History
Education began in prehistory, as adults trained the
young in the knowledge and skills deemed necessary in
their society. In pre-literate societies, this was
achieved orally and through imitation. Story-telling
passed knowledge, values, and skills from one generation
to the next. As cultures began to extend their knowledge
beyond skills that could be readily learned through
imitation, formal education developed. Schools existed
in Egypt at the time of the Middle Kingdom.
Plato founded the Academy in Athens, the first
institution of higher learning in Europe. The city of
Alexandria in Egypt, established in 330 BCE, became the
successor to Athens as the intellectual cradle of
Ancient Greece. There, the great Library of Alexandria
was built in the 3rd century BCE. European civilizations
suffered a collapse of literacy and organization
following the fall of Rome in CE 476.
In China, Confucius (551–479 BCE), of the State of Lu,
was the country's most influential ancient philosopher,
whose educational outlook continues to influence the
societies of China and neighbours like Korea, Japan, and
Vietnam. Confucius gathered disciples and searched in
vain for a ruler who would adopt his ideals for good
governance, but his Analects were written down by
followers and have continued to influence education in
East Asia into the modern era.
After the Fall of Rome, the Catholic Church became the
sole preserver of literate scholarship in Western
Europe. The church established cathedral schools in the
Early Middle Ages as centres of advanced education. Some
of these establishments ultimately evolved into medieval
universities and forebears of many of Europe's modern
universities. During the High Middle Ages, Chartres
Cathedral operated the famous and influential Chartres
Cathedral School. The medieval universities of Western
Christendom were well-integrated across all of Western
Europe, encouraged freedom of inquiry, and produced a
great variety of fine scholars and natural philosophers,
including Thomas Aquinas of the University of Naples,
Robert Grosseteste of the University of Oxford, an early
expositor of a systematic method of scientific
experimentation, and Saint Albert the Great, a pioneer
of biological field research. Founded in 1088, the
University of Bologne is considered the first, and the
oldest continually operating university.
Elsewhere during the Middle Ages, Islamic science and
mathematics flourished under the Islamic caliphate which
was established across the Middle East, extending from
the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Indus in the
east and to the Almoravid Dynasty and Mali Empire in the
south.
The Renaissance in Europe ushered in a new age of
scientific and intellectual inquiry and appreciation of
ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Around 1450,
Johannes Gutenberg developed a printing press, which
allowed works of literature to spread more quickly. The
European Age of Empires saw European ideas of education
in philosophy, religion, arts and sciences spread out
across the globe. Missionaries and scholars also brought
back new ideas from other civilizations – as with the
Jesuit China missions who played a significant role in
the transmission of knowledge, science, and culture
between China and Europe, translating works from Europe
like Euclid's Elements for Chinese scholars and the
thoughts of Confucius for European audiences. The
Enlightenment saw the emergence of a more secular
educational outlook in Europe.
In most countries today, full-time education, whether at
school or otherwise, is compulsory for all children up
to a certain age. Due to this the proliferation of
compulsory education, combined with population growth,
UNESCO has calculated that in the next 30 years more
people will receive formal education than in all of
human history thus far. |
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Formal education
Formal education occurs in a structured environment
whose explicit purpose is teaching students. Usually,
formal education takes place in a school environment
with classrooms of multiple students learning together
with a trained, certified teacher of the subject. Most
school systems are designed around a set of values or
ideals that govern all educational choices in that
system. Such choices include curriculum, organizational
models, design of the physical learning spaces (e.g.
classrooms), student-teacher interactions, methods of
assessment, class size, educational activities, and
more.
Preschool
Preschools provide education from ages approximately
three to seven, depending on the country when children
enter primary education. These are also known as nursery
schools and as kindergarten, except in the US, where
kindergarten is a term used for primary education.
Kindergarten "provide[s] a child-centred, preschool
curriculum for three- to seven-year-old children that
aim[s] at unfolding the child's physical, intellectual,
and moral nature with balanced emphasis on each of
them."
Primary
Primary (or elementary) education consists of the first
five to seven years of formal, structured education. In
general, primary education consists of six to eight
years of schooling starting at the age of five or six,
although this varies between, and sometimes within,
countries. Globally, around 89% of children aged six to
twelve are enrolled in primary education, and this
proportion is rising. Under the Education For All
programs driven by UNESCO, most countries have committed
to achieving universal enrollment in primary education
by 2015, and in many countries, it is compulsory. The
division between primary and secondary education is
somewhat arbitrary, but it generally occurs at about
eleven or twelve years of age. Some education systems
have separate middle schools, with the transition to the
final stage of secondary education taking place at
around the age of fourteen. Schools that provide primary
education, are mostly referred to as primary schools or
elementary schools. Primary schools are often subdivided
into infant schools and junior school.
In India, for example, compulsory education spans over
twelve years, with eight years of elementary education,
five years of primary schooling and three years of upper
primary schooling. Various states in the republic of
India provide 12 years of compulsory school education
based on a national curriculum framework designed by the
National Council of Educational Research and Training.
