Education

Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits. 

Educational methods include storytelling, discussion, teaching, training, and directed research.

Education, School and technology

Schools need to embrace cloud technology to prepare for the future of learning, says Matt Britland. 

Technology can often be a barrier to teaching and learning. I think the cloud will go a long way to removing this barrier. Why? By removing the number of things that can go wrong. Schools, will only need one major thing to be prepared for the future. They will not need software installed, servers or local file storage. Schools will need a fast robust internet connection. Infrastructure is paramount to the the future of technology in education.

Education includes a variety of learning experiences. Teachers and schools have the chief respon­sibility for providing organized instruction. But much education also takes place outside school.

A classroom at a secondary school in Zimbabwe shows little or no use of decorations and wall hangings. In many schools, such devices are in­stalled to improve the visual appearance of the classroom and to stimulate interest and aid learning.

Nongovernment schools in Australia are run mainly by the Roman Catholic Church.

At Nairobi University in Kenya, students, lecturers, and visitors arrive for a graduation day ceremony.

The University of Paris became known throughout Europe in the Middle Ages for its famous scholars and teachers.

Education, in its broadest sense, refers to the ways in which people learn skills and gain knowledge and un­derstanding about the world, and about themselves.

One useful scheme for discussing education is to divide these ways of learning into three types—formal, infor­mal, and nonformal.

Formal education is instruction given in schools. It is often called schooling. In most countries, people enter a system of formal education during their early childhood. In this type of education, the people in charge of a school decide what to teach, and learners then study those things under the direction of teachers. Learners are expected to come to school regularly and on time, to work at about the same speed as their classmates, and to pass tests to show how well they have prog­ressed. At the end of the year, successful learners move up to the next level—that is, to the next standard, form, or grade. In the end, they may earn a diploma, a certifi­cate, or degree as a mark of their success over the years.

Informal education involves people learning while they go about their daily lives. For example, young chil­dren learn language simply by hearing others speak and by trying to speak themselves. In the same informal manner, they learn to dress themselves, eat with accept­able manners, ride a bicycle, make a telephone call, or operate a television set.

Education is also informal when people try to find out information or to gain skills on their own initiative with­ out a teacher. To do so, they may visit a book shop, li­brary, or museum. They may watch a television show, look at a videotape, or listen to a radio programme. They do not have to pass tests.

Nonformal education belongs somewhere between the formal and informal types. As in formal education, people using nonformal methods adopt planned and or­ganized programmes. But nonformal education proce­dures are less tightly controlled than those of formal systems of schooling. For example, in countries whose populations have included many people who could nei­ther read nor write, a popular nonformal approach to lit­eracy has been the each-one-teach-onemethod. With this method, educational leaders first prepare simple reading materials, then ask every individual who already can read to teach just one illiterate person to read the materials. After the illiterate person has mastered the skill of simple reading, he or she must then teach one other illiterate person. By this nonformal approach, thousands of people have learned to read in such na­tions as China, Nicaragua, Mexico, Cuba, and India.

Most countries spend a large amount of time and money to provide formal education for their citizens. In the early 1990's, there were about 1 billion students and 50 million teachers throughout the world.

This article deals with formal education as provided by schools, colieges, universities, and other such institu­tions. Other organizations, such as the church, also pro­vide formal education, for example at seminaries or con­vents. The Scout and Guide movements provide a type of nonformal education.

Kinds of education

The school systems or all modern nations provide both general education and vocational education. Most countries also provide special education programmes for handicapped or gifted children. Adult education pro­grammes are provided for people who wish to take up their education after leaving school.

General education aims at producing intelligent, re­sponsible, well-informed citizens. It is designed to trans­mit a common cultural heritage rather than to develop trained specialists.

Almost all elementary education is general education. In every country, primary school pupils are taught skills they will use throughout life, such as reading, writing, and arithmetic. They also receive instruction in a variety of subjects, including geography, history, and science.

In most industrial countries almost all young people continue their general education in secondary school.

In most Western nations, advanced general education is frequently called liberal education. Liberal education aims at broad mental development. It teaches a student to investigate all sides of a question and all possible so­lutions to a problem before reaching a conclusion or planning a course of action. The branches of learning that aid in this development are called the liberal arts. These branches include the humanities, mathematics, and the biological, physical, and social sciences.

Vocational education aims primarily at preparing individuals for a job. Some secondary schools specialize in vocational programmes. Technical schools are voca­tional secondary schools that are specially equipped to teach more technical subjects, such as carpentry, metal­work, and electronics. Technical school students are also required to take some general education courses. Technical colleges and specialized schools offer ad­vanced vocational and technical training. Universities and separate professional schools prepare students for careers in such fields as agriculture, architecture, busi­ness, engineering, law, medicine, music, nursing, phar­macy, teaching, and theology. Many businesses and industries offer formal vocational training for their em­ployees.

Special education provides educational opportuni­ties for handicapped or gifted people. Most countries support special education programmes for people who are blind, deaf, emotionally disturbed, physically handi­capped, or mentally handicapped. Some local school systems also aid gifted students.

Adult education. Most countries support general and vocational education for adults, often through even­ing classes.Continuing education programmes allow adults to continue their formal education or develop a skill or hobby. Courses range from elementary reading and arithmetic to advanced commercial, technical, and professional training.

