Virtual Learning Network Homepage
Virtual Learning Network Home. What is the Virtual Learning Network? The
Virtual Learning Network (VLN) is a web-based service to facilitate the
sharing of information about courses provided by education organizations using
video conferencing facilities. The service now include tertiary education
organizations, and be in a position to include early childhood centers, private
training establishments, businesses and other government agencies.
Background
For many of the smaller, rural secondary schools, the challenge of providing
a sufficiently broad range of curriculum options for students at the senior
level of the school cannot be met within existing, local resources. An
increasing number of schools across the country have worked together to
establish clusters linked by audio or video conference networks, allowing a
teacher in one school to teach a ‘class’ comprising students in one or several
of the other schools in the cluster. Demand also came from schools for the
coordination of support for schools using video conferencing, and the desire of
schools in these clusters to know what offerings were available in the wider
context. Emphasis has been given to involving tertiary education organizations
on the network, with the primary focus being the addition of courses provided by
the tertiary institution intended for school students. Already, three major
tertiary education organizations have become a part of the VLN.
The Virtual Learning Network is about more than simply providing a technical
service. It involves socializing the vision of what may be achieved through a
fully functioning brokerage service, the provision of pedagogical and technical
advice and guidance, and making contributions to the development of a
coordinated and strategic approach to the provision of support and services.
Learning is the acquisition and development of memories and behaviors,
including skills, knowledge, understanding, values, and wisdom. It is the goal
of education, and the product of experience. Learning ranges from simple forms
such as habituation to more complex forms such as play (activity), seen only in
large vertebrates.
Neuropsychology
Topics
Brain-computer interfaces ? Brain damage
Brain regions ? Clinical neuropsychology
Cognitive neuroscience ? Human brain
Neuroanatomy ? Neurophysiology
Phrenology ? Popular misconceptions
Brain functions
arousal ? attention
concentration ? consciousness
decision-making ? executive functions
language ? learning ? memory
motor coordination ? perception
planning ? problem solving
thinking
People
Arthur L. Benton ? Antnio Damsio
Kenneth Heilman ? Phineas Gage
Norman Geschwind ? Elkhonon Goldberg
Donald Hebb ? Alexander Luria
Muriel D. Lezak ? Brenda Milner
Karl Pribram ? Oliver Sacks
Roger Sperry
Tests
Bender-Gestalt Test
Benton Visual Retention Test
Clinical Dementia Rating
Continuous Performance Task
Glasgow Coma Score
Hayling and Brixton tests
Lexical decision task
Mini mental state examination
Stroop task
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
Wisconsin card sorting task
This box: ? ? [
Physiology of learning
"Thought," in a general sense, is commonly conceived as something arising from
the stimulation of neurons in the brain. Current understanding of neurons and
the central nervous system implies that the process of learning corresponds to
changes in the relationship between certain neurons in the brain. Research is
ongoing in this area.
Generally, however, it is recognized that the retainment of memory comes easier
when multiple parts of the brain (such as hearing, seeing, smelling, motor
skills, touch sense, and logical thinking lobes; informal names given) are
stimulated.
Repeating thoughts and actions is an essential part of learning (thinking about
a specific memory will make it easy to recall (this is the reason why reviews
are such an integral part of education)). On first performing a task (crossing a
ravine, metaphorically) it is difficult as there is no path from axon to
dendrite (no bridge across the ravine), after several repetitions a pathway
begins to form (the beginnings of a rope bridge are forming across the ravine)
and the task becomes easier. When the task becomes so easy that you can perform
it at any time, the pathway is fully formed (rope bridge complete). The speed at
which a pathway is formed depends on the individual, but is usually localised
resulting in talents.
Types of learning
Habituation
Habituation
In psychology, habituation is an example of non-associative learning in which
there is a progressive diminution of behavioral response probability with
repetition of a stimulus. It is another form of integration. An animal first
responds to a stimulus, but if it is neither rewarding nor harmful the animal
reduces subsequent responses. One example of this can be seen in small song
birds - if a stuffed owl (or similar predator) is put into the cage, the birds
initially react to it as though it were a real predator. Soon the birds react
less, showing habituation. If another stuffed owl is introduced (or the same one
removed and re-introduced), the birds react to it as though it were a predator,
showing that it is only a very specific stimulus that is habituated to (namely,
one particular unmoving owl in one place). Habituation has been shown in
essentially every species of animal, including the large protozoan Stentor
coeruleus.
Sensitization
Sensitization
Sensitization is an example of non-associative learning in which the progressive
amplification of a response follows repeated administrations of a stimulus (Bell
et al., 1995). An everyday example of this mechanism is the repeated tonic
stimulation of peripheral nerves that will occur if a person rubs his arm
continuously. After a while, this stimulation will create a warm sensation that
will eventually turn painful. The pain is the result of the progressively
amplified synaptic response of the peripheral nerves warning the person that the
stimulation is harmful. Sensitization is thought to underlie both adaptive as
well as maladaptive learning processes in the organism.
Imprinting
Enlarge picture
Konrad Z. Lorenz being followed by his imprinted geese
Imprinting (psychology)
Imprinting is the term used in psychology and ethology to describe any kind of
phase-sensitive learning (learning occurring at a particular age or a particular
life stage) that is rapid and apparently independent of the consequences of
behavior. It was first used to describe situations in which an animal or person
learns the characteristics of some stimulus, which is therefore said to be
"imprinted" onto the subject.
