Education in Equestria

[AnonyPoni 564]

I dunno, for some reason I've thought about this a lot.

 

How does Equestria's education system work? Is it similar to the whole "elementary, middle, and high" school thing most of us are used to, or is it only primary schooling until you get your cutie mark?

 

Then what? University? Vocational? Does it pertain to cutie marks? Do certain cutie marks help you out in getting into that? Can you avoid all of that?

 

*shrug* i've just sorta pondered it a bit. What do you guys think?

[SixNine 4]

Most likely it would stop after high school,considering the reason school exists in Equestria is for basic skills and finding your talent, unless you're talent has anything to do with being a doctor,nurse,or anything that would normally require a college degree,I would say anything after high school is probably optional.

[DarligPegasi 315]

I think its just elementary school, because the only school we've seen is Miss Cheerilies class (which takes up the whole building) and we've heard of the School for Gifted Unicorns in Canterlot. After that I think they grow up and by that time they usually have their cutie marks and know their talents so they just work in accordance to that.

[Fhaolan 4,494]

They seem to follow what used to be common in around the 1900's in America. Education was in a turmoil around then, as new ideas were being brought into play, and a desire to increase the general education level of the populace was becoming popular. So what I'm about to talk about was early on. It changed pretty rapidly into stuff similar to what you're familiar with now.

 

Most rural education is done through one-room schoolhouses, where all students get maybe three-four years of schooling at most and all students are taught the same lessons as a group. The idea being repetition is key, rather than building on prior teaching.

 

In urban settings, students would be broken up into 'classes' of approximately the same age groups, and possibly running for as much as eight years. Public and Private schools both existed in this, but many public schools usually ran out after four years just like the rural ones. Many private schools were set up as boarding schools, where the students would be segregated from their families for most of the year. After eight years, you could continue on to college for philosophy, literature, etc., or be apprenticed for business, accountancy, and other more... practical things. Those that only did the four years would likely be laborers or apprenticed to even more practical trades like carpentry and the like.

 

As more and more people were attempting to go to college around this time the entrance exams were getting far more difficult, so many 'secondary' schools opened up, all focused completely on prepping for those exams.

Edited July 22, 2013 by Fhaolan

[Planty 1,053]

They seem to follow what used to be common in around the 1900's in America. Education was in a turmoil around then, as new ideas were being brought into play, and a desire to increase the general education level of the populace was becoming popular. So what I'm about to talk about was early on. It changed pretty rapidly into stuff similar to what you're familiar with now.

 

Most rural education is done through one-room schoolhouses, where all students get maybe three-four years of schooling at most and all students are taught the same lessons as a group. The idea being repetition is key, rather than building on prior teaching.

 

In urban settings, students would be broken up into 'classes' of approximately the same age groups, and possibly running for as much as eight years. Public and Private schools both existed in this, but many public schools usually ran out after four years just like the rural ones. Many private schools were set up as boarding schools, where the students would be segregated from their families for most of the year. After eight years, you could continue on to college for philosophy, literature, etc., or be apprenticed for business, accountancy, and other more... practical things. Those that only did the four years would likely be laborers or apprenticed to even more practical trades like carpentry and the like.

 

As more and more people were attempting to go to college around this time the entrance exams were getting far more difficult, so many 'secondary' schools opened up, all focused completely on prepping for those exams.

Wow very in depth ! I didnt k ow any of this!

 

I think the eraly stages and focusing on finding your talent and ten your off on your own is whats used in ponyville

 

I like the idea of lots of apprentacies tho, just like twilight being celestias

[G1 Derpy FTW 134]

I think Cheerilee and the whole school aspect runs deeper than we perceive there was probably a time where there never was a school in Ponyville to begin with and Ponies were just thrown into the world with no guidance or help causing a lot of introspective turmoil and confusion as to what there purposes in life were. The only pony who apparently saw the damage that was happening to these depressed fillies was Cheerilee you could even go as far to say that she helped some of her close friends realize there talents which gave her the incentive to help all the fillies, but of course not all the fillies comprehend this crucial aspect such as this famous quote and no pun intended "You can lead a horse to water (but you can't make it drink)."

