As John Dewey says, "Education is not preparation for life, education is life itself." Education in the beginning was more for the nobility and upper class, yet, as life has gone on it has become more accessible to everyone. As early as the Stone Age parents were teaching their children what they knew. However, these lessons were focused more on survival rather than knowledge and intelligence. As time has passed and we near the Elizabethan era, a time when schooling began to be more prevalent, we see a rise in schooling especially "public schooling." This term public schooling does not describe the type of public schooling that most of today would imagine. This is type of schooling that is outside of the child’s home with other children near their age. It is not funded by the state, as public schools are today.The early school system was much different than today. In this time the majority of public schools were filled with boys. The girls would remain at home and learn a few things from their mother. Yet, there were some prominent figures beginning to believe that the education of women was also important.. It did take many years for this to be furthered but at this point in time there were some public schools scattered across England allowing the girls to study there. The girls education was very limited and usually only included the basics of grammar, and being able to read and write descent. The main focus of the girls’ education was mainly for religious purpose and entertaining guests.
The elementary level of schooling was at this time called petty schooling. They were sometimes taught at the same petty schools as boys but rarely. And some girls attended what was called a dame school where they would learn to read and write, but they would also learn social graces important for a young lady to know. They were taught to be silent and obedient. Yet, the upper class women learned things such as how to dance, sing, and even play some instruments all for the sake of entertaining guests. The lower and middle class women were taught more practical things such as cooking, cleaning, and housework. The education of girls’ was more focused on how to complement their husband or family rather than help their country.
The boys which were allowed to attend most public schools would be taught a large variety of things, including arithmetic, grammar, rhetoric, logic, astronomy, geometry, and music. All of these things were considered very important in the furthering of their education and survival in the future when international affairs must be a part of their expertise. This was for younger boys to begin attending as early as they were capable of being taught. The average age for a young boy to begin was sometimes as young as four but in some cases would be later. A young wife usually ran the petty school. She would charge a small fee and teach the children from her home. The boys were required to stay at the petty school until there were able to read and write English well. They learned other things at petty school as well. They were often taught main prayers, church songs, and the basics of arithmetic. Schooling at this time period was not focused as much on different subjects as it was on how the student could later help their country. After finishing their schooling at the petty school the boys would move on to the next step of education. This was called the grammar school.
Grammar school was much longer and more focused, seeing that the boys were older and could hold their attention to one task longer. Grammar schools started at seven AM in the winter and at six AM in the summer. From the time the students arrived at school in the morning until the time they left in the afternoon they were busy learning a variety of subjects, religious sacraments, and briefly taking breaks for recreation or meals. The students would arrive and have a brief prayer session followed by lessons until approximately 9:00 AM when they would have a break for breakfast. The students would return to class immediately until 11:00 AM when they had a break for dinner and recreation. Returning to class at 1:00 PM and continuing class until sometime between 4 and 5 PM.
The focus of grammar school was being able to write and speak Latin fluently. The literature that these students focused on was Plautus, Seneca, and Terrence. The literature was used primarily to exhibit grammar structure and not for historical references. The boys only learned drama, literature, or history in the first few years of grammar school. As schooling continued the lessons began to center more directly on perfecting their Latin and reading Cicero and Ovid. If the grammar school the boy was enrolled in happened to teach Greek as some did they would also read a few of the Greek works. Usually this would include works by Plato and occasionally other Greek works..
As the boys began to learn this important thing they grew stronger in the knowledge of the society they were a part of. At the age of 14 the boys would be finished with grammar school and would move further ahead in their education. However, only the noble and rich would continue onto another level of schooling. The rest, being comprised of the lower and middle class would begin to work The majority of students from the lower and middle classes would move onto a career path or possibly seek out an apprenticeship. The more wealthy young men would continue their education at a University.
The most well known universities at this time were Oxford University and Cambridge University. Oxford was founded by King Alfred in 872 and Cambridge was later created by students wishing to flee Oxford. Oxford had many violent episodes between townspeople and those attending the university. It finally became too much and the students found a new place of study. When students were at the university they would choose their own course of study and hire respective professors. They also picked the hours that they wanted to study. This allowed the students the freedom to leave one professor if they didn’t feel that they were getting the type of curriculum that they were expected.
Education in this time was based upon social class and structure as well as gender. If the child’s family was lucky enough to be a wealthy family the child could expect excellent schooling. However, the majority of population was under-schooled and learned more things from home than a school.
For more information on this topic some sites I used for information are listed below.
http://www.clarke.public.lib.ga.us/pathfinders/elizabethan.html
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/wjhs/mediactr/englishpathfinder/romeo/juliet.html
http//www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/colonial.html
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