what were schools like in the victorian era???

Question

like if possible i need some pictures and i need the answers fast im in school and i need this for a project!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

Remember, if you take something directly from here, put quotes at the beginning and the end, and put the author's name in parentheses at the end; otherwise you are plagiarizing, and that's not right, and can get you a fail. (I should know; I'm a teacher.) I'm sure if you type in "Victorian school" under Yahoo or Google Images, you can come up with some images. Good luck!

Cheers, K, teacher and fan of Victorian lit... who met her husband, a college prof on a Victorian email list :)

A Meager Beginning: Nineteenth-Century Education for the Working Class in England

Kathy Gray

Children of the nineteenth-century working class in England had rare prospects of acquiring more than a few scraps of education. The early nineteenth century offered no organized educational system. The government provided no support, and volunteer efforts were ineffective at best. As social problems arose and educational desires grew, the government of England slowly developed a free educational system for all children. Most working-class children in the nineteenth century, however, were subject to a poor quality education that plagued England for generations.

The laissez-faire government of eighteenth-century England wanted nothing to do with educating the masses. The Church and the Industrial Revolution, however, created pressures that began the push for free education for working-class children. Industrial cities began to form as large groups of working families settled near their jobs. This created problems and concerns for many. The church's neglect of this poorer class of citizens became more and more obvious. As the working class began to move closer in location and status to the ruling class, their differences in attitudes and behavior were viewed as uncivilized and immoral. The church needed to remedy this problem. The Church felt that "elementary education was a necessary instrument for the moral elevation of the poor" (Digby and Searby 73).

The Industrial Revolution brought about its own logistical problems including large concentrations of unattended children and difficult to fill technical positions. The new industrial cities swarmed with children who had finished their day's work and weren't needed at home. Working-class parents couldn't afford babysitters even if any had been available. When children weren't working, they went exploring or just played - a luxury not afforded to ruling class children. Another educational dilemma created by the Industrial Revolution was a growing number of technical positions that couldn't be filled because working-class people lacked the education to perform them. The success of the Industrial Revolution depended on finding a place for its roving children and finding a way to satisfy its more technical positions. Education again filled the need. W. H. B. Court warned society that "because of the concentration of population there and the neglected state of the children, which made organised primary education a necessity; and second because of the growing need for technical training" (qtd. in West 4).

In the eighteenth century, volunteer efforts of the church and other organizations, the two most prominent being The National Society and The British and Foreign Schools Society, created free schooling for working-class children. Charity schools were established and provided day classes for poor children. They offered moral lessons as well as basic reading and writing. Sunday Schools were the church's offering. They gained popularity in 1780 when Robert Raikes publicized them in a Gloucester newspaper. These schools taught religious morals and basic reading by volunteer teachers. Their minimal curriculum and untrained teachers offered a meager education, at best.

By the nineteenth century, charity schools were "in decline and usually very small" (Wardle 62). They provided a meek education for the few students they housed. Sunday schools, on the other hand, were still very prevalent. These schools were a more practical option for the working class. The very reasons Sunday Schools were more feasible, however, contributed to their inadequacies. Sunday was a perfect day for working class children to go to school. They weren't expected to be at work and usually could be spared from home. It also was the only day volunteer teachers were available. They often held other positions. These teachers were given no training and had little time for preparation. One day a week to share their limited curriculum, was not enough time to adequately teach any subject. These schools did, however, give the appearance that the church was spreading its "moral message" and gave a spark of hope to the working class.

The working class grabbed what opportunity they could. The growth of Sunday Schools in the early nineteenth century was phenomenal. Digby and Searby report that in 1801, 13.8% of working class children went to Sunday school. By 1831, the numbers had increased to 49.6%. And in 1851, 75.4% of working class children received a Sunday school education.

Public day schools emerged on the scene but were not practical for children who needed to contribute to the family income and had household obligations. Although these schools provided a more basic education of reading and writing, the working class needed a more feasible alternative. As crowded city life worsened, their desires for improved living condition increased. Families would sacrifice almost anything to ensure their children received an education. The Edinburgh Review of 1813 reported: ". . . we have met with families in which, for weeks together, not an article of sustenance but potatoes had been used; yet for every child the hard-earned sum was provided to send them to school . . ." (West 74-75). Many took advantage of these desires and offered private schooling for a price. Seventy percent of working-class children pursued this alternate opportunity, as slim as it was.

