School

Overview

The idea of school traditionally refers to a place where students regularly go to receive instruction from teachers in subjects such as math, science, reading, and history. In modern times, schooling may take place in almost any setting. Traditional in-person schools are still common in the 2020s, but many alternative methods also exist to give students more options than ever before. For example, homeschooling generally takes place in a student’s residence and is often directed by the student’s parents or personal tutors. Digital learning may augment in-person lessons or even replace them entirely, a trend that has become increasingly common in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020.

Many concerns have surrounded schools since their earliest days, such as the methods they choose to teach students and the types of students they admit. In the twenty-first century, most of these longstanding issues remained unresolved, and rapid changes in technology, approaches, demographics, and goals have added a plethora of new debates to schools and the process of schooling.

Schools may vary profoundly in their settings, techniques, and offerings, but most fit into broad categories based on the types of courses they offer and the ages and educational levels of their students. These categories may vary between countries and regions, but a system in the United States may be seen as a basic and widely demonstrative example. In the United States, schools and schooling practices are leveled based mainly on student ages and the corresponding skills and knowledge deemed suitable for those ages.

Many students begin attending school very young, prior to the age of five. This early learning often takes place at preschools or other early education programs. The first stage of formal education, however, is usually known as kindergarten. Students, who typically enroll at the age of five or six, may expect to learn basic life skills and gain the foundation for further learning in the years ahead. They may also learn social skills that help them deal with other students and teachers.

The earliest years of formal education begin at kindergarten and then proceed into numbered grades, typically one through twelve, which are often referred to collectively as “kindergarten through twelfth grade” or simply “K–12.” In first grade, students may expect to build upon the lessons they learned in kindergarten. This process generally continues throughout the coming grades, with each successive grade challenging students to take on more advanced skills and knowledge meant to help the student consistently achieve a high level of ability.

The increase in challenge is accomplished through the design of a curriculum, or a body of lessons meant to give students the most benefit. Like the grades of schooling, curricula are generally also tiered, so they begin with more basic, introductory material in a particular subject before moving to more specialized knowledge, thus helping a student progress from limited or no knowledge to, potentially, expertise. Some areas of curricula are meant to cover more basic lessons that are likely to be useful in everyday life, such as reading, writing, and mathematics. Other areas of curricula are meant to focus on specific areas of learning that can help students pursue their personal interests and aptitudes and prepare them for anticipated future occupations in academic or professional fields.

Although the K–12 designation is common, the grades from kindergarten through twelve represent a profound span of a person’s early life and development, reaching as they do from around the age of five or six to about seventeen or eighteen. For this reason, most school systems divide these years into smaller subcategories that can be grouped based on the similar ages of their students. These subcategories are frequently known as elementary school, middle school, and high school, although the exact grades they encompass may vary slightly between districts. For example, an elementary school in a district may host students from kindergarten through grade five, its middle school may host students from grades six through eight, and its high school may host students from grades nine through twelve.

These categories help school administrators keep students of similar ages in closer proximity, both to help students find similar-age peers and avoid concerns stemming from the mixing of students of significantly differing ages. In cases where a student is for some reason unable to meet the expectations of a grade, the student may “fail” or be held back and be required to go through that grade again. In these cases, some students in a grade may be older than their same-grade peers.

School systems may be tiered in other ways as well. The youngest students, from kindergarten through sixth (in some cases seventh or eighth) grades, are generally considered to be engaged in the “primary” level of schooling. This is the level at which most lessons are based on general knowledge and life skills. Lessons typically become more advanced and specific in the “secondary” level, which proceeds through twelfth grade and the end of high school. During this period, most students make significant progress toward choosing a career and picking specialized classes to help prepare for that career. Following this level, students may choose to end their formal schooling and seek a job or other occupation. Other students proceed to higher levels of education, also known as the “tertiary” (or third) level of schooling, which may include going to college, university, or other undergraduate programs, and then possibly proceeding still farther to postgraduate levels. During this long process, some students choose vocational paths, meaning they supplement their regular education with more focused and specialized training in a particular skill likely to lead to a future career.