Associative learning
Operant conditioning
Operant conditioning
Operant conditioning is the use of consequences to modify the occurrence and
form of behavior. Operant conditioning is distinguished from Pavlovian
conditioning in that operant conditioning deals with the modification of
voluntary behavior kuyyjm Edition, Ed. Michael Domjan
Discrimination learning is a major form of operant conditioning. One form of it
is called Errorless learning.
Classical conditioning
Classical conditioning
The typical paradigm for classical conditioning involves repeatedly pairing an
unconditioned stimulus (which unfailingly evokes a particular response) with
another stimulus (which does not normally evoke the response). Following
conditioning, the response occurs both to the unconditioned stimulus and to the
other, unrelated stimulus (now referred to as the "conditioned stimulus"). The
response to the conditioned stimulus is termed a conditioned response.
Observational learning
Observational learning
The most basic learning process is imitation, one's personal repetition of an
observed process, such as a smile. Thus an imitation will take one's time
(attention to the details), space (a location for learning), skills (or
practice), and other resources (for example, a protected area). Through copying,
most infants learn how to hunt (i.e., direct one's attention), feed and perform
most basic tasks necessary for survival.
Example can be a motivation for learning. Imitation of a role model is a natural
mechanism for infants and children, when learning from experience. Child's play
is another method for learning by the example of other children, who naturally
gain satisfaction by playing the role of teacher or mentor to a less-experienced
child.
The next form of learning is acquired learning. Teenagers often go through this
when it comes to dating, sexual relations, and other areas in which they have
received no formal or informal education.
Enlarge picture
Merry-go-round in a playground
The sandbox (sandpit) in a playground is an example of a location where children
can learn by experience. It is instructive to watch smaller children on a
merry-go-round, for example, who naturally push it more slowly than the larger,
older, more experienced ones. In order for a little one to get on the
merry-go-round, they might simply grab a bar and drag their feet in the sand,
while holding on. This slows down the rotation, which allows the little one to
climb on, under the oversight of a supervisor, to ensure their physical safety.
Learning "how to learn" is a skill, which can be taught to others, by example.
Play
Play (activity)
Play generally describes behavior which has no particular end in itself, but
improves performance in similar situations in the future. This is seen in a wide
variety of vertebrates besides humans, but is mostly limited to mammals and
birds. Cats are known to play with a ball of string when young, which gives them
experience with catching prey. Besides inanimate objects, animals may play with
other members of their own species or other animals, such as orcas playing with
seals they have caught. Play involves a significant cost to animals, such as
increased vulnerability to predators and the risk or injury and possibly
infection. It also consumes energy, so there must be significant benefits
associated with play for it to have evolved. Play is generally seen in younger
animals, suggesting a link with learning. However, it may also have other
benefits not associated directly with learning, for example improving physical
fitness.
Machine learning
Machine learning
Although learning is often thought of as a property associated with living
things, computers are also able to modify their own behaviors as a result of
experiences. Known as machine learning, this is a broad subfield of artificial
intelligence concerned with the design and development of algorithms and
techniques that allow computers to "learn". At a general level, there are two
types of learning: inductive, and deductive. Inductive machine learning methods
extract rules and patterns out of massive data sets.
The major focus of machine learning research is to extract information from data
automatically, by computational and statistical methods. Hence, machine learning
is closely related to data mining and statistics but also theoretical computer
science.
Machine learning has a wide spectrum of applications including natural language
processing, syntactic pattern recognition, search engines, medical diagnosis,
bioinformatics and cheminformatics, detecting credit card fraud, stock market
analysis, classifying DNA sequences, speech and handwriting recognition, object
recognition in computer vision, game playing and robot locomotion.
Approaches to learning
Rote learning
Rote learning
Rote learning is a technique which avoids understanding the inner complexities
and inferences of the subject that is being learned and instead focuses on
memorizing the material so that it can be recalled by the learner exactly the
way it was read or heard. The major practice involved in rote learning
techniques is learning by repetition, based on the idea that one will be able to
quickly recall the meaning of the material the more it is repeated. Rote
learning is used in diverse areas, from mathematics to music to religion.
Although it has been criticized by some schools of thought, rote learning is a
necessity in many situations.
Informal learning
Informal learning
Informal learning occurs through the experience of day-to-day situations (for
example, one would learn to look ahead while walking because of the danger
inherent in not paying attention to where one is going). It is learning from
life, during a meal at table with parents, Play, exploring.
Formal learning
Education
Formal learning is learning that takes place within a teacher-student
relationship, such as in a school system.
Non-formal learning is organized learning outside the formal learning system.
For example: learning by coming together with people with similar interests and
exchanging viewpoints, in clubs or in (international) youth organisations,
workshops.
Non-formal learning and combined approaches
The educational system may use a combination of formal, informal, and non-formal
learning methods. The UN and EU recognize these different forms of learning (cf.
links below). In some schools students can get points that count in the
formal-learning systems if they get work done in informal-learning circuits.
They may be given time to assist international youth workshops and training
courses, on the condition they prepare, contribute, share and can proof this
offered valuable new insights, helped to acquire new skills, a place to get
experience in organising, teaching, etc.
In order to learn a skill, such as solving a Rubik's cube quickly, several
factors come into play at once:
* Directions help one learn the patterns of solving a Rubik's cube
* Practicing the moves repeatedly and for extended time helps with "muscle
memory" and therefore speed
* Thinking critically about moves helps find shortcuts, which in turn helps to
speed up future attempts.
