Education In The 1800s

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Education in the 1800s

Today, students attend school in large brick buildings with several classrooms and many highly trained and specially licensed teachers, learning a wide variety of subjects. They are required by law to attend from kindergarten to twelfth grade, riding on school buses, walking short distances, or taking a parent’s car back and forth every day. Compared to those of today, schools in the 1800s were vastly different in many ways. School buildings, laws and policies regarding education, transportation, subjects taught, school supplies, and teacher license requirements have all changed in the past two centuries.

Unlike today’s schools with multiple classrooms for different grade levels and subjects, schools of the 1800s consisted of one room and taught all subjects for children from elementary school all the way up to high school. All of the students attended school at the same time, so younger and older children were mixed together. There were many students and only one teacher in each school, so often times older students helped the younger students. These schools were called one room schoolhouses. As the name suggests, they were made up of one room, with a stove in the middle to keep everyone warm and a blackboard at the front. Often times, one room schoolhouses served as churches …show more content…

From school buildings to supplies and teacher license requirements, life is very different for students and teachers today compared to two centuries ago. Today’s teachers receive higher education to learn the profession, and students learn new subjects such as foreign language, art, health, and science. After a long day of learning, most take the school bus home and continue their studies further. One thing that is similar between education in the 1800s and education now, however, is that children grow up to become well-educated, well-rounded individuals who are knowledgeable about themselves and the world around

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