The Evolution of Education: Tracing the Roots of Learning

Introduction

Education is dynamic process and has transformed for several time periods depending with cultural-social and technology advancements. The history of education, or development of education is a part of the continuous progress of humanity’s longing for gaining and sharing knowledge. This essay reveals how the processes that govern the classroom as we know it started from basic origin of learning.
The History of Learning:
Training is virtually as old as man himself since history has it that man has always been learning. It is therefore important for one to understand that practice of education among early societies even before the formation of instructional systems. These informal means of learning about timelines provided early learning of education time lines that paved way for a structured learning system.

From Ancient Beginnings to Modern Classrooms
Early roots of learning can be dated back to ancient period of human civilization which include Mesopotamia, Egypt and China along with India where roots of early schools surfaced. In these societies the education was still limited and it was given to the selected few and the common topics included religion, politics and civil administration.

This was the beginning of ancient education and as societies developed the education system became much more formalized. In an ancient Mesopotamia, one of the earliest civilizations, there were school buildings termed ‘edubba’ which had the function of training scribes.

These scribes wrote on clay tablets to document more information an activity that was crucial for state, commerce, and art. In Egyptian context, education was only for the elites which includes children of noble, priests and scribes, where education was focused on reading, writing, mathematics and religious knowledge.

Ancient Education Practices
The Indian early educational practices also shared their correlation with religion and philosophy. The Gurukul system, where students learned with their teachers and at the same time they used to live with them also, its specialized subjects included grammar, mathematical science, Ayurveda and warfare, metaphysics etc.

Similarly, the ancient Chinese society attached much importance on education, which was mainly aimed at producing government officials. The ideology of Confucianism highly influenced Chinese historical ways of learning; it focuses on moral conduct and ethical standards as well as developing a good character.

·        Gurukul education system

Thus, the ancient education practices in India were also influenced by religious and philosophical point of view. The Gurukul education system under which students and teachers both used to stay together was based mainly on subjects such as vedic grammar, mathematics, medicine and metaphysics.

Like the Romans, the Chinese who inhabited ancient China were also very much conscious of the education system which was largely geared towards preparing government officials. These teaching of confucius influenced Chinese techniques of history learning by way of moral education, ethics and character building.

·        Social structure of education

The Greeks and the Romans also played a role in the development of the learning systems in ancient times. Many modern ideas about education came from Greek philosophers such as Plato, and Aristotle who constructed the social structure of education in the western world.

Plato ‘s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum are evident institutions which where early formal institutions whose primary function was to gather knowledge. These old techniques of teaching and learning were based on rhetoric, philosophy, mathematics and the natural sciences which paved way to the subsequent eras of education in Europe

·        The Roman Education

Romans took the ideas of education from Greek societies but also embraced real life courses such as law and Engineering as well as Military strategic knowledge. The Roman education influence was that Rome stressed on education as a preparation for citizenship and the young men. The Greeks and Romans played a very important role in developing the civilizational learning practices which were a basis of the western system of education.

·        Education Systems Through History:

With civilization evolution the systems of education have evolved as well that is why. Schooling development was characterized by some major changes during the Middle Ages for instance the monastic schools and the cathedral schools emerged as the most important institutions of learning in Europe.

They were church-run and the main learning that was offered was religious education though other subjects taught included grammar, logic and rhetoric.
The development of universities in the 12 century can be considered as the great achievement in the educational process of European countries. This makes University of Bologna in Italy (1088), University of Paris in France (1150) and University of Oxford in England (1167) as some of the oldest Universities still in existence.

These included liberal arts, theology, medicine and law in later years hence making it capitalize on these بدون. It was during this period that learning started with the laymen especially in science, and humanities after it had primarily been with the clergy.

Development of Education: From Industrialization to Modern Day

With time, changes in education System with new philosophies of education as they emerged in the society were featured. For instance, the Enlightenment during the 17th and 18th centuries opened the society to reason, science, and human right and fostered expansion of Education systems in Europe.

