教育史，或教育的历史，是关于系统发展的教学和学习的历史。可以说，从人类的出现开始，每一代人，都通过某种方式将这一代人拥有的价值观，传统，方法和技能传递给下一代。 这种文明的传递被称作文明化，而学习社会价值观和正确行为的过程则叫做社会化。教育课程的历史变迁反映了历史本身，反映了人类的知识，信仰，技能和人类文化

当古老文明的传统习俗和知识变得越来越复杂时，很多技术就从熟练的人那里传授给后人。这些技术包括：畜牧技术，农业技术，食品加工技术，建筑技术，军事技术，等等。

口头传统在没有书面语言的社会中极为重要。 在前工业化时代里，教育是和行政、法律、长途运输与商贸以及宗教等紧密联系的。 正式的学校教育只会在宗教场所或有钱有权的人的住所被提供给少数社会精英。 对孩童的广泛教育只是在最近150到200年出现的（在某些发展中国家甚至只是在近50年）。历史上，有的社会会为年轻人提供特殊的教育及培训，在欧洲和中国尤其如此。这些教育的目的是培养神职人员，官员和商人。而大多数手工艺人的学习是在师徒关系中进行的。例如，在19世纪中叶以前，大多数的律师和医生都是这样学习专业知识的。

In the culture of ancient Greece, the term paideia (also spelled paedeia) (/paɪˈdeɪə/; Greek:παιδεία) referred to the rearing and education of the ideal member of the polis. It incorporated both practical, subject-based schooling and a focus upon the socialization of individuals within the aristocratic order of the polis. The practical aspects of this education included subjects subsumed under the modern designation of the liberal arts (rhetoric, grammar and philosophy are examples), as well as scientific disciplines like arithmetic and medicine. An ideal and successful member of the polis would possess intellectual, moral and physical refinement, so training in gymnastics and wrestling was valued for its effect on the body alongside the moral education which the Greeks believed was imparted by the study of music, poetry and philosophy. This approach to the rearing of a well-rounded Greek male was common to the Greek-speaking world, with the exception of Sparta where a rigid and militaristic form of education known as the agoge was practiced.