Millions of adults participate in some kind of adult education. Universities in many countries provide exten­sion courses,which give adults an opportunity to take courses at the college level. Businesses, community agencies, correspondence schools, hospitals, indus­tries, trade unions, libraries, museums, prisons, and television stations provide various organized educa­tional opportunities for adults.

Education around the world

Most nations divide education into various stages. Formal education begins with early childhood educa­tion and continues through elementary (or primary), sec­ondary, and higher education. In most countries, except the United States and Canada, the educational system is wholly or partly run by the central government.

Nations vary greatly in the kind of education they pro­vide and in the amount of schooling they require. They also vary in their ability to provide teachers and schools and in their manner of controlling and supporting edu­cation. Some nations, including most of those in Europe and North America, have well-developed economies and long-established educational systems. Almost all children in these industrial countries receive at least an elementary education, and most also receive a second­ary education. As a result, the industrial nations have high literacy rates (percentages of citizens who can read and write). Most developing countries, on the other hand, have low literacy rates. Many have a serious short­age of teachers and classrooms. Many children do not receive even an elementary education.

Organization. Many nations provide early childhood education in nursery schools and kindergartens. In al­most every nation, primary education is compulsory and free. In every country, primary schools teach children to read and write and to work with numbers. The pupils also learn their country's customs and their duties as cit­izens. In most countries, the pupils also study such sub­jects as geography, history, and science.

In many countries, the majority of children receive only an elementary education. Secondary and higher ed­ucation are available only to outstanding students or to those who can afford private schooling. Most industrial countries, such as Japan, Australia, and those of West­ern Europe, require all young people to attend school for a period of 9 to 11 years, including 3 or 4 years of secondary school.

The school systems of most countries provide more than one kind of secondary school. For example, stu­dents in most European countries may attend a general school, which specializes in academic subjects, or they may attend a vocational school. Some vocational schools prepare students for advanced vocational or technical training. Others train students to enter a business or a trade immediately after they graduate. In many Euro­pean countries, secondary school students may take jobs and complete their education by attending part- time courses.

In many countries, students take an examination to determine what kind of secondary school they will at­tend. On the basis of these examinations, some students are admitted to academic schools, which prepare them for advanced studies in a university. Other students are admitted to vocational schools. Some countries operate a system of comprehensiveschools in which academic and vocational and technical subjects are taught at the same school.

In the field of higher education, most countries have at least one college or university. The industrial coun­tries of Europe have many colleges and universities, some of them hundreds of years old. Most of these countries also have advanced technical and professional schools. In almost every country, students must com­plete their secondary education and pass an entrance examination before being admitted to an institution of higher learning.

Almost every nation has some type of school for the handicapped. Most countries also provide for adult edu­cation at all levels. Many developing countries support programmes that teach adults reading and writing.

Control. In some countries, all education is public (state-run and state-financed). Private schools (schools that charge tuition fees) are prohibited. Other countries have both state-run and private schools. In most of these countries, the majority of primary- and secondary- school children attend public schools.

Most governments have some control over the state school system. In France, the national government has complete control over it. A national ministry (depart­ment) of education decides all questions of educational policy and is responsible for local state schools. In many other countries, including most European nations, the central government exercises strong control over cer­tain aspects of the educational system through minis­tries. But the ministries transfer some administrative re­sponsibilities to local authorities. In the United Kingdom, the national government shares control of ed­ucation with local authorities.

Financial support. Nations provide public funds for education in various ways. In general, three different methods are used. (1) In most countries, including al­most all heavily populated ones, the national govern­ment shares the cost of education with other levels of government, such as states or provinces, counties, and cities. In many of these countries, such as Belgium, France, and Italy, the national government supplies most of the funds. In many others, the funds come mainly from lower levels of government. (2) In other countries, the national government pays all the expenses of public education. These countries include Brazil, Iran, New Zealand, Peru, and many African nations. (3) In India and a few other nations, provincial, state, or local authorities provide all the funds.

Many countries obtain additional funds for public ed­ucation from tuition fees, voluntary contributions, and other private sources. Some developing nations receive foreign aid for education.

Some nations provide free education at every level. In the United Kingdom, students may have all their educa­tional and living expenses paid until they have com­pleted their higher education. But only highly qualified students receive this privilege.

Education in Australia. Education in Australia is the responsibility of the six states of Australia within their own borders. Similar powers are exerted by the govern­ment of the Northern Territory and by the Australian Capital Territory Schools Authority. The federal govern­ment has no control over the organization of schools or the courses they teach within the states, but it provides a measure of financial support to help them carry out their tasks more effectively. This is done through a sys­tem of grants.

About 75 per cent of Australian children go to a state school. The state authorities provide free education at both the primary and secondary levels. The schools pro­vide basic equipment in the form of textbooks, exercise books, arts and crafts materials, and other items. Most state schools (also known as government schools) ask parents to pay a small, optional levy to help meet the cost of school equipment. State schools are not allowed to give religious instruction.

Besides the state-run schools, Australia has many schools not controlled by state authorities, often called nongovernment schools. Many nongovernment schools, particularly at the primary level, are controlled by reli­gious organizations. The Roman Catholic Church has the largest number of such schools. In these nongovern­ment schools, children receive a mixture of religious in­struction and secular (nonreligious) teaching. Independ­ent schools not affiliated to churches are run by groups of parents with the help of professional teachers and school administrators. All these nongovernment schools usually have to comply with educational guidelines laid down by the states. Most of these schools receive a measure of federal and state funding.

