Feature Article

The evolution of education

Travel 1500 years back in time into the sixth century. Picture yourself sitting in a large classroom with exquisite paintings on all four walls and the ceiling. The ancient teacher, who looks like he was a century old, has a long, white beard and he is speaking a foreign language in a quirky, high-pitched voice which sounds a little like English, possibly Latin.

Confused? Well, this was the type of education received by students living in the medieval era, or better known as the Dark Ages. This marked the start of formal schooling in classrooms, which developed to become what it is today.

The history of education is the history of teaching and learning. Each generation, since the beginning of human existence, has sought to pass on cultural and social values, traditions, morality, religion and skills to the next generation. The passing on of culture is also known as enculturation and the learning of social values and behaviours is socialization. The history of the curricula of such education reflects human history itself, the history of knowledge, beliefs, skills and cultures of humanity.

Education is a cycle which repeats itself. Education causes a breakthrough in technology, which the new idea or formula is presented in the form of education. This cycle will continue to repeat itself until we stop the practice of education. Thus, education plays a very crucial role in the development of the human world.

Our forefathers and ancestors helped greatly in the process of improving this world through education, and even education itself. Now, let us take a look at history to see the foundation of education.

During the prehistoric times, cavemen developed writing, an indispensable tool that has been used even until now. The writing was taught to many other tribes so that they could communicate easily with one another and also record items such as food stock. This was by far the first recorded history of signs of education and also one of the first greatest achievements by mankind. Although the writing was pictorial, they helped build our understanding of the complexities of this world. Through many centuries of debate, discussions, government policies and suggestions, we have what we have now: education divided into subjects, age, degrees and talents.

During the first half of the second millennium, many people were deprived of education due to their family background. Usually, the people eligible for this so-called privilege were royals, children born with a silver spoon and occasional rare talents and geniuses. Therefore, many people were illiterate. Without the education to get a better job, they could not improve their lives and were very poor.

Before the Information Technology era (IT), people used to study with books and lessons were usually quite boring with the teacher droning on and on. Nowadays, with computers and the Internet, lessons can be made interactive and with instant communication. Nevertheless, we should be grateful that education now is made compulsory for all.

In conclusion, the development of education has been a very eventful one. Its history is so rich that it would take a whole book just to describe them. Therefore, we should not find it boring as it is a very important and useful tool for our survival in the current society. We should, instead, treasure it by studying hard to improve the quality of education.