What Developments took place in the Education of the Poorer Classes from 1800-1860?
GCSE History Assignment-
What Developments took place in the Education of the Poorer Classes from 1800-1860?
Many children living in the 19th Century did not go to school. Rich upper class people paid for their children to go to public schools and others hired tutors to teach children at home. Until children were old enough to go away to Boarding School or College, governesses taught them in their homes. Many governesses relied heavily on 'Magnalls questions', which was a rote question and answer book. However some didn't require this and were quite well educated. Although a governess had to have the education and manners of a 'lady', she was treated as a servant. Nevertheless the servants did not accept her either, because she shared a level of intimacy with the master's children. The life of a governess was a life of isolation; even so it was almost the only option available for an unmarried middle class woman who needed to earn her living. The Public Schools were originally open to all, they were non-profit institutions founded by wealthy donors to teach local boys Latin and Greek grammar. Though called 'Public' these schools are what today would be called 'Private'.
The nineteenth century school movement was significant, because Grammar Schools made no widespread provision for the schooling of the poor and only reached a small percentage of the population. It was widely believed that education should not be extended to the poor. One critic in particular was Andrew Bell, a student at Barmington School (England 1805), who proclaimed, "It is not proposed that the children of the poor should be educated in such an expensive manner". However the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) continued to press for free education. Charity schools aimed at providing a very basic education for the poor, such as learning to read the Bible and repetition (Rote). All boys and some girls were taught cipher and all girls were to learn sewing or some other handicraft. The children were between the ages of seven and twelve and usually had to wear uniform to conform to strict standards. A few charity schools were good, but many were appalling whereby the teachers did not have a good form of education themselves, they were often paid less than day labourers and merely obeyed their manager's orders. The single sex charity school merged with Sunday Schools in 1816 when the boys and girls were taught together for the first time. Many charity schools were in decline by 1800, but a few did allow working class children a real chance of proper education.
Rules for the General Government of the Charity Schools instituted by the Methodist Society in the London West Circuit...1809
'That they shall be annually clothed on the first day of June, and have shoes, stockings and linen twice a year...'
I can see from this source that children would have been provided with uniform on the first day of June and this uniform would last each individual the whole school year. Each individual would also receive shoes and stockings and linen for under garments twice every year. This was good as thousands of poor children would be educated cheaply, under reasonable standards.
A Dame school was a common term used to describe a small private school, which provided an education for working class children before they were old enough to work. Each of these schools were run by an elderly lady who taught the children to read, write and other useful skills such as sewing. These were about 3d a week and the quality of education that children received varied enormously. Whereas some teachers provided a good education others were no more than childminders. A government enquiry in 1818 recorded that there were almost 3000 Dame schools set up in England alone, demonstrating that Dame schools were fairly successful in the long-term as they schooled a lot of children, but were unsuccessful in the short-term as these schools had their restrictions. These schools were not as successful as charity schools.
An Artist's Impression of a Dame School in mid 19th Century
I can see from the source that the artist is trying to give a good impression of a Dame School, whereby he shows the children smiling
and laughing, as if they are enjoying themselves. The Dame is reading to the children; therefore she would probably have a good education. The source shows that Dame Schools would have only provided a basic education, whereby the children are only reading, writing and sewing, this tells me that the children were never stretched and their minds were not broadened. In my opinion the Dame Schools could have been improved, by having desks and chairs to work at, rather than on the floor. This source could be biased, because a critic of this system of education could have painted it, however this does not mean that it is not useful. In looking at other sources we can see how true it is.
Common Day Schools were set up in the same way as Dame Schools except they taught the older children, usually 10-16 year olds. A report made by an inspector, who visited a Common Day School in Birmingham 1838 stated,
"On a perch sat a cock and two hens, underneath...was a dog kennel ............occupied by 3 black terriers whose barking added to the noise of the children and the cackling of the fowls was almost deafening. There was only one small window, at which sat the master obstructing three quarters of the light ......."
The report shows that many people were very critical of Common Day Schools in the 19th Century. It is their reports, which provide us with most of the information about these schools, and they could be biased, however again by looking at other sources of evidence we can see how true the source is.
