and the Reformation. • The Renaissance represented the protest of individuals against the authority of the church over their social and intellectual life, and resulted in the revival of classical learning, called humanism. • Reformation represented a reaction against certain beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, particularly those that discouraged learning.

7. Martin Luther led the Protestant Reformation in 1517, and published his 95 theses. Among his disagreements with the Catholic Church was his belief in the importance of formal education. • John Locke was a prevalent English educator during the 17th century and believed that teachers needed to create a non-threatening learning environment, a revolutionary idea at the time.

8. Educational Awakening • The Age of Reason was led most notably by French writer Voltaire during the 1700’s, encouraged people’s rational thoughts and scientific abilities. • The Emergence of Common Man was the second movement of the modern educational period. It’s thinkers argued that common people deserved a better life politically, socially, economically, and educationally.

9. Colonial Education • After decades of informal educational system, Massachusetts enacted two laws that would implement a requirement of schooling. • The most famous of these laws, the Old Deluder Satan Act (1647) made it a requirement for towns to provide education for their youth. Its bare-minimum requirements were made so that educated citizens could study and follow laws to be productive members of colonial society.

10. Hornbooks were the most common teaching device in early colonial education, and typically consisted of the alphabet and a paddle shaped piece of wood. • It wasn’t until the 1800’s when the slate was used as a teaching tool in schools. It was used as a writing device and could be written on and erased easily with a rag. They were very reminiscent of today’s chalkboards.

11. Private Education in America • During colonial times, private schools carried on almost all of the education. • Most early colleges such as Harvard and Yale were all private institutions and helped to develop the American school system we know today. • It wasn’t until 1900 that nearly all American states had public school systems that we know today consisting of elementary school through graduate studies.