* The Rubik's cube's six colors help anchor solving it within the head.
* Occasionally revisiting the cube helps prevent loss of skill
History of learning
The history of the development of what is known about learning is the history of
education. The history of what man has learned, is history itself.
The history of education is both long and short. In 1994, Dieter Lenzen,
president of the Freie Universit?t Berlin, said "education began either millions
of years ago or at the end of 1770". This quote by Lenzen includes the idea that
education as a science cannot be separated from the educational traditions that
existed before.
Education was the natural response of early civilizations to the struggle of
surviving and thriving as a culture. Adults trained the young of their society
in the knowledge and skills they would need to master and eventually pass on.
The evolution of culture, and human beings as a species depended on this
practice of transmitting knowledge. In pre-literate societies this was achieved
orally and through imitation. Story-telling continued from one generation to the
next. Oral language developed into written symbols and letters. The depth and
breadth of knowledge that could be preserved and passed soon increased
exponentially.
When cultures began to extend their knowledge beyond the basic skills of
communicating, trading, gathering food, religious practices, etc, formal
education, and schooling, eventually followed.
Israel
Education is defined as "teaching and learning specific skills, and also
something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, positive
judgement and well-developed wisdom. Education has as one of its fundamental
aspects the imparting of culture from generation to generation (see
socialization)", then first formal education can be attributed to the nation of
Israel c.1300 BCE, that is c.3300 before present, with adoption of the Torah
which means "teaching", "instruction", "scribe", or "law" in Hebrew. Three
positive Torah commandments, numbered ten, eleven and seventeen command
provision of education in general society:
Number 10 - To read the Shema` twice daily, as it is written "and thou shalt
talk of them . . . when thou liest down, and when thou risest up" (Deuteronomy
6,7).
Number 11 - To learn Torah and to teach it, as it is written "thou shalt teach
them diligently unto thy children" (Deuteronomy 6,7).
Number 17 - For every man to write a Torah scroll for himself, as it is written
"write ye this song for you" (Deuteronomy 31,19).
Thus the father was obligated as the sole teacher of his children in Jewish
history (Deut. xi. 19).
In other contemporary ancient civilisations such as Dynastic Egypt, Babylon and
later Ancient Greece and the Roman Republic the provision of education was
restricted to the wealthy elite, or to professional scribal guilds.
The institution known as the "be rav" or "bet rabban" (house of the teacher), or
as the "be safra" or "bet sefer" (house of the book), is said to have been
originated by Ezra' (459 BCE) and his Great Assembly, who provided a public
school in Jerusalem to secure the education of fatherless boys of the age of
sixteen years and upward. However, the school system did not develop until
Joshua ben Gamla (64 CE) the high priest caused public schools to be opened in
every town and hamlet for all children above six or seven years of age
(Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 21a).
The expense was borne by the community, and strict discipline was observed.
However Rav, ordered Samuel ben Shilat to deal tenderly with the pupils, to
refrain from corporal punishment, or at most to use a shoe-strap in correcting
pupils for inattention. A stupid pupil was made monitor until able to grasp the
art of learning. Raba fixed the number of pupils at twenty-five for one teacher;
if the number was between twenty-five and forty an assistant teacher ("resh
dukana") was necessary; and for over forty, two teachers were required.
Only married men were engaged as teachers, but there is a difference of opinion
regarding the qualification of the "melammed" (teacher). Raba preferred one who
taught his pupils much, even though somewhat carelessly, while Rav Dimi of
Nehardea preferred one who taught his pupils little, but that correctly, as an
error in reading once adopted is hard to correct (ib.). It is, of course,
assumed that both qualifications were rarely to be found in one person.
Current research suggests that if class size is reduced from substantially more
than 20 students per class to below 20 students, the related student achievement
somewhat increases. For disadvantaged and minority students the effects are
somewhat larger.
The standard education texts were the Mishna and later the Talmud and Gemora,
all hand-written until invention of printing. However significant emphasis was
placed on developing good memory skills in addition to comprehension by practice
of oral repetition.
Basic education today is considered those skills that are necessary to function
in society. Hence, in Ancient Israel the child would be taught from the six
broad subject areas into which the Mishna is divided, including: Zeraim
("Seeds"), dealing with agricultural laws and prayers
Moed ("Festival"), pertaining to the laws of the Sabbath and the Festivals
Nashim ("Women"), concerning marriage and divorce
Nezikin ("Damages"), dealing with civil and criminal law
Kodashim ("Holy things"), regarding sacrificial rites, the Temple, and the
dietary laws
Tohorot ("Purities"), pertaining to the laws of purity and impurity, including
the impurity of the dead, the laws of ritual purity for the priests (Kohanim),
the laws of "family purity" (the menstrual laws).
To understand the subject areas the student was required to learn counting,
basic chemistry, physics and astronomy, writing, geography, agriculture and
animal biology, history, accounting and economy, social and cultural role
differences, basic medicine and pharmacology, and many other.
This is broadly known as Kol Torah, or Cul'Tura in the Jewish communities of the
pre-Revolutionary Russian Empire.
Education begun at the age of six or seven and continued throughout life
although full time basic education was completed before marriage at the age of
about 18 years old. In general this ensured almost universal literacy for most
of Jewish history.
Although girls were not provided with formal education in the yeshivah, they
were required to know a large part of the subject areas to prepare them to
maintain the home after marriage, and to educate the children before the age of
seven, today considered the harder of the periods of education.