Secondary
In most contemporary educational systems of the world,
secondary education comprises the formal education that
occurs during adolescence. It is characterized by
transition from the typically compulsory, comprehensive
primary education for minors, to the optional, selective
tertiary, "postsecondary", or "higher" education (e.g.
university, vocational school) for adults. Depending on
the system, schools for this period, or a part of it,
may be called secondary or high schools, gymnasiums,
lyceums, middle schools, colleges, or vocational
schools. The exact meaning of any of these terms varies
from one system to another. The exact boundary between
primary and secondary education also varies from country
to country and even within them but is generally around
the seventh to the tenth year of schooling. Secondary
education occurs mainly during the teenage years. In the
United States, Canada, and Australia, primary and
secondary education together are sometimes referred to
as K-12 education, and in New Zealand Year 1–13 is used.
The purpose of secondary education can be to give common
knowledge, to prepare for higher education, or to train
directly in a profession.
Secondary education in the United States did not emerge
until 1910, with the rise of large corporations and
advancing technology in factories, which required
skilled workers. In order to meet this new job demand,
high schools were created, with a curriculum focused on
practical job skills that would better prepare students
for white collar or skilled blue collar work. This
proved beneficial for both employers and employees,
since the improved human capital lowered costs for the
employer, while skilled employees received higher wages.
Secondary education has a longer history in Europe,
where grammar schools or academies date from as early as
the 16th century, in the form of public schools,
fee-paying schools, or charitable educational
foundations, which themselves date even further back.
Community colleges offer another option at this
transitional stage of education. They provide
nonresidential junior college courses to people living
in a particular area.
Tertiary (higher)
Higher education, also called tertiary, third stage, or
postsecondary education, is the non-compulsory
educational level that follows the completion of a
school such as a high school or secondary school.
Tertiary education is normally taken to include
undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as
vocational education and training. Colleges and
universities mainly provide tertiary education.
Collectively, these are sometimes known as tertiary
institutions. Individuals who complete tertiary
education generally receive certificates, diplomas, or
academic degrees.
Higher education typically involves work towards a
degree-level or foundation degree qualification. In most
developed countries, a high proportion of the population
(up to 50%) now enter higher education at some time in
their lives. Higher education is therefore very
important to national economies, both as a significant
industry in its own right and as a source of trained and
educated personnel for the rest of the economy.
University education includes teaching, research, and
social services activities, and it includes both the
undergraduate level (sometimes referred to as tertiary
education) and the graduate (or postgraduate) level
(sometimes referred to as graduate school). Universities
are generally composed of several colleges. In the
United States, universities can be private and
independent like Yale University; public and
state-governed like the Pennsylvania State System of
Higher Education; or independent but state-funded like
the University of Virginia. A number of career specific
courses are now available to students through the
Internet.
One type of university education is a liberal arts
education, which can be defined as a "college or
university curriculum aimed at imparting broad general
knowledge and developing general intellectual
capacities, in contrast to a professional, vocational,
or technical curriculum." Although what is known today
as liberal arts education began in Europe, the term
"liberal arts college" is more commonly associated with
institutions in the United States.
Vocational
Vocational education is a form of education focused on
direct and practical training for a specific trade or
craft. Vocational education may come in the form of an
apprenticeship or internship as well as institutions
teaching courses such as carpentry, agriculture,
engineering, medicine, architecture and the arts.
Special
In the past, those who were disabled were often not
eligible for public education. Children with
disabilities were repeatedly denied an education by
physicians or special tutors. These early physicians
(people like Itard, Seguin, Howe, Gallaudet) set the
foundation for special education today. They focused on
individualized instruction and functional skills. In its
early years, special education was only provided to
people with severe disabilities, but more recently it
has been opened to anyone who has experienced difficulty
learning.
Other educational forms
Alternative
While considered "alternative" today, most alternative
systems have existed since ancient times. After the
public school system was widely developed beginning in
the 19th century, some parents found reasons to be
discontented with the new system. Alternative education
developed in part as a reaction to perceived limitations
and failings of traditional education. A broad range of
educational approaches emerged, including alternative
schools, self learning, homeschooling, and unschooling.
Example alternative schools include Montessori schools,
Waldorf schools (or Steiner schools), Friends schools,
Sands School, Summerhill School, Walden's Path, The
Peepal Grove School, Sudbury Valley School, Krishnamurti
schools, and open classroom schools. Charter schools are
another example of alternative education, which have in
the recent years grown in numbers in the US and gained
greater importance in its public education system.