Children must attend school in Australia between the ages of 6 and 15 (6 and 16 in Tasmania). More and more pupils past the age of 15 or 16 stay on in school to pre­pare for full-time higher education in universities and colleges of advanced education.

Australia has 19 universities. Colleges of advanced ed­ucation offer professional vocational courses in nursing, speech therapy, and other such fields. Technical col­leges and specific job-training institutions offer part- time further education courses. Most of these are voca­tional.

Education in India. India's current education system follows the European, and especially British, models in­troduced in the late 1700's and 1800's. During the period of British rule, the education system sought to produce able officials and therefore concentrated on teaching languages and numeracy skills. An educational elite (top class) emerged, drawn mainly from the highest castes of Indian society, while most people remained unedu­cated. (For an explanation of the Indian caste system, see the Religion section of the article India.)

Today, about one-third of India's population can read and write. At the time of India's independence in 1947, the proportion of people able to read and write was less than half of the present percentage. The great rise in lit­eracy has resulted from government programmes begun in 1951. The Indian government has spent consid­erable amounts of money on building schools, training teachers, and providing books and other educational materials. An important part of India's education pro­grammes has been the use of radio broadcasts.

Schools. The Indian Constitution provides for educa­tion for children between the ages of 6 and 14. The state governments of India are responsible for running schools and provide education free to children aged from 6 to 11. Children aged from 11 to 14 get free edu­cation in 12 states. About 85 per cent of all children in India attend school up to ilie age of 11. But school at­tendance drops considerably among pupils aged 11 and above. Only about 35 per cent of children older than 11 go to school.

The rural areas have fewer schools and lower attend­ance figures than do the cities. Throughout India, schools are overcrowded.

Higher education. India has more than 4,850 colleges and universities. About 4 out of every 100 people be­tween the ages of 18 and 23 attend such an institution of higher education.   

Education in Indonesia. The Indonesian Ministry of 1 Education and Culture is largely responsible for education in Indonesia. But the Ministry of Religion supervises the country's Islamic primary schools. Ail children must by law attend primary school from the age of 7 to the age of 13. Primary-school attendance is free. Between the ages of 13 and 19, young people may attend a sec­ondary school, but such attendance is not compulsory. The Indonesian government provides a two-part pro­gramme of secondary-school education divided into two cycles of three years each. At the end of the 1980^, about 53 per cent of the school-age population were at­tending the junior secondary schools and 35 per cent were attending the senior secondary schools.

Indonesia has about 48 state universities and training colleges and 25 private universities.

In 1945, less than one-tenth of the population of Indo­nesia could read and write. Today, following intensive literacy programmes, especially in the villages, about three-quarters of the population can read and write.

Some parts of Indonesia do not have enough schools, teachers, and textbooks to meet the needs of a rising population. But the percentage of the population receiv­ing formal schooling continues to rise.

Education in the Republic of Ireland. The Irish minister for education is responsible for public educa­tion. The Department of Education administers govern­ment education policies. Children must receive full-time education between the ages of 6 and 15.

Primary education is provided in national schools and private schools. Private schools may receive finan­cial aid from the state, and they may be subject to in­spection by the Department of Education. Religious de­nominations provide most national schools. These schools receive government financial aid.

Most children attend national schools. These schools provide free education for children from the age of 4.

The Irish language is taught and is, in some schools, the language of instruction.

Postprimary education is given to children between the ages of 12 and 18 in secondary, vocational, or com­munity schools. Most secondary schools are private in­stitutions managed by religious groups and by boards of private individuals. These schools receive financial aid from the government. Postprimary education is free at vocational and community schools and at almost all secondary schools.

Pupils in secondary schools receive a general education. At the age of 15 or 16, they take an examination for theIntermediate Certificate. This certificate shows that the pupils who leave school at this age have completed a balanced course of secondary education. At the age of 18, pupils take the Leaving Certificate examination, which qualifies them for entry into universities.

Vocational and community schools train pupils for employment. They also provide courses for Intermedi­ate and Leaving Certificates.

Higher education. The Republic of Ireland has four universities. The oldest is the University of Dublin, also called Trinity College. Four colleges of education train future primary school teachers. Technical education is given in technical institutes in towns and cities in the Republic public.

Education in Malaysia. In Malaysia, government- aided schools provide formal education free of charge. The education system consists of four levels: primary, secondary (divided into lower and upper secondary), post-secondary, and tertiary.

Children attend primary school from the age of 6. In Malaysia's national primary schools, pupils receive in­structions through the medium of Bahasa Malaysia, the official national language of Malaysia. They learn English as a second language. Children in Chinese and Tamil schools are taught in the Chinese and Tamil languages respectively. Malaysian children begin attending sec­ondary school at the age of 12. Secondary education usually lasts for five years. It is conducted entirely in Bahasa Malaysia. At the age of 15, pupils take an exami­nation for the Lower Certificate of Education. Those who pass this examination can complete their school educa­tion in an upper secondary school and, at the age of 17, take the Malaysian Certificate of Education examination, pupils who are successful in this examination may study for a further two years for a Higher School Certificate, which they need if they wish to enter university. Other pupils may attend vocational or technical secondary schools.

Malaysia has seven universities. The oldest and larg­est is the University of Malaya, in Kuala Lumpur.