 

Which explains the Cutie Mark Crusaders there has been plenty of foreshadowing as to what there special talents are but they have been blinded and corrupted by Diamond Tiara & Silver Spoon's(DT&SS) constant harassment to the point were they have lost the connection of what it TRULY means to have a Cutie Mark, its not something that you flaunt and parade through the town with making everypony feel inferior to you, NO!

 

Taking a step back to Cheerilee yes you could say she is a teacher but I think she is a Motivational Speaker cleverly disguised as a school teacher (to make a better connection with younger audiences.) I only say this because there hasn't been any instances where they are doing school work no mention of homework from Applejack nor Rarity but of course just cuz we cant see it means we cant say it doesn't exists!! back on track she can only do so much to drive the fillies in the right direction but the fillies themselves are the only key to unlocking and finding there talents resulting in a Cutie Mark!!

 

For instance Twist and Applebloom they both got bullied by DT&SS yes? Applebloom let it get the best of her as for Twist just simply just brushed it off not letting it interfere with her in the end who got there Cutie Mark first? Twist because she stayed positive, kept a smile, and kept moving through thick and thin!! My point being is Cheerilee uses Motivational Speaking to encourage them to seek out there special talents and the school is represented in a different way yes they go there to learn but they learn in a completely different way than what humans are use to, if they cant understand what it means to have a Cutie Mark maybe they don't deserve one...?

[Scootalove 10,692]

I think the education in Equestria is pretty complex but, the only kind of education that I see in Ponyville is mainly elementary. Miss Cherilee gives them a lot of motivational speeches so it probably motivates the fillies to start learning their talents. There will come a time, where the fillies start to learn how to expand more on their special talent and use it to gain a lot of understanding.

[Forlong 1,726]

I believe the ponies just go through primary school, with universities like Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns taking the place of middle and high school.

 

This also means Twilight had to be 11 before attending her magic school.  Harry Potter reference for the win!

[RrVPfX9cPtw59FpC 1,304]

Twilight called her kindergarden "Magic kindergarden", so there are most likely different types of education. Rainbow Dash was flying in school, and no earth or pegasus ponies could do that, so her schooling must've been different. I can't really tell if Twilight is still in school, because she still writes those letters to princess Celestia (Not sure about for season four), and that was part of her schoolwork.

[JackRHainsworth 3]

Is it similar to the whole "elementary, middle, and high" school thing

In england it goes primary, secondary, collage. And I think it's only one of them in MLP but i don't know which. (Either primary or secondary) 

[Shanks 10,817]

They probably at least go up to high school level with a few of the intellectual types like Twilight going a bit further. I think there is likely a lot more emphasis on vocational training than there is in most modern mainstream educational systems on earth as the concept of the cutie marks seems to be very important in determining the ponies career paths.

[Ihei 714]

Yeah, I think the only education is Elementary school. It's teaching you your basic skills and helps you try to find your cutie mark. The other schools are for Unicorns and Pegasi, but are optional. (( Example: The School Of Gifted Unicorns; The Wonderbolts Academy ))

[Nature's Spell 526]

We only see Rarity, Twilight and the CMC in school, but we have to assume the others went as well. My guess is for most ponies school stops around the time they get their cutie marks, but we lack the information to really say. We just don't know.

 

Twilight is interesting. If you take what Spike said to her early in Episode 1 ( "But we're on a break!") at face value, it implies that she I still in structured school at that point, but being in Ponyville is like graduate school or her working on her thesis. Becoming a princess was her graduation.

[JackRHainsworth 3]

Maybe we'll see more of the school system in season 4? Like more flashbacks or something?

 

BTW - 100 charactors per post is a little much isn't it?