Medieval to Modern Education: A Historical Comparative Analysis

This essay provides a comparative analysis of education in the Middle Ages (circa 1350) and the present day (circa 2010). It highlights that during the Middle Ages, education was largely limited to the wealthy and the clergy, with schools attached to churches teaching Latin verses, songs, and hymns. While the Roman education system focused on logic and public speaking rather than mathematics and science. Institutions like Oxford and Cambridge offered advanced studies. The preservation of texts was a key function of monastic education. In contrast, modern education involves government policies, digital learning, and a wide variety of career choices and the system has enabled learning from any part of the world. The essay also acknowledges that while access to education has expanded, power hierarchies and corruption can still create inequalities. Despite these differences, the fundamental desire for knowledge remains a constant throughout history.

Running head: EDUCATION IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE PRESENT
EDUCATION IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE PRESENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Notes

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EDUCATION IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE PRESENT
During the year 1350, hardly 5-6% of the entire population could read and write, as most of the
people used to be peasants. It was the rich families of the Middle Ages who were able to go to
schools and receive proper education. During that time there were mainly three types of schools,
Elementary, Monastic and Grammar school. These schools were attached to large churches and
young kids were taught Latin verses, songs and hymns. The schools had little children being
trained for the church and the monks about religions taught them. Poor children were also taught
and in return, they used to work as servants in the monasteries. There also existed classes which
were started by the Romans that taught children the logic and the art of arguing. Roman teaching
did not follow the methods of mathematics and science, they mainly taught the art of public
speaking. In Europe, the two main bodies for teaching were Oxford and Cambridge, that taught
the youth advanced studies like astronomy and alchemy (Lewis, 2017).
It was due to Bishops and monks, mainly from Rome that education flourished all over the
world. As peasants and serfs worked for the benefits of education and intellectual people studies
to gain more knowledge however there were problems within the system. The ruling class used
their political power to keep the lower class away from educational institutions so that they could
not rule over them. Sometimes the fees of the Church were so high the peasants could not afford
them. Those who studied in monasteries eventually became monks and eventually worked to
preserve the texts, which today have become antiques.
During the year of 2010, education reached a different height if compared to the previous years.
The government is involved and creating new policies to make education more creative and
effective at the same time. System enables the countries to perform education by the means of
internet and people are able to teach and learn form any part of the world. Education nowadays is

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digital and students can choose to pick what they actually want to learn. Thanks to a wide variety
of mindset and ideologies, innovation is accepted and a wide variety of career choices is
available. New material in the system consists of indicators on school choices, parental voice in
education and indicator benchmark laboring cost by educational and economical levels. It is
because of an update on the human and financial resources, which is invested on education, the
whole system is balanced (Markova, Sedhyh & Tsyplakova, 2014).
It can be said the educational system of the 1350s and the 2010s were different in a lot of
perspectives however, it did possess similarities. The power hierarchy still exists where once it
was ruled by ruling class, now corrupt systems exists in some parts of the world where benefits
are give only to those with money. However, similarities like the willing of gaining knowledge
existed and it people has the urge to explore more because there is no end to gain knowledge for
a person even if it is a few hundred years from now.

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REFERENCES
Lewis, A. R. (2017). The closing of the medieval frontier, 1250–1350. In The Medieval Frontiers
of Latin Christendom (pp. 181-189). Routledge.
Markova, S. M., Sedhyh, E. P., & Tsyplakova, S. A. (2014). Upcoming trends of educational
systems development in present-day conditions. Life Science Journal, 11(11s), 489-493.