Education in the Philippines. Formal education in the Philippines is organized into three levels: primary education, secondary education, and college or techni­cal vocational education. More than 90 per cent of Filipi­nos can read and write and about 95 per cent of them at­tend school.

The government provides primary education free of charge through state-run primary schools. Children at­tend primary schools between the ages of 7 and 13. At­tendance is officially compulsory. Children are taught in the Filipino and English languages.

Children begin their secondary education at the age of 13. At the country's secondary schools, lower second­ary courses last for two years and follow a common general curriculum. Upper secondary courses, which are more varied and specialized, also last two years. Pu­pils are taught mainly through the medium of English, but in 1989 a new curriculum was introduced allowing for the use of Filipino except in teaching mathematics and science.

At the age of 17, Filipino children who have com­pleted their secondary education go on to college for a further four years of study. Most college students take commercial and business management courses at pri­vate or religious schools. The oldest of the 52 universi­ties in the Philippines is the Santo Tomas University. The largest is the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. Both are in Manila.

Education in Singapore. The number of people who can read and write in Singapore represents 87 per cent of the country's population. Children begin their school­ing at the age of 6. At the end of the primary school stage, when pupils reach the age of 9, they take an ex­amination that determines which stream they will enter in order to carry on their education at the secondary level. Secondary school education usually ends at the age of 15 or 17, but less able pupils can extend their course if they wish. Both primary and secondary educa­tion are available in English, Malay, Chinese, and Tamil.

Higher education is available at the National Univer­sity of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological Insti­tute. Singapore also has several polytechnics, technical colleges, and vocational colleges offering technical edu­cation and advanced craft training.

Education in South Africa. South Africa has a De­partment of National Education which oversees general education policy and sets academic standards for schools. Seventeen separate education departments are responsible for education in the provinces. In 1994, the government announced plans to replace these 17 de­partments with nine new education authorities, one for each of the new provinces formed that year. Primary schooling occupies the first seven years of education. Secondary school lasts for an additional three to five years. Pupils learn English, Afrikaans, and other South African languages in addition to such subjects as natural science, geography, and mathematics.

South Africa has 21 universities and about 100 teacher training colleges. The oldest universities are the Univer­sity of Cape Town and the University of South Africa (Unisa), both established in 1918. Unisa offers degrees through correspondence courses. Approximately 320,000 students are enrolled at South Africa's universi­ties. Fifteen technikons(post-secondary colleges) and about 140 technical colleges offer technological and commercial training.

The National Party, which controlled South Africa's government from 1948 to 1994, introduced apartheid (enforced separate development for different ethnic groups) as an official policy. Under apartheid, far more money was spent on the education of white children than of nonwhite children. For many years, almost half of all black South Africans left school before completing their elementary education. Despite government efforts to introduce greater equality into education, many black South Africans remain educationally underprivileged.

Education in the United Kingdom (UK). About 93 per cent of British children go to state-run or state-assisted schools. The remainder attend private schools. The remainder attend private schools. The educational systems in the UK are divided into three stages-primary education, secondary education, and further education. Every child receives both primary and secondary education, because full-time education is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 16. Children re­ceive general education during the primary and second­ary stages of education. They generally do not receive vocational education until the third stage.

Primary education. Most children in the UK begin their school education at the age of 5 in the reception class of an infant school. Early in the infant school, chil­dren in England and Wales generally take part in play activities. Later, they start to learn definite skills, espe­cially in reading, writing, and arithmetic.

From the age of 7 1/2 to 11 children attend a junior school in England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. In Scot­land, they stay from 7 1/2  to about 12. In English junior schools, children spend much time doing informal work, especially art and handicrafts. But the work in the academic subjects gradually becomes more formal.

Secondary education is organized differently in the four educational systems of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Most secondary-school children attend state-run comprehensive schools. A comprehen­sive school takes children regardless of their ability.

Comprehensive schools are organized in several ways. Some comprehensive schools take all pupils be­tween the ages of 11 and 16 or 18. In other areas, com­prehensive schools may be divided into schools taking pupils between the ages of 9 or 10 and 12 or 13 and schools taking children between the ages of 12 or 13 and 16 or 18. There are also comprehensive schools which take pupils between the ages of 11 or 12 and 16. These schools pass on students aged more than 16 to a sixth form college.

In Scotland, almost all secondary schools are compre­hensive in character. Most take children between the ages of 12 and 18. But some take children between the ages of 12 and 16 and then transfer them to schools that have facilities for advanced work.

In Northern Ireland, most pupils from 12 to 18 attend comprehensive schools. But some go to grammar schools.

Further education. Students receiving vocational education attend colleges of technology, technical col­leges, colleges of art, or agricultural colleges and institutes. In Scotland, technical central institutions provide courses in agriculture, commerce, and technology.

Higher education in the UK involves taking a full-time degree, or similar level course of studies, at a university or college of higher education (including teacher train­ing colleges). British universities are independent cor­porations created by royal charter. But they are mainly supported by public funds. The Open University is unique in providing degree courses by correspondence for students working in their own homes. The courses are supported by books and broadcasts.

Education in the United States. The United States has no national education system. Instead each state is responsible for organizing and regulating its own sys­tem of education. There are common elements in the separate state systems, however.

Formal education is divided into the following stages: early childhood education; elementary education; sec­ondary and higher education.

