HistoryExtra podcast Victorian schools: everything you wanted to know
Nov 17, 2024
Rosalind Crone, a Professor of History at The Open University, delves into the tumultuous world of Victorian education. She reveals how compulsory schooling transformed literacy in Britain, yet left many working-class and female students behind. Crone discusses the introduction of the Pupil Teacher Scheme, offering insights into how it redefined teacher training. Harsh discipline like corporal punishment is examined, alongside the shift to a more secular curriculum, illustrating the complex legacy of this pivotal era in education.
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Professionalise Teaching Through Apprenticeship
- Use formal training pathways to professionalise teaching and raise pay and status.
- The 1846 pupil-teacher apprenticeship provided certificates, pay additions and a pension after service.
1870 Act: Compromise And Expansion
- The 1870 Education Act created elected school boards to fill schooling gaps while allowing church schools to continue.
- Compulsory attendance followed later, with England and Wales enforcing it in 1880 and raising age limits by century's end.
Politics And Rivalry Drove School Reform
- Economic and geopolitical rivalry, notably German success, helped prompt mass schooling in the 1870s.
- Longstanding social control and moral concerns also fuelled elite support for popular education.
