Schools In The Victorian Era

England under the Victorian Era was a fascinating place to live. The streets of London were filled with horse-drawn carriages and tightly spaced flats. Along with those, the streets were also a place for theft, sickness, and musk from the local factories. Crime was present throughout the cities. Drug use and prostitution were the highest forms of criminal behavior (Garside). Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved and well-known character, Sherlock Holmes, emerged from the Victorian Era. The people of London came to love the weekly stories that were published about the great detective and were extremely excited to hear the next short tale (Clausen). As the city of London began to change and the people gained more wealth, the social statuses of the citizens began to change as well. The most prospered groups were the Upper Class the Middle Class. In the Victorian Era, the Middle Class flourished because of the development of industrialization. Factories opened up creating new jobs for the Lower Class and provided supplies for many.

The Victorian period helped the society become a calm society. The Victorian Period was a period that started in the year 1831 and lasted until 1901. In fact, this was the same time that Queen Victoria sat on the throne and that is why the period has that name. All of the traditions that England had before this period were changed in the middle and late of the Victorian period. The main issue of all of the cultural changes that the period gave to England got all of the society scared because of the quickness that these changes happen. These changes created wealth in some families of England and rose the “middle class” in the social classes. In addition, the science improved and did not care about Church’s daily life. Actually, for some people

In his essay, “Who Shall Control our Schools?”, Bryan opens up and shares his thoughts on the materials taught in schools and who should decide what is taught. Bryan examines the sources of information in this essay but specifically examines the role of teachers. I quote, “Professor Scopes has raised a question of the very first magnitude and the ones most likely to suffer by the raising of the issue are those who think they can ignore the right of the people to have what they want in government, including the kind of education they want”(192). Bryan perfectly shares the thoughts of most people during this time. The idea that government is becoming too victorian and needs to change based on what the people want, this is the same in education. This is important because it shows the conflict in Bryan’s head over religion and

The structure of the schools themselves, between 1894 and 1910, consisted of two divisions of classes, kindergarten through third grade and fourth through sixth grade. First, second, and third graders concentrated on lessons in music, health, manners, arithmetic, and some limited vocational skills defined by the Indian Office as industrial work. Instruction in reading, grammar, and spelling finished the school day. Beginning with the fourth grade academic requirements were minimized in favor of more intensive vocational training. This consisted of 145 minutes a day of instruction in reading, history, geography, and other topics; vocational work, however, took up the most time with 240 minutes being dedicated to those tasks (Ellis, 1996).

In the Victorian era many lower-class women abandoned their children because they didn’t have a stable financial income. Majority of the kids that were relinquished, because of absence of income in a family. The few shelters existing in the Victorian culture were awful to the point that numerous kids decided to live on their own in the city. Orphans living on their own in the city would most likely make them prone to becoming criminals. There was an abundance of things that could happen to the children of the village. Generally, adoption was unlikely. This is because there was no proper way to go about adopting a child in Victorian times.

Victorian-era Londoners were very rich or very poor - there was no “in-between”. These class distinctions are shown in many ways throughout the book, this includes: ‘ Hell’ ( east side ) vs. ‘Heaven’ ( West Side ), Jekyll Vs. Hyde, and Jekyll’s home.

As I began my journey through this research project I knew I wanted to focus on England, as it is one of the oldest counties and has such an intriguing story. With a history filled with rises and falls in laced with power and corruption and flourishing fueled by the industrial revolution, England is a legend in itself. Riddled with rolling hills and intricate underlying structures that make England's geographical map look more like the work of a craftful painter. (England) As I peeled back the many layers of English history I found myself entranced by the Victorian Era. Its namesake Queen Victoria, known for bring respect and honor back to the royal family. This was founded upon one of the earliest constitutional monarchs in the world, that is still in place today. The Victorian era had a very harsh and unforgiving economy that led to poverty flooding throughout the country, and a hate for immigrants rising. The lives of the people were influenced heavily by the church and controlled almost all of their daily lives. (Victorian era England & Life of Victorians) Looking throughout the many years of the Victorian era, one year stuck out to me as a very important time for England. This year was 1888, in the wake of the industrial revolution big business thrived while poverty was at an all time high and the country was in fear due to the Jack the Ripper murders. (White) Through these two events arised a whole new kind of journalism, called “new journalism”. (Schlack)