School attendance is compulsory in every state. The state provides schooling at ail stages of education, but parents can send their children to private schools. The state education system is financed mainly from local, state, and federal taxes. Most states transfer some of their education powers to local districts. In most states, school attendance begins at about the age of 5 and is compulsory in about two-thirds of the U.S. up to the age of 15. In some states children must stay at school until they are 17; in others they can leave at 13.

Elementary education takes place in elementary schools, which are also called grade schools or gram­mar schools. Children enter elementary school at the age of 6 and stay on until 12 or 14. Children in most ele­mentary schools pass through a series of six or eight grades (classes). Children of the same age are usually in the same grade. But in some modern elementary schools children of mixed ages work together at their own pace.

Most children enter a secondary school, or high school, after finishing their elementary education. But many states have established middle schools for pupils aged from 10 to 14.

Secondary education in the United States is provided by junior and senior high schools. High-school students work for a diploma, which they obtain on graduating (completing all their grades).

Most communities have separate junior and senior high schools. Children usually attend junior high school from grade 7 to grade 9. Most junior high-school gradu­ates go to senior high school where they may stay on until the 12th grade.

Most high schools offer both general and vocational courser of study. Students planning to continue their education after high school take general courses, or col­lege preparation courses. Those intending to get a job straight after graduation take vocational courses.

Higher education. About 60 per cent of U.S. high school students attend one or other of the country's 3000 institutions of higher learning. More than half of these institutes are small privately owned and operated liberal arts colleges. Many of the publicly owned institu­tions of higher learning are large state universities with thousands of students. Places of higher education also include community and junior colleges, technical insti­tutes, universities, and separate professional schools.

Learning and teaching

How people learn. There is no complete agreement among scientists and educators on the nature of human learning. But certain ideas are generally accepted. Learn­ing theories are based largely on findings of modern psychology. Most theories of learning can be divided into three main groups: (1) behaviour modification or stimulus-response theories; (2)cognitive theories; and (3) humanistic theories. For more information see Learn­ing (Theories of learning).

Methods of teaching. There are many different methods of teaching. In deciding which method to use on a given occasion, a teacher needs to consider what learning goal the students are pursuing. This is because not all learning goals can be reached by the same method. Three common methods are rote learning, guided problem-solving, and diagnostic teaching. Each method is suitable for achieving different goals.

The phrase rote learning means memorizing some­thing "by heart", exactly as it appears in a textbook or in a teacher's lecture. The "something" can be a poem, a list of words and how to spell them, a mathematical rule, the names of monarchs in history, the titles of literary works, or chemical formulas. After students have tried memorizing such material, teachers test their learning by asking them to repeat the material exactly. Rote learn­ing is well suited to taking in foreign-language vocabu­lary or the dates of important events in history.

Guided problem-solving is the method that teachers use when seeking to help students become skilled at solving problems in mathematics, science, or social studies. In a guided approach, the teacher first explains to the class the general way to attack the particular kind of problem. The teacher demonstrates each problem­ solving step on a blackboard in front of the class. The teacher then gives the students similar problems to try, and again demonstrates each step. Next, the students re­ceive some different problems to work out on their own as the teacher walks around the classroom, offering help to individuals who need it. This approach helps stu­dents solve problems that are not exactly the same as the ones the teacher solved on the blackboard.

With diagnostic teaching, the teacher does not begin with a lecture or explanation. Instead he or she presents problems for the students to solve in whatever way they can. After they have worked on the problems, the teacher asks them to explain how they arrived at their answers. If the students' answers are not reasonable, the teacher shows which step in problem-solving the learn­ers got wrong and explains how to correct the fault

History

Education was only able to develop among human beings after the invention of spoken language during prehistoric times. Communication and therefore teach­ing through the medium of a language was far more ef­fective than the use of gestures and signs.

Young people in prehistoric societies were educated through apprenticeship; imitation; and rituals (ceremo­nies). Through apprenticeship, a young person learned, for example, how to build a shelter by working with an older, experienced master builder. Through imitation, young people acquired the language and customs of adults. Through the performance of rituals, they learned about the meaning of life and the ties that bound them to their group. Young men often had to take part in initi­ation ceremonies. If the young man passed the test, he was ready to play a responsible role in society.

The beginning of formal education. The Sumerians, who lived in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley, invented a system of writing about 3500 B.C The Egyptians devel­oped a writing system about 3000 B.C Both systems in­cluded a method of writing numbers as well as lan­guage. The invention of writing made possible the beginning of schools as we know them.

Before people developed writing, teachers had to re­peat orally what was to be learned until the young had memorized it. Poetry was a good way of transmitting culture in pre-writing societies. But by teaching children to read, teachers could make available the knowledge of many people, not only their own. Special schools arose for reading, writing, and calculation.

Sumerian and Egyptian education. About 3000 B.C, both the Sumerians and the Egyptians established schools to teach reading and writing. Many of the schools were taught by temple priests. Most students were from upper-class families, and only a small num­ber of boys and even fewer girls were taught.

A student's training, which lasted for a about the age of 5 to 17, was strict and monotonous. Students learned to use the picture writing systems then in existence by copying the same literary selections again and again. They learned arithmetic by copying business accounts. Those who completed their education formed a sepa­rate social class called scribes. Scribes were hired for any task that needed reading, writing, or arithmetic.