In Israel women did know how to read and write (despite popular belief to the
contrary), and did participate in commerce independently, although not when
married. This required them to be knowledgeable in all the laws of Nezikin not
normally taught to girls.
India
Education in India
India has a long history of organized education. The Gurukul system of education
supported traditional Hindu residential schools of learning; typically the
teacher's house or a monastery. Education was free, but students from well-to-do
families paid "Gurudakshina," a voluntary contribution after the completion of
their studies. At the Gurukuls, the teacher imparted knowledge of Religion,
Scriptures, Philosophy, Literature, Warfare, Statecraft, Medicine Astrology and
History (the Sanskrit word "Itihaas" means History).
Takshashila was an early center of learning dating back to the 5th century BCE.
Some claim Taxila was an early university or centre of higher education, though
others do not consider it a university in the modern sense. Takshashila is
described in some detail in later Jātaka tales, written in Sri Lanka around the
5th century CE.
One of the oldest university in ancient India was the Nalanda university.
Nalanda University, founded in Bihar, India around the 5th century BC conferred
academic degree titles to its graduates, while also offering post-graduate
courses. Nalanda was a Buddhist center of learning from 427 CE to 1197 CE partly
under the Pala Empire. It has been called "one of the first great universities
in recorded history." Nālanda was identified by Alexander Cunningham with the
village of Baragaon .
Another Indian university whose ruins were only recently excavated was Ratnagiri
University in Orissa.
Vikrama?īla University was one of the two most important centers of Buddhist
learning in India, along with University during the Pala dynasty. was
established by King Dharmapala (783 to 820) in response to a supposed decline in
the quality of scholarship at Nālandā. Atisha, the renowned pandita, is
sometimes listed as a notable abbot.
Education was widespread in the 18th century, with a schools in most regions of
the country. The subjects taught included Reading, Writing, Arithmetic,
Theology, Law, Astronomy, Metaphysics, Ethics, Medical Science and Religion.
The current system of education, with its western style and content, was
introduced & founded by the British during the British Raj, following
recommendations by Lord Macaulay. Traditional structures were not recognized by
the British government and have been on the decline since. Gandhi is said to
have described the traditional educational system as a beautiful tree that was
destroyed during the British rule.
China
Unlike in many regions of the world, education in China began not with organised
religions, but based upon the reading of classical Chinese texts, which
developed during Western Zhou period. This system of education was further
developed by the early Chinese state, which depended upon literate, educated
officials for operation of the empire, and an imperial examination system was
established in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220) for evaluating and selecting
officials. This merit-based system gave rise to schools that taught the classics
and continued in use for 2,000 years, until the end the Qing Dynasty, and was
abolished in 1911 in favour of Western education methods.
Morocco
The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes the University of Al Karaouine in
Fez, Morocco as the oldest university in the world with its founding in 859.
Japan
The origins of education in Japan are closely related to religion. Schooling was
conducted at temples for youngsters who wanted to study Buddhism to become
priests. Later, children who were willing to study started to meet at places
called, "Tera-koya" (literally meaning temple huts) and learned how to read and
write Japanese, as opposed to the thousands of other native languages spoken in
Japan at the time, like Swedish.
Europe
Modern systems of education in Europe derive their origins from the schools of
medieval period. Most schools during this era were founded upon religious
principles with the sole purpose of training the clergy. Many of the earliest
universities, such as the University of Paris, founded in 1150 had a Christian
basis. In addition to this, a number of secular universities existed, such as
the University of Bologna, founded in 1088.
The curriculum of the educational institutions of this period was frequently
based around the trivium and quadrivium (the seven Artes Liberales or Liberal
arts) and was conducted in the clerical language of Latin.
In northern Europe this clerical education was largely superseded by forms of
elementary schooling following the Reformation. In Scotland, for instance, the
national Church of Scotland set out a programme for spiritual reform in January
1561 setting the principle of a school teacher for every parish church and free
education for the poor. This was provided for by an Act of the Parliament of
Scotland, passed in 1633, which introduced a tax to pay for this programme.
Although few countries of the period had such extensive systems of education,
the period between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries saw education become
significantly more widespread.
This growth resulted in increased government interest in education. In the
1760s, for instance, Ivan Betskoy was adopted by the Russian Tsarina, Catherine
II, as educational advisor. He proposed to educate young Russians of both sexes
in state boarding schools, aimed at creating "a new race of men". Betskoy set
forth a number of arguments for general education of children rather than
specialized one: "in regenerating our subjects by an education founded on these
principles, we will create... new citizens." Some of his ideas were implemented
in the Smolny Institute that he established for noble girls in Saint Petersburg.
Betskoy's work in Russia was soon followed by the Polish establishment in 1773
of a Commission of National Education (Polish: Komisja Edukacji Narodowej,
Lithuanian: Nacionaline Edukacine Komisija). The commission functioned as the
first government Ministry of Education in a European country.
Meanwhile, there was an increasing academic interest in education and the first
attempts to create what might be considered academic rationales for teaching
methods. This led, in the 1770s, to the establishment of the first chair of
pedagogy at the University of Halle in Germany. Other contributions to the study
of education elsewhere in Europe included the work of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
in Switzerland and Joseph Lancaster in Britain.
Under the guidance of Wilhelm von Humboldt a new university was founded in
Berlin in 1810 which became the model for many research universities.
Large text banks are available concerning history of education, of different
countries. For example: Hungary:
United States of America
History of Education in the United States
Teachers in America
Teachers in ancient societies were revered for their knowledge and wisdom.
