Horace Mann, born in Franklin, Massachusetts in 1796, is the man who is widely considered to be the inventor of the school system. He is also known as the Father of modern education.
An American educator, abolitionist, and a reformer in the field of education, he was well-known for his efforts in promoting a strong public educational system.
He strongly believed that by providing every American child with a good quality school education, he would be able to make every American children into disciplined members of society,
Why was school invented?
School was invented so that people can learn in groups and a single educated being can make the difference in lives of group of peoples. This was a revolutionary idea as mass education was the only way to quickly improve literacy rate.
History of School
The word school derives from Greek σχολή (scholē), originally meaning “leisure” and also “that in which leisure is employed”, but later “a group to whom lectures were given, school”. Source.
The concept of school is believed to have existed at least since ancient Greece. Unlike todays formal schools, the school that time were just a group of students gathered together to learn something.
Before Horace Mann, the name that comes up as the inventor of school is Harry P. School. He was believed to have started teaching the students in groups and often punish them to make them disciplined.
Why schools are important part of our life?
Schools are really important to teach us valuables lessons in life that shape up our future, such as:
- Social interaction: Before kid goes to school, he is only familiar with the family and relatives. To interact with other different kids and learn something new is only possible with the social interaction, which school offers us.
- Discipline: School teaches us discipline which is very important in life.
- Good and Bad: Apart from our parents, It is the school that teaches us the good and bad in life.
- Habits: School helps us build good habits and forego bad habits.
- Explore new things: School allows us to explore various areas, the areas which we may find interesting but never experienced them before.
- Meet new people: School is the first place where we start meeting new people and learn different things from different people.
- How to behave in different environment
Transition to the Modern School System
- Curriculum: Curriculum has evolved over time as the new fields are explored and new opportunities arises.
- Learning: Earlier the learning was merely listening to teacher and doing the things, which teacher asked us to do in homework. In todays world, learning is much more interactive, which makes it fun and easy to learn.
- Activities: Earlier the primary focus was on the curriculum related activities. However now a days, school organizes various extra curricular activities, which helps us build a stronger personality and build leadership quality.
- Games: Now a days, along with the outdoor games, there are several games that helps us explore new things and learn new technologies
- New Technologies: As the technology evolves, modern school system is continuously evolving to adapt and help students learn new technologies. The perfect example is computer, earlier computer was not part of a curriculum, however now a days, it is mandatory subject.
- More ways to learn: Apart from traditional school system, there are several other ways to learn through online courses and free information available on internet.
- Assessments: Assessments were primarily focused on the written tests. This has evolved to be more focused on personality development, language learning and communication part.