The Industrial Revolution brought about demands for changes in education, as it changed every other part of society. Industry needed more educated people, who would be qualified enough to be clerks, in which they could keep accounts, write bills, keep up with orders, and run the offices in general. Skilled craftsmen were also needed, in which they could do calculations and read working diagrams. Many children were growing up in the poorer parts of the city, with no education at all. The schools that already existed at this time such as Dame Schools and Charity Schools were too ...
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The Industrial Revolution brought about demands for changes in education, as it changed every other part of society. Industry needed more educated people, who would be qualified enough to be clerks, in which they could keep accounts, write bills, keep up with orders, and run the offices in general. Skilled craftsmen were also needed, in which they could do calculations and read working diagrams. Many children were growing up in the poorer parts of the city, with no education at all. The schools that already existed at this time such as Dame Schools and Charity Schools were too small and attendance was poor, as most children worked or couldn't afford to go to them. The leaders of Britain's churches were very worried by the small number of schools that existed in the 19th Century. They feared that children would grow up incapable of reading the Bible and unable to earn an honest living. For that reason they began to set up Sunday Schools and charged the pupils parents a few pennies a week. One leader in particular, Robert Raikes, set up the first Sunday School in Gloucester, 1780. The Sunday School Movement spread rapidly encouraged by the Methodist Church, the Church of England and some factory owners. The children who went to these schools were between the ages of 5 and 15. By 1818, half a million children were going to Sunday Schools in the whole of England and Wales and one and a half million by 1833. In the 1780's Welsh Chapels set up Sunday Schools teaching children to read in Welsh.
Rules of Bridgnorth Sunday School, 1795
8 The objects of this charity be poor persons of each sex and of any age above seven years who shall be taught to read.
4 That the teacher and scholars attend divine service on the morning and afternoon of every Sunday.
5 that the teachers take care that the scholars come clean to school and if any scholar be guilty of lying, swearing, stealing, talking indecently or otherwise misbehaving himself the teacher should point out the evil of such conduct...
I can see from this source that the main aim in this particular Sunday School was to teach children above seven years of age to read the Bible; it is not mentioned that scholars would probably have been taught writing and arithmetic as well; we can confirm that this is correct by looking at other sources of evidence. Sunday Schools were fairly successful, whereby they fulfilled their purpose of teaching children honest ways, in which to earn an honest living and teach the children to read the bible, so that they could read it themselves when they grew up.
The cost of Sunday Schools was low as the teachers were usually volunteers. In order to run schools throughout the week they would have to pay lots of salaries to lots of teachers. This predicament was overcome by the Monitorial System, which was introduced by two people at around about the same time, Joseph Lancaster, a Quaker, who founded the British and Foreign Schools Society, in 1808, supported by non-conformists and Andrew Bell, who founded The National Society in 1811, to provide schools based on the religious principles of the Church of England. Under the Monitorial System one teacher taught the older pupils, called monitors, who then instructed the younger children. All pupils learnt basic facts at the same time through parrot-like repetition (Rote) and often the monitors and children did not understand what they were repeating. The advantage of this system was that it was extremely cheap, due to the fact that one teacher could educate up to 200 children. At one Manchester school there were over one thousand pupils and three teachers. However this system only taught children the three R's (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic) and the working environment was dreadful. This system was considered by some to be impractical and its use was in decline by the majority by 1830, but some schools were still using the Monitorial System in the 1890's.
A School using the Monitorial System
I can see from the source that the Monitorial System was unsuccessful, because there are four teachers in the room each teaching a different subject to a large amount of children. There are individual benches for the children, but most of them are stood up, due to the lack of space and a girl is even learning the alphabet while sitting cross-legged on the floor. The noise coming from the small parties of children and the teachers would have been immense, therefore enforcing the environment to become unworkable.
The Monitorial System at Work
A monitor is appointed to each class. The books are laid by each monitor at the end of her desk. Each writer, in passing up the desk takes her book and holding it up before her remains standing... The command is then given by the monitor to 'Front', -'Lay down-books', 'Hands down'. The monitors now distribute the copies and pens. At the word 'Begin', the writing commences; they are not allowed to exceed five lines. Each monitor then goes from girl to girl pointing out defects by comparing it with the copy slip.
