Early History of Education
Tom Huber
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.
• 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.
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.
• 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).
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.
• 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.
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.
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 bareminimum requirements were made so that
educated citizens could study and follow laws to
be productive members of colonial society.
• 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.
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.