Most world societies place great emphasis and devote large amounts of money and material toward their school systems. Traditionally, schooling has played an important, if not essential, part in the growth of individuals and societies. In its most basic form, schooling helps people learn the basic skills they need to survive and meet their daily needs. More advanced forms of schooling are intended to help individuals in other ways, such as meeting personal goals, as well as helping their family, community, and country. Many countries see schooling as an essential investment in their own strength and security, since well-educated citizens are more likely to be professionally productive, generate economic activity, and become strong and wise leaders in society.

For these and other reasons, modern countries require that citizens attend school for a minimum number of years, such as through the age of sixteen. Most countries have adopted some form of public education, meaning schooling that is “free” to students as it is funded by taxpayers in the community and beyond. Public schools are typically subject to rigid oversight and standardization on local, state, and federal levels, and failure to meet standards or goals might lead to cuts in their funding or other changes.

Meanwhile, groups and communities offer private schooling, such as religious schools that may balance secular lessons in math and literature with studies of sacred texts and prayer sessions. Private schools may receive little if any public funding or assistance, meaning that they must be funded by individuals, religious groups, or other organizations, which can prove to be very costly for students. However, this lack of public funding gives private schools more leeway in designing their own curricula and approaches to education. Private institutions may offer better-qualified teachers and smaller class sizes, offering academic benefits to their students.

Further Insights

Modern schooling is a highly complex, regulated, multi-tiered industry overseen by hundreds of thousands of educational professionals. However, the basic ability to learn is naturally ingrained in humans. Humans are born with numerous methods of gaining information, both formally and informally, that help them build life skills and navigate the world around them. Often, as in the case of babies and small children, the learning takes place instinctively, even without the learner’s awareness. For example, most babies begin to absorb fundamental language skills simply by living among and observing older people, such as family members, using language in their day-to-day lives. In this way, many of the most important lessons people learn are not even connected to formal schools.

Educational researchers have identified three main methods, or modalities, through which people may learn. These are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Learners may excel in one of these modalities more than others, so many modern educators try to employ more than one, or all, of these modalities in their schools to best accommodate different learning styles. Visual learning occurs through the observation of events or activities, such as learning how to prepare food by watching other people do so. Auditory learning involves gaining information and knowledge by listening. An example of this is a traditional classroom where a professor lectures or speaks at length about an academic topic in a way meant to impart the knowledge to listeners. Kinesthetic learning involves physical movement or hands-on learning. Young children often engage in kinesthetic learning as they learn to play games or ride bicycles.

The first forms of schooling were highly informal by modern standards but often employed all the learning modalities. Even in the earliest prehistory, humans found myriad ways to teach younger generations the various skills they would need to survive. Over time, this education extended to include various personal and cultural values and belief systems. Although no formal schools existed, people demonstrated and taught skills and imparted knowledge effectively in many ways. For example, storytellers have been impactful members of many ancient cultures, using stories, legends, and other narratives to educate as well as entertain listeners. Their tales could be set to music and memorized to pass along through generations, thus perpetuating their lessons. Over time, many of these ancient tales were committed to written forms, ensuring that they would last even longer.

For millennia, most schooling was informal, often taking place within families and workplaces, where apprentices shadowed experienced workers to learn their trades. However, more formal methods of schooling, in which pupils gathered at a specific location for instruction, may be traced at least as far back as the ancient philosophers of Greece, China, Egypt, Mesoamerica, and other places. In these lands, great thinkers assembled their followers and spread learning, much of which would be transcribed and saved in various forms.

Over time, with the continuing development of civilizations, technologies, and religions, the importance of education became even more widely embraced. Changing philosophies and belief systems helped to create systems of formal universities, focus lessons on measurable sciences rather than on supernatural beliefs, and record knowledge in a variety of long-lasting formats. Movements such as the Renaissance and the Enlightenment further elevated education to a prime aim of societies. These changes also pushed for education to become more than just a means of training people for future occupations; rather, education would become a means for people to fulfill themselves and help their families and countries. The rise of democratic governments made this aim more important than ever, as regular people became increasingly empowered to gain and wield significant power within their societies.

