How schools have changed!

By Sabina Turcan

How would you like to be in a class of 100? Would you be able to endure physical affliction as a form of punishment at school? This is only a small aspect of how the students in the past used to be educated. Let’s take a look at the evolution of schools throughout the last two centuries and compare the current education to teaching methods back in the day.

During the educational revolution in the 19th century, only a few children from wealthy families had the possibility to attend schools. At first, the presence was mandatory for children from the age of 5 to 10, yet in the 20th century this number increased to 16 years old. Nowadays, most of the students finish school at the age of 18. However, some aspects that stayed the same is that children still go to school 5 times a week and benefit from Christmas, Easter and summer holidays.

In the past, teaching wasn't considered a suitable profession for men and most of the teachers were unmarried women. Nowadays, everyone is allowed to choose whichever job they want without taking into account the gender differences. But not only this characteristic might seem peculiar. Students had to endure physical punishments for any minor mistake in their behaviour. In our days, physical punishments are entirely unacceptable due to the fact that there are other alternatives that are considered much more effective and appropriate such as the loss of recess time, extra homework and bad grades.

At the same time, students in the past didn’t have the possibility to study a wide variety of subjects in school. Their options were mainly limited to reading, writing, arithmetic and needlework. The students in the 21st century have many other subject choices in school which can suit the interests of any individual. Furthermore, the classes were extremely large in the past and the education focused mainly on learning all the information by heart. These days, however, the classrooms are reduced to a much smaller number of students and the students are taught in more interactive ways, while focusing more on understanding the information rather than learning it by heart.

Ultimately, the educational system in school changed considerably from the 19th century until the 21st century. The schools have positively evolved over the time in order to make the learning process amiable for everyone.