History of education
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The history of education is both long and short. In 1994, Dieter Lenzen, president of the Freie Universität Berlin, said "education began either millions of years ago or at the end of 1770". This quote by Lenzen includes the idea that education as a science cannot be separated from the educational traditions that existed before.
Education was the natural response of early civilizations to the struggle of surviving and thriving as a culture. Adults trained the young of their society in the knowledge and skills they would need to master and eventually pass on. The evolution of culture, and human beings as a species depended on this practice of transmitting knowledge. In pre-literate societies this was achieved orally and through imitation. Story-telling continued from one generation to the next. Oral language developed into written symbols and letters. The depth and breadth of knowledge that could be preserved and passed soon increased exponentially.
When cultures began to extend their knowledge beyond the basic skills of communicating, trading, gathering food, religious practices, etc, formal education, and schooling, eventually followed.
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[edit] Israel
Education is defined as, "teaching and learning specific skills, and also something less tangible, but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, positive judgement and well-developed wisdom. Education has as one of its fundamental aspects the imparting of culture from generation to generation (see socialization)", then first formal education can be attributed to the nation of Israel c.1300 BCE, that is c.3300 before present, with adoption of the Torah which means "teaching", "instruction", "scribe", or "law" in Hebrew. Three positive Torah commandments, numbered ten, eleven and seventeen command provision of education in general society:
Number 10 - To read the Shema` twice daily, as it is written "and thou shalt talk of them . . . when thou liest down, and when thou risest up" (Deuteronomy 6,7).
Number 11 - To learn Torah and to teach it, as it is written "thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children" (Deuteronomy 6,7).
Number 17 - For every man to write a Torah scroll for himself, as it is written "write ye this song for you" (Deuteronomy 31,19).
Thus the father was obligated as the sole teacher of his children in Jewish history (Deut. xi. 19).
In other contemporary ancient civilisations such as Dynastic Egypt, Babylon and later Ancient Greece and the Roman Republic the provision of education was restricted to the wealthy elite, or to professional scribal guilds.
The institution known as the "be rav" or "bet rabban" (house of the teacher), or as the "be safra" or "bet sefer" (house of the book), is said to have been originated by Ezra' (459 BCE) and his Great Assembly, who provided a public school in Jerusalem to secure the education of fatherless boys of the age of sixteen years and upward. However, the school system did not develop until Joshua ben Gamla (64 CE) the high priest caused public schools to be opened in every town and hamlet for all children above six or seven years of age (Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 21a).
The expense was borne by the community, and strict discipline was observed. However, Rav ordered Samuel ben Shilat to deal tenderly with the pupils, to refrain from corporal punishment, or at most to use a shoe-strap in correcting pupils for inattention. A stupid pupil was made monitor until able to grasp the art of learning. Raba fixed the number of pupils at twenty-five for one teacher; if the number was between twenty-five and forty an assistant teacher ("resh dukana") was necessary; and for over forty, two teachers were required.
Only married men were engaged as teachers, but there is a difference of opinion regarding the qualification of the "melammed" (teacher). Raba preferred one who taught his pupils much, even though somewhat carelessly. Rav Dimi of Nehardea, preferred one who taught his pupils little, but correctly, as an error in reading once adopted is hard to correct (ib.). It is, of course, assumed that both qualifications were rarely found in one person.
Current research suggests that if class size is reduced from substantially more than 20 students per class to below 20 students, the related student achievement somewhat increases. For disadvantaged and minority students, the effects are somewhat larger.
The standard education texts were the Mishna and later the Talmud and Gemora, all hand-written until invention of printing. However significant, emphasis was placed on developing good memory skills in addition to comprehension by practice of oral repetition.
Basic education today is considered those skills that are necessary to function in society. Hence, in Ancient Israel, the child would be taught from the six broad subject areas into which the Mishna is divided, including: Zeraim ("Seeds"), dealing with agricultural laws and prayers
Moed ("Festival"), pertaining to the laws of the Shabbat and the Festivals
Nashim ("Women"), concerning marriage and divorce
Nezikin ("Damages"), dealing with civil and criminal law
Kodashim ("Holy things"), regarding sacrificial rites, the Temple, and the dietary laws
Tohorot ("Purities"), pertaining to the laws of purity and impurity, including the impurity of the dead, the laws of ritual purity for the priests (Kohanim), the laws of "family purity" (the menstrual laws).
To understand the subject areas the student was required to learn counting, basic chemistry, physics and astronomy, writing, geography, agriculture and animal biology, history, accounting and economy, social and cultural role differences, basic medicine and pharmacology, and many others.
