How does Charles Dickens treat the theme of education in his novel Hard Times?

HOW DOES CHARLES DICKENS ENGAGE THE READER IN GREAT EXPECTATIONS? FOCUS ON CHAPTERS 1-8 Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is considered to be the greatest book he has ever sold. By the time Charles Dickens had started his thirteenth novel, Great Expectations, he was a national hero. After living as a shoe polisher, the upper class citizens of England started to realise through his writing what was happening to their fellow lower class citizens. Dickens’ excellence in this book is shown right throughout.

Education has existed throughout history in one form or another. The process of passing down accumulated information from one generation to the next has been present in every human society, past and present. From the young listening to the stories of the elders around the hearths of the ancient world, to pupils being instructed in the alphabet in a one room schoolhouse on the American frontier, to the present day online teaching sessions; the tradition of teaching and learning has been a constant in the ever changing world. Education has been and continues to be used for many purposes, chief among them being the creation of an educated citizenry, the empowerment of that citizenry, and improvement of the

Children had to work on the farm when they were old enough or they had to do chores in the house. There was not much time for them to do anything other than work on the farm, “Each year, children started working in the fields as soon as the weather permitted and as soon as they were strong enough” (Reinhardt). It was necessary for children to help their parents get the work done on the farm and because this usually took up the majority of their time, it was difficult for them to go to school. There were many reasons that caused children to stop their education at a young age and work on the farm. In an interview with my grandma, she said “I only received schooling up to eighth grade. Because I was the oldest, I had to stop school because my parents needed me to help them do the work on the farm”. Once she learned how to read and write, she was forced to stop school and work on her parent’s farm. To this day she regrets that she was not able to finish her education and she tells me that I need to appreciate my education. Before she married my grandpa she told him that she wanted her kids and grandchildren to have the capability to go to school and receive the best education that they can. Numerous families had to take their children out of school in order for them to assist on the farms. Lucky children, like my grandpa, had the chance to finish their education because their parents had other jobs outside of the farm that would

Education is the most vital part of man’s existence. The concept of education started in the ancient days and continues to the modern age. Education has existed before this current age, but modern education has been labeled as the most significant part of any possible profession. This assumption is not making waves in the United States of America only, but in the whole world wide. Despite the unique and distinct languages that exist throughout the world, young and developing minds still seek education and new knowledge as technology keeps changing. Education is the backbone and the platform in which we build and develop our own unique ideas that has become

Some people might like education, others might dread it and really don’t see a reason to continue learning about it. Today, for teachers and professors it’s easy to them to tell how the education they teach is effective for an individual student. As we know, education is being taught at school, home, and a little of both. For America today, most children attend preschool, kindergarten, elementary, middle school, high school, and college. Depending on the pupil's career choice, it can take up to 20 or more years completing their schooling system, Usually, during the middle and or high school years in America, professors teach you valid things pupils will be using in life.

What is education? Two words probably jump out at most people: learning and school. Yet, how much students are actually learning must be analyzed because passing through is not the same thing as experiencing. In the same case learning is the same thing as receiving information and moving on. Even so, schools are blindly addressing the two as the same thing because secondary institutions have compressed education into numbers that signify intelligence. However, when education and school become two entities, children are not able to reach their full potential which then leads to them being unhappy in life as an adult.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world"-Nelson Mandela. For many centuries school has been a priority for many ages. Throughout the years schools have expanded and changed. With discipline, technology, and even homework, schools these days are not the same as they were years ago.

Education has become an essential part of human life it creates an opportunity for people to improve their environment, help others, create jobs, and develop new technology. Having a well stablished education in the United States can only improve the economy and be ready compete with other countries. Even though, the importance of education is well stablished yet the budget cuts to education have always been an issue therefore many students do not receive an adequate education. The current approach for education seems to create and implement standardized test to students to measure how much they are learning in the classroom without considering individualistic differences in students and other special needs.

Education has been an important tool to our society for many centuries. Most people believe that the education system is healthy and many young children are receiving the education they need to become successful in the future. Most schools have been becoming corrupt because of the advertising and money but some people just don’t notice it. A person by the name of Michael Moore proved that the corporate involvement in our public education is a nuisance. There are many things we can do as a community to help make our education system become better.

I believe that education extends far beyond the classroom walls, and involves many more people than students and teachers. People should be learning wherever they go, and should continue learning long after they’ve graduated from high school or college. Education isn’t something that can be quantified with tests or report cards, but is instead something that people carry with them. It’s a survival pack for life, and some people are better equipped in certain areas than in others. People with a solid education are prepared for nearly anything, as they will be able to provide for their own physical, emotional, and aesthetic needs.

Charles Dickens’s novel Hard Times critiques the use of extreme utilitarianism as an acceptable means to governing a society in which citizens are able to lead happy, productive, flourishing lives. “Just the facts,”19th century English utilitarianism argued, are all one needs to flourish. Those answers that we can arrive at by way of mathematical, logical reasoning are all needed to live a full human life. Hard Times shows however that a “just the facts” philosophy creates a community inhospitable to the needs of one another, a society nearly void of human compassion, and one lacking in morality. Underlying the novel’s argument is the Aristotelian concept that the primary purpose of government is to

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela. Without education, there is simply no telling of what this world would be like. There wouldn’t be doctors, lawyers, businesses etc. Life and everything around us would be fatuous. Schools and education give us a plan in life and help guide us. Throughout the years education has changed tremendously. It had its improvements throughout the decades, and it also has had its falters as well. Education in America is an issue in this country and it definitely needs to be tweaked and improved. Education is what makes us people who we are and what we will be. Nelson Mandela had it right, there is no weapon more powerful than education.

In Hard Times, Dickens presents life philosophies of three men that directly contradict each other. James Harthouse sees one’s actions in life as meaningless since life is so short. Mr. Gradgrind emphasizes the importance of fact and discourages fantasy since life is exactly as it was designed to be. Mr. Slearly exhibits that “all work and no play” will make very dull people out of all of us. He also proclaims that one should never look back on one’s life and regret past actions. Dickens is certainly advocating Sleary’s life philosophy because the subjects of the other two philosophies led depressing and unhappy lives. This is made clear when Louisa realises her childhood of fact without fancy has ruined her, when Tom’s life falls apart after leaving his father’s home in rejection of his strict parenting, and when Mr. Gradgrind himself realises the faults in his own philosophy and devotes the rest of his life to virtue and charity.

Since the beginning of education there have been many forms, which have been passed on from one generation to the next. Over the years education has evolved and is now seen as the education system all over the world. Today the education system is seen to be much more complex, but it still involves notions that have been around since the beginning of success, achievement and participation. Not only do these three aspects continue to contribute to the success of

Through the long history,educators,thinkers,politicians and scholars have answered the question of what education is in different ways: some see it from the perspective of educational value,some see it from the perspective of educational purposes,some see it from the perspective of educational content and methods,and some see it from the