4º ESO BILINGÜE INITIAL UNIT EDUCATIONnsalmeronbiling.wikispaces.com/file/view/EDUCATION 4º ESO.pdf... · were punished for all sorts of things: being rude, answering back, speaking

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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