Home > The
Literary Salon > Educational Process >
Early Childhood Education
Early Childhood Education
In 18th century England,
education was not a formalized process for either gender,
as the government claimed no responsibility to educate
its citizens. Therefore, all schools were run by private
industry and supported by private subscriptions and
endowments, so schools were funded and bankrupted with
alarming frequency.
The Eton School was one of the
most prestigious schools in Britain in the 18th century.
Wealthy families sent their sons to Eton. This common
classroom shows three teachers conducting class at the
same time.
Because there was little
regulation of the practices, these schools were able
to subscribe to dated educational processes and regulations.
For example, most learning was performed through repetition
and copying, and beatings were used as the primary method
of discipline. Even though both genders were able to
gain general educations, girls were more likely to be
informally educated at home.
In response to this lack of formal education,
it became very important for children to learn from
day-to-day and informal sources. This “life education”
attempted to make up for any lack of formal education
that these students were receiving in schools.
This duplication of J. Boydell's "The Orrery"
(1768) shows a large group of men and children looking
into an orrery, an early version of a planetarium.
Children learned a great deal from lectures
by scientists, church sermons, parental tutelage, nursery
rhymes, almanacs, and advice from neighbors and relatives,
as opposed to through formal education. While these
outside sources were imperative to a child’s intellectual
development, they were not enough to prove education
– one’s level of education was still measured
by traditional standards, such as the ability to read,
write and communicate by existing measures.
|