In time, some ideas from these experiments and paradigm
challenges may be adopted as the norm in education, just
as Friedrich Fröbel's approach to early childhood
education in 19th-century Germany has been incorporated
into contemporary kindergarten classrooms. Other
influential writers and thinkers have included the Swiss
humanitarian Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi; the American
transcendentalists Amos Bronson Alcott, Ralph Waldo
Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau; the founders of
progressive education, John Dewey and Francis Parker;
and educational pioneers such as Maria Montessori and
Rudolf Steiner, and more recently John Caldwell Holt,
Paul Goodman, Frederick Mayer, George Dennison, and Ivan
Illich.
Indigenous
Indigenous education refers to the inclusion of
indigenous knowledge, models, methods, and content
within formal and non-formal educational systems. Often
in a post-colonial context, the growing recognition and
use of indigenous education methods can be a response to
the erosion and loss of indigenous knowledge and
language through the processes of colonialism.
Furthermore, it can enable indigenous communities to
"reclaim and revalue their languages and cultures, and
in so doing, improve the educational success of
indigenous students."
Informal learning
Informal learning is one of three forms of learning
defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD). Informal learning occurs in a
variety of places, such as at home, work, and through
daily interactions and shared relationships among
members of society. For many learners, this includes
language acquisition, cultural norms, and manners.
Informal learning for young people is an ongoing process
that also occurs in a variety of places, such as out of
school time, in youth programs at community centres and
media labs.
Informal learning usually takes place outside
educational establishments, does not follow a specified
curriculum and may originate accidentally, sporadically,
in association with certain occasions, from changing
practical requirements. It is not necessarily planned to
be pedagogically conscious, systematic and according to
subjects, but rather unconsciously incidental,
holistically problem-related, and related to situation
management and fitness for life. It is experienced
directly in its "natural" function of everyday life and
is often spontaneous.
The concept of 'education through recreation' was
applied to childhood development in the 19th century. In
the early 20th century, the concept was broadened to
include young adults but the emphasis was on physical
activities. L.P. Jacks, also an early proponent of
lifelong learning, described education through
recreation: "A master in the art of living draws no
sharp distinction between his work and his play, his
labour and his leisure, his mind and his body, his
education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is
which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence
through whatever he is doing and leaves others to
determine whether he is working or playing. To himself,
he always seems to be doing both. Enough for him that he
does it well." Education through recreation is the
opportunity to learn in a seamless fashion through all
of life's activities. The concept has been revived by
the University of Western Ontario to teach anatomy to
medical students.
Open education and
electronic technology
In 2012, the modern use of electronic educational
technology (also called e-learning) had grown at 14
times the rate of traditional learning. Open education
is fast growing to become the dominant form of
education, for many reasons such as its efficiency and
results compared to traditional methods. Cost of
education has been an issue throughout history, and a
major political issue in most countries today. Online
courses often can be more expensive than face-to-face
classes. Out of 182 colleges surveyed in 2009 nearly
half said tuition for online courses was higher than for
campus-based ones. Many large university institutions
are now starting to offer free or almost free full
courses such as Harvard, MIT and Berkeley teaming up to
form edX. Other universities offering open education are
Stanford, Princeton, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Edinburgh, U.
Penn, U. Michigan, U. Virginia, U. Washington, and
Caltech. It has been called the biggest change in the
way we learn since the printing press. Despite
favourable studies on effectiveness, many people may
still desire to choose traditional campus education for
social and cultural reasons.
The conventional merit-system degree is currently not as
common in open education as it is in campus
universities, although some open universities do already
offer conventional degrees such as the Open University
in the United Kingdom. Presently, many of the major open
education sources offer their own form of certificate.
Due to the popularity of open education, these new kind
of academic certificates are gaining more respect and
equal "academic value" to traditional degrees. Many open
universities are working to have the ability to offer
students standardized testing and traditional degrees
and credentials.
A culture is beginning to form around distance learning
for people who are looking to social connections enjoyed
on traditional campuses. For example, students may
create study groups, meetups, and movements such as
UnCollege.
Economics of education
It has been argued that high rates of education are
essential for countries to be able to achieve high
levels of economic growth. Empirical analyses tend to
support the theoretical prediction that poor countries
should grow faster than rich countries because they can
adopt cutting edge technologies already tried and tested
by rich countries. However, technology transfer requires
knowledgeable managers and engineers who are able to
operate new machines or production practices borrowed
from the leader in order to close the gap through
imitation. Therefore, a country's ability to learn from
the leader is a function of its stock of "human
capital". Recent study of the determinants of aggregate
economic growth have stressed the importance of
fundamental economic institutions and the role of
cognitive skills.
At the level of the individual, there is a large
literature, generally related to the work of Jacob
Mincer, on how earnings are related to the schooling and
other human capital. This work has motivated a large
number of studies, but is also controversial. The chief
controversies revolve around how to interpret the impact
of schooling. Some students who have indicated a high
potential for learning, by testing with a high
intelligence quotient, may not achieve their full
academic potential, due to financial difficulties.
Economists Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis argued in
1976 that there was a fundamental conflict in American
schooling between the egalitarian goal of democratic
participation and the inequalities implied by the
continued profitability of capitalist production. |
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