Changes in Education over Time: Through the Ages Project Part 1 of 10

By Jacob Lindbert

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Introduction

Education holds a pivotal role in society and has undergone significant changes over time. It has evolved from an informal, community-based structure to one driven by technology. These changes reflect the changes of society at large, with new advancements in communication, technology, etc. being developed. Early forms of education were verbal, sharing oral traditions and drawings. As time went on, classrooms were developed containing laptops and other smart technology. Alongside the new technology, new methods of teaching have been designed to address a diverse set of students. This paper will dive into the major changes in education over time and how technology and educational styles have changed through the ages.

Early Mesopotamia

In Early Mesopotamian society, Sumerian temple schools represented the earliest organized educational institutions. These schools, often led by priests or senior scribes, aimed to share knowledge and cultural traditions with all children growing up in the area. Essential pillars of education involved written language and basic mathematical concepts, as both were viewed as essential for a temple to be properly run.

Scribal training was a major part of education during the time. Students were comprised of young boys between 5 to 10 years old entering the school where they spent long periods of time, typically 10-20 years, copying dictations of cuneiform writing, commercial texts, hymns, and other important writings (history tools, 2024). Priests and students alike would study religious rituals, laws, and other key writings or proceedings of the time in efforts to promote continuous learning.

Sumerian temple schools left behind an abundance of evidence of their teaching, largely in the form of cuneiform tablets. Historians estimate that 80 percent of surviving tablets contain exercises teaching language mastery, 15 percent relate to mathematics, 5 percent law, and 0.5 percent astronomy (history tools, 2024). Many tablets also included completed student work with corrections and grades from instructors. This provides insight into early educational models and what was viewed as important information to teach.

Although there are observed differences in educational materials, many of the early education materials show unity, particularly with regard to religion. With education tightly connected to temple-learning, many of the schools were heavily influenced or directly managed by religious officials. Additionally, much of the learning was geared towards preparing students to serve in specific financial or scribal roles, creating future government and religious leaders.

Ancient Egypt

In Ancient Egypt, education was structured and aimed to develop writing skills, mathematics, and religious knowledge. The system was largely set up to prepare students for roles in bureaucracy, priesthood, or other pivotal roles in society. School systems were broken down into two main categories: scribal and palace schools.

Scribal school was a very prestigious form of education in Egypt and was reserved for scribes. Scribes would take classes, learning to read and write in hieroglyphics. Scribal schools were typically partnered with temples and government buildings where the students would be taught math, writing, and other necessary skills, before starting work in the connected temple or government office (The Archaeologist, 2025). Religion was a major part of the education system, where priests would pass down ways to perform rituals and how to interpret texts. This allowed information on moral instruction, the gods, and the afterlife to be passed from generation to generation.

While not entirely separate from scribal schools, Egyptian palace schools were reserved for the elite noble children. Here, students would focus on hieroglyphic writing, mathematics, and priestly knowledge. Students contributed to community life through daily chores and labor, learning a variety of skills that would be useful in both their future daily and professional lives.

Ancient Greece

In Ancient Greece, education was prioritized to produce good citizens as opposed to being solely available for the wealthy and elite. Children were trained in music, art, literature, science, math, and politics (Donn, n.d.). In cities like Athens, at 6 years old, boys would go to school, learning to read and write, play instruments, recite poetry, debate and give speeches, and study math and science. After high school, they would go off to military school and learn how to be soldiers. In all, it would take around 20 years for boys to make it through all of the allotted schooling. Schooling for girls was different, and they did not attend any formal educational settings. If their mother could read and write, daughters were taught how to do the same, along with learning how to cook, sew, and run a household (Donn, n.d.).

Schooling in Sparta was very different from the rest of Greece. In Sparta, education was solely in place to produce a powerful army. Spartan-born boys would enter military schools around 6 years old, where they learned how to read, write, and most importantly, fight. School was very tough, aimed at toughening the boys into war-ready individuals. They were often beaten, starved, and isolated in attempts to turn everything into a form of battle. Unlike the rest of Greece, Spartan girls would go to school, learning to be warriors. School was not as brutal as for the boys, but girls would still regularly wrestle, fist fight, and practice handling weapons. The Spartans believed that strong women produced strong babies, and when needed, women would assist in defending the city and their homes (Donn, n.d.).

Ancient Rome

Roman education was different from prior civilizations. Ancient Rome did not have any official schools set up, and education relied on hiring private tutors or paying tuition fees for private schools. Wealthy families employed private tutors to teach their children at home, while less well-off children were taught in groups. This led to vastly different conditions for both students and teachers. Teachers who taught wealthy students were able to devote more attention to the individual student, along with typically having better access to educational tools. On the other hand, those teaching poorer children were able to devote less time per student and typically did not have extra access to educational materials. As a result, educational quality varied, as not all students received the same instruction or had equal access to tutoring services.

Structured schools of the time relied solely on tuition fees paid by the parents of the students enrolled. Parents paid the school fees in installments at each term's end; however, if parents lacked the money to pay or were unhappy with their child’s progress, teachers would be left financially vulnerable (McCormack, 2023). This created an entirely new set of challenges for teachers, as they not only had to navigate poor teaching conditions but also ensure proper funding. There were two types of teachers during this time: the litterator (primary teacher) required no special training and made very little money per student, while the Grammaticus (more advanced teacher) made around four times the money per student. This divide further drove the inequitable access to education for students and the uneven working conditions that teachers experienced at the time.