Private schools appeared to offer what working-class children needed. These schools were usually locally established. They had flexible schedules as well as flexible attendance policies. Children came and went, as they needed to. The curriculum included basic reading and writing. Each school varied depending on its locale, its proprietor, and the class of children it served. Dame schools and Academies were two of the most prevalent.

Dame schools were the common man's private school. Many critics considered them to be nothing more than moneymaking babysitting schemes for community opportunity seekers (West 50). Students' ages ranged from two to fifteen. This created a chaotic atmosphere for teaching. Classroom conditions varied from school to school. Most classroom conditions were acceptable. But too many classrooms were unsanitary and unsafe. A case study completed in Manchester revealed a classroom in which "one of the children of the Mistress was lying ill of the measles," in the same room where another child had died of the same illness the day before (West 50). Although this is an extreme example, most Dame School conditions were unclean and unhealthy.

The educational quality also varied a great deal, but for the most part children departed these schools with barely the basics. The chaotic atmosphere coupled with untrained teachers, whose goals ranged from babysitting to passing on a few tidbits of their knowledge resulted in a combination that included little education. This lack of learning was very common for those who only had a few pence (pennies) to spare for their children's education.

In Victorian England, the quality of a child's education was in direct correlation to the cost of it. Working-class parents could afford some level of education but the quality available to them was very limited and rarely advanced them toward their aspirations. A good education could cost as much as two to three shillings per week, a sum very seldom affordable for the working class. Dame schools charged as little as nine pence per week, which was more affordable for the working class. A quality education from an Academy, schools that prepared young gentlemen for the University, required more than the working class could even think about affording.

Overall, working-class educational opportunities were grim. The frustrations of the working class grew and by the 1830s resulted in social tensions and eventually rioting. The idea of "moralizing" or "civilizing" the poorer classes through education was revitalized, only this time the government was to be involved. The idea of government-supported education took hold. When introducing the Education Bill in 1833, Roebuck remarked "as mere matter of police, the education of the people out to be considered as a part of the duties of the government" (Digby and Searby 25). For the first time government grants were awarded for educational support.

This marked only the beginning of government involvement. As the reports filed in, it became increasingly evident that working-class education was in need of many reforms. One report, filed in 1838, by the Select Committee on Education of the Poorer Classes concluded:

1. That the kind of education offered is lamentabley deficient.

2. That it extends (bad as it is) to but a small portion of those who ought to receive it.

3. That without some strenuous and persevering efforts being made on the part of Government the greatest evils to all classes may follow from neglect. (West 10-11)

Slowly, education for the working class improved. In 1839, a facility was established to train teachers. In 1845, legislation required children of textile workers to attend three hours of schooling daily for five days each week. Shortly thereafter, this was extended to mills, workshops, and mines. In 1846, James Kay Shuttleworth, Secretary of the Department of Education (1839-1849), began a push to ensure that all teachers were trained properly. And finally, in 1870, legislation passed that provided a free and compulsory education for all children in England.

The nineteenth century began with meager options for working-class children to get an education that might lead them to a better life. Lack of government involvement, ineffective voluntary efforts, and working-class survival needs created a difficult foundation for education to build upon. Social tensions, however, illuminated the need to educate the poorer masses. The working class seized this opportunity and sent their children to school. Sunday Schools and private schools were the most conducive to working-class needs. They provided flexible schedules in affordable local establishments. The quality of this schooling was extremely poor. With untrained teachers and unhealthy classrooms that lacked discipline, the best a student could hope to acquire was a basic education. Unfortunately, this situation was not remedied until government reforms were set in place that began in the 1830s and climaxing in 1870, when education became free and compulsory for all children.


Works Cited

Digby, Anne, and Peter Searby. Children, School and Society in Nineteenth Century England. London: Macmillan P, 1981.

Gomersall, Meg. Working Class Girls in Nineteenth Century England. London: Macmillan P, 1997.

Wardle, David. English Popular Education 1780 - 1970. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1970.

West, E. G. Education and the Industrial Revolution. New York: Harper, 1975.

Answer 2

Education In The Victorian Era

Answer 3

Read Oliver Twist, the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie or ask anyone at a current English Private School (they're still the same, from personal experience).

Answer 4

1

Answer 5

i do think its wrong to do other peoples homework but it would have been very strict boys and girls whent in diffrent entrances

Answer 6

They were pretty TopKEK