Other Middle Eastern education. Civilization spread from Sumer and Egypt to the eastern shores of the Med­iterranean Sea. Certain tribes in this region each spoke one of the closely related Semitic languages. Between about 1500 B.C and 1000 B.C, these tribes developed the world's first alphabet and so gave education another valuable tool. Alphabetic systems make writing easier than picture systems because they require far fewer symbols.

Certain Hebrew Semitic tribes required boys of every social class to attend school. The Hebrew schools were religious schools conducted by priests called scribes. They taught boys to read the sacred writings of the He­brew people, collected in the Torah. Hebrew girls were taught at home by their mothers.

Ancient Greek education. The Greeks made the greatest educational advances of ancient times. Western education today is based on the ancient Greek model.

Ancient Greece was divided into independent city- states. The educational system of each city-state aimed to produce good citizens. Athens and Sparta, two of the most powerful city-states, had different ideals of citizen­ship. In Sparta, citizens were judged largely by their po­litical and military service. The government controlled education. Boys received physical and military training, but few learned to read or write. In Athens, citizens were judged more by the quality of their minds. But Athenian citizens were also expected to develop their Bodies and serve the state.

Athens made the greatest educational advances of any Greek city-state. But Athenian education was far democratic. Education was limited to the sons of Athenian citizens Slaves were not considered worthy of an education.

Athenian boys started their education about the age of 6. But they did not go to schools as we think of schools today. A trusted family slave simply took them from teacher to teacher, each of whom specialized in a certain subject or certain related subjects. Boys studied reading, writing, arithmetic, music, dancing, and gym­nastics. Like their ancestors, they memorized the work of Homer and other poets. Boys continued their elemen­tary education until they were about 15 years old. From about ages 16 to 20, they attended a government- sponsored gymnasium. Gymnasiums trained young men to become citizen-soldiers. They emphasized such sports as running and wrestling and taught civic duty and the art of war. Students held discussions in order to improve their reasoning and speaking ability. By the 400's B.C, advanced learning in Athens consisted of phi­losophy and rhetoric. Philosophy included the study of logic, mathematics, morals, and science. Rhetoric in­cluded the study of government, history, and public speaking.

During the 400's and 300's B.C, Athens produced such great philosophers and teachers as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. About 387 B.C, Plato founded a school of phi­losophy that became known as the Academy. Aristotle founded a similar school, the Lyceum, about 330 B.C.

Most young Athenian women received no formal ed­ucation. But some women belonged to religious organi­zations through which they learned music, poetry, and dancing.

Greece, like other countries in ancient times, had many somewhat secret religious groups that carried on educational activities. Even Plato's Academy and Aristot­le's Lyceum were rather like religious brotherhoods. Some occupational organizations also had a religious and educational function. For example, medical science developed among a few families who joined together in a secret religious educational society.

Ancient Roman education. The Romans had built an extensive educational system by about 100 B.C Their system was patterned after that of ancient Athens. But unlike the Athenians, the Romans provided schooling for girls as well as boys. The children of wealthy citizens were taught by a primary-school teacher from about the age of 7 to 10. These children learned to read and write both Greek and their native language, Latin. Girls re­ceived only an elementary education. Boys from about 10 to 14 years old attended a secondary school. In sec­ondary school, the boys continued their study of Greek and Latin grammar and literature. The Romans also es­tablished institutions of higher learning. These institu­tions were schools of rhetoric, which prepared young men for careers in law and government.

Although the Romans adopted many Greek educa­tional traditions, they excelled the Greeks in some fields.

In agriculture, engineering, and law, for example, the Romans not only developed greater knowledge and ex­perience, but they also put this knowledge and experi­ence into writing. By about A.D. 200, Roman culture had spread over much of the Western world.

Religion and the spread of education. The religion of the Hebrew people, Judaism, became the parent reli­gion of Christianity and Islam. The sacred writings of each of these religions ultimately shared a common ori­gin. These common elements had important effects on early education.

Hebrews, Christians, and Muslims each developed a class of scholars who interpreted their group's sacred writings. Christians and Muslims felt an especially strong need to convert nonbelievers, through mission­ary work or warfare. This missionary impulse led Chris­tians to spread their educational system throughout northern Europe during the first few hundred years of the Christian era. It also led them to try to convert the peoples of North and South America, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Islands from the 1400's to the 1900's. Mean­while, the Muslims spread their culture from Indonesia to Spain. In this way, Christians and Muslims introduced formal schooling to many cultures.

Christian and Muslim missionaries also went to India and China. But the Indians and Chinese already had reli­gious traditions and formal education systems that were centuries old. In India, the Vedas, the sacred books of the Hindu religion, were an important source of learn­ing. During the "golden age" of the Gupta dynasty, India ranked as one of the world's foremost centres of educa­tion. Universities were founded there between A.D. 320 and 500—long before any of those of medieval Europe. In China, the university tradition is even older. The foun­dation of the first Chinese university dates from a time between 199 B.C and 1 B.C

Christian education in the Middle Ages. The Chris­tian church played an important part in shaping Euro­pean formal education during the Middle Ages, which lasted from the A.D. 400's to the 1500's.

Christian parents were expected to know the laws and beliefs of Christianity and to teach them to their children. Religious authorities controlled most formal education. But for many hundreds of years, only people destined for a religious vocation received such school­ing. Some youngsters were educated by their local priests or in the bishop's household. Others were taught in monastery or cathedral schools.