Issues

Schools and schooling have existed in some form or another for millennia. By modern times, they have undergone countless changes and adaptations to new ways of thinking, communicating, learning, and viewing the world. In the 2020s, schools continue to evolve, and questions continue to arise about their purposes, goals, and techniques.

For example, some educational theorists push for schools to focus more heavily on academics, especially because of continually slipping student test scores. Other theorists believe that schools should extend their reach well beyond academics. Various educators have used schools and schooling to pass along cultural stories, ethics, or beliefs, or foster feelings such as patriotism, nationalism, or a desire for revolution. Other times, groups within a society, especially those that might traditionally face restrictions, may view schooling as a crucial tool for gaining more rights, security, or strength. For example, in parts of the world where women have traditionally been held in second-class stations, many reformers believe that female education is key to undoing power imbalances and building gender equality.

Reformers may also view schooling as a way to bring sweeping changes to humanity, such as in modern pushes for educational systems to go beyond basic skills and teach students more interpersonal skills, such as managing one’s feelings and being respectful to the needs and rights and others. The process of social and emotional learning (SEL) gained significant traction in the twenty-first century for its emphasis on personal and social lessons for students. SEL-oriented lessons seek to help students control their emotions and impulses, understand social situations, develop greater empathy toward others, and make more thoughtful decisions.

These kinds of approaches are often used in conjunction with efforts to make classrooms more inclusive for students of different social backgrounds and ability levels. Proponents of SEL in schools believe these techniques create better students, adults, and communities. For example, the Committee for Children reports that SEL techniques have contributed to a 42-percent reduction in physical aggression in students and a 20-percent reduction in the bullying of students with disabilities. Other researchers have questioned the focus on inclusivity and suggested that SEL might create distractions and complications that derail academic goals.

Educational researchers have pointed out continuing questions and concerns about modern schools. For example, quickly advancing technology has brought a near-complete overhaul to the idea of school itself. Traditionally, “school” was considered a physical location where students and teachers met in person. Increasingly in the twenty-first century, and soon after the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, much schooling has moved to digital platforms. Many students are attending classes virtually from their homes instead of in brick-and-mortar school buildings.

The changes brought by the pandemic occurred quickly and often haphazardly, leaving many challenges and concerns even as virtual education became increasingly entrenched in global societies. For example, critics have charged that virtual learning is more difficult for rural or lower-income students who may have less access to or familiarity with technological devices and may not have easy access to safe or quiet places to study. It may also impede students’ social development, ability to form in-person relationships, and opportunities to reduce “screen time” and get physical activity. On the other hand, many pundits embrace such changes because they may add more flexibility to the learning experience, in some cases allowing students to pursue their lessons in new ways or on their own schedules. This so-called “open learning” may ultimately make high-quality education more accessible since students may theoretically study anywhere at any time, eliminating the need for close proximity to educators, transportation, or centralized physical locations.

About the Author

Mark Dziak is a Pennsylvania-based writer. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in 2003 and completed a secondary education program there in 2011. He has worked at Northeast Editing, Inc., since 2004. As a content developer, he has researched and written hundreds of educational articles, test items, and other resources on a wide variety of social science topics. Dziak has also published numerous works of nonfiction and fiction.

Bibliography

Holmberg, B., Sewart, D., and Keegan, D. (2021). Distance Education: International Perspectives. Taylor & Francis.

Janak, E. (2019). A Brief History of Schooling in the United States: From Pre-Colonial Times to the Present. Palgrave Macmillan / Springer.

Rury, J. L. and Tamura, E. H. (Eds.) (2019). The Oxford Handbook of the History of Education. Oxford University Press.

Structure of U.S. Education. (2008, February 22). U.S. Network for Education Information, www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-structure-us.html

Student Journey: Learning. (2023). New York City Public Schools, www.schools.nyc.gov/learning/student-journey

What Is Social-Emotional Learning? (2023). Committee for Children, www.cfchildren.org/what-is-social-emotional-learning/