From this source the criticisms that I would make about the Monitorial System are that the working conditions were not up to standard, as the children would have to stand and the surrounding noise would enforce the children to lack concentration; due to this the Monitorial System had its limitations and seemed to be less successful in some areas. However this system provided cheap education for thousands of pupils; therefore was not completely unsuccessful. Rivalry between the Church of England and the Dissenters or Non-Conformists was growing at this time. The joint Sunday school Society collapsed over this rivalry in 1800. Each group wanted to make sure that the children educated in these schools received their own religious ideas. Both groups included quite well off members, who set up the National Society in 1808. The full title of the National Society was the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church, therefore the children were taught the Church of England concepts of religion. The Non-Conformists set up the British and Foreign Schools Society in 1808. The two societies began to collect money to build schools, all operating on the Monitorial System. These schools were paid for by voluntary donations; therefore they were called Voluntary Schools.
Some rich people believed that the poor children roaming the streets often became criminals. They paid for schools to be set up to teach poor children honest ways. 'Ragged' schools were set up as a result of this from the 1840's. Lord Shaftesbury helped to form the Ragged Schools Union in 1844. The union raised funds for the schools and enlisted the help of voluntary teachers. Ragged schools were mainly set up in cities, but there were such schools in smaller towns as well. Children were taught the three R's, (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic.) There were more than a thousand by 1850. Even when Board schools began in the 1870's, the Ragged Schools were still needed as Board school teachers did not like to teach shoeless, shirtless, and capless children in their schools. This suggests that Ragged schools were very successful in the long-term. Poor Law schools were set up by The Poor Amendment Act of 1834 and were encouraged by the Boards of Guardians. Unfortunately most Workhouses had no school or a school that was so dreadful, it was worse than nothing. James Kay-Shuttleworth who was interested in the Education state of affairs saw how terrible things were; therefore he set up a school for Poor Law children at Norwood. The Boards of Guardians took up his idea, but only three London and six rural districts were formed. One guardian in particular said that providing education was 'like putting the torch of knowledge into the hands of Rick burners' which suggests that he had a poor sense of determination and really he is saying that providing education for the poor is dangerous.
Factory schools were set up due to the Acts of 1802 and 1833, which stated that some education should be provided to children who worked in some factories. The standard of Factory Schools was low and children were again only taught the three R's. In Saltaire (1874) the numbers on the register were 806 half-timers and 454 day- scholars, with an average attendance rate of 665. These schools were the only source of education for the workers in the factories, and despite their disadvantages they were fairly successful in the long term as some education was better than nothing. Mainly Robert Owen and other successful factory owners, such as, Sir Titus Salt set up Factory Schools for the workers in the factories. Robert Owen in particular believed that there was more to education than teaching the three R's; therefore natural history, music, dancing and games became an important part of school life. He pioneered new methods of teaching in his own Factory Schools in New Lanark, such as involving the use of pictures, maps and charts. In doing this he thought that education would be natural and spontaneous, but above all enjoyable.
During the early 19th Century the amount of children being educated increased. In 1833 the first act was passed for compulsory education for children. The 1833 Factory Act required children working in cotton mills to receive two hours of schooling a day, this rose to three in 1844. It became certain as the Century went on that the Voluntary Societies could not cope with educating the increasing numbers of children. It seemed that to the government they would have to provide elementary (basic) education. However a number of the population, especially after the French Revolution, strongly believed that education for the poorer classes was wrong. The arguments for government involvement were that, schooling was necessary to produce more capable workers, to retain social stability by making the population more responsible through education, more schools were needed for religious education, due to the decline of the churches and Voluntary Societies would be able to receive resources to keep up with the demand for more schools. On the other hand the arguments against government involvement in education were that the government was to believe in a policy called laissez-faire where they were not supposed to interfere with social and economic affairs, they also believed that schooling would give children ideas above their social station in life; therefore make them politically dangerous.
