History of education
The history of education extends at least as far back as the first written records recovered from ancient civilizations. Historical studies have included virtually every nation. The earliest known formal school was developed in Egypt's Middle Kingdom under the direction of Kheti, treasurer to Mentuhotep II. In ancient India, education was mainly imparted through the Vedic and Buddhist learning system, while the first education system in ancient China was created in Xia dynasty. In the city-states of ancient Greece, most education was private, except in Sparta. For example, in Athens, during the 5th and 4th century BC, aside from two years military training, the state played little part in schooling. The first schools in Ancient Rome arose by the middle of the 4th century BC.
In Europe, during the Early Middle Ages, the monasteries of the Roman Catholic Church were the centers of education and literacy, preserving the Church's selection from Latin learning and maintaining the art of writing. In the Islamic civilization that spread all the way between China and Spain during the time between the 7th and 19th centuries, Muslims started schooling from 622 in Medina, which is now a city in Saudi Arabia. Schooling at first was in the mosques but then schools became separate in schools next to mosques. Modern systems of education in Europe derive their origins from the schools of the High Middle Ages. Most schools during this era were founded upon religious principles with the primary purpose of training the clergy. Many of the earliest universities, such as the University of Paris founded in 1160, had a Christian basis. In addition to this, a number of secular universities existed, such as the University of Bologna, founded in 1088, the oldest university in continuous operation in the world, and the University of Naples Federico II in Italy, the world's oldest state-funded university in continuous operation.
In northern Europe this clerical education was largely superseded by forms of elementary schooling following the Reformation. Herbart developed a system of pedagogy widely used in German-speaking areas. Mass compulsory schooling started in Prussia by around 1800 to "produce more soldiers and more obedient citizens". After 1868 reformers set Japan on a rapid course of modernization, with a public education system like that of Western Europe. In Imperial Russia, according to the 1897 census, literate people made up 28 per cent of the population. There was a strong network of universities for the upper class, but weaker provisions for everyone else. Vladimir Lenin, in 1919 proclaimed the major aim of the Soviet government was the abolition of illiteracy. A system of universal compulsory education was established. Millions of illiterate adults were enrolled in special literacy schools.
Education in ancient civilization
Middle East
The earliest known formal school was developed in Egypt's Middle Kingdom under the direction of Kheti, treasurer to Mentuhotep II.In Mesopotamia, the early logographic system of cuneiform script took many years to master. Thus only a limited number of individuals were hired as scribes to be trained in writing. Only royal offspring and sons of the rich and professionals, such as scribes, physicians, and temple administrators, were schooled. Most boys were taught their father's trade or were apprenticed to learn a trade. Girls stayed at home with their mothers to learn housekeeping and cooking, and to look after the younger children. Later, when a syllabic script became more widespread, more of the Mesopotamian population became literate. Later still in Babylonian times there were libraries in most towns and temples; an old Sumerian proverb averred "he who would excel in the school of the scribes must rise with the dawn." There arose a whole social class of scribes, mostly employed in agriculture, but some as personal secretaries or lawyers. Women as well as men learned to read and write, and for the Semitic Babylonians, this involved knowledge of the extinct Sumerian language, and a complicated and extensive syllabary. Vocabularies, grammars, and interlinear translations were compiled for the use of students, as well as commentaries on the older texts and explanations of obscure words and phrases. Massive archives of texts were recovered from the archaeological contexts of Old Babylonian scribal schools known as , through which literacy was disseminated. The Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem from Ancient Mesopotamia is among the earliest known works of literary fiction. The earliest Sumerian versions of the epic date from as early as the Third Dynasty of Ur .
Ashurbanipal, a king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, was proud of his scribal education. His youthful scholarly pursuits included oil divination, mathematics, reading and writing as well as the usual horsemanship, hunting, chariotry, soldierliness, craftsmanship, and royal decorum. During his reign he collected cuneiform texts from all over Mesopotamia, and especially Babylonia, in the library in Nineveh, the first systematically organized library in the ancient Middle East, which survives in part today.
