Introduction
Throughout history, humankind has sought many different ways of obtaining knowledge. We tried putting our children out into the world early, but that didn’t work so well. We tried a few other methods before settling on teaching our children until an average age. Settling on a typical age at which to stop teaching our children, however, varied worldwide. Who should conduct the children’s different knowledge also changed throughout time and through different cultures. For the wealthy ancient Greeks, it was hiring a tutor to come to the house and teach children stuff. However, the tutor did not teach the children their required knowledge. Learning how to swim and run was led by the fathers if you were a boy. If you were a girl, however, your mother would teach you how to weave and cook. For the Mayans, all of your knowledge was taught by your parents. If you wanted to seek higher knowledge, of which the only subject would be military tactics, you would go to an army school. But that wasn’t the only higher knowledge that the Mayans had. You could also become a priest and learn how to write on the job. These were the two primary forms of education in the classical world unless you were in China. If you were in China, depending on your social class, you could either be sent to the Imperial Academy or kept at home as a peasant. For hundreds of years into the Medieval Era, these were the only three forms of education until the Renaissance came along.
The Rennaissance
The Renaissance came along, and education was revolutionized. Inspired by the Greek use of tutors to teach a group of students, many countries created their forms of education. Prominent royal families such as the Hapsburgs and the Medicis established many academies of science, art, music, medicine, theology, and history, the most common and popular subjects at the time. These academies were established throughout Italy, Germany, Austria, Spain, France, and England. Portugal invented her own academy. It was called the Acadamy of Navigation, and many were established throughout Portugal. These early forms of universities taught many great explorers, such as Vasco de Gama and Christopher Columbus. These academies were founded by Prince Henry the Navigator, a monarch who significantly promoted exploration and cartography throughout Portugal. Because of this, Portugal monopolized explorers who sought out the spice islands of Asia and the Caribbean. In turn, Portugal became the primary seller of spices to Europe, defeating the Ottoman Empire in the business. In Italy, such a significant number of academies were established that they effectively started the Renaissance. From these academies came a substantial number of scholars and artists, such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and, most famously, Leonardo da Vinci. Italy and Portugal were not the only ones to benefit from these academies. In Eastern Europe, the mega-colossal empire of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth also gave great minds to Europe. The most prominent was Nicolas Copernicus, who revolutionized mathematics and astronomy with his discoveries. However, the growth of knowledge would only speed up with the Enlightenment.
The Enlightenment
Entering into the Enlightenment, we see an explosive rise in thinking. Because of coffee and more schools, knowledge saw a considerable rise, as did tyranny. The first coffeehouses and public universities were established so everyone could get a boost in caffeine and knowledge as long as they had enough money. Because of this, revolutionary ideas spread like wildfire. Revolutionary pamphlets came raining down, telling the people to avoid and destroy the rise of absolutism. Monarchs were cracking down on everyone except themselves, the nobility, and the clergy. The Pope was more corrupt than ever, and because of free knowledge, the people knew what was happening and understood. They saw past the propaganda and called for reform. Writers such as Voltaire encouraged the end of old institutions, such as the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy. Others, such as Thomas Paine, went to revolutionary governments to enable them to keep going. Thomas Paine was one of the main reasons why the American Revolutionary Army didn’t shatter into pieces. If you trace back why precisely this happened, your search will eventually lead you to the establishment of new institutions throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. As new governments were established, they called for a more public path to education. This led to the revolutionary education of the Industrial Era.
The Age of Industrialization
After the dust had settled and the republics were established, new radical ways emerged. New machinery was developed, allowing for more industrialization and more goods to be produced. New and deadly weapons were developed, allowing even more powerful empires to emerge. One of the most prominent empire was Prussia, which revolutionized its and the worlds’ military. Napoleon was finally put away for safekeeping on an island in the Atlantic so that Europe could rest in peace. But most of all, new forms of education took place. State-subsidized universities spread around the globe, and knowledge took an immense leap. Once these state universities were established, knowledge and radicalism just came rolling out. New forms of communication took hold across the world. First came telegraphs, which allowed nations to spread short messages across tens of thousands of miles. Then came the telephone, which nations to make more complex and longer messages across tens of thousands of miles. New forms of transportation came rolling and flying along, too. The car allowed people to travel long distances more quickly and without worrying about their vehicle getting tired. The airplane allowed people to travel immense distances immensely quickly. New forms of government and economy took hold. Capitalism and the want for a free market took hold in the U.S. Communism took hold in Eastern Europe, especially in Russia. New revolutions took hold in 1848, and democracy took a brief but strong hold on Europe for the next few decades. However, these new weapons, economies, and governments took us into a new but deadly era – the Modern Era.
The Modern Era & The Future of Education
Today, new forms of education have taken hold. Computers and phones have given us a key to heaven and hell, and we must decide how we use this. The need for education by physical people has passed, taken over by AI and educational apps. Streaming apps with honest content creators have taught our children more than we could ever teach them. Children these days have to constantly change their choice of job because of the rise of AI, while business owners are either destroyed or helped by AI. New jobs are being made and are in the process of being created. Students have as radical opinions as ever, and they call for change. Education needs reform, but how and in which ways?
The following is my opinion on the future of education.
For education to survive, teachers need to go. With teachers out of the way, what do we do now? Well, we could provide a tutor for every single child. However, this approach would be simply impossible because of two main reasons. The first is that it would bankrupt the world. The second reason is that we do not have enough adults to teach every child personally. So, what do we do? Well, there are two approaches. The first is impractical, but it might still work, and it is as follows. We could make every single parent teach their child, but there are three main problems.
- Some parents both have full-time jobs.
- Most parents don’t know all of the required knowledge.
- Some parents don’t want to.
The second and way more practical approach is to let AI do it. We could get children on computers and tell them to learn. However, there are two problems with this.
- Most children don’t want to learn, so they have to be monitored by a parent.
- Some children don’t have a laptop.
To address the first problem, we could create a reward system on the device so they would do their work. To address the second problem, schools are already distributing laptops to every child. So, we could remove the school and keep the distribution. That is my opinion about the future of education.
“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”
Mark Twain
