The document traces the history of Western education from Ancient Greece to the modern era. It discusses how the goals and methods of education have evolved over time. In Ancient Greece, education focused on preparing students for citizenship, democracy, and critical thinking. The liberal arts were emphasized. During the Middle Ages, education was centered around the church and preparing students for clergy roles. Universities emerged in the High Middle Ages combining theology and natural sciences. The Renaissance saw a return to classical models with a focus on humanism. Education systems continued to diversify with the inclusion of more disciplines, women, and minorities throughout the 19th-20th centuries.

1. A Brief History of
Western Education
Since Antiquity

2. Athens, 5th-4th Century
BCE
The primary goal of education was to prepare
students at low-cost private schools for
citizenship, democracy, oratory, and ethical
decision-making.

3. Athens, 5th-4th Century
BCE
The primary goal of education was to prepare
students at low-cost private schools for
citizenship, democracy, oratory, and ethical
decision-making.
Education focused on the mind, the body, and
the sense of aesthetics.

4. Athens, 5th-4th Century
BCE
The primary goal of education was to prepare
students at low-cost private schools for
citizenship, democracy, oratory, and ethical
decision-making.
Education focused on the mind, the body, and
the sense of aesthetics.
Students learned the “seven liberal arts”:

5. Athens, 5th-4th Century
BCE
The primary goal of education was to prepare
students at low-cost private schools for
citizenship, democracy, and ethical decision-
making.
Education focused on the mind, the body, and
the sense of aesthetics.
Students learned the “seven liberal arts”:
First grammar, logic, and rhetoric (later called the
trivium);

6. Athens, 5th-4th Century
BCE
The primary goal of education was to prepare
students at low-cost private schools for
citizenship, democracy, oratory, and ethical
decision-making.
Education focused on the mind, the body
(athletics), and the sense of aesthetics.
Students learned the “seven liberal arts”:
First grammar, logic, and rhetoric (later called the
trivium);
Then arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy
(later called the quadrivium).

7. Athens, 5th-4th Century
BCE
The primary goal of education was to prepare
students at low-cost private schools for citizenship,
democracy, oratory, and ethical decision-making.
Education focused on the mind, the body, and the
sense of aesthetics.
Students learned the “seven liberal arts”:
First grammar, logic, and rhetoric (later called the
trivium);
Then arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy (later
called the quadrivium).
They could then continue with the study of philosophy
or one of the “practical arts,” such as medicine or
architecture.

8. The Roman Empire
The Romans continued the Greek tradition,
focusing chiefly on athletics, rhetoric, and
oratory.

9. The Roman Empire
The Romans continued the Greek tradition,
focusing chiefly on athletics, rhetoric, and
oratory.
Romans referred to the Greek tradition as a
“liberal” education, meaning education for free
men (cf. liberty).

10. The Early Middle Ages
The primary goal of education was to prepare
students at monastic and cathedral schools to
become members of the clergy and scribes.

11. The Early Middle Ages
The primary goal of education was to prepare
students at monastic and cathedral schools to
become members of the clergy and scribes.
In contrast to the Greeks and Romans, students
prepared not for this life (rhetoric, politics), but for
life after death.

12. The Early Middle Ages
The primary goal of education was to prepare
students at monastic and cathedral schools to
become members of the clergy and scribes.
In contrast to the Greeks and Romans, students
prepared not for this life (rhetoric, politics), but for
life after death.
They copied Church writings, learned basic
mathematics, and practiced singing.

13. The Early Middle Ages
The primary goal of education was to prepare
students at monastic and cathedral schools to
become members of the clergy or scribes.
In contrast to the Greeks and Romans, they
prepared not for this life (rhetoric, politics), but for
life after death.
They copied Church writings, learned basic
mathematics, and practiced singing.
Physical exercise was not part of the curriculum.

14. The High Middle Ages
The rise of universities began in the 12th-13th
centuries.

15. The High Middle Ages
The rise of universities began in the 12th-13th
centuries.
The goal of education was to understand God
through both theology and this world.

16. The High Middle Ages
The rise of universities began in the 12th-13th
centuries.
The goal of education was to understand God
through both theology and this world.
Students studied first the trivium (language) and
then the quadrivium (numbers).

17. The High Middle Ages
The rise of universities began in the 12th-13th
centuries.
The goal of education was to understand God
through both theology and this world.
Students studied first the trivium (language) and
then the quadrivium (numbers).
One could also receive a chivalric education at
noble and court homes that included physical
training, battle skills, poetry, history, and music.

18. The Renaissance
The goal of education was to develop one’s
physical, spiritual, and intellectual capacities as a
human being (humanism).

19. The Renaissance
The goal of education was to develop one’s
physical, spiritual, and intellectual capacities as a
human being (humanism).
Education returned to the ancient Greek model,
with less emphasis on theology than during the
Middle Ages.

