School
This article is about centralized locations for group learning. For the article about the concept of "schooling," see Wikipedia's education article. For other uses of the word "school," see School (disambiguation).A
school is an
institution and a place designated for
education in the form of group
learning among
students,
teachers, and
staff. In most first-world countries, schools are classified by the age level of students taught:
primary school for younger students and
secondary school for older ones.
Universities and
vocational schools are for adults.
Online schools are for all ages. All of these schools can be either public or private. What is considered a public school in the
UK is actually a private school by
U.S. standards.
Recently there is a growing trend toward home schooling for children in the US, replacing the public school system.
A school may be dedicated to learning within one particular field, such as a school of economics, a school of dance, or a school of journalism. Such a school can be part of a university (the
Wharton School), an independent university in its own right (the
Glasgow School of Art), or somewhere in between (the
London School of Economics).
In the
United Kingdom, the term
school refers primarily to pre-
university institutions, and these can, for the most part, be divided into
primary schools (sometimes further divided into
infant school and
junior school), and
secondary schools. School performance is monitored by
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education.
In
North America, the term
school can refer to any institute of education, at any level, and covers all of the following:
preschool (for
toddlers),
kindergarten, elementary school, middle school (also called intermediate school or junior high school, depending on specific age groups and geographic region),
senior high school,
college,
university, and
graduate school. In the
US, school performance through high school is monitored by each state's
Department of Education. Many of the earlier public schools in the United States were
one-room schools where a single teacher taught seven grades of boys and girls in the same classroom. Beginning in the 1920s, one-room schools were consolidated into multiple classroom facilities with transportation increasingly provided by
kid hacks and
school buses.
In much of continental
Europe, the term
school usually applies to
primary education, with primary schools that last between six and nine years, depending on the country. It also applies to
secondary education, with secondary schools often divided between
Gymnasiums and
vocational schools, which again depending on country and type of school take between three and six years. The term school is rarely used for
tertiary education, except for some
upper or
high schools (German: Hochschule) which are more accurately translated as
colleges.
|
School in rural Sudan, 2002 |
The size and scope of schools varies depending on the resources and goals of the communities that provide for them. A school might be simply an outdoor meeting spot where one teacher comes to instruct a few students, or, alternatively, a large
campus consisting of hundreds of buildings and tens of thousands of students and educators.
The basic unit of a school building is generally the
classroom, where the act of instruction takes place. Other places typically found in schools include:
*a
cafeteria or
canteen where students eat
lunch.
*an athletic field,
gym, and track for students participating in
sports or
physical education.
*an
auditorium where student theatrical or musical productions can be staged and where all-school events such as assemblies are held.
*an
office where the administrative work of the school is done.
*a
library*specialist classrooms including
laboratories for science education.
Boarding schools, where students live full-time amongst their peers, will also include
dormitories.
Most modern states consider it a duty of the
government to provide at least a basic education to the children of its citizens. For this reason, many schools are owned or funded by
states.
Private schools are those which are operated independently from the government. Private schools usually rely on fees from families whose children attend the school for funding; however, sometimes such schools also receive government support (
see charter schools). Many private schools are affiliated with a particular religion; these are known as
parochial schools.
In the United Kingdom most schools are publicly funded and known as
state schools or
maintained schools in which tuition is provided free. There are also private schools or
independent schools that charge fees. Some of the most selective and expensive private schools are known as
public schools, a usage that can be confusing to speakers of North American English. In North American usage, a
public school is one that is publicly funded or run.
The concept of grouping students together in a centralized location runs parallel to the development of unified, modern cultural identity.
Schools existed as far as back as Roman times if not earlier (see
roman school).