This is broadly known as Kol Torah, or Cul'Tura in the Jewish communities of the pre-Revolutionary Russian Empire.
Education begun at the age of six or seven and continued throughout life, although full time basic education was completed before marriage at the age of about 18 years old. In general, this ensured almost universal literacy for most of Jewish history.
Although girls were not provided with formal education in the yeshivah, they were required to know a large part of the subject areas to prepare them to maintain the home after marriage, and to educate the children before the age of seven, today considered the harder of the periods of education.
In Israel women did know how to read and write (despite popular belief to the contrary), and did participate in commerce independently, although not when married. This required them to be knowledgeable in all the laws of Nezikin not normally taught to girls.
[edit] India
India has a long history of organized education. The Gurukul system of education supported traditional Hindu residential schools of learning; typically the teacher's house or a monastery. Education was free, but students from well-to-do families paid "Gurudakshina," a voluntary contribution after the completion of their studies. At the Gurukuls, the teacher imparted knowledge of Religion, Scriptures, Philosophy, Literature, Warfare, Statecraft, Medicine Astrology and History (the Sanskrit word "Itihaas" means History).
Takshashila was an early center of learning dating back to the 5th century BCE.[1] Some claim Taxila was an early university[2][3][4][5][6] or centre of higher education,[7] though others do not consider it a university in the modern sense.[8][9][10] Takshashila is described in some detail in later Jātaka tales, written in Sri Lanka around the 5th century CE.[11]
One of the oldest university in ancient India was the Nalanda university. Nalanda University, founded in Bihar, India around the 5th century BC conferred academic degree titles to its graduates, while also offering post-graduate courses. Nalanda was a Buddhist center of learning from 427 CE to 1197 CE partly under the Pala Empire.[12][13] It has been called "one of the first great universities in recorded history."[13] Nālanda was identified by Alexander Cunningham with the village of Baragaon.[14]
Another Indian university whose ruins were only recently excavated was Ratnagiri University in Orissa.
Vikramaśīla University was one of the two most important centers of Buddhist learning in India, along with Nālandā University during the Pala dynasty. Vikramaśīla was established by King Dharmapala (783 to 820) in response to a supposed decline in the quality of scholarship at Nālandā. Atisha, the renowned pandita, is sometimes listed as a notable abbot.
Education was widespread in the 18th century, with a schools in most regions of the country. The subjects taught included Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Theology, Law, Astronomy, Metaphysics, Ethics, Medical Science and Religion.
The current system of education, with its western style and content, was introduced & founded by the British during the British Raj, following recommendations by Lord Macaulay. Traditional structures were not recognized by the British government and have been on the decline since. Gandhi in his speech in London, on October 20, 1931, described the traditional educational system as a beautiful tree that was destroyed during the British rule.[15].
[edit] China
Unlike in many regions of the world, education in China began not with organised religions, but based upon the reading of classical Chinese texts, which developed during Western Zhou period. This system of education was further developed by the early Chinese state, which depended upon literate, educated officials for operation of the empire, and an imperial examination system was established in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220) for evaluating and selecting officials. This merit-based system gave rise to schools that taught the classics and continued in use for 2,000 years, until the end the Qing Dynasty, and was abolished in 1911 in favour of Western education methods.
[edit] Islamic world
According to the modern definition of a university as an institution of higher education and research which issues academic degrees at all levels (bachelor, master and doctorate), the medieval Madrasahs founded in the 9th century are the first examples of a university in the modern sense of the word.[16] The University of Al Karaouine in Fez, Morocco is thus recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest degree-granting university in the world with its founding in 859.[17] Also in the 9th century, Bimaristan medical schools were formed in the medieval Islamic world, where medical diplomas were issued to students of Islamic medicine who were qualified to be a practicing Doctor of Medicine.[18][19] Al-Azhar University, founded in Cairo, Egypt in 975, was a Jami'ah ("university" in Arabic) which offered a variety of post-graduate degrees, had a Madrasah and theological seminary, and taught Islamic law, Islamic jurisprudence, Arabic grammar, Islamic astronomy, early Islamic philosophy and logic in Islamic philosophy.[19]
The origins of the doctorate dates back to the ijazat attadris wa 'l-ifttd ("license to teach and issue legal opinions") in the medieval Islamic legal education system, which was equivalent to the Doctor of Laws qualification and was developed during the 9th century after the formation of the Madh'hab legal schools. To obtain a doctorate, a student "had to study in a guild school of law, usually four years for the basic undergraduate course" and at least ten years for a post-graduate course. The "doctorate was obtained after an oral examination to determine the originality of the candidate's theses," and to test the student's "ability to defend them against all objections, in disputations set up for the purpose" which were scholarly exercises practiced throughout the student's "career as a graduate student of law." After students completed their post-graduate education, they were awarded doctorates giving them the status of faqih (meaning "master of law"), mufti (meaning "professor of legal opinions") and mudarris (meaning "teacher"), which were later translated into Latin as magister, professor and doctor respectively.[16]
According to Sir John Bagot Glubb and Syed Farid Alatas, the first medical schools to issue academic degrees and diplomas were the Bimaristan teaching hospitals of the medieval Islamic world. The first of these institutions was opened in Baghdad during the time of Harun al-Rashid. They then appeared in Egypt from 872 and then in Islamic Spain, Persia and the Maghreb thereafter. Physicians and surgeons at these hospital-universities gave lectures on Islamic medicine to medical students and then a medical diploma or degree was issued to students who were qualified to be practicing physicians.[20][19]
[edit] Japan
The origins of education in Japan are closely related to religion. Schooling was conducted at temples for youngsters who wanted to study Buddhism to become priests. Later, children who were willing to study started to meet at places called, "Tera-koya" (literally meaning temple huts) and learned how to read and write Japanese.
