The Stupidity of Victorian Schools
(A Critique on Victorian Schools) In our day and age the treatment of students, teachers, and anyone involved with the school program is much more different than it was during the Victorian period. “They wiped the slate clean, by spitting on it and rubbing with their coat sleeve or their finger” (Dickinson)! Clearly, the funding for these kids were not at an alltime high at this point. Today, parents from all social classes demand that their children get a proper, well funded education. On top of that, parents will literally sue teachers for harming their children in any sort of way. During the Victorian period, parents didn’t have hardly any jurisdiction over what occurs within school limits. That’s just the smallest fragment of difference between the schools back then and the schools now. In Hard Times by Charles Dickens and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Victorian schools are properly illustrated and truly show their disgusting ways in which they’re ran.
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“The scene was a plain, bare, monotonous vault of a schoolroom” (pg. 999 Chapter 1 Hard Times). The rooms in which these children are taught are so boring and confined that they wouldn’t even have the desire to learn. These kids might as well have been taught at in a prison cell. The importance of a child’s physical environment in his development of learning is hypercritical. “Environments that are well-designed will allow children to explore, give them a sense of control and will allow the children to engage in focused, self-directed play” (Harkness). That was the Victorian school’s first cataclysmic
“... we never ask questions, or at least most don’t; they just run the answers at you, bing, bing, bing and us sitting there for four or more hours…”(Bradbury 27). They have classes such as, TV class, sports, transcription history, and than more sports. The schools are very nonsocial and run the kids out so much they only have energy left for sleep or bullying others. “They run us so ragged by the end of the day we can't do anything but go to bed or head for a Fun Park to bully people around…” (Bradbury 27).
This book and more specifically, this quote shows were author Ray Bradbury feels school has become dumbed down. He describes a world which has abandoned ideas like history and literature, which I reference the aged-old quote,
Throughout history schools have served an important purpose; they aim to educate children and improve society by giving children the necessary skills needed to make advancements when they become old enough to make contributions. Although, schools are often criticized, by politicians, parents and in some cases the general population, for not serving their purpose properly. Often the people making these judgements are unaware of what is needed in schools. Society has been making judgements towards the education system for centuries and in some instances, it has been for the better. The thought behind the purpose of schooling hasn’t evolved as much as it has been broadened to include the vast majority of the population and along the way it has
In John Gatto’s essay “Against School”, he insists that modern schooling is crippling our kids. “I had more than enough reason to think of our schools – with their long-term, cell-block-style, forced confinement of both students and teachers – as virtual factories of childness.” (para 4). The US adopted its educational system from Prussian culture and it led to a downward spiral of boredom and fear in children. Children are singled out, judged, and never taught to be a grown up and be independent.
Many people think that most American schools are satisfactory. That is far from what is actually happening. The harsh reality is that schools that are unsatisfactory do exist. In Jonathan Kozol’s “Fremont High School”, he points out the flaws of a high school located somewhere in Los Angeles. This helps shine light on differences in the quality of education in various areas of the country.
“High School Training Ground” is a poem by Malcolm London that addresses the problems with the modern school system and how it fails to prepare kids for the real world. In the poem "High School Training Ground" by Malcolm London, the author's use of imagery conveys a tone of dissatisfaction towards traditional public schooling. Firstly, London describes the physical environment of the school through vivid imagery to convey his dissatisfaction with the system. At the beginning of the poem in lines 3-4 the author states "cleaned up after me every day by regular janitors, but I never have the decency to honor their names.”
Knowledge is kept from students which leaves them bored and causes violence. When Clarisse is telling Montag about her school, she says that they have "'an hour of TV class, an hour of basketball or baseball or running, another hour of transcription history or painting pictures, and more sports, but do you know, we never ask questions, or at least most don't; they just run the answers at you'" (27). They spend the whole day at school keeping the student busy without allowing them to think or use their brains at all. The students have information thrown at them too fast to process and are distracted from thinking and doing anything that stimulates their brain. This version of school either leaves people exhausted or in need of activity to use the energy and thoughts that are wasted during school.
Charles Baxter’s “Gryphon” provides an interesting look at standardized education and the way society views those who deviate from it. Baxter shows this through how the narrator Tommy views his new substitute, Miss Ferenczi. The character Miss Ferenczi tries to revolt against the clinical and strict standards of society and positively impact the morality and ethicality of herself, Tommy, and the fourth graders. While some readers may think that Miss Ferenczi is either morally inept or somewhat delusional, she proves herself to be a person who cares to teach the children how to love learning.
Robert Owen had a big impact on reforming children’s education in New Lanark during the 19th century. His values and beliefs impacted the way that the children saw education. This essay will discuss that Robert Owen believed that the main objective for education was to let the children enjoy themselves while learning at the same time and that having a proper education with no harsh punishments, was vital to the children’s development. It will also discuss how he gave an opportunity for children in New Lanark to have an education without interfering with their financial circumstances. Initially, Robert Owen believed that the main objective for education was to let the children enjoy themselves while learning at the same time.
Understanding the world • The way in which children find out about nature and the world around them. • How children find out about their local communities. • The way in which children develop their confidence when using ICT equipment. Expressive arts and design • The development of children‘s creativity and imagination through art , dance and music . • How children use play to develop these skills Personal , social and emotion development
Queen Victoria’s reign of sixty-three years and seven months was the longest reign of any monarch in Great Britain’s history. It was a time of great change in the fields of industry, culture, politics, and science. Along with the innovations of the time, came problems. Charles Dickens conveys the issues with class distinction, arranged marriages, and the education systems that existed during the Victorian era in England in his story Hard Times and the movie Great Expectations. To start off, class distinction was a major social concept during the Victorian Era and a recurring theme in many of Dickens’s works.
Throughout Bram Stoker 's time in the Victorian Era, societal norms were prevalent in terms of the seclusion of women 's rights, as well as the religious revival of Catholicism. The time in which Stoker lived was when Catholicism made its breakthrough in english societies. In terms of prominent time periods,"The Victorian Age is in fact above all others an age of religious revival" (Arnstein 149). Because religion was one of the largest changes in the Victorian era, Bram Stoker was surrounded by efforts of incorporating Catholicism back into everyday life. In addition, Stoker grew up in an environment where the "Problem of women 's emancipation in nineteenth century Britain was...recognition for their achievements" (Jihang 49).
The average life a person lives in this time period comes easy. Though we may have certain struggles, they don’t compare to the daily problems of lower class throughout the Victorian Era. Although there were many successful people during this time, poverty became a huge issue for the common family. Poverty issues influenced adults as well as the children. All ages got the enjoyment of life stolen from them in this rigid era.
In 1870, a law was passed which made all the children aged between 5-10 in Britain to attend school. In the age of 11 in 1890, children needs to leave school, if parents and employers of a working children will still prevented some of them to go to school as they were making money in their workplace. Schools were totally different that we have of today. Poor inner city areas there could be anywhere. The schools were imposing buildings with high up windows to prevent children from seeking out of.
What do you know about the Victorian literature? most of the people especially the uneducated one, would not have any answer. But if you ask them about Charles Dickens who is one of the most popular novelists of that period, they absolutely know him well. Charles Dickens has great novels which are immortalized his name through centuries. One of these novels is Hard Times which is written in the middle of the nineteenth century.