Schools and Relationship with Childhood - Essay Example

? Schools and Relationship with Childhood 22nd, November, This assignment will briefly explore the concept of society as well as the fundamental role education plays in developing the society. In the period 1780-1920, Britain transitioned from the agricultural to the industrial society. This transition introduced new set of challenges to the United Kingdom such as poverty, huge population density, and political concerns. In this assignment, I will explore the history of mass education in United Kingdom and the United States and equally relate education to society. It will effectively confirm how education will solve the problems facing the nation. This will intertwine with the society`s view of childhood notion and its influence on schools’ structure and design. More so, the assignment will seek to explain the transformation in the childhood notion in relation to changes in the school setup. In doing this, the assignment will state and rely on Plato’s ideas in trying to clarify the historical relation between education and the community. Thereafter, I will describe the school’s structure and curriculum between 1780 towards the present with a view of exploring the developed types of schools and their metamorphosis on the view about childhood. Introduction What is society? Society as we all know is a group of people: sometimes their number is so tiny that we can count them by hand, like hunters and farmers, or sometimes this number approximates to millions of people. Worth noting is the fact that those people live in a specific geographic location and they share the same culture, which makes them different from other groups (Eriksen, 2011; Giddens, 1993). Most assuredly, we can learn much from the past for the sake of improving the present and preparing for the future. Looking at the history of education, we can see that education has played a major role in the development of societies, starting with the ancient Greece. Plato had an idea that we have to educate our leaders to have the development we seek for our societies. It is arguably true that Plato’s idea shows the reader that education is a fundamental demand to the development of any society. Plato emphasized the education of the elite in his vision of democracy. For him, society philosophers should govern the society and he divided the community into three layers that include, 1) - Leaders who are the educated class `philosophers` and should have the power, 2) - the army, and 3) – the lower class workers (Plato, 1998) Obviously, education was the key element in Plato’s ideas for him, in order for our society to carry development, education must play the key role. His ideas correlate with the ideas of the eighteenth and nineteenth century philosophers for educating the masses in order to solve the encountered in England. In this essay, I will explore how the need for change in British society influenced education and investigate the changes that applied to childhood. Therefor I will mention three examples; Firstly, the `Monitorial School`, which was invented by Joseph Lancaster between 1778 and 1839. This will entail finding out more about the need for creating this school. Secondly, David Stow established the ‘Moral Training System’, which was a modification of ‘Monitorial School’. Thirdly, we have the ‘Elementary Education Act’. Moreover, I will critically discuss how these institutions thought of pupils, in comparison with present views of childhood. School as a Solution for the New Social Problems In the years 1780-1920, the United Kingdom was transforming from an agricultural society to an industrial society. Alongside the change, people started to move from the countryside to live in cities. Consequently, new problems appeared in the society especially in the ‘laboring classes’. For instance, in the year 1806, London had witnessed new problems like population density and rise in crime. Hence, political ideas in the nation focused on finding solutions to issues of ‘crime’, ‘misery’, and ‘idleness’ (Donald, 1992). However, the solution to this situation as Patrick Colquhoun believed is to educate the society. The ‘Monitorial School’ practiced this idea on. The `Monitorial` school was created by Joseph Lancaster in 1801. The structure of the institution enabled the process of educating around a thousand students of different ages with a single teacher at the same time (Ellis & Calvert, 1907). Pupils gathered in a hall, sat at fixed tables in rows facing the teacher. The rows were numbered and divided into groups. In addition, at the end of each row, a monitor was one of the elder students in the school. For this reason, he was given the material which would be addressed in the next lesson so that he could teach his younger colleagues the lesson he was taught. British & Foreign School Society posits: By a careful arrangement, however, of the whole school into divisions, and sub- divisions, adjusted according to the relative acquirements of the scholars, and by appointing over each a deputy, or monitor, chosen from their own number, the master at once, secures closer inspection, and makes it possible for all to be addressed at the same time on the subjects, and in the manner and language, best adapted to the actual progress of each. (1834, p.13). Clearly, the design of the institution was to educate itself. The reason for this design was that the educators in that era found that educating en masse was the solution to the new problems encountered in the British society. At the same time, it was voluntary which meant that they had a low budget to afford teachers’ salaries. On the other hand, religious instructions equally framed the curriculum. The subjects in this school were to teach students the instructions of the Bible, or to teach them alphabets that enabled the society to read and write. Furthermore, the notion of the evangelical child influenced `Monitorial` school. The evangelical child is a movement that thought that corruption with sins and the children pollutes the human nature (James, 2001). Obviously, this notion influenced the school structure and the idea of preventing the children from making chaos and solved social problems that had faced the nation. As James Ronaldson told Robert Vaux that poor children would learn