Similarities Between Elizabethan And Modern Education

Judith Sargent Murray’s On the Equality of the Sexes reveals the struggles women had in the 17th-18th centuries when it came to equal education opportunities. Women were expected to become people of domestication while men had many opportunities to expand their minds and be ambitious, and be leaders. Women were expected to focus on taking care of their family, not to have minds of their own. They wanted change.

When Romeo and Juliet comes up in school curriculum any observer can see students eagerly signing up for roles, puzzling over Juliet’s eagerness to marry a stranger, or rehearsing their own unique interpretation of the play. In these moments students are released from the usual monotonous class period and allowed to enjoy a timeless piece of literature. While some may claim that Shakespeare is outdated or difficult to read, the positivities of including it in ninth grade curriculum far outweigh any struggles of comprehension.

“How long I gazed upon that magical creation I can not tell, but it was imprinted so deeply on my memory that I could not forget the incident, and looking long and steadily upon the copy she had given me, I followed it so well…” (Willard 74). Although this was a simple action, it was one of Frances Willard’s most important childhood events that sparked her interest in learning and the field of education. Throughout the duration of Frances Willard’s childhood, she was very curious and optimistic about attending. “Where could we have the academy? Who would be the teacher? These were vital questions to Mary and me, for mother was not more anxious for our education than were we ourselves” (Willard 75). Contradictory to Victorian standards, at eighteen years of age,Frances Willard wrote that she aspired to be a teacher in one of her journal entries. “I once thought I should like to be Victoria 's maid of honor-since I thought I 'd be a resident of [...... ]- next I wanted to be an artist next again I wished to be a hunter but returning from these deviations I 've decided to be a Music Teacher 'simply that & nothing more” (Willard Jan. 1 1855). Rather than directing her life on a path towards becoming a maid, Willard decided to challenge these common standards and expectations assigned to women and carry out her own aspirations. These ideas were also emphasized in an article by Henry and Isabel

To the people of colonial times, education was not a focal point of their lives. Their community revolved around work and religion. Also in this time, people did not need school in order to earn a living later in life, as we do in today’s society. Education was not essential, which is why “schools typically were attended infrequently” (Rury 26). In

In the words of T.S. Eliot, “We can say of Shakespeare, that never has a man turned so little knowledge to such great account” (Eliot). The works of Shakespeare are known throughout the world as classic literary pieces. The lessons learned through reading Shakespeare have carried themselves and remain to be true although they have been around for hundreds of years. The style in which William Shakespeare wrote has influenced a great amount of the literature that has been written in the more recent past-- books that are read throughout schools in the United States today. It is necessary to read the work of William Shakespeare in schools today, not only because of the lessons in his work, but to understand the roots of some of today’s literature.

In the modern-day society, education is an equal part for men and women. The difference between the two is rarely seen today. However, in the 1700’s the idea that women should have an education, or the ability to hold an education was a topic that was merely laughed at. Being so, what went into the female brain was solely up to the males of society. Wollstonecraft depicts that women unknowingly subject themselves to men and their sphere because society educates them to do so.

During the mid to mid-late late 1700’s, (1760-1780) it was common for wealthy families to hire a tutor (always male) to teach their children English. Alternatively, some boys went to ‘grammar school’, which taught an assortment of topics, like mathematics, grammar, religion, history, and even foreign languages. Young girls were almost never sent to school, and were usually only instructed on things that had to do with managing a household. Most education was centered upon religion, and when history was taught, it was often through religious context. When children were learning to read and write, it was often done by copying and reading from the bible. It also helped that most

Education was not equal between the sexes and neither between the classes. Gentlemen were educated at home until they were old enough to attend well-known or lesser schools. A lady’s schooling was

At a moment’s glance, Daniel’s Defoe’s 1719 publication “The Education of Women” looks to be quite progressive for the time period in which it was written. He makes a claim of policy, stating that women should be educated in order to better serve men as companions. It is his justification for his claim that falls flat when viewed under a modern lens – he cares little for the individual benefits a woman may receive from an education, instead focusing on how education will further their ability to please men. That said, Defoe does state that although they should be educated to better serve men, he does not believe they should “Stewards, Cooks, and Slaves.” He believes that “The great distinguishing difference… between men and women, is in their education”, and that women’s souls are “capable of the same accomplishments with men”. The mix of traditional and progressive views present in his essay, as well as the reasoning for such views, make the piece an interesting look into the social views of the Age of Enlightenment.

While the children born into the lower class did not have a decent education, young ones of the middle class had a little more opportunities and ______ to get an insightful upbringing to maintain their overall aptitude and status. During the Romantic Era in Europe, there was an increase in literary and intellectual thought, causing advancement in education for both genders. Unlike the poor families in England, the middle-class families “enrolled their sons in exclusive private schools, paradoxically known as public schools due to the harsh conditions” (Napierkowski) Due to better resources in attending a better school, these middle class children were able to continue on to the university to obtain higher ranked and paid professions due to

On the topic of the Prioress’ literacy and “fluent French,” it seemed as though education was a common blessing amongst all of the middle class (Chaucer 124-125). Researcher Tim Lambert in, The Daily Life in England in The Middle Ages wrote that, “grammar schools began opening up across England and it was not uncommon for middle class children to educated” in the traditional sense (Lambert). While the characters in the prologue had already been educated in their homeland, their offspring and generations of middle class citizens to come would all be educated. Another example of education in the prologue was when the narrator spoke of the clerk. Despite there not

The book by Nicholas Orme is an important study in the history of education of the medieval England. From the introduction, it mentions that this work has exceeded the expectations of many scholars who are familiar in this subject. The author presents a convincing case with a great understanding and hypothesis that education was relatively widespread in the times of medieval England. Orme believes that education was typically provided in the non-monastic settings and in most cases at the hands of teachers, and the subjects included many secular subjects such as business skills. However, many scholars before Orme thought that typical medieval schools were far and few with dominating focus’ in religion. Most of the common themes in historical discussions about medieval education made by Orme’s fellow scholars, now in the modern ages, have been proven false by Orme and his book. Particularly in reference to the thought that education was rare and an exclusive commodity that was typically available to the clergy and only very rich people. It is true that at some levels this happened to be unavoidable, but more specifically this happened in the times when the methods of production were primitive and the productivity of labor was extremely low. Orme shows that even bearing the smaller number of people in mind, for which education activities could be feasible, formal education was of good quality similar to modern education and readily available for any amount of students

In Jane Austen’s day, there was no state-organised education system. There were church-run day schools in the best of cases for the lower class, but the genteel children of Austen’s novels were given lessons at home by their parents or by tutors, or they were boarders or in local schools to which girls were not admitted. Parents had the choice for their children’s education and upbringing, but the choice depended mainly on their financial resources. Women were not allowed to attend public schools and since they did not usually make a career (the exception being if they were obliged because of their financial situation to become a governess), parents (and society) saw no need for them to receive higher education. “Female education” referred to women receiving a practical (and religious) training for their future domestic roles. Domestic training would be sewing or needlework,

“The period between 1965 and the end of the 1980s witnessed significant developments, not only in the provision of post-primary schooling in Ireland, but also in the way in which schooling was understood.”

“The period between 1965 and the end of the 1980s witnessed significant developments, not only in the provision of post-primary schooling in Ireland, but also in the way in which schooling was understood.”