In the monastery and cathedral schools, students studied such subjects as church music, theology, and Latin, the official language of the Western church. They were also taught subjects similar to those taught in an­cient Greece and Rome. These subjects were divided into two groups, which together were known as the seven liberal arts. The first group, called the trivium, consisted of grammar, rhetoric, and logic. The second group, called the quadrivium, consisted of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and harmonics.

Many young people who did not receive formal schooling became apprentices to skilled masters and learned a trade. Young men learned the arts and values of chivalry, which prepared them for military or govern­ment careers. Business people, craftworkers, merchants, and other groups formed guilds (professional societies).

The rise of Western universities. The first modern universities developed in Europe during the 110Os. The universities did not originate as places or as groups of buildings. They began instead as collections of scholars organized into corporations with certain privileges and responsibilities. In fact, the word university comes from the Latin universitas,the term for corporation or guild in the Middle Ages.

Most European universities were patterned after one of two models. The model for the majority of universi­ties in the north was the University of Paris, in France, which became the largest and most famous university in Europe during the 1200's. Most northern European uni­versities developed from teachers' guilds at cathedral schools. The guilds charged a fee to train students and to grant degrees. The universities that developed from these guilds were run by corporations of teachers. Most of them specialized in liberal arts and theology.

Most southern European universities were modelled after the University of Bologna in Italy, which came into existence about 1100. These universities began as stu­dents' guilds. Most students at the southern universities were mature and successful professional people. Many students in the north were in their early teens or younger. The student guilds in the south hired the pro­fessors and set conditions under which they worked. These conditions included punishing teachers for being absent or late. Most southern European universities were nonreligious in origin and specialized in law or medicine. See universities in USA.

During the Middle Ages, the universities did not re­quire students to have completed primary and second­ary education to be admitted. As late as the 1500's, a stu­dent might begin attending universities at the age of 10, wandering from one to another in various cities. In each university, students were taught orally. By 1500, nearly 80 universities had been founded in Europe. Some still exist today. See University.

The Renaissance. The Renaissance was a period in European history when many people showed a renewed interest in the world and a growing spirit of individuality and independence. It began in Italy during the 1300's and spread across Europe during the 1400's and 1500's. At this time, ancient learning long preserved by scholars in the Islamic world and Europe was re-examined.

During the Renaissance, classical humanist scholars stressed the human experience of the ancient Greeks and Romans, rather than the religious experience of the Middle Ages.

The humanists, like the ancient Athenians, believed that the main purpose of education was to train well-rounded, cultured citizens. They considered the ancient Greek gymnasium the ideal type of school. During the 1300's and 1400's, schools patterned after the Greek gymnasiums arose in many parts of Europe. They admit­ted mostly the sons of upper-class families, who came to learn Greek and Latin and the works of the ancient writ­ers. They also learned how to behave like gentlemen and took part in body-building sports. In time, these schools developed into the European secondary school, which taught the liberal arts. These humanistic schools were called gymnasia in Germany, lycees and colleges in France, and grammar schools in England.

Children of the lower classes attended primary school, where they learned reading and writing in the vernacular (their native language), arithmetic, history, lit­erature, and geography. Usually, primary school gradu­ates could not enter a secondary school or a university. Primary schools began to appear in Europe in the 1500s.

The invention of printing in the mid-1400s made available many low-cost books and pamphlets. As a re­sult, thousands of people wanted to learn to read and write. In addition, the great quantity and variety of printed matter enabled large numbers of people not only to learn without an instructor but also to acquire the knowledge needed to become teachers themselves.

The Reformation. The invention of printing oc­curred at a time when the Roman Catholic Church was torn by conflict. This conflict led to the Reformation, the religious movement in Europe of the 1500s that gave birth to Protestantism. An aim of the Protestant reform­ers was to make the Bible more widely available in ver­nacular translations. Printing made such Bible versions widely available at relatively low cost.

During the 1500s, Protestant sections of Europe, in­cluding parts of Germany and Switzerland, established primary schools to teach the children of common citi­zens to read the Bible in their native language. These vernacular schools also taught Christian morality and beliefs. Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic Church ex­panded its educational activities. Several Catholic reli­gious orders established vernacular schools for Catholic children. The number of secondary schools also ex­panded rapidly during the Reformation.

 The Age of Reason. The Age of Reason, a period of feat intellectual activity in the West, began in the 1600's and lasted until the late 1700's. During this period, schol­ars believed that through reasoning and scientific exper­imentation they could discover the laws of nature.

The advance of science affected education in several ways. Science began to be taught in the schools, though it did not become a major subject in primary and sec­ondary schools until the mid-1800's. By the late 1700's, however, the demand for an extensive scientific curricu­lum in Western universities and colleges had become overwhelming. As knowledge of natural science ex­panded, such philosophers as Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke began to urge the develop­ment of a social science for analysing human society and a behavioural science (later called psychology) for understanding individual actions.

The scientific revolution also affected education by making a formal training essential in certain activities. By assisting their parents, for example, children had up to now learnt to plough, sow, and reap in a traditional manner. But with the development of complicated farm machinery and scientific farming methods, agriculture came to depend on people trained in science. With the coming of the Industrial Revolution, factories too needed highly educated engineers and scientists. Trade and technical schools arose in many parts of Europe.

