The History of School

The school system we have in place today has not been around for a very long time. Of course, every society in history has instituted various forms and systems of education, some similar to the ones today, and others vastly different. 

The first formal educational systems were founded in Greece and Rome. Schooling during this era was exclusively for the elites. 

Usually, children of a noble or wealthy person would have his own personal tutor to teach a wide range of subjects, including math, literature, history, science, and other important areas. A famous example is Alexander the Great, who was taught by the famous philosopher Aristotle. 

The poor at that time (and for a long time after) remained illiterate and largely uneducated. Girls, of course, were not given an education, regardless of their family status.

Education stayed about the same for a long time after that, with private tutoring being the only method until the 17th century. 

The invention of the modern classroom system is credited to John Amos Comninus, a Czech educator. With his creation, students began school at around what we would now consider first or second grade and learned with their peers in larger groups. 

Still, education was not available to the masses, as schools were expensive and children still had to work. However, at the beginning of the industrial revolution, machine labor caused a need for workers who could read and write. 

This influenced Germany to implement free schooling in 1794. France, England, and America would all follow later in the 1800s, finally enabling poorer citizens to receive an education.

At last, both poor people and the wealthy could go to school. Sadly, both women and minorities were still excluded from the larger educational systems, but by the mid-19th century, new schools were instituted to serve them. Both groups were finally allowed into the formerly exclusively white male institutions. 

As we’ve seen, school systems as we have today have clearly not been the norm for most of human civilization. Until the 17th century, it wasn’t even really a thing. Until the 18th century, it was only for the rich, and until the mid-1900s, it was really only for white men. But, through much human progress and overcoming obstacles, we have allowed most people, regardless of background, race, sex, or any other factors, to receive a quality education.