·        Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Philosophy

Jean-Jacques Rousseau considered education which encouraged a child’s developed skills, instead of forcing a child to rote memorization, as the best kind of education. It becomes noticeable that there was a change in the methods of education in history; it was no longer purely religious education as many subjects were introduced most especially science, math, literature, and even philosophy.

·        Industrial Revolution

Education further adapted to advancement and experienced kind growth in the 19th as well as the 20th centuries especially with the introduction of industrial revolution. This stimulated the call for more educated people to manage the factories and businesses through development of public-school systems round many countries.

During this same period, education expanded through the introduction of compulsory schooling laws that would make it mandatory for all party’s children to have access to education at the least basic level.

Modern Education vs. Traditional Education
In today the modern education system is different from the traditional education system. Traditional and modern learning approaches are some of the comparison techniques used in describing transformations in teaching practices, content delivery and educational aspirations.

·        Traditional Education

In traditional education the teacher is considered the dominant figure, who explained something and received passive learners who were engaged in memorization of various pieces of information and obeying numerous rules. Old education systems of learning were inflexible with ambiguous provisions for students to be creative or innovative.

·        Modern Education

On the other hand, current learning system put a lot of emphasis in the learners, where the teacher is more like a guide rather than an authority figure. There is more emphasis on such aspects as critical thinking, on problem solving skills, and creativity. Contemporary learning also includes the variety of approaches to classroom work, group learning, project and presentation as well as usage of multimedia.

Evolution of Education

The change in the method of schooling has also been influenced by the awareness of students’ emotional and social growth in parallel with academic progress. Teachers of today are required to prepare learners for a world that is evolving from simple examination are preparatory Schools, to schools that prepare learners for life.

·        The Impact of Technology on Education

I believe that technology has been one of the key areas that have undergone a more profound transformation in the course of education. It’s important to understand that people’s ways of getting the information have shifted dramatically with the advent of the digital age. Computer based learning techniques like online classes, digital classroom, learning management system, etc., have totally changed the way of learning.

Earlier it was possible to go to a certain school, college or university was determined by place of residence, financial standing and gender. Nowadays students from all over the world are able to get education from the most popular and famous universities and schools through the internet. In this digital age this education has been made easy for a wider coverage and reach than has ever been witnessed before.

Technological enhanced education revolution is also reflected in how class conducts and curriculums are delivered as well. Such tools as Smartboards, LMS, and applications have become a regular element of the contemporary educational process in order to develop individual approaches and effective methods of learning. Students can read content at will do the simulation exercises, and communicate with other students from different countries via MSM or video conferencing.

·        Influence of Ancient Civilizations on Modern Education

Thus, despite the fact that modern education was defined rather recently, the ancient traditions are reflected in it in one way or another. For instance, Socratic approach which was discovered in ancient Greece prevails as an effective modern method of teaching law schools and departments of humanities. As to the fact that the Romans put particular value in words, which was evident in rhetoric and public speaking of their times, reflects modern communication and debate.

Further, the Confucianism which says that the moral education is the important part of education is still existing in many of the Asian countries today. The combination of such learning systems that were used in ancient civilizations with modern teaching methodologies is a clear indication that the values of past generations are still present in today’s teaching.

Conclusion

Education development has been a progressive process that has changed over a long time depending on the needs for any society. Education starting from Mesopotamian education, Greek and Roman education to computer-based education in the present-day classrooms, has always been a continuity of human civilization.

However, given the trends in the future, with emphasis given to the incorporation of technology, globalization, and new strategies of teaching and learning vistas, education is very likely to improve.

The core goal remains the same: as a way to prepare people with the knowledge and the skills as well as the skills in critical thinking that are needed in today’s world. Education as chronicled here has not stood still and rigid; it is a dynamic process that changes with time, and yet it learns from the time gone by.

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