by S.E. Gunn PhD, All News Pipeline:
Education has been a mainstay around the world and throughout time. In the past, schooling took place in the home, on the job, and/or in the religious realm. Wikipedia provides a succinct history of pre-modern-age education throughout the world:
The history of education, like other history, extends at least as far back as the first written records recovered from ancient civilizations. Historical studies have included virtually every nation. The earliest known formal school was developed in Egypt’s Middle Kingdom under the direction of Kheti, treasurer to Mentuhotep II (2061-2010 BC). In ancient India, education was mainly imparted through the Vedic and Buddhist education system, while the first education system in ancient China was created in Xia dynasty (2076–1600 BC). In the city-states of ancient Greece, most education was private . . . The first schools in Ancient Rome arose by the middle of the 4th century BC. In Europe, during the Early Middle Ages, the monasteries of the Roman Catholic Church were the centers of education and literacy, preserving the Church’s selection from Latin learning and maintaining the art of writing. In the Islamic civilization that spread all the way between China and Spain during the time between the 7th and 19th centuries, Muslims started schooling from 622 in Medina, which is now a city in Saudi Arabia, schooling at first was in the mosques (masjid in Arabic) but then schools became separate in schools next to mosques. . . . Most schools during this era were founded upon religious principles with the primary purpose of training the clergy. [Emphasis added]
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America before Public Schools
The Center on Education Policy (CEP) tells us that before public schools were created,
. . . children were often taught by church schools, schools organized by towns or parents, traveling school masters, charities, boarding schools, “Dame schools” (run by women in their own home), private tutoring, home schooling, and work apprenticeships. These educational opportunities were dependent upon funds that were charged to parents and charitable contributions. Some rural areas had no schools at all. Plus, no state had compulsory education laws. [Meaning students were not forced to attend school.]
The Puritans decreed that reading and critical thinking were necessary for their children to be able to read and understand the Bible. Therefore, they set up the first schools in the nation shortly after their arrival in Massachusetts in 1630. Because this country was founded on religious freedom, each church that provided schooling included religious education in addition to whatever other subjects they determined were necessary to understanding the Bible and to their community. Prior to 1800, the United States was considered the most highly educated country in the world.
What happened?
Image from FREE HSNPublic School Curriculum
First Public School in America
National Geographic tells us first public school for boys only in America was opened April 23, 1635 by the Puritans in the Fenway area of Boston, Massachusetts. It was originally called “Boston Latin School” and it is still operating today for grades 7-12 albeit in a different location in Boston. They finally admitted girls in 1972. It was strictly college prep, focused on “humanities,” and modeled after the Free Grammar School located in Boston, England.
Image from Flickr
In 1644, Dedham, Massachusetts authorized the first totally U.S. taxpayer-funded public school.
Image from Wikipedia
Public schools were presented as opportunities to “enforce one set of values onto all demographics”. Prior to establishing government-funded public schools, schools were religious in nature and each religion thought the others were blasphemous towards their own religion. The ‘last straw’ was when Harvard removed their founding Calvinistic tenants in 1805 when the Unitarianists finally managed to take over the school. These Unitarians believed salvation was attained through a government-controlled education where “reason-based” moral perfectibility would prevail (communism anyone?). A little over 100 years later, these Unitarians became dominant and began to be called “progressives” putting their ‘faith’ into science, evolution, and psychology. Public schools were to emphasize “work ethic, productivity, respect for authority, respect for rigid process, competitiveness, and social uniformity”. Boarding schools became mandatory for Native American (and sometimes other minority) children to force assimilation and eradicate “native customs and language”.
Compulsory Education Laws – force the children to attend public school
As far back as ancient Judea, Jewish religious leaders were requiring parents educate their sons well enough to be able to read holy texts. Some historians say the Aztec Triple Alliance of “modern-day” central Mexico in the 1400s/1500s were the first to make education mandatory for all children. Scotland mandated education for “privileged families” in 1496, adding mandatory education for “commoners” via the School Establishment Act of 1616. Many countries around the world then began to set up systems emulating what Prussia set up in 1763. The U.S. Constitution, however, does not mandate education of any kind.
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