4º ESO BILINGÜE INITIAL UNIT EDUCATIONnsalmeronbiling.wikispaces.com/file/view/EDUCATION 4º...
Transcript of 4º ESO BILINGÜE INITIAL UNIT EDUCATIONnsalmeronbiling.wikispaces.com/file/view/EDUCATION 4º...
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4º ESO BILINGÜE – INITIAL UNIT EDUCATION
We are going to read an extensive text on what schools were like in nineteenth century Britain,
following which we will do a short assignment and do a little further research on the topic.
Going to School in Victorian Times
Although there had been schools dating back as far as the 6th century, many Victorian boys and girls
did not have the opportunity of attending school. When Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837
education was still mainly for the privileged. Rich children might have a governess to teach them at
home until they were old enough – if they were boys – to go to Public Schools such as Rugby
(mentioned in the book “Tom Brown’s Schooldays”) or Eton. The girls continued to be educated at
home. Most poor children did not go to day school, but earlier Robert Raikes had started a system of
education based in churches (The Church of England), called Sunday Schools. By 1831, 1,250,000
children went to this kind of school, about a quarter of the population at the time.
Later in Queen Victoria’s reign a number of day schools had begun, including the British Schools, and
the Ragged Schools (so-called because of the tattered clothes worn by poor pupils). In 1870 a law
was passed which said that children between the ages of five and ten had to attend weekday school.
The leaving age was raised to eleven in 1893. Even so, many children were kept away from school by
their parents and employers who wanted them to be earning money in factories and in agriculture.
The Victorian School
Many schools were quite grim places, often with windows so high up
that children could not see out. They were drab by modern standards,
with very little on the walls except perhaps a “stem text”. Boys and girls
were often separated, having their own entrance and different
playgrounds. Even though in the smaller schools boys and girls were
taught in the same classroom, they would still sit separately. Some
classes were very big, for example the British School in Hitchin had a
classroom for three hundred boys! Village schools would have had
smaller classes, but often there would be a very wide age range.
Because the classes were so big, everything had to be done in a regimented way. The teacher would
write things on the blackboard, which the pupils then copied and learned by heart. A lot of teaching
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was done by repetition, learning the names and dates of English kings and queens, or reciting the
“times table”.
The Victorian Teacher
Teachers were often strict and by modern standards very scary. Children
soon learnt to do what the teacher asked, otherwise they would get a rap
across the knuckles with a ruler, or a clip around the ears. Teaching was
often a job for unmarried ladies (that is why they still call a female teacher
“miss”). Fewer men taught because the pay was bad. Most teachers were
not qualified, but they learnt “on the job” in a sort of apprenticeship – boys
with aptitude, after the leaving age, could stay on as “pupil teachers”,
which meant that they could help the teacher in return for private lessons.
Some larger schools used a system of “monitors” – the teacher selected the
brighter pupils and they were taught by the headmaster in separate lessons
after school. The next day these boys taught other students subjects that they had just learned-
Victorian Child Punishment
Victorian teachers used a cane to punish naughty children. The cane was
given on the hand or the bottom, or sometimes given across the back of
the legs. In public schools even prefects carried and used a cane. Pupils
were punished for all sorts of things: being rude, answering back,
speaking out of turn, poor work, in fact anything that displeased the
teacher. Children who had been caned usually kept quiet about it because
if their parents found out they would probably be punished again. Other
punishments included giving lines and detentions, and some, if not all,
the punishments were written in a punishment book or log. Children who
were slow at their lessons, or dumb, were made to wear a dunce's hat, a
pointed hat with the letter D on it. They would then stand in a corner for
an hour or more. Sometimes they stood on a small stool, the dunce's
stool. At that time there was no understanding that some children had
learning difficulties or learned more slowly, and teachers thought that
these children were simply naughty or rebellious. Even left-handed
children were punished and made to use their right hand.
School Equipment
For every teacher the most vital piece of equipment was the blackboard and easel. This could be
used so that children could copy information or imitate the writing for practice. Children started to
learn to write using a slate - a sort of small blackboard - on which they wrote with a sharpened piece
of slate called a slate pencil. Pupils brought a piece of sponge or a rag from home to clean the slate,
or some just used their sleeve! As they got older children would write in a book using a dip pen and
blue-black ink from out of an inkwell. A book with ruled lines was used for handwriting practice, the
copybook. The first line was printed, or copied carefully from the blackboard, and then the entire
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page was filled with identical lines. If a mistake was made it stood out glaringly, and it is from this
that we say you "blot your copybook" when you make a serious mistake. Arithmetic was performed
with the help of a calculator, or the Victorian equivalent, the abacus. Those who practice with the
abacus can perform calculations faster than their electronic equivalent!
