The following is another excerpt from my work in progress on using AI in the classroom. This part focuses on the history of invention and education.

The Influence of the Movable-Type Press

Prior to the invention of the movable-type press in medieval Europe, the written word was far less accessible. Each copy of a work had to be handwritten and was thusly undertaken by specially trained individuals—often monks, and thusly specially focused on religious works in Latin rather than the languages of the people. Also, due to the labor and scarcity involved, the cost of books was prohibitively expensive, further separating socio-economic and cultural classes. And while it is a myth that the average Medieval man wouldn’t be able to write his own name, people were generally illiterate—and women were at a greater literacy disadvantage during this period.

The influence of the movable-type press on human society cannot be overstated. It allowed for ideas to be shared far more readily than ever before. Many of these ideas, as was the case when works were all handwritten, were religious. The entire Protestant Reformation was enabled by the invention of the printing press. The movable-type press allowed for scaled distribution of the written word. As literature became more widely available, more people began learning to read. Part of this was cultural, and part of it was theological.

For those communities who widely converted to Protestantism, like Scotland’s Presbyterians, there was a dominant belief that individuals had a duty to read the Bible for themselves—men and women alike. So, there was a great push in those communities to teach literacy to males and females, rich and poor, clergy and lay person. This was a major cultural shift in education that reverberated in the West, as formal education had not just been restricted to men, but to a very small percentage of men—usually those of nobility, the merchant class, or the clergy. After the printing press and the Reformation, the West saw such a profound upheaval in the cultural and educational landscape. Though, education as we know it wouldn’t take shape for many years to come, the culture of educating of the average person begins here.

The Industrial Revolution

The period of the Industrial Revolution in the United States saw major changes in the economy and society, leading to a corresponding transformation in American public education. As industry leaders called for a more educated and skilled workforce to meet the demands of the rapidly growing factories and businesses, the development of American public education became a central concern. In response, public schools were established, curricula were expanded to include subjects relevant to industry, and teacher training programs were created to produce a more professionalized teaching workforce. These developments marked the beginning of a new era in American public education, as the country adjusted to the challenges and opportunities presented by the rapidly evolving industrial landscape.

Previous to this, the majority of jobs were agricultural in nature. As the Industrial Revolution progressed, the need for agricultural workers decreased, and industrial workers increased. Further, as wealth proliferated during this period, the need for clerical workers likewise increased. Politicians responded to the needs of industry and moved for the formation of public-school systems. These school systems were designed to educate students with a basic skillset to be trainable for industrial jobs. This mentality still predominates in modern education systems as skills taught are considered to be those useful to industry and commerce. Take for instance Common Core as an example.

The Background of Common Core

The Common Core curriculum is a set of standards for K-12 education in English language arts and mathematics that were developed in response to industry leaders’ demands for a more educated and skilled workforce in the United States. The Common Core was developed by a coalition of education leaders and experts and was designed to provide a clear and consistent set of expectations for what students should know and be able to do in each grade. The goal of the Common Core was to ensure that all students, regardless of where they lived, received a high-quality education that would prepare them for college and career success.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the federal government provided incentives to states that adopted the Common Core, leading to its widespread adoption across the country. The Common Core was designed to ensure that American students were better prepared to compete in the global economy and to meet the demands of an increasingly complex and rapidly changing job market. The curriculum was developed with input from teachers, parents, and industry leaders, and is designed to be flexible and adaptable to meet the changing needs of the workforce.

Public Education for the Public Good

Public education is designed to be a public good, to supply the economic growth of the nation with able and competent workers. While this may fly in the face of many teachers’ and schools’ educational philosophies that seeks the betterment of students as individuals, to lead fuller lives, the systems in place have had to be retrofitted to accommodate those philosophies.

Does this mean that our educational models are hopelessly antiquated? No. It’s merely important to understand that our educational structures originated in the late 1800s and despite world-changing technologies like the Internet, the educational systems are largely the same with only some small pockets of attempting a paradigm shift in things like online education. For the vast majority of students, schools maintain the same structures they have for generations. Where are the revolutionary upheavals we saw with the printing press and the steam engine? With artificial intelligence, these may be just around the corner.