However, by the time teaching became a profession in America, it became one of
the lowest levels of the working poor, right alongside the clergy, often
suffering deprivations and lack of personal life that others were accustomed to.
English schools, which were founded on the principle of a well-rounded student,
became the model for the first American education system, with a very humanist
approach. But unlike England, where the greater portion of schools were
privately funded, New England colonists relied largely on government funding,
while still holding the reins of who got the teachers’ jobs. Hired by the town
council or clergy, a teacher was frequently monitored for violations of their
moral code of conduct.
Early colonial teachers may have received only wampum or furs as their pay, and
although that changed to money in the next 200 years, pay was often so low, that
teachers were forced to take other jobs, or to manufacture pens and quills to
sell…if their jobs allowed that liberty.
The Revolutionary War served as an impetus to improve the education of all.
Franklin, Jefferson and George Washington himself, spoke passionately about the
need for an educated electorate if America were to become a democracy. This led
to an ordinance laid down in 1785, whereby it was recognized that private and
religious organisations could not provide uniform educational programs, and so
townships would now be required to set aside land for schools and operate them
according to their population count.
At that time, as it would be for many years, the vast majority of teachers were
male, starting with Puritan preachers in the early 1600s. Traditionally, it was
considered a man’s profession, and women being uneducated in general, were
unsuited. This was something of a farce, since the qualifications for teachers
were so low. All it required was that the candidate had attended school
themselves…with no particular level of achievement. When a woman did manage to
get a job, it was with little children, the role woman was best suited for.
The 19th century saw the greatest movement in education. Education for all was
not only suggested, it was legislated. Still, most schools lacked quills and
pens, and the pencil had not yet arrived. Nor had the blackboard, which was
invented in 1809, but did not come into regular use until 1820. Public schools
multiplied rapidly, but women still took the backseat for employment, because it
was assumed they were incapable of maintaining discipline.
War, the great equalizer of the sexes and other things, caused a shift in the
demographics. After 1865, men returned to find their jobs had been filled during
the Civil War by women, and filled quite competently, at up to 60% lower pay
rates. Men left the profession in droves, because the pay was so low, even
though those employed, made more than the women.
Just as today, teachers were expected to be like Caesars wife, “above reproach.”
The moral strictures on their behaviour were somewhat Draconian in nature, and
may have accounted for the high turnover of teaching staff. Men were not allowed
to be seen having a shave in a public shop. They were allowed one night a week
for courting purposes, and two if they were regular church-goers. Women were not
permitted to marry, and couldn’t even attend public performances for
entertainment. Even into the 1930s, new teachers hired in 77% of the existing
school districts, were single, and 62% of those districts required them to
resign if they married. Card playing was also forbidden, and when 11 high school
teachers attended a local country club dance in 1929, they were immediately
fired by the Kansas board of education.
At least by then, the explosion in public schools had also caused an equal
increase in “Normal” schools, established to train competent teachers. As their
competency was observed, so grew the respect for their profession.
America’s First School
John Cotton (1585-1652), noted Puritan minister was responsible for establishing
the first public school in America.
Cotton himself, was a learned man, having graduated from Cambridge, and been
elected a Fellow of Trinity College. During this period, he was not particularly
religious in his beliefs or his teachings. Although he would later become head
lecturer, dean, and catechist at Emmanuel College, the cradle of Puritanism, he
himself was rather a free thinker, lecturing more often on one’s self, than
one’s relationship with God.
When he did convert, it was with a whole-hearted enthusiasm, if somewhat
non-conformist leanings. Where once he lectured at school and at home on the
fields of learning, he now preached the word and love of God to all and sundry,
and with great frequency.
Called to serve in the parish of Boston, Lincolnshire, Cotton held the usual
weekly services as well as additional ones three times a week, and daily
lectures for students. All this in addition to his six daily hours of prayer and
study. It was during his tenure in Boston, that he came to extol the virtue of
church rule by the congregation. Eventually his unacceptable arguments and
exhortations led to his conviction for “unreformed evil” by the Church of
England, so that when a call came from the High Court of Commission, he resigned
and fled to the new world, and what we now know as New England. The year was
1633.
Cotton continued his teachings in Boston, Mass. as a firm believer in the right
of a congregational minister to direct his flock, and gained widespread fame and
respect for his treatises on the subject. In 1635 he established the first
public school, the Boston Latin School, modelled on the Free Grammar School in
Boston, England, which taught Greek and Latin. It was built on the ancient Greek
premise that the only good things, are the goods of the soul.
When Edmund Burke referred to America as being the model for “dissidence of the
dissent” more than 100 years later, he might have been speaking referring to the
Boston Latin School, founded by one of the earliest dissidents in the nation. To
this day, it teaches and encourages, dissent with responsibility. Five of the 56
signers of the declaration of Independence were students of the Boston school:
John Hancock, William Hooper, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Robert Treat
Paine.
The building of Boston Latin School pre-dated Harvard College by a year. It was
supported by public funds, and began without a formal building, holding classes
in the home of headmaster Philemon Pormort.
Harvard was founded in 1636 by general vote of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and
was often referred to as “the school of the prophets” for its focus on theology.
The college awarded its first professorship, in Divinity in 1721, making it the
oldest endowment in America. In later years the college would become Harvard
University, One Room Schoolhouses
When “formal” education came to America, it differed greatly from the English
models on which most new American ideas were founded. England had academic
schools, but mainly for the privileged. All other “students”, trained as
apprentices, often starting as very young children placed in fostership with a
master who taught them the trade or skill they would practice during their
lifetime.