The rise of universal state schools. By the 1800s, the nation, rather than the church, had become the chief symbol that united people in many countries. Thus, reli­gious control over formal schooling declined while that of the state increased.

In France, following the French Revolution of 1789, a national system of secondary schools and universities was set up under tight government control in 1802. Pri­mary schools became part of the system in 1833. How­ever, France did not reform its school system on nation­alistic lines nearly so thoroughly as did Prussia and the United States. Prussia developed an educational system under which all children attended schools financed and regulated by the state. The curriculum dealt largely with German literature, geography, and history. Teachers were not only well trained but also dedicated to the state. In 1871, the king of Prussia became the first em­peror of a united Germany. The Prussian system of na­tionalistic schools was widely believed to have contrib­uted to Prussia's rise to power.

The United Kingdom was one of the few European countries that did not form a state-controlled educa­tional system in the 1800's. Churches and charitable so­cieties promoted schools more extensively than did the government. Robert Owen, a mill owner and social re­former, started the UK's first infant, or nursery, schools in the early 1800's. The most influential schools of the 1800's were the "public" schools, such as Eton and Rugby. These schools, which were private, offered a classical secondary education for upper-class boys.

Girls were less well educated than boys until the 1800's. From then on in most countries, more girls went to school, and a small but growing number of female students attended universities. Today, most national school systems are open to girls and boys on equal terms. However, in some countries girls still receive an inferior education.

By the early 1900s, state primary education was free and compulsory in most Western countries. Some countries also provided free secondary schooling. Vocation and technical education made great strides in Europe during the first half of the 1900's. But today, many coun­tries also stress general education at the secondary level. Many nations added infant, or nursery, schools to their systems in the mid-1900's. See the Education section of articles on various countries. See also: educators around the world. Related articles: Learning and Study.

Educational psychology is a field of psychology in which psychological knowledge and methods are used to study the processes of teaching and learning. Educa­tional psychology combines psychology and education by applying the scientific study of human behaviour to educational goals. Such study provides the information that teachers need to help students learn.

Educational psychologists conduct many kinds of re­search. They study how people change while growing from infancy to old age. Psychologists thus discover what kinds of behaviour are typical of students at differ­ent ages. Educators use such information to develop ef­fective teaching methods for various age groups.

Educational psychologists analyse individual differ­ences among students and determine the effect these differences have on learning. Attitudes, intelligence, so­cial adjustment, and other characteristics vary greatly among students and affect how well students learn. By understanding these differences, teachers may develop better instructional methods.

Educational psychologists also study the principles of learning. Such research provides teachers with informa­tion about how students learn and what stimulates them to learn. Educators use this information to design curriculums. Educational psychologists also develop tests and other methods of measuring what students have learned and how much they are able to learn. Related articles - Developmental psychology Education (Learning and teaching).
The Evolution of Education

MANY of us hear stories from grandparents or parents about how school was different back in the day, but do you ever wonder what it would be like to go to school in a different century?

Education systems, as a fixture of civilisations across the world, evolve to match society’s changing circumstances and needs according to each era.

You may be surprised to learn that in 1045 BC China, for example, girls only learnt rituals, conduct, and silk production and weaving before Confucianism introduced philosophy, which developed the curriculum of Chinese education for the next couple of centuries.

In fact, it was not until the Ming dynasty (1400 AD) that women started reading and writing - even then, education was a luxury reserved for rich women with the time and means to write poetry.

Here is a simplified timeline that will give you an idea of the evolution of western education and how it served purposes that were relevant to that period in history.

Ancient Greece and Rome - Spartan boys as young as seven years old were sent for rigorous military-style training to prepare them to become warriors by the time they turned 18.

Over in Athens, both school and exercise were given weightage. Literature was a central component of schooling, and older boys who were too poor for school undertook trade apprenticeships with philosopher- teachers. Earliest knowledge transfer on geometry, astronomy and arithmetic took place in this manner.

Roman education was influenced by the Greeks with a heavier focus on oratory skills.

Children learnt reading, writing and counting, and upper class boys were sent to grammar school and trained in public speaking.

The Middle Ages - Following the fall of the Roman empire, medieval churches salvaged what was left of western education. Education centred on learning Latin, mathematics and singing. Education was more centred on vocational schools for clerks and clergymen.

It was not until the 12th century that universities came into existence to teach grammar, arithmetic and astronomy again.

What followed were the Renaissance and Reformation periods, where the heavy religious influence and the birth of Protestanism created severe bias on curriculum and its methods of delivery.

17th century to 20th century - Education was a lot more widespread by this time, with a reformed system in Europe that increased government interest and * involvement.

States came to be responsible for carrying out an organised primary systems involving all children.

Pedagogical systems were properly developed at universities, but education was still being used to push forward political ideologies. However, as people became more literate, more desired to pursue secondary education.

Considering education as we know it only began to be adapted worldwide in the 20th century, it is hardly surprising that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization estimates more people will receive formal education in the next 30 years than in all of human history thus far.

Due to the rise of technology, knowledge today is transferred at a pace that would have been impossible through traditional methods alone.
Regardless of how schools develop from this decade on, children of the future will probably look back at education in this period with the same incredulity and fascination that we experience when considering past centuries.  

Source: TheStar/Tuesday/7 June, 2016

Malaysia Education Minister

DR MASZLEE MALIK

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