in the School how to behave, not to riot in the streets, and not to make any outlaw actions, so they will be taught the reality of that knowledge in the society (Upton, 1996). Furthermore, this school was controlling the pupils by forcing them to follow the rules from the master or from the monitors without questioning. This school left students with no choice to decide what is suitable for them, even their sitting place in this school. On the other hand, on the learning process the pupils had to follow the lecturer without asking or addressing their ideas, even if they did not understand, as Stow said: Portions of Bible maybe or are read in school by the master to the children but they must be so without note or comment. The pupils may listen to the reading of the scripture, but no means must be taken to enable them to understand it. (1853, P. 65). Towards the end of the 1930’s, the ‘Monitorial School’ came to its end with an amended structure of this institution known as the “Moral Training system” by David Stow. As Stow defines it, “Moral Training system” is a system which cultivates the whole nature of the child, instead of the mere head, the affections and habits, as well as the intellect” (Stow, 1853). This system was structured in a different way. The difference between ‘Monitorial School’ and ‘Moral Training System’ is; first, curriculum was slightly changed, the curriculum was to teach bible instruction only in Lancastrian School. Nevertheless, in this system beside the Bible, pupils also have to study history, geography, science, and the arts of life. Moreover, in some countryside areas, they teach the boys theory and practice of agriculture and for girls either town or rural they learnt knitting, sewing, and stitching (Stow, 1853). Second, we can notice that ‘Training system’ still has fixed seats and monitors. It was similar to the Lancaster ideas but the practice was different in this system. The chair design was different sitting style in “Training System” resembled a gallery. Additionally, this institution now have a playground as Stow says that it is so important to have a playground in order to give the children the space to show their real character (Stow,1953). I do agree with him in this point that the children’s should have a playground and, in the playground time, we can observe the child behavior when they interact with their colleagues. Indeed, a candidate should learn new social behaviors, not only social but also life experience while he is playing. The child will learn unconsciously from the experiences of his friends. Furthermore, it is an opportunity for him to break the stress of long day of study, and by building on Dewey’s Ideas of learning by playing: That involves a context of work and play in association with others. The plea made for education through continued constructive activities in this book rests upon the fact they afford an opportunity for a social atmosphere. In place of a school set apart from life as a place for learning lessons, we have a miniature social group in which study and growth are incidents of present-shared experience. Playgrounds, shops, workrooms, laboratories not only direct the natural active tendencies of youth, but they involve intercourse, communication, and cooperation, all extending the perception of connections.” (2008, p.1) Dewey emphasized that the school is a place to build progressive experiences through a structured design. Nevertheless, by addressing playgrounds and workrooms the school can build a social atmosphere. This enables the child to contribute in the social life learning process alongside the specific curriculum of the school. This leads us to think about the concept of the child in the late eighteenth and nineteenth century. The transformation in social and economic life influenced the idea of childhood. Childhood was in hard debate; it presented new views to the field like factory, romantic, and presently time has the idea of child agency. Explaining the romantic view as Rousseau in Emile shows, education should focus on the particular personality of the child. He pictured the child as if children are pure and innocent, but the nature and specific kind of education can corrupt this ‘Innocence’ (Peter, 1967). In addition, we have two different prospective of the romantic notion of childhood. In one hand, we have Blake who saw the child as a symbol of innocence in a time of poverty and the collapse of the public system. On the other hand, Wordsworth saw childhood as a period of virtue where we have to feed the children souls with morals. His idea of growth and morality shows the relationship between nature and child. Blake thought of childhood as if the child is fragile and needed separation from the adult’s reality such as sexual behaviors and death (Steven, 2001). On the contrary, Wordsworth thought of childhood in a more imaginative prospective where he tried to find the sensuous relation between the individual and nature that has influenced many researchers in the end of the nineteenth century. As to Stow, he tried to give children space inside school to express themselves by playing, socialising with other students, and by allowing them to participate in the learning process. Nevertheless, the invention of both systems was for the good of society. But the view of childhood was different in each school. Each institution was influenced by the changing view of childhood. As in the Monitorial school, we can understand the institution design, and by analyzing the product ’Student’ its creation and the way this design treated its own candidates leaving them with limited options in their school life. That evangelical movement of childhood truly influenced this school. While on the other hand, Romanticism notion of childhood influenced Stow’s school, and that manifested from his ideas, by inventing the playground, and by trying to find more about the real character of the students. Elementary Education In 1870, the Elementary education act made a major change in history of schooling in the United Kingdom where it drew the map for mass education. To explain more; this act had defined the rights and duties for all schools, which it will be explained later in this essay. “Board School’ came to the picture. Alongside with the government involvement in educating the