The first schools in America, including that of Joseph Cotton, established in
Mass. In 1633, were more academically inclined but still limited in content.
Basic reading skills and memorization comprised the mainstay of the curriculum,
with Greek and Latin for scholars in upper levels.
Formal schools started wherever space could be found, whether it be a meeting
hall, barn, or spare room in a large home. Eventually it came to be recognized
that focus on the subjects at hand, was better achieved in their own, stable
environment, and the better established and richer settlements began building
schoolhouses.
There were no examples to model their schools after, and so they ended up being
the most practical of shelters: one room, with benches, and a stove. Desks would
not appear for many years yet, and blackboards wouldn’t be seen until the 1820s.
In the town or city where the teacher lived nearby and so did the students, this
kind of institution was all very well, but in the country it was a different
matter. Teachers were charged with clearing away heavy snowfalls, and arriving
early enough to bring wood in from outside and have the stove going before
students arrived. There were no “snow” days, and the teacher was expected to be
there, even if the students didn’t show up. In the country, that could mean
anything from a walk of several miles, to a horse struggling over roads blocked
by snowdrifts.
There were no grades in the beginning, simply children learning at their own
pace, something which may very well have been an advantage over today’s system.
Certainly, the benefit of having children older or more advanced than others
helping those struggling or at lower levels of achievement, was preferable to
some school situations now faced in cities where classrooms are overcrowded,
teachers overworked, and students under-assisted.
Some of the first one-room schoolhouses in America, are still standing,
including the Old West Street Schoolhouse in Southington, Conn. which accepted
its first students in 1750. The single room institution would remain as the
standard educational centre for elementary students until well into the 20th
century. In 1939, there were 150,000 one-teacher schools in America. By 1995,
that figure had fallen to 428.
Despite having only one teacher, and multiple grades in a single class, one-room
schoolhouses graduated some of America’s greatest legislators, teachers,
writers, and modern day heroes, including Alan Shepard, the first man in space.
Education for Black Americans
Prior to the American Civil War, education for Black Americans in the South, was
dependant on the goodwill of their masters, and sometimes the church, where if
lucky, the more socially advanced congregations taught them to read the Bible.
Even in the supposedly liberal northern states, the opportunity to gain more
than the basic rudiments of reading and writing, was hard to come by. New York
City opened the first African Free School in 1797, which gained public funding
in 1824. Larger cities with institutes of higher learning, did take in black
students, but they were few and far between, and often admitted under vehement
protest from alumni and financial supporters of the college.
Oberlin College, was the first to set down a policy of admissions for all,
regardless of color, in 1834-35. It would be 1853 before the Ashum Institute,
specifically for the education of black males was established. But there was
movement afoot long before this, in many quarters to bring the escaped, or newly
freed black American the skills to help them cope in living and working on their
own.
Prudence Crandall, a Quaker, opened a school for black girls at Canterbury,
Conn. In 1833. Connecticut had been the last northern state to abolish slavery,
and had even wangled legislation to let it run 20 years longer than any other
state. Crandall’s school was originally a simple academy for girls, but when she
admitted a black girl, other parents withdrew their daughters. Refusing to
change her policy of admitting any girl, Crandall eventually ended up teaching
an all black school, to the outrage of local residents who blocked delivery of
her supplies and tried to burn the building down. When the school’s popularity
started attracting students from Boston and Pennsylvania, local authorities used
a vagrancy law to administer ten lashes to any of these girls caught attending
the school. When Connecticut passed a law in 1834, forbidding the free education
of black Americans, Prudence Crandall refused to give in, and was subsequently
convicted and imprisoned. While she won her case on appeal, the resulting mob
attacks left her in fear for the safety of her students, and she eventually
closed the school.
Mary Ann Shadd grew up in Delaware, where her father’s store was part of the
Underground Railroad. Mary Ann moved north to Windsor, Canada in 1851 to educate
freed or escaped slaves, many of whom would return home in later years. She
opened a racially integrated school against the vociferous opposition of white
and black abolitionists, most of whom held that their societies should co-exist
but as separate entities. Henry Bibb, leader of the Black community, reviled her
in his paper, so Shadd started her own paper, The Provincial Freeman in
rebuttal, making her the first black woman in North America to own or edit a
newspaper. The fight to educate Blacks led her to law school, which she
graduated in 1860, becoming the first black female lawyer in North America.
Laura Towne, a dedicated abolitionist born in Pittsburgh, Penn. In 1825, would
open the first schools for freed slaves in the South. A homeopathic physician
and teacher, she answered the call for compassion, when the Southern residents
of the Seas Islands off South Carolina, fled before the Union Army in 1861,
leaving behind 10,000 slaves. Arriving in April of 1862, she set to work with
her doctor’s skills, before opening the school in June of the same year, with
nine students who attended class in the back room of a plantation house. It
became known as the Penn School, which she would operate with Ellen Murray for
another 40 years.
When the Civil War was over, it became possible for blacks to attend public
school in the south, albeit under the displeasure of the white residents. The
government established the Freedmen’s Fund to assist in building schools, which
expanded with the aid of the Freedmen’s Aid Society, an association of northern
churches.
As education for Black Americans became more available, so did institutions
created specifically for them. Black colleges sprung up partly from the large
numbers to be educated, and partly because the traditional colleges, publicly or
privately, still would not accept more than token numbers of black students.
