History of education

The first major milestone in the history of education occurred in prehistoric times when man invented language. Language en­abled man to communicate more precisely than he could by signs and gestures. But early man had only a spoken language. He had no system of writing or numbering and no schools.

Young people in prehistoric societies were educated through apprenticeship, imitation and rituals. Through apprenticeship a young man 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 their parents and other adults in their society. Through the performance of rituals, they learned about the meaning of life and the ties that bound them to their group. The rituals consisted of dancing or other activities. They were performed at times of emotional stress, such as death, warfare, or drought. The rituals usually involved myths, which dealt with such things as the group's history and its gods and heroes.

Today, in all societies, young people still learn through ap­prenticeship, imitation and ritual. But as a society grows increasingly complicated, teachers and schools take on more and more responsibility for educating the young.

The Beginning of Formal Education

About 3000 BC, the Sumerians, who lived in Tigris-Euphrates Valley, and the Egyptians each invented a system of writing. Both systems included a method of writing numbers as well as language. The invention of writing was the second major milestone in the history of education. It made possible the beginning of schools, as we know them today.

Before man developed writing, teachers had to repeat orally what was to be learned until the young had memorized it. A child could thus learn only what his teacher already knew, and had memorized. But by teaching the child to read, a teacher could make available the knowledge of many men, not only his own, yet reading and writing could not be learned while the child served as an apprentice, imitated the behaviour of his elders, or took part in rituals. In addition, the first writing systems, which were a kind of picture writing, were awkward and hard to learn. As a result, special schools arose in which teachers taught reading, writing, and calculation.

Sumerian and Egyptian Education

Shortly after 3000 BC, both the Sumerians and the Egyptians established schools to teach boys the newly invented arts of reading and writing. The schools were taught by temple priests. Only exceptionally talented boys could attend the schools. Girls were not allowed to attend school, but some girls learned reading and writing in their homes.

A boy's training, which lasted from about the age of 5 to 17, was strict and monotonous. He learned to write by copying the same literary selections again and again. He learned arithmetic by copying business accounts. Boys who completed their education formed a separate social class called "scribes." Scribes were hired for any task that required knowledge of reading, writing, or arithmetic.