masses, United Kingdom started to support education by funding the schools. Indeed, U.K sought to show how important education was in that period by examining the Newcastle Report of 1861. As we can sense from this report, the government was interested in raising mass education in this country by supporting the development of childhood (Robert, 1862). We can explain this system by giving an example of London School Board. This school was from the first board school that sought to divide the students into classes. The notion of this separation was to group the children based on similarities not on individual differences (Donald, 1992). Moreover, this school had a hall in the middle and classes surrounded it. The difference in this design was not only in the transformation from the schoolroom to classroom, but also the curriculum changed based on the Elementary Education Act orders. The religion instruction in this school is no more available. There were no more religion instructions. Students can read the Bible and they can ask about clarification from their teachers (Brown, 1896). In addition, providing accommodation to the pupils is also important in their view. More so, buying the school land is compulsory by school boards (Gillard, 2011). Hence, this act had built the road for mass education in this country. Most significantly, childhood in late nineteenth century, as mass schooling, had gathered the students in one place ’school’. An opportunity for the specialists as scientists, sociologists, and psychologists took the chance in studying those children. Moreover, by that time those studies had revealed a ‘Disability’ between those children (James & Prout, 2001). This had attracted the scientists alongside politicians to ask more about the ‘human development’. On the other hand, Child study association 1894, had argued an individual testing in terms of ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ (Keir,1952; James, 2001). Indeed, this period was of rationality, the science was flourishing, and there were new inventions in the field of science, schooling movement, and Darwinian biological assumptions of human development. Consequently, the child was a scientific experimental sample. The reason was to find solutions for the new obstacles although this denied the child their own choice and agency. In the current times, Piaget brings in the idea of child-centered emphasizes on involving children in building their own learning space (Burman, 2008). He equally believes that young children think in a different way from the adult. Conclusion In conclusion, each school has faced a certain type of factors that help in shaping the school style depending on the need at the time. As for the ‘Monitorial School’, the challenge was to keep those children away from the street in a time that the society was facing new social problems. As for this school, I believe that the evangelical childhood notion had influenced the ideas of Lancaster alongside the lack of resources that influenced his school design. The changing concept of childhood has influenced schools over the years as well as the romantic approach and the impact of the romanticism ideas on the ‘Moral Training System’. School had experienced an influence from childhood theories and the school equally influenced childhood. Towards the present childhood, the educational institutions use different prospective of childhood. Indeed, the idea of child-centered as brought by Piaget idea had influenced the schools in our current time. Notably, we should aim the educational process towards child interest. We can notice this impact by observing the current school pedagogy. It is indeed practicable by giving the space to the children to choose his sitting place, or by letting the children to participate creating his own drawing without forcing him to stick with a single idea. Finally, when trying to improve those schools, and foster proper childhood coherence, we all participate in refining our society towards the development we seek. References British & Foreign School Society. (1834). Manual of the system of primary instruction pursued. London: Longman. Retrieved from: http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?u=1&num=1&seq=117&view=image&size=100&id=uva.x001072805&q1=Lancaster Brown, W. (1896). Our school boards. A contrast between the expenditure of board schools and voluntary schools on sites, buildings, administration, and maintenance. London : Catholic Truth Society. Burman, E. (2008). Deconstructing developmental psychology. London: New York: Routledge. Dewey, J. (2008). Democracy and Education. Retrieved from: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/852/852-h/852-h.htm Donald, J. (1992). Sentimental Education, Schooling popular culture and the regulation of Liberty. New York: Verso. Ellis, C. (1907). Lancasterian schools in Philadelphia. Retrieved from: http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft8hd8g52t;seq=8;view=1up Gillard, D.(2011). Education in England: a brief history. Retrieved from: http://www.educationengland.org.uk/history/ James, A., & Prout, A. (2001). Constructing and reconstructing childhood, Contemporary Issues in sociological Study of Childhood. London: RoutledgeFalmer. Peter, C. (1967).The Image of Childhood. The Individual and Society: a study of the theme in English literature. Harmondsworth : Penguin. Plato. (1998). The Republic. Retrieved from: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1497 Robert, M. (1862). 'The Re-revised Code at variance with the facts proved before the Royal Commission on Education'. University of Liverpool. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/60100309 Steven, M. (2004). 1953 Huck's raft: a history of American childhood. London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Retrieved form: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=acls;cc=acls;idno=heb06195.0001.001;node=heb06195.0001.001%3A4;seq=91;size=100;view=image;page=root Stow, D.(1853). The Training System. `Moral Training School And Normal Seminary or College. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. Upton, D. Lancasterian Schools, Republican Citizenship, and the Spatial Imagination in Early Nineteenth-Century America. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 55(3), 238-253. Read More