The Beginning of Formal Education

About 3000 ВС*, the Sumerians,** who lived in Tigris-Euphrates Valley,*** and the Egyptians each invented a system of writing. Both systems included a method of writing numbers as well as language. The invention of writing was the second major milestone in the history of education. It made possible the beginning of schools as we know them today.

Before man developed writing, teachers had to repeat orally what was to be learned until the young had memorized it. A child could thus learn only what his teacher already knew, and had memorized. But by teaching the child to read, a teacher could make available the knowledge of many men, not only his own, yet reading and writing could not be learned while the child served as an apprentice, imitated the behaviour of his elders, or took part in rituals. In addition, the first writing systems, which were a kind of picture writing, were awkward* and hard to learn. As a result, special schools arose in which teachers taught reading, writing, and calculation.

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* ВС – до нашей эры

** the Sumerians –шумеры

*** Tigris-Euphrates Valley – долина рек Тигра и Евфрата