It is at this point that I would like to direct you to the curriculum that informs teachers practice and presentation of mathematics in Victoria, the Victorian Curriculum. The Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority [VCAA] (2015) consists of two sections; the learning areas, and capabilities. Included in capabilities are Critical and Creative Thinking. Furthermore, within the rational of mathematics rationale section of the curriculum there is this statement: “provides students with access to important mathematical ideas, knowledge and skills that they will draw on in their personal and work lives” (VCAA, 2015). So why with a focus on creative thought and connecting mathematics to student lives, are teachers failing to meet these ideas touched

The Mikado, examines the issue of class in Japan. Nanki-Poo, the son of the emperor

The image on the right is known as “The British Beehive.” I think this is a good image because it represents the social classes during the Victorian Era. In the Victorian Era, social class wasn’t dependent on the amount of money a person had like today, but more so on the source of income, birth and family connections played a bigger role. We usually see social classes as mainly 3 the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class. At the top of The Beehive is a smaller section which consists of the royal family, in the middle is a broad section including booksellers, mechanics, tea dealers and inventors; and at the bottom are the cabmen, shoeblacks, coalheavers, sweeps and dustmen. Relations and viewpoints on people of different social

In the past children were considered their parents property and the parents were able to do whatever they desired with them (Crosson-Tower, 2013, p. 175). There have been some parents who sold their children, abandoned them, and some even were heard to have sacrificed them. Parents were also free to kill children or maim them. In the late 1800’s some children from poor families found their way into orphan asylums. Orphan asylums were “established by government, churches, and private charities” (Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh , 2014) conditions in these asylums were beyond deplorable. Numerous children suffered malnutrition and many suffered sexual abuse. Sexual abuse has existed throughout history, fathers were able to use their daughters to trade for land, or money; and they would also be given away for marriage. The Greeks were known to practice pederasty or the use of young boys by men (Crosson-Tower, 2013, p. 177). During the Victorian era many women patients reported being sexually abused by a male relative. Then came the industrial age where children were treated as small adults and they worked side by side with their parents from a very young age. They worked on farms where they helped plow the fields and feed animals. Children then worked in factories; they worked long and hard hours under dangerous conditions (Crosson-Tower, 2013, p. 177). Child labor rights began to be addressed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Can I get someone to raise your hand, and say I like school? No? Okay this is how it’s going to go, Raise your hand or else. What is this an example of, it’s an example of a victorian teacher trying to manipulate the students into saying something that is, and never was true. We all have our opinions in what we think of a place, person, or thing. In this time period we have children that weren’t able to speak unless spoken to. There were kids getting yelled at for no reason at all, but a horrid teacher thought it would be funny to tear down their self esteem. In our time period we think a teacher is horrible when they tell us no. What would it be like to slowly lose your faith, and happiness everyday walking into the school? Most of us would say go to high school that will ruin you. Others could say go to college. These children are going to tell you go to elementary school and find out what real torture is. The three messages that the victorian schools bring are bullying, no creativity, and fear.

(An analysis and critique of Victorian schools using Hard Times by Charles Dickens & Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte)

As we are continually developing our educational systems, there are constant opportunities placed before us to further our education. In some cases, that definitely has not been the case. The way our education has been passed down to us today has created a deeper sense of knowledge and opportunity of growth in life. Today, we are given the chance to attend high school and for some, college. As we go through our daily life of obtaining such knowledge in 4 core concepts and other areas of our interests, we are constantly grasping modern essentials for living. Kristine L. Mackey wrote, “Another fortunate aspect for American citizens’ continued educational growth includes the government’s expressed support of the schooling system via subsidized education programs. The government accounts for the funding of education programs in its annual budget.” Our education today is literally handed to us, as we constantly spend our time in one dreadful school. But when we compare to other places across the world, they aren’t as fortuitous as Wyoming students are. In the excerpts from “Hard Times” by Charles Dickens and “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte, the Victorian Era is used to create a superb lesson to obtain on the development for our education over time.

Art Historian, Daniel Siedell said, “In such a society as the Victorians’, when public society is so stifling, steam is naturally going to be driven underground.” The reform of the Victorian era, a time in England of refinement and high decorum surrounding the years of Queen Victoria’s reign, did not produce revolution but the opposite: stagnation. And so at this time in England there were ingredients present to create a real revolution and bring a dismantling of the Victorian spirit, but they were underground and silent. Oscar Wilde aimed to bring that underground movement above ground through flagrancy. Wilde’s innovative faith as well as shocking literature were two gears of the same vehicle. They were gears dependent upon each other to bring anti-Victorian aestheticism to the surface of English society and culture. Oscar Wilde's literary revolt against propriety paralleled his unconventional view of religion-- both were a rejection of law and an embrace of beauty.