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Education
Page history
last edited
by PBworks 16 years, 1 month ago
Education
by Donielle Streuli and Emma Sacchetti
Education in Victorian times was much different than our education in modern times. Here, in modern-day United States, quality education is available to almost everyone regardless of gender, social standing, or class. Back in Victorian England, education varied greatly from person to person and school to school. Nowadays, very few children are home-schooled, whereas in Victorian Englandd, most well-educated girls were home-schooled for over half of their childhood/adolescent years. Another difference is that private schools are held in higher esteem than public schools, compared to Victorian times, when public schools provided a much higher quality education than private ones.
Elementary schools
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Elementary schools were primary education founded to serve the lower class. Both male and female children attended, ranging in age from three to twelve years. Fees were kept very low, as much of the funding was provided by a charitable organization or a church. Children would walk to school in the morning, stay from nine until noon, walk home for lunch, and then return at two for further instruction until four-thirty.
In small schools, all of the pupils were crowded in one room with one teacher. In larger schools, infants were put in one room, boys in a different room, and girls in another. The curriculum was limited to basic reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion.
Becoming an elementary school teacher was often the "ticket" out of the lower class for bright students. They were encouraged to stay in school until age thirteen, when they could be hired as student teachers.
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a typical Elementary school classroom
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Grammar schools
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Grammar schools provided a practical education for boys in the less elite middle class. These were the sons of merchants and tradesmen, who were likely to follow in the same career path as their fathers. Grammar schools were not boarding schools, keeping the fees relatively low. Boys either lived at home and walked there, or, if they lived in a rural area, boarded with a nearby family. These schools put less of an emphasis on the tedious and irrelevant studies of Latin and Greek, and focused more on math, science and geography. |
some boys who might have attended grammar school
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Public Schools
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The public schools I am discussing here were attended by upper-class males only. The price was fairly high, as most respectable public schools provided boarding. Ages ranged from 13 to 19. The younger boys slept in long, open dormitories, and the older ones had private rooms with their own fires upon which they could cook snacks.
Upon entering a public school, the boy was evaluated by the headmaster and put into and appropriate "form" (much like modern-day "grades") These forms, ranging from lowest to highest included 1st form, 2nd form, 3rd form, lower remove, 4th form, upper remove, lower 5th form, 5th for, and 6th form. Boys moved up to the next highest from after passing an examination.
Throughout the century, some schools were much better known and more respected than others, including Charterhouse, Eton, Merchant Taylor’s', Harrow, Rugby, St. Paul’s, Shrewsbury, Westminster, Winchester, Marlborough, Cheltenham, and Wellington. These schools were known for turning out the ideal upper-class young man.
Boys were taught religion, science, history, English literature, Greek, and Latin. Although neither Greek nor Latin were very practical subjects, up to three-quarters of class time was spent on them. Translating was emphasized to promote mental discipline.
Outside of the classroom, boys would often play sports, which were seen as essential in a young man's life. Sports built character as well as a healthy body, and helped boys practice teamwork.
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the schoolyard at Eton
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Governesses
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Many girls and boys studied at home with a governess. Boys ended their studies by age 13, but girls might study with a governess until much later. Some upper and elite middle class children would have a series of governesses. The first one, who taught the children from age three to around seven, emphasized manners. The next governess was more well-educated and taught history, English, conversational French, and geography.
A governess tried to remain invisible around adults of the family. She dined with the children, and usually did not engage in much conversation with the adults or their guests. Her status was much higher than a servant's, however. She would have her own room, and was addressed as "Miss" rather than by simply her last name, as the servants were.
Governesses were not paid especially well. While many families wanted a governess to educate their children, there was a plentiful supply of qualified women.
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A governess might also teach needlework
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Universities
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University of London: University of London was founded in 1839. It was created to provide middle class boys with a higher education. The school only begging to prosper in 1832 after a new wing was built on. After that the school did surprisingly well for having a curriculum that didn’t include Latin, Greek, religion, or any physical education. By the mid 1870 the school had more then 600 hundred students. Later the made a separate branch called king college founded by F.D. Maurice.
Queens College: F.D. Maurice (founder of Kings College) founded the first girls’ university in 1848 called queen’s college. Similar to college today are queens college students attended lectures and handed in essays to their professors. The first professor was Charles Kingsley who taught English literature and F.D. Maurice English literature and modern history.
Girls were accompanied to their classes by chaperones. Each girl was assigned a chaperone to seat with during a lecture and in between classes. These positions were usually filled by important and scholarly women.
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Present day Queens college
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| Girls boarding schools |
Upper/middle class girls in their late teen often enrolled in boarding school where they usually spent three years. Because girls weren’t accepted to be academic as they were to be clever and charming, focus was put on posture, culture, music, and social graces, appearance and languages. These schools were "home like" were the emphasis was put on whatever the head master was best at. Eventually collegiate schools were formed where girls were offered a legitimate education. The curriculum consisted of French, German, Latin, math, politics, fine arts, and gymnastics. |
possible students at a girls boarding school
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Education
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Comments (1)
Anonymous said
at 6:53 pm on Feb 23, 2008
wow u have some really good, detailed info on your topic! good job! just watch ur typing, some of the words' lettering was jumbled.
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