A SLATE
Lessons
Victorian schools concentrated on the 3Rs Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic. Most schools also
included the 4th R, religion. To begin with, most reading was taught using the Bible, but it soon
became evident that this was too difficult and so primers were introduced which had moralistic
stories. Pupils would take turns to read a portion of the story.
The School Day
School began at 9.00am and finished at 5.00pm. There was a two hour lunch break to allow enough
time for children to go home for a midday meal, although in rural areas they might eat at the school.
Playtime!
Although most of the Victorian school child's life was rather dull, the bright light was playtime.
Children would play with a wide variety of toys: hoops, tops, skipping ropes and marbles. There
would be games of tag, British bulldog, hopscotch, and football, played with an inflated pig's bladder.
© Copyright 2009: www.victorianschool.co.uk. Used by permission.
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See GRAMMAR BOX on the wiki for exercises on Past Habits: Would and Used to.
ASSIGNMENT
On a separate piece of paper draw two columns listing the differences between the Victorian
education system and the current one:
A Victorian School My School
At first only rich children went to school. Everybody has the right to an education.
Et cetera Et cetera
Are there any similarities?
In class you are going to make comparisons orally, using LINKERS OF CONTRAST (BUT,
WHEREAS, WHILE, HOWEVER, IN CONTRAST, ON THE ONE HAND,.........ON THE OTHER HAND,
etc.
For example: Only rich children used to go to school, whereas now all children have the right
to have an education.
You will be evaluated on your written and oral work.
In class and at home we can explore the BBC web page about Victorian Children:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/victorian_britain/
Look especially at the sections “Children at School”, “Victorian Schools” and “Children at Play”.
In addition to this, we can look at the Woodlands Junior page about Victorian Schools:
http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/homework/victorians/children/schools.htm
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Now for a song:
ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL – Pink Floyd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR5ApYxkU-U
We don't need no education We don’t need no thought control No dark sarcasm in the classroom Teachers leave them kids alone Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone! All in all it's just another brick in the wall. All in all you're just another brick in the wall. We don't need no education We don’t need no thought control No dark sarcasm in the classroom Teachers leave them kids alone Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone! All in all it's just another brick in the wall. All in all you're just another brick in the wall.
"Wrong, do it again!" "If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you Have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?" "You! Yes, you behind the bike sheds, stand still laddie!"
Questions related to the video and the song:
1. After watching the video, why do you think this famous Pink Floyd song is called “Another Brick in
the Wall”?
2. What do you think is the purpose of school; what is the difference between “educating” and
“indoctrinating” (if you think there is any)?
3. What are the origins of the word “education”?
4. There are at least two grammatical errors in the lyrics – what are they and can you correct them?
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APPENDIX: CURRENT UK SCHOOL SYSTEM IN YEAR GROUPINGS
Age England & Wales Northern Ireland Scotland
3 Nursery (non-compulsory)
Nursery (non-compulsory)
Nursery (non compulsory)
4-5 Primary - Key Stage 1 Reception class
Primary - Key Stage 1 Year 1
Nursery (non-compulsory)
5-6 Year 1 Year 2 Primary P1
6-7 Year 2 Year 3 P2
7-8 Key Stage 2 Year 3
Key Stage 2 Year 4
P3
8-9 Year 4 Year 5 P4
9-10 Year 5 Year 6 P5
10-11 Year 6 Year 7 P6
11-12 Secondary - Key Stage 3 Year 7
Secondary - Key Stage 3 Year 8
P7
12-13 Year 8 Year 9 Secondary S 1
13-14 Year 9 Year 10 S2
14-15 Key Stage 4 Year 10
Key Stage 4 Year 11
S3
15-16 Year 11 Year 12 S4
SIXTH FORM:
16-17 Year 12 (Lower Sixth) Year 13 S5
17-18 Year 13 (Upper Sixth) Year 14 S6
Now in England and Wales compulsory education has been extended to 18 years old. What do you
think of that?
FILM: “The Belles of St. Trinian´s” (1954) – starring Alistair Sim, a classic British comedy set in a
chaotic girls’ school where the schoolgirls are more interested in men, gambling and blowing up their
teachers.
“If” (1968): A film which satirizes the English public school system and English society in general:
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/if1968/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9JL8Dae_yQ