In ancient Egypt, literacy was concentrated among an educated elite of scribes. Only people from certain backgrounds were allowed to train to become scribes, in the service of temple, pharaonic, and military authorities. The hieroglyph system was always difficult to learn, but in later centuries was purposely made even more so, as this preserved the scribes' status. Literacy remains an elusive subject for ancient Egypt. Estimations of literacy range from 1 to 5 per cent of the population, based on very limited evidence to much higher numbers. Generalisations for the whole country, even at a given period, inevitably mask differences between regions, and, most importantly, between urban and rural populations. They may seriously underestimate the proportion of the population able to read and write in towns; low literacy estimates are a regular feature of 19th and 20th-century attitudes to ancient and medieval societies.
In ancient Israel, the Torah includes commands to read, learn, teach, and write the Torah, thus requiring literacy and study. In 64 AD the high priest caused schools to be opened. Emphasis was placed on developing good memory skills in addition to comprehension oral repetition. For details of the subjects taught, see History of education in ancient Israel and Judah. 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 educate the children before age seven. Despite this schooling system, it would seem that many children did not learn to read and write, because it has been estimated that "at least ninety percent of the Jewish population of Roman Palestine could merely write their name or not write and read at all", or that the literacy rate was about 3 percent.
India's Impact To Education
In ancient India, religious learning was mainly imparted through the Vedic and Buddhist religious learning systems. Sanskrit was the language used to impart the Sanskrit tradition. Pali was the language used in the Buddhist education system. In the Vedic system, a Brahman male started his religious at 8 to 12, whereas in the Buddhist system, the child started his education at the age of eight. The main aim of education in ancient India was to develop a person's character, master the art of self-control, bring about social awareness, and conserve and take forward ancient culture.The Buddhist and Vedic systems had different subjects. In the Vedic system of study, the students were taught the four Vedas – Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda, they were also taught the six Vedangas – ritualistic knowledge, metrics, exegetics, grammar, phonetics and astronomy, the Upanishads and more.
Sanskrit and Vedic learning
In ancient India, religious traditions were imparted and passed on orally rather than in written form. Education was a process that involved three steps. The first was Shravana which was the acquisition of knowledge by listening to the Shrutis. The second was Manana wherein the students would think, analyze and make inferences. The third was Nididhyāsana in which the students would apply the knowledge in their real life.During the Vedic period from about 1500 BC to 600 BC, Sanskrit learning in the Indo-Aryan society of northern India centered on the Veda and later Sanskrit texts and scriptures.
Vedic learning included proper pronunciation and recitation of the Veda, the rules of sacrifice, grammar and derivation, composition, versification and meter, an understanding of secrets of nature, reasoning, the sciences, and the skills necessary for an occupation. Some medical knowledge existed and was taught. There are mentions in the Veda of herbal medicines for various conditions or diseases, including fever, cough, baldness, snake bites, and others.
The oldest of the Upanishads date from around 700 BCE. The Upanishads are considered as "wisdom teachings" as they explore the deeper and true meaning of sacrifice. These texts encouraged an exploratory learning process where teachers and students were co-travelers in a search for truth. The teaching methods used reasoning and questioning. Nothing was labeled as the final answer.
The Gurukula system of education supported traditional Sanskrit residential schools of learning; typically the teacher's house or a monastery. In the Gurukul system, the teacher and the student were considered to be equal even if they belonged to different social standings. Students from well-to-do families paid "Gurudakshina", a voluntary contribution after the completion of their studies. Gurudakshina is a mark of respect by the students towards their Guru. It is a way in which the students acknowledge, thank, and respect their Guru, whom they consider to be their spiritual guide. At the Gurukuls, the teacher imparted knowledge of religion, scriptures, philosophy, literature, warfare, statecraft, Ayurveda, astrology and mythological history. The corpus of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as technical scientific, philosophical and generally Sanskrit religious texts, though many central texts of Buddhism and Jainism have also been composed in Sanskrit.
Two epic poems formed part of ancient Indian education. The Mahabharata, part of which may date back to the 8th century BC, discusses human goals, attempting to explain the relationship of the individual to society and the world and the workings of karma. The other epic poem, Ramayana, is shorter, although it has 24,000 verses. It is thought to have been compiled between about 400 BC and 200 AD. The epic explores themes of human existence and the concept of dharma.