As a whole, students had to be proactive about their education. In order to be engaged during sessions, students would need to bring several different materials to foster learning. This included waxed tablets for writing on, sponges for erasing, knives for sharpening reeds, reeds for writing, a case for carrying all materials, and anything else the student may desire (McCormack, 2023). For the most part, students made do with whatever was available to them, whether that was broken pieces of pottery, wood, sheets sewn together, or anything else they could gain access to. In all, students and teachers alike had to work together to create environments where education could take place.

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages were a period of time that experienced many setbacks, with education being something largely overlooked. For many who wanted to receive an education, they had to go to monasteries or cathedral schools. Boys who were set to become knights would be fostered in other knights’ homes, learning their martial skills, and noble girls would either receive instruction from nuns or tutors in the home (Cybulskie, 2023). Throughout school, students mostly learned grammar, logic, geometry, astronomy, and music. Like earlier periods, students would take notes, primarily using wax tablets. With limited access to tablets, students would have to memorize large portions of the information taught to them. This led to mostly oral exams, allowing students to practice speaking while being tested on key information.

When students were finished with school, most would either move directly into a career or pursue further education at a university. Universities offered courses and information not otherwise available, including law and medicine. This standard is observed to this day, with law and medical school being separate from undergraduate programs. Rather than being the large buildings universities are now, they were formerly gatherings of people coming together to learn from individual scholars (Cybulskie, 2023). Throughout Europe, there were several influential universities that students could attend. Most notable is Oxford University. As universities grew, problems arose in many towns and cities where the universities existed. Non-student citizens often did not enjoy students coming in and taking over their cities, leading to disputes and fights. Cambridge University was created as a result of one of these fights when students from Oxford left the city after the falling-out, creating their own school (Cybulskie, 2023). As a whole, as universities grew, people living in cities grew to be more accepting of the students, reducing the turbulent relationship that had existed early on.

Renaissance

With the Renaissance being a period of rebirth, education experienced many developments. Building upon the work of the Middle Ages, this period began the expansion of the liberal arts degree, comprised of the trivium and quadrivium (Egan, 2019). The trivium was focused on grammar, with students learning the nature of language and how words impact society. The quadrivium was centered around mathematics and other applied forms of knowledge, all of which were aimed at giving students the skills to succeed after school.

While the basic infrastructure of education remained the same during this period, the major development was the number of new findings and the amount of information that could be taught. Earlier schools were limited by what was known of the world, but the Renaissance, with all of its brilliant minds, developed large amounts of information that could be taught. Da Vinci and others diving into the human body and its composition, Galileo making key scientific findings, and countless others adding to mathematics, medicine, philosophy, etc. This created a large well of new information that could now be taught to students, opening new career pathways and starting new courses that could be taken.

Modern Education

As time passed onward after the Renaissance, the desire for knowledge and discoveries continued. With this, new teaching methods have been developed to suit the needs of all different types of students. Today, interactive learning technologies have taken over classrooms with teachers encouraging students to use tablets, online software, and other platforms (Kiplington, 2023). Online learning has grown every year, with a wide variety of programs being offered without individuals having to leave their homes. For example, individuals can obtain Associate's degrees, Bachelor's degrees, Master's degrees, other professional degrees and certificates, and even PhDs entirely online. This has changed the mode of information transfer as students no longer need to be present, listening to a speaker to gain knowledge. Instead, many can watch recorded videos, perform Google searches, and more, without ever having to speak face-to-face with a teacher. With this, testing methods have evolved from mostly oral exams to online exams and written papers. Additionally, portfolios for creative projects and presentations continue to be a popular form of assessing a student’s knowledge and understanding of a particular topic.

Today, in many areas around the globe, both boys and girls attend school at a young age, sharing classrooms and learning the same material. The standardization of education plans has also helped ensure that students in different areas are learning similar information, setting them up for success in their careers or at university. Additionally, educational programs like special education and continuing education allow for new methods of learning that were not previously available. Special education emphasizes that all students, regardless of ability, have a right to education, promoting a more inclusive education system (Kiplington, 2023). Continuing education fosters lifelong learning, with adults being encouraged to regularly learn new skills and continuously become the best version of themselves that they can be.

Conclusion

Throughout the ages, education has evolved from informal settings where priests and tutors facilitated teaching to complex, technology-driven models of learning. As civilizations made new advancements and discoveries, education was regularly updated to reflect those new understandings. This has led to the continuous adaptation of education. Historical developments, technological innovations, and educational reforms have expanded access, diversified teaching methods, and redefined the purpose of education. As societies move into the future and continue to make discoveries, education will change with it, becoming what is needed for society to continue advancing.

Sources

Cybulskie, D. (2023, June 5). Education in the Middle Ages. Medievalists.net. https://www.medievalists.net/2023/06/education-middle-ages/

Donn, L. (n.d.). Education in Ancient Greece - Ancient Greece for Kids. Greece.mrdonn.org. https://greece.mrdonn.org/education.html#google_vignette

Egan, P. (2019, February 1). Renaissance Education: Looking to the Past to Chart a Course for Education Today • Educational Renaissance. Educational Renaissance. https://educationalrenaissance.com/2019/02/01/renaissance-education-looking-to-the-past-to-chart-a-course-for-education-today/

history tools. (2024, June 24). Tracing the Origins of Education: Where Did the First Schools Emerge? - History Tools. History Tools. https://www.historytools.org/school/tracing-the-origins-of-education-where-did-the-first-schools-emerge#google_vignette

Kiplington, T. (2023, July 23). What has changed in education in the last 100 years? Waysideparents.org. https://waysideparents.org/what-has-changed-in-education-in-the-last-100-years

McCormack, L. K. C. (2023, April 24). Roman Education. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2224/roman-education/

The Archaeologist. (2025, March 7). The Role of Education in Ancient Egypt. The Archaeologist. https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/the-role-of-education-in-ancient-egypt#google_vignette