As part of its religious indoctrination campaign, Islam was one of the earliest cultures to develop a schooling system in the modern sense of the word. Islam put a lot of emphasis on knowledge and therefore had to develop a systematic way of teaching and spreading knowledge in purpose built structures. At first the mosque combined both religious performance and learning activities, by the tenth century, however, the Seljuks introduced the first school, or Madrassa as it was called in Arabic, a proper school built independently from the mosque. They were also the first to make the school or
Madrassa system a public domain under the control of the caliph. The Nizamiyya madrasa is considered by consensus of scholars to be the earliest surviving school, built towards 1066 CE by Emir Nizam Al-Mulk.
Under the
Ottomans, learning was given a new dimension as towns of
Bursa and
Edirne took over as the main centres of learning respectively. The Ottoman system of
Kulliye, a building complex containing a mosque, a hospital, madrassa, and public kitchen and dining areas, was indeed revolutionary making the leaning accessible to a wider public though its free meals, health care and sometimes free accommodation.
The nineteenth century historian,
Scott holds that a remarkable correspondence exists between the procedure established by those institutions and the methods of the present day. They had their collegiate courses, their prizes for proficiency in scholarship, their oratorical and poetical contests, their commencements and their degrees. In the department of medicine, a severe and prolonged examination, conducted by the most eminent physicians of the capital, was exacted of all candidates desirous of practising their profession, and such as were unable to stand the test were formally pronounced incompetent.
The law student was interested in an authorization, called
ijaza; covering a field of knowledge, that of law, as well as in a license to teach it and issue legal opinions, called
ijazat al-tadris wa 'l-fatwa, which he obtained from one master-juris consult.
The word Baccalaurea in French or International Baccalaureate in English was derived from Arabic
Bihaqqi Al-Riwayah, the first known written warrant to be given from a teacher to his student.
In
Europe during the
Middle Ages and much of the
Early Modern period, the main purpose of schools (as opposed to universities) was to teach the Latin language. This led to the term
grammar school which in the United States is used informally to refer to a primary school but in the United Kingdom means a school that selects entrants on their ability or aptitude. Following this, the school curriculum has gradually broadened to include literacy in the vernacular language as well as technical, artistic, scientific and practical subjects.
The
one-room schoolhouse is an icon of
19th century rural life in the United States.
The safety of staff and students is increasingly becoming an issue for school communities. In the wake of the
Columbine High School massacre, many school administrators in the United States have created plans to protect students and staff in the event of a
school shooting (Some also taking measures such as installing
metal detectors). Other security concerns faced by schools include
bomb threats and the presence of
gangs.
Bullying is also an issue of concern in many schools.
The rise of internet and the new technologies at the start of the 21st century has meant a new type of school that uses the internet to impart lessons. Online schools also can provide support to traditional schools, as in the case of the
School Net NamibiaThe following schools are the most popular online schools now:
*
The University of Phoenix*
The Art Institute Online*
Penn Foster College*
DeVry University*
Liberty University*
Virginia College*
Anthem College Online*
American Sentenial University*
California National University*
ITT Technical Institute*
Kapplan University*
Allied Real Estate & Bussiness SchoolSchools in the new age are becoming a larger and larger driving force in popular culture. It is not unheard of to hear of schools coming together to perform large tasks for current world events.Schools and schoolchildren are frequently portrayed in
fiction and the
media, ranging from
Harry Potter and
Grange Hill to
Battle Royale. See
List of fictional schools*Nakosteen, M. (1964). ‘History of Islamic origins of Western Education A.D 800-1350', University of Colorado Press, Boulder, Colorado,
*Dodge, B. (1962). ‘Muslim Education in the Medieval Times', The Middle East Institute, Washington D.C.
*Makdisi, G. (1980). ‘On the origin and development of the college in Islam and the West', in Islam and the Medieval West, ed. Khalil I. Semaan, State University of New York Press
*Ribera, J. (1928). ‘Disertaciones Y Opusculos', 2 vols. Madrid
*
List of colleges and universities by country*
List of schools by country*
List of songs about school*
Music school*
Prep school*
School and university in literature
