Education

         Imagine what you would have to learn in ancient Aztec civilization compared to today's. All boys  at the age of fifteen went to a telpuchcalli, a "house of youth." They learned the history and religion of the Aztecs, the art of war and fighting, and civic duties of everyday citizenship. The boys were trained in war and there were great competitions between schools. This sometimes led to fights. The boys attended either a calmecac or a cuicacalli. A cuicacalli is more of  a military school. Children of nobles attended a calmecac that was connected to the temple. The children learned to live prudently, to govern, and to understand the history and ways of their elders, under very strict priestly teaching. Learning in the calmecac was essential for advancement within the royal government. Calmecac students had extra religious duties such as lessons in history, astronomy, poetry, and writing.  There children learned the religious duties of priests and its secret knowledge, for the distinction between government and religious duties was practically non-existent. Unfortunately, this public education was only limited to boys. The girls on the other hand, had a separate calmecac school. The Macehualtin or literally "workers" were tradespeople, peasants, and builders. The children of this class went to a local school called telpochcalli. Over there they were taught basic occupational skills, the elements of warfare, and good citizenship. They also learned the fundamentals of their history and religion and the trade or craft specific to his calpulli or class. Some Macehualtin children who were bright were sent to a calmecac, where they would have more emphasis placed on scholarship in preparation for advanced careers.

In Aztec society, females were thought of as subordinate to men, so they were mostly taught from home. They started spinning at age four and cooking at age twelve. The schooling of girls was a basic training for marriage, except that noble girls spent a year at the age of twelve or thirteen helping in the temples. Because of this temple training, some girls went on to become priestesses even though one of the most important religious positions, the Snake women, were held by men. There were some temples and gods that had priestesses, who had their own schools, but their real   place in the hierarchy is not known. Women took little direct part in government or religious life, but did carry some influence behind the scenes.  Aztec Calmecac School References: 1. http://aztec.com/page.php?page=education