[edit] Europe
Modern systems of education in Europe derive their origins from the schools of medieval period. Most schools during this era were founded upon religious principles with the sole purpose of training the clergy. Many of the earliest universities, such as the University of Paris, founded in 1150 had a Christian basis. In addition to this, a number of secular universities existed, such as the University of Bologna, founded in 1088.
The curriculum of the educational institutions of this period was frequently based around the trivium and quadrivium (the seven Artes Liberales or Liberal arts) and was conducted in the clerical language of Latin.
In northern Europe this clerical education was largely superseded by forms of elementary schooling following the Reformation. In Scotland, for instance, the national Church of Scotland set out a programme for spiritual reform in January 1561 setting the principle of a school teacher for every parish church and free education for the poor. This was provided for by an Act of the Parliament of Scotland, passed in 1633, which introduced a tax to pay for this programme. Although few countries of the period had such extensive systems of education, the period between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries saw education become significantly more widespread. In Central Europe, the seventeenth century scientist and educator Amos Comenius promulgated a reformed system of universal education that was widely used in Europe.
This growth resulted in increased government interest in education. In the 1760s, for instance, Ivan Betskoy was adopted by the Russian Tsarina, Catherine II, as educational advisor. He proposed to educate young Russians of both sexes in state boarding schools, aimed at creating "a new race of men". Betskoy set forth a number of arguments for general education of children rather than specialized one: "in regenerating our subjects by an education founded on these principles, we will create... new citizens." Some of his ideas were implemented in the Smolny Institute that he established for noble girls in Saint Petersburg.
Betskoy's work in Russia was soon followed by the Polish establishment in 1773 of a Commission of National Education (Polish: Komisja Edukacji Narodowej, Lithuanian: Nacionaline Edukacine Komisija). The commission functioned as the first government Ministry of Education in a European country.
Meanwhile, there was an increasing academic interest in education and the first attempts to create what might be considered academic rationales for teaching methods. This led, in the 1770s, to the establishment of the first chair of pedagogy at the University of Halle in Germany. Contributions to the study of education elsewhere in Europe included the work of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi in Switzerland and Joseph Lancaster in Britain.
Under the guidance of Wilhelm von Humboldt a new university was founded in Berlin in 1810 which became the model for many research universities. Herbart developed a system of pedagogy widely used in German-speaking areas.
In the late nineteenth century, most of West, Central, and parts of East Europe began to provide elementary education in reading, writing, and arithmetic, partly because politicians believed that education was needed for orderly political behavior. As more people became literate, they realized that most secondary education was only open to those who could afford it. Having created primary education, the major nations had to give further attention to secondary education by the time of World War 1.[21]
In the twentieth century, new directions in education included, in Italy, Maria Montessori's Montessori schools; and in Germany, Rudolf Steiner's development of Waldorf education.
[edit] United States of America
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (April 2007) |
[edit] New Zealand
Education began with provision made by the provincial government, the missionary Christian churches and private education. The first act of parliament for education was passed in 1877, and sought to establish a standard for primary education. It was compulsory for children to attend school until the age of 14 years.
[edit] Recent world-wide trends
| 0.950 and over 0.900–0.949 0.850–0.899 0.800–0.849 0.750–0.799 | 0.700–0.749 0.650–0.699 0.600–0.649 0.550–0.599 0.500–0.549 | 0.450–0.499 0.400–0.449 0.350–0.399 under 0.350 not available |
Overall, illiteracy has greatly decreased in recent years. In some countries this has been the result of deliberate government action. For example, in Cuba the illiteracy rate was for many years less than that in the USA.