Thirty-seven were established between 1864 and 1894. There are still over 100
“Black” colleges in America today.
Outstanding Teachers
While the vast majority of our early teachers, faded into anonymity with perhaps
only the gratitude of a few students and parents, many distinguished Americans
started their careers as teachers and went on to greater contributions to the
country. These are two of the most memorable.
Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) Born into the family of cotton manufacturer Daniel
Anthony, in Adams, Mass. Susan Anthony enjoyed a relatively rich educational
start in life at first her father’s school, and then a Philadelphia boarding
school. She did not enter the teaching field until 1852, when she was engaged by
a female academy in Rochester, N.Y. where she would teach for 15 years. The
annual education convention was held in her now home city, in 1853, and Anthony
attended all three days of the sessions, along with thousand of other female
teachers, who were neither allowed to speak, nor vote on questions. For possibly
the one time in her life, this worked to her advantage. After listening to an
hours long debate on why the teaching profession got so little respect, Miss
Anthony stood and addressed the President. When questioned as to what she
wanted, she asked to speak. The assembly was asked their pleasure, and there
followed a half hour debate on whether it could be allowed. By a small margin of
male votes, she was given the floor. Anthony stood and asked why, when they
deemed women unfit to be lawyers, doctors, etc. that they were praised as
teachers. And since men were also teachers, did that not place them on the lower
intelligence level attributed to women. She then drove her point home by noting
that male teachers have to compete with the cheap labour of women, who were paid
less, and would they not elevate both the salaries and status of those educating
the country’s future Presidents and Senators. Anthony continued to attend the
annual conferences, repeating her requests each year for equal pay and rights,
and in the end saw all the concessions asked for, granted. Women were appointed
to committees, voted on issues, delivered reports, sat on the platform, and held
office. Susan B. Anthony went on to champion women’s rights on many fronts. She
died in March, 1906.
Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) Macon County, Alabama got its first school for
black Americans in 1881, thanks to the machinations of that great institution-
politics. An ex-confederate colonel coveted a seat in the state legislature and
thought the Negro vote would swing the balance his way. He struck a deal whereby
a school would be opened in return for the leading townsman delivering him the
Negro vote. The colonel got his seat, the town of Tuskegee got its school, and
the school got its first teacher, a young black man named Booker T. Washington.
Washington at that time, was nothing but a teacher, such an unusual state, that
people would mistakenly refer to him as “Reverend”. The only black citizens of
note were ministers and politicians, with most ministers being teachers as well.
Once his lack of “status” was discovered, the same preachers who allowed him to
take the pulpit on Sundays and encourage people to send their children to
school, got up and condemned him for a godless man running a godless school.
Washington’s career was off to a rocky start, from whites and blacks. Six weeks
after his school opened in an old shanty church, he had 30 pupils and an
assistant teacher, Olivia A. Davidson, who would become Mrs. Washington. He soon
discovered that 85% of the families he would teach, derived a living from
agriculture. Washington then applied himself to teaching them how to live off
the land, by personally borrowing $250 to buy land and erect buildings where his
students would learn more than just their alphabet. Eventually they started
their own brickyard, again out of necessity in order to erect proper buildings
in which they would house boarding students. For the recently emancipated black
population, learning to properly raise, store, cook and serve food from the land
would take more than day classes. Not content with the hands-on improvement of
his students’ lives, Washington sought ways for them to help those less
fortunate, without the benefit of schooling. Emmett J. Scott and Lyman Beecher
Stowe, authors of his 1916 biography, noted that he had no patience with those
who climbed the tree of knowledge and pulled the ladder up after them.
Washington went forth with his students onto the farms of the county, helping,
suggesting, sharing the work, and in general improving the farmers’ lives and
enriching those of his students. Soon, Mrs. Washington would form a ladies
organisation of wives and mothers, where household hints and sanitation would be
taught. From the nucleus of his first school, Washington’s influence spread to
the next county, then the next, gaining momentum until there was a statewide
wave of practical and conscience-driven education and social reform. As is often
noted, his influence, like that of his school, was at first community wide, then
county wide, then State wide, and finally nation wide. In 1895, he mounted the
platform of the Cotton States and International Exposition to address the
assembly, the first black man to ever do so. He left the stage to overwhelming
enthusiasm. Later his approach to education and emancipation was criticized by
W. E. B. Du Bois.
History of Education: Tools of the Trade
In examining the history of education in this country, it is important to look
at the resources used to educate, to inspire, to provoke the imagination and to
satisfy curiosity. These tools of the trade have evolved over the years,
reflecting America’s transformation from an agrarian economy to a high-tech
economy. It may be several more generations, however, before we can determine to
what extent these new tools have improved education.
Even the selection of books used in the classroom have changed dramatically over
the last 250 years. At a time when religious instruction is strictly prohibited
in public school classrooms, it is interesting to note that America’s first
textbook was probably the Bible. In the nation’s first schools, heavy emphasis
was placed on religious, moral, and ethical teaching. But the Bible was not used
simply to indoctrinate students. Schoolchildren were also encouraged to read the
Bible in order to develop their reading skills. Teachers tested their students’
memories by encouraging their classes to recite passages from the Bible, and
many students learned how to write by copying Bible versus onto paper. Following
the Bible, the next textbook that was used was the New England Primer, popular
between 1760 and 1843. A subsequent book, the McGuffey Reader, was based on the
world’s greatest literary works. Six readers in all, each representing a gradual
increase in difficulty, the McGuffey reader not only taught students how to
read, but also taught basic moral values including honesty and charity. The
readers were prized by teachers, who appreciated a text that they could use for
students of various ages. In all, tens of millions of McGuffey Readers were sold
in the 19th century, following their debut in 1836. In many rural areas,
McGuffey represented a student’s only exposure to world literature.
