Education is a means of shaping an individual’s life, whether in the classroom or outside of it. It imparts historical, societal, and cultural knowledge, as well as critical thinking skills, and, often, an improved ability to approach unfamiliar situations and subjects rationally and with an open mind.
Throughout history, scholars and philosophers have debated the purpose of education; the conclusions usually supported the nature of the society in which these scholars lived. Some, such as the ancient Greeks and Romans, argued that education was necessary for an engaged citizenry. Some, such as those in precolonial America and many industrialized Western countries, believed its purpose was to promote obedience and indoctrinate youth to dominant cultural ideas. And some, such as those in the ancient Indian and Chinese cultures, believed the pursuit of knowledge itself was a virtuous or even spiritual goal.
Today, our conversations tend to center around child development and the economy — how education can help children grow into healthy, intelligent adults able to support themselves financially and contribute to society as a whole. Some experts caution, though, that an excessive focus on the pragmatic and economic benefits of education deprives modern children of enjoyment of the process of learning. Since humans are natural learners, they argue, learning may be most valuable when it’s pursued for its own sake.
Education can be broken down into formal and informal processes. Formal education, that imparted in a classroom, is believed to facilitate social learning, build executive functioning skills, and provide children with an opportunity to explore subjects they might not be exposed to otherwise. Informal education, that obtained outside of a structured environment, allows children to develop their own interests and learn self-direction, an important life skill in most societies.
In the modern world, most policymakers and educational psychologists agree that some form of formal education is necessary for a child to learn to function effectively. However, experts disagree about the nature of that education. Some argue that the hyperfocus on grades, testing, and following a rigid curriculum, can be counterproductive, interfering with the natural learning process, especially child inquisitiveness, that more informal approaches often provide. In addition, some experts believe that excessively rigid schooling may contribute to heightened anxiety among children, especially non-normative students and those who struggle with skills acquisition and mastery.
Ideally, our modern educational system education will address the concerns of our modern society without losing the lessons learned through earlier civilizations’ approaches. It should teach both the technical skills needed for future success and develop the critical thinking abilities that allow humans to approach problems with innovation, engage new perspectives, and keep up with an ever-changing world. Whether there is a “right” approach or not, or whether there’s some combination of approaches that better address a learning child’s needs, we hope we’ve addressed them in enough detail throughout this series.
To read part 1: Introduction, click here.
To read part 2: Purpose of education, click here.
To read part 3: Prehistory to pre-industrial, click here.
To read part 4: Mesopotamia and the Sumerians, click here.
To read part 5: Ancient Egypt, click here.
To read part 6: Ancient Greece and Rome, click here.
To read part 7: The Greek philosophers, click here.
To read part 8: China, click here.
To read part 9: The Olmecs and the Maya, click here.
To read part 10: The Islamic World: Basics, click here.
To read part 11: The Islamic World: The Golden Age, click here.
To read part 12: The Renaissance, click here.
To read part 13: American Educational System Overview, click here.
To read part 14: European Influences, Jon Amos Comenius, click here.
To read part 15, European Influences, Froebel, click here.
To read part 16, European Influences, Herbart, click here.
To read part 17, European Influences, Herbert Spencer, click here.
To read part 18, Colonial Period, Puritans, click here.
To read part 19, Colonial Period, New England Books, click here.
To read part 20, Colonial Period, Massachusetts Education Laws, click here.
To read part 21, Colonial Period, Harvard College, click here.
To read part 22, Early National Period, Benjamin Franklin, click here.
To read part 23, Early National Period, Benjamin Rush, click here.
To read part 24, Early National Period, Thomas Jefferson, click here.
To read part 25, Early National Period, Noah Webster, click here.
To read part 26, Early National Period, Educational Ordinances, click here.
To read part 27, Early National Period, Dartmouth College/Yale Report, click here.
To read part 28, Common School Period, Horace Mann, click here.
To read part 29, Common School Period, Mary Lyon and Mount Holyoke College, click here.
To read part 30, Common School Period, McGuffey Readers, click here.
To read part 31, Common School Period, Catholic vs. Protestant Education, click here.
To read part 32, Common School Period, Compulsory Education, click here.
To read part 33, Common School Period, African American Education, click here.
To read part 34, Common School Period, National Education Association, click here.
To read part 35, Common School Period, Morrill Land Grant Acts, click here.
To read part 36, Common School Period Wrap-Up, click here.
To read part 37, Leadership in Transition, click here.
To read part 38, A Time of Reform, click here.
To read part 39, School Choice and Structure, click here.
To read part 40, Vocational Education, click here.
To read part 41, Curricular Differentiation, click here.
To read part 42, The Great War, click here.
To read part 43, the Educational Ladder, click here.
To read part 44, Two New Rungs, click here.
To read part 45, Comprehensive High School, click here.
To read part 46, Comprehensive High School: New Subjects, click here.
Source:
Psychology Today Staff. (2022). “Education.” Psychologytoday.com. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/education.
