Who first coined the phrase old school? What's the definition of old school?

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Clarification of Question by jessaminda-ga on 17 Feb 2006 17:05 PST

It's an ongoing debate with co-workers. We did find the definition on
wikipedia. One co-worker said that the expression originated as a
genre of music which he said would specifically be 70's R&B. If
someone was in their late twenties and hears a song from 1990(when
they were 12), can they refer to it as old school? Even though the
song may be viewed as silly now, but was incredibly popular at the
time, can it be considered "old school"? Basically is the term
relative or set to a certain era. The problem with music quality is
that it's relative to peoples taste. Thanks.

Greetings,
Is there a context for your question?
"Old school" is too general to be considered a coined expression.  I
see that it is the name of a film, but this site from wikipedia
expresses my understanding of the expression, basically:  back in the
old days things were better, more rigorous, discipline, education,
morals better, etc.

OH, good thing you saw that site, since I forgot to add it, this one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_school

Did you also see this one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_school_rap

IMHO, "old school" was an expression long before it was applied to
hip-hop and rap.  I was around back before then, but I can't swear
that I heard the term used in the sense mentioned in the first article
above, but believe so.
Here are a couple of sites that use it:
http://www.core77.com/reactor/oldnew/normalindex.html
http://www.startribune.com/526/story/222997.html

Scroll down to see it in a one line paragraph.

"School" is, of course, a term used in art.  A "new school" implies
that what preceded it was "old school", just as with hip-hop.

Here is an article that uses it repeatedly, definitely removed from hip-hop:
http://jb-williams.com/5-01-05.htm
And this one:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200511/jack-slipper

Incidentally, the expression is also common in German:  "alte Schule" = old style.

I have belabored the point long enough:  "old school" is any
identifiable genre that has been superceded.

In a general sense, I don't see "old school" as referring to any
particular era. The term isn't limited to music, and its meaning will
vary depending on the age and cultural background of the speaker.

However, the term "old school" is often applied specifically to
vintage R&B music. In a discussion of R&B music, it would, I think, be
erroneous to use the term in reference to a song from the 1990s.

I think most of the answers so far are refering more to what I think
of as Old Skool...(notice the wonderfully kool spelling!)

I would take old school to mean those who follow an older belief system or order.

In the linked example it is used when talking about a split in a the
Presbetyrian Church between old school and new school in the early/mid
1800s.

Here is a reference from 1910 (see this link from 
Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=0Is_fkVbAeKBbNgL7u&id=PrtV-Pd85YoC&num=10&q=%22old+school%22+date:1900-1940&dq=%22old+school%22+date:1900-1940&pgis=1)

Here is a reference from 1870
http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=0Z_HlmTGfvaep5BKXbJ&id=9Wxn8HuIEmYC&num=10&q=%22old+school%22+date:1700-1909&dq=%22old+school%22+date:1700-1909&pgis=1

Here is a reference from 1877 using old school when talking about Comunism:
http://books.google.com/books?q=%22old+school%22+&id=6Q1KYF_x630C&vid=0G2_LQYrMN8P5SeRp1aNcyb&dq=%22old+school%22+date%3A1700-1909&ie=UTF-8&num=10&pgis=1

1858 reference:
http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=LCCN08002570&id=Nn5ywneK7DkC&num=10&pg=PA559&lpg=PA559&dq=%22old+school%22+date:1700-1909

So on and so on:

Here is a link about the Presbetyrian Old School:
http://www.opc.org/nh.html?article_id=21