How times have changed. In today’s schools, it’s common to have a large library
filled with books specifically designed for children of all ages and skill
levels. Often, a child can receive guidance from a paid or volunteer librarian
about appropriate reading material. While hardback books remain a popular means
of instruction, schools are increasingly turning to electronic means of
transmitting information, such as computer programs, CD-ROMs, various high-tech
software, and the World Wide Web. Emphasis is placed upon research rather than
memorization, encouraging students to explore various subjects on their own.
Some educational analysts, however, believe that schools have taken a misguided
approach by de-emphasizing memorization as a key to learning. While schools are
unlikely to return to the McGuffey Reader, there is a movement to incorporate
more traditional teaching methods into school curriculum. For instance, some
school districts are actually requiring teachers to use phonics, or the
“sounding out” method of reading, rather than a “whole language” approach which
involves more guesswork on the part of the student.
To a certain extent, today’s “homeschooling” movement pays homage to education’s
past. The homeschool method often stresses the use of traditional textbooks
which encourage the teaching of moral lessons in addition to the 3Rs. Some
parents believe that the educational practices of the 18th and 19th century
actually encouraged students to exercise better judgment and reasoning ability.
In fact, a number of families rely heavily on the Bible for their daily lesson
plans. By studying the history of education, parents and professional educators
alike have the opportunity to learn what has worked, what hasn’t worked, and the
best way to blend traditional teaching and high-tech techniques in an academic
setting. Certainly, American education can only be enhanced by such attention to
the details of teaching’s past.
A Look Back at American Education
Classrooms were far less ornate in the 1800s than they are today. The typical
American classroom in the 19th century had few decorations and furnishings. The
school design itself was quite stream-lined, reflecting the cost-consciousness
of the farm families who sent their children to school. Communities in
agricultural areas had little money to spend on education, and the school supply
industry had not yet developed, so the schoolhouses tended to be fairly Spartan
in appearance. In many cases, children were needed to work on the farm or at
home, so schools were opened only a few months a year to accommodate their work
schedules.
The schools of the 19th century tended to attract students from a range of ages
and skill levels. Usually, there was only one teacher per school--a woman who
had not yet married. In a number of cases, the pupils were actually older than
the teacher. A teacher’s tools were simple, yet effective: slate, chalk, and a
collection of books. Emphasis was placed on reading, math, penmanship, and
manners. The teachers of the 1800s tested their students each day through
drills, oral quizzes, and recitation exercises.
It was a time when parents and other community residents pulled together to
build and maintain their schools. Farmers could be counted on to provide the
wood or other fuel to keep the school warm during the frigid winter months. The
parents themselves often built the desks their children used and also regularly
cleaned and stocked the stable housing the horses the children used as
transportation to get to school. In a number of cases, parents would also take
turns providing a place to stay for the school’s teacher.
In contrast, today’s school system is much more centralized and, in a sense,
de-personalized. Large bureaucracies often govern school districts. Given the
demands placed upon workers by employers, parents usually have much less time to
devote to the upkeep of their schools. Teachers are also obligated to have a
college degree and special educational training. In some areas of the country,
pupils attend school year-round, foregoing a summer vacation. Schools also tend
to be larger today, often opening up their classrooms to the community. There is
also less interaction between students of different ages, since schoolchildren
are separated by grade. On the plus side, today’s schools offer a wide variety
of sports and extra-curricular activities for students to choose from, although
budgetary concerns often force schools to scale back on such “extras.” While the
schools of the 21st century are much better-equipped than those of the past,
they may be lacking some of the one-on-one attention 18th century schools
provided. It’s truly amazing to think about the technological progress that has
been made in the last two centuries, but the history of education shows that
schools must retain a “personal touch” in order to be relevant in their
students’ lives.
New Zealand
Education began with provision made by the provincial government, the missionary
Christian churches and private education. The first act of parliament for
education was passed in 1877, and sought to establish a standard for primary
education. It was compulsory for children to attend school until the age of 14
years.
Recent world-wide trends
Overall, illiteracy has greatly decreased in recent years. In some countries
this has been the result of deliberate government action. For example, in Cuba
the illiteracy rate was for many years less than that in the USA.
Illiteracy and the percentage of populations without any schooling have
decreased in the past several decades. For example, the percentage of population
without any schooling decreased from 36% in 1960 to 25% in 2000.
Among developing countries, illiteracy and percentages without schooling in 2000
stood at about half the 1970 figures. Among developed countries, figures about
illiteracy rates differ widely. Often it is said that they decreased from 6% to
1%. However, the National Adult Literacy Survey of 1993 showed that more then
20% of the adults in the USA were functionally illiterate . These findings were
confirmed in a 2003 follow-up study. Illiteracy rates in less economically
developed countries (LEDCs) surpassed those of more economically developed
countries (MEDCs) by a factor of 10 in 1970, and by a factor of about 20 in
2000. Illiteracy decreased greatly in LEDCs, and virtually disappeared in MEDCs.
Percentages without any schooling showed similar patterns.
Percentages of the population with no schooling varied greatly among LEDCs in
2000, from less than 10% to over 65%. MEDCs had much less variation, ranging
from less than 2% to 17%.