Illiteracy and the percentage of populations without any schooling have decreased in the past several decades. For example, the percentage of population without any schooling decreased from 36% in 1960 to 25% in 2000.
Among developing countries, illiteracy and percentages without schooling in 2000 stood at about half the 1970 figures. Among developed countries, figures about illiteracy rates differ widely. Often it is said that they decreased from 6% to 1%. However, the National Adult Literacy Survey of 1993 showed that more than 20% of the adults in the USA were functionally illiterate.[22] These findings were confirmed in a 2003 follow-up study.[23] Illiteracy rates in less economically developed countries (LEDCs) surpassed those of more economically developed countries (MEDCs) by a factor of 10 in 1970, and by a factor of about 20 in 2000. Illiteracy decreased greatly in LEDCs, and virtually disappeared in MEDCs. Percentages without any schooling showed similar patterns.
Percentages of the population with no schooling varied greatly among LEDCs in 2000, from less than 10% to over 65%. MEDCs had much less variation, ranging from less than 2% to 17%.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Hartmut Scharfe (2002). Education in Ancient India. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 90-04-12556-6.
- ^ Radha Kumud Mookerji (2nd ed. 1951; reprint 1989), Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist (p. 478), Motilal Banarsidass Publ., ISBN 8120804236:
"Thus the various centres of learning in different parts of the country became affiliated, as it were, to the educational centre, or the central university, of Taxila which exercised a kind of intellectual suzerainty over the wide world of letters in India." - ^ Roy L. Moodie (1917). "The Sources of Anatomical Literature", The American Naturalist 51 (604), p. 193-208.
- ^ Balakrishnan Muniapan, Junaid M. Shaikh (2007). "Lessons in corporate governance from Kautilya's Arthashastra in ancient India", World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development 3 (1).
- ^ Dhavendra Kumar (2004). Genetic Disorders Of The Indian Subcontinent. Springer. ISBN 1402012152.
- ^ Hans H. Rhyner (2003). Ayurveda: The Gentle Health System. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 8120815009.
- ^ Radha Kumud Mookerji (2nd ed. 1951; reprint 1989), Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist (p. 479), Motilal Banarsidass Publ., ISBN 8120804236:
"This shows that Taxila was a seat not of elementary, but higher, education, of colleges or a university as distinguished from schools." - ^ Anant Sadashiv Altekar (1934; reprint 1965). Education in Ancient India, Sixth Edition, Revised & Enlarged, Varanasi: Nand Kishore & Bros.
- ^ F. W. Thomas (1944). In John Marshall (1951; 1975 reprint), Taxila, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
- ^ Taxila (2007). Encyclopædia Britannica.
- ^ Marshall 1975:81
- ^ Altekar, Anant Sadashiv (1965). Education in Ancient India, Sixth, Varanasi: Nand Kishore & Bros.
- ^ a b "Really Old School," Garten, Jeffrey E. New York Times, December 9, 2006.
- ^ CAGI. 537
- ^ The Beautiful Tree - Indigenous Indian Ecuation in the Eighteenth Century, Dharampal, 1983, Bibla Implex, pp xi
- ^ a b Makdisi, George (April-June 1989), “Scholasticism and Humanism in Classical Islam and the Christian West”, Journal of the American Oriental Society 109 (2): 175-182 [175-77]
- ^ The Guinness Book Of Records, 1998, p. 242, ISBN 0-5535-7895-2
- ^ John Bagot Glubb:
(cf. Quotations on Islamic Civilization)By Mamun's time medical schools were extremely active in Baghdad. The first free public hospital was opened in Baghdad during the Caliphate of Haroon-ar-Rashid. As the system developed, physicians and surgeons were appointed who gave lectures to medical students and issued diplomas to those who were considered qualified to practice. The first hospital in Egypt was opened in 872 AD and thereafter public hospitals sprang up all over the empire from Spain and the Maghrib to Persia.
- ^ a b c Alatas, Syed Farid, “From Jami`ah to University: Multiculturalism and Christian–Muslim Dialogue”, Current Sociology 54 (1): 112-32
- ^ Sir John Bagot Glubb (cf. Dr. A. Zahoor (1999), Quotations on Islamic Civilization)
- ^ Donald Kagan, Steven Ozment, Frank M Turner (2007). Western Heritage: Since 1300 (AP Edition). Pearson Education, Inc.. ISBN 0-13-173292-7.
- ^ Adult Literacy in America
- ^ A First Look at the Literacy of America's Adults in the 21st Century