20. The Renaissance
The goal of education was to develop one’s
physical, spiritual, and intellectual capacities as a
human being (humanism).
Education returned to the ancient Greek model,
with less emphasis on theology than during the
Middle Ages.
Students also began to study classical languages
and literature, as well as the natural sciences.

21. The Reformation
Students studied chiefly reading, writing, and
religion in vernacular schools, first established in
16th-century Germany.

22. The 17th and 18th Centuries
As a result of the Counter-Reformation, in
Catholic Europe the classical curriculum
continued to predominate, and Latin remained
the language of instruction, although it was no
longer used in Europe. The teaching of science
was temporarily banned.

23. The 17th and 18th Centuries
As a result of the Counter-Reformation, in
Catholic Europe the classical curriculum
continued to predominate, and Latin remained
the language of instruction, although it was no
longer used in Europe. The teaching of science
was temporarily banned.
The first schools in the U.S. were established in
the 17th century, emphasizing reading, writing,
arithmetic, and religion.

24. The 17th and 18th Centuries
As a result of the Counter-Reformation, in Catholic
Europe the classical curriculum continued to
predominate, and Latin remained the language of
instruction, although it was no longer used in Europe.
The teaching of science was temporarily banned.
The first schools in the U.S. were established in the
17th century, emphasizing reading, writing, arithmetic,
and religion.
Harvard College, founded in 1636, had a liberal arts
curriculum that included classical languages and
literature, ancient history, rhetoric, geometry, logic,
and ethics.

25. 18th-Century U.S.
Benjamin Franklin founded an academy with a
more diverse and practical curriculum, including
modern history and languages, geography,
accounting, surveying, agriculture, and
navigation.

26. 18th-Century U.S.
Benjamin Franklin founded an academy with a
more diverse and practical curriculum, including
modern history and languages, geography,
accounting, surveying, agriculture, and
navigation.
Franklin also promoted the idea of a residential
college, where students would learn from
discussions outside of classes as well as in
class.

27. 18th-Century U.S.
Benjamin Franklin founded an academy with a
more diverse and practical curriculum, including
modern history and languages, geography,
accounting, surveying, agriculture, and
navigation.
Franklin also promoted the idea of a residential
college, where students would learn from
discussions outside of classes as well as in
class.
Thomas Jefferson promoted greater secularism,
science, and preparation for citizenship in a
democracy.

28. 18th-Century U.S.
Benjamin Franklin founded an academy with a more
diverse and practical curriculum, including modern
history and languages, geography, accounting,
surveying, agriculture, and navigation.
Franklin also promoted the idea of a residential
college, where students would learn from discussions
outside of classes as well as in class.
Thomas Jefferson promoted greater secularism,
science, and preparation for citizenship in a
democracy.
These trends became influential particularly in the
19th century.

29. 19th-Century U.S.
Curricula broadened to include many additional
disciplines.

30. 19th-Century U.S.
Curricula broadened to include many additional
disciplines.
Science became more popular than the study of
classical languages and literature.

31. 19th-Century U.S.
Curricula broadened to include many additional
disciplines.
Science became more popular than the study of
classical languages and literature.
Education gradually shifted from an emphasis on
memorization of facts to a focus on direct
observation and individual development.

32. 20th-Century U.S.
Curricula came to stress general skills,
realization of students’ full potential, and
preparation of students for citizenship. Students
were encouraged to take a wide range of
courses (a liberal arts education).

33. 20th-Century U.S.
Curricula came to stress general skills,
realization of students’ full potential, and
preparation of students for citizenship. Students
were encouraged to take a wide range of
courses (a liberal arts education).
Higher education became more secular, with a
greater choice of disciplines, including scientific
and vocational training.

34. 20th-Century U.S.
Curricula came to stress general skills,
realization of students’ full potential, and
preparation of students for citizenship. Students
were encouraged to take a wide range of
courses (a liberal arts education).
Higher education became more secular, with a
greater choice of disciplines, including scientific
and vocational training.
The student body and teaching methods also
became more diverse, as women and minorities
were gradually permitted to enter institutions of
higher education.

35. 20th-Century U.S.
Curricula came to stress general skills, realization of
students’ full potential, and preparation of students for
citizenship. Students were encouraged to take a wide
range of courses (a liberal arts education).
Higher education became more secular, with a greater
choice of disciplines, including scientific and vocational
training.
The student body and teaching methods also became
more diverse, as women and minorities were gradually
permitted to enter institutions of higher education.
By the 1950s universities were offering a wide array of
programs in both the humanities and the sciences.

36. Select Bibliography
Kaufman, Clare. “The History of Higher
Education in the United States.”
WorldWideLearn. 2015. Web. 6 Sept 2015.
Guisepi, Robert, ed. “The History of Education.”
International World History Project. Jan 2006.
Web. 6 Sept 2015.
Zakaria, Fareed. In Defense of a Liberal Arts
Education. New York: W. W. Norton & Company,
2015. Print.