In my opinion I think that it was right for the government to become involved in the education of children, due to the fact that I agree that schooling was needed too create an improved workforce, children needed to have some sort of religious teaching in order to follow good ways and to make them better people and the schools already present at the time, such as Charity Schools, Dame Schools, Common Day Schools, Sunday Schools, schools using the Monitorial System, Voluntary Schools, Ragged Schools and Factory Schools, had all been set up to give poorer children some form of education. However these did not have enough money to improve their schools or even have the resources to keep up with the demand for more schools, consequently many of these schools were in decline throughout the 1800s. I disagree with the arguments against government involvement, because it would be pointless having a government if they didn't want to accept their responsibilities and schooling would not have enforced people to think higher than their social station in life, because they would be more interested in receiving a good education, so that they could be employed into a well paid job. For the reasons listed improving education for the poorer classes government assistance would have been required.
In 1833 the government began to provide direct help to the schools for the first time, in hope that schooling would produce more capable workers and better-behaved citizens. An annual grant of £20 000 was made and paid to the British and National Societies. Though this amount was small it indicated that the government had taken advice and had begun to accept that education was one of its responsibilities. The grant was increased to £30,000 in 1839, as education continued to improve. During this year the government also set up a committee to inquire how the money was being spent, with James Kay-Shuttleworth as its secretary. Inspectors were allotted, so that they could visit schools and report to the government as well as advise teachers. Teacher Training Colleges were set up in order to improve the way of teaching. The Teacher Training Colleges curriculum included the mathematical and physical sciences, metaphysics, astronomy and mechanics for women. In spite of the limitations, the education offered at these establishments was crucial to women of the early feminist movement. The first Teaching College was set up by James Kay-Shuttleworth in Battersea 1840. By 1860 the annual grant had increased to £500,000 as improvements were continually made to education.
The amount of public money involved in education was increasing; therefore in 1858 a Royal Commission was set up under the chairmanship of the Duke of Newcastle. The main aim was to enquire into the state of elementary education in England and Wales. The view 'an extension of sound and cheap education to all classes' was compared with the schools visited, which meant that the education for children of all classes was the same and of a high standard. The findings for the Newcastle Commission were revealed in 1861 and explained that only 10% of all children did not reach the standards set and could only be called satisfactory. Attendance was poor as the health of the children was appalling and some children had to work in factories as well. About 42% of the population of children attended school for less than one year of their whole lives.
No. At Day and Dame schools
No. At other, better schools
Total no. At school
Total Population
Liverpool
1 336
4 024
25 360
230 000
Birmingham
8180
4697
2 877
80 000
York
494
2697
4191
25 000
The Number of Children at school in Three Cities 1836
I can see from this source that the attendance in these three schools in particular was satisfactory, as a quarter of the population attend school in these cities. The other three-quarters of the population would not attend school because of the poor health and the fact that some children had to work in factories. The numbers of children who attended school needed to be higher.
The government aimed to improve the situation using the Revised Code of 1862, which was 'Payment by results'. The minister of education proclaimed ' If [education] is not cheap, it shall be efficient, if it is not efficient it shall be cheap', which meant that aims of the Newcastle Commission were been put into practice, whereby very basic education was provided as cheaply as possible. Under this system grants would only be made according to the annual inspection of the school, the pupils attendance rates and when tested on the 3R's, the grant would be calculated based on the amount of children who reached the required standards for their knowledge and their attendance. This system remained in progress until 1897; therefore was fairly successful in the long-term. However it was less successful as it had some restrictions, because the pupils memorized basic facts, but did not understand what they meant, the slow readers often were subject to punishment, rather than offered encouragement, the attendance in the poorer districts was feeble and if a child forgot something the teachers would cheat the inspectors by mouthing the answer to the pupil behind the inspectors back. Although this system may have improved standards in some schools, in my opinion the overall effect would have been futile.
