School is the newcomer: why children learn best outside the classroom

The industrial revolution and the birth of modern schooling: what history tells us about learning

For most of human history, children learned by taking part in life. They absorbed skills and knowledge through family life, apprenticeships, play, and community. Learning happened as they joined in with the real work of their world—watching, listening, experimenting, asking questions, and helping. It was active, social, and meaningful.

Step back and it becomes clear: school, as we know it today, is actually the newcomer. The system in England is only about 150 years old. Before the 1870 Education Act, formal education was largely reserved for the wealthy. Most children learned at home, in their community, or through apprenticeships.

Universal schooling became urgent during the industrial revolution. Factories needed workers who would turn up on time, follow instructions, and accept authority. The model we inherited from early 19th-century Prussia was designed to achieve just that. Classrooms mirrored factories: rows of children, age-based groups, bells, timetables, and lessons delivered from the front. It wasn’t just about literacy or numbers; it was social conditioning. Punctuality, obedience, sobriety—these were the habits required by the workforce.

This system also introduced the English Compulsory School Age. Children began school at age five—sometimes younger for summer-born children—not primarily for their benefit, but to push mothers back into the workforce. School became an institution designed around efficiency, control, and conformity.

Yet humans learned long before schools existed. Curiosity, play, social connection, hands-on work—these old ways of learning shaped our species for thousands of years. They are natural, effective, and deeply human.

Now we live in a post-industrial world. Most children will not work in factories. The skills they need—creativity, problem-solving, resilience, collaboration—aren’t developed by rote learning or strict timetables. It’s worth asking: does the factory model still serve our children? Or should we place more trust in those older, deeper ways of learning that are hardwired into every child?

By remembering that school is the newcomer, we can open our minds to a richer, more flexible understanding of education. Learning doesn’t need to fit neatly into rows, bells, or age groups. It can happen everywhere, all day, through curiosity, play, exploration, and connection.