An Artists impression of a school inspector testing pupils in the1860s
I can see from this source that when the school inspector came to test the children once a year the children would be called in groups of three. The inspector would sit on a chair in front of them, the teacher behind him, who would be waiting in anticipation as his earnings depended on the children's intelligence. The teacher in the painting is holding a book open for the girls to see, which probably shows the answers, but the inspector doesn't have a clue that he is being cheated. The children look as though they are repeating something they have memorized and don't seem to be showing any signs of understanding, whereby there are no hand movements to convey meaning and their body language is suggesting they are trying to remember what they have learnt, so that they can recite it to the inspector. The children's expressions in the picture suggest that they are frightened of getting a question wrong, as the consequence of this would be corporal punishment. This was an artist's impression of an inspectors visit; therefore it could be biased. By looking at other sources of evidence we can see how true it is.
From my research I have found out that there were many developments and changes that occurred for the education of the poorer classes from 1800-1860. These were, Charity Schools who would teach children to read the bible and memorise information (Rote). These were partly successful, as some Charity Schools were good but some were terrible, whereby the teachers did not have a good education themselves, their pay was low and they had little respect for their managers. Sunday Schools, which were set up in 1780, were more successful than Charity Schools. Dame Schools provided education taught by an elderly lady and this was the least successful development, because even though some may have provided a good education, others were no more than child minders. Common Day Schools were the same as Dame Schools, but taught 10-16 year olds. These were slightly more successful than Dame Schools as the children would have reached the age when they may not have needed a child minder anymore, therefore most of their time would have been spent receiving a good education. Robert Raikes initially pioneered Sunday Schools. They were set up to teach children to read the Bible and learn honest ways. They were very successful as there were one and half million by 1833 and they are still running to the present day. Joseph Lancaster and Andrew Bell set up the Monitorial System. The children under this system were taught the three R's and basic facts using Rote. This system was partly successful as it was cheap and allowed more children a chance of education, but the education was basic and the working conditions were dire. Voluntary Schools used the Monitorial System and were set up using voluntary donations. Again this system was successful in the way that it provided basic education, but unsuccessful whereby there were not enough resources to keep up with the demand and education was basic. Ragged Schools were set up by Lord Shaftesbury and taught the three R's. These were very successful whereby they provided education to poorer children and even after the 1870's they were still needed, as board schools did not want to teach working-class children. James Kay-Shuttleworth set up Poor Law schools for Poor Law children. They were unsuccessful whereby the idea was not taken up widely and some of the schools were appalling. Robert Owen set up Factory schools for Factory workers, but these were very unsuccessful as education was basic and they had low teaching standards. The government began to give an annual grant of £20,000 in 1833, this increased to £30,000 in 1839 and £500,000 in 1860. The government legislation was successful in setting up the Royal Commission in 1858 and inspectors were appointed to see how the money was been spent. This was not successful as the overall attendance, standards and schooling of the poor was dreadful. The 'Payment by results' system was set up as a result of this, which would involve paying the teacher on the basis of the pupils' attendance rates, the standard of the school and the intelligence of the pupils. This system was very successful as it improved some standards, but some pupils memorized basic facts, but did not understand what they memorized and often the teacher would cheat the inspector, by mouthing the answer to the pupil.
Every development was successful in its own way however I think that the most successful changes or developments were the Sunday Schools and the Ragged Schools, because, Sunday Schools were set up widely and provided a good religious education for a few pennies; therefore causing children to follow good ways. These were very successful as they are still in use to this present day, but children do not have to pay anymore. As children only went to Sunday School on Sunday, they could go to Ragged schools throughout the week, but only when they were not working in the factories. Ragged Schools provided children with a basic education, which was the three R's and taught children honest ways. Ragged Schools were set up using funds raised from the Ragged Schools Union and they were so successful that they were needed after the 1870's, as Board Schools refused to provide education for the poorer classes.
To conclude this assignment I can see that by 1870 there was growing pressures for state action to improve education due to the reasons that men would need education in order to vote responsibly as they had been give the vote in 1867, trade unions were pressing for better education to meet the demands of industry and there were fears that Britain's industrial rivals were becoming better educated. For these reasons the 1870's Act was passed. A great deal still needs to be done to this day before England becomes a well-educated nation, but at least the time of total ignorance has been dispelled. It is mainly to the Victorians and certain individuals that we should show our appreciation for the solid foundations of our modern educational system.
