SCHOOL AND CHILDREN IN THE VICTORIAN PERIOD

Victorian schools.

Basic characteristic of Victorian times. (Chronology and foundation)

The Victorian age in British history is named after Queen Victoria, who was Britain's queen from 1837 until 1901.

There were big differences in homes, schools, toys and entertainments, many children went to work, not to school.

 

Characteristic of Victorian schools.

There were maps and perhaps pictures on the wall. There would be a globe for geography lessons, and an abacus to help with sums. Children sat in small chairs and the teacher sat in a tall desk in front of the class. At the start of the Victorian age, most teachers were men, but later many women trained as teachers.

Children wrote on slates with chalk. They wiped the slate clean, by spitting on it and rubbing with their coat sleeve or their finger! Slates could be used over and over. For writing on paper, children used a pen with a metal feather, dipped into a ink.

Girls and boys learned together in primary schools, but were separated in secondary schools, but were separated in secondary schools. Both boys and girls learned reading, writing, arithmetic, spelling and drill.

Discipline in schools was often strict. Children were beaten for even minor wrongdoings, with a cane, on the hand or bottom. A teacher could also punish a child by making them stand in the corner wearing a ´dunce’s cap´.

Children were often taught by copying and repeating what the teacher told them. Lesson included teaching in right and wrong, and the Christian religion.

 

Characteristic of Victorian Children.

At the start of the 19th century very few children went to school. Most poor children worked. If they went to school, their families lost the money they earned.

There were some good schools for the boys, for example, grammar schools and public schools. Only richer families could afford to pay the schools fees, though some schools gave free places to poor boys. Poor girls did not go to schools when the Victorian age began meaning they had little education. Girls from wealthy families would usually be taught at home by a governess. Sometimes, wealthy girls may have attended schools too.

Many Victorian children were poor and worked to help their families. Few people thought this strange or cruel. Families got no money unless they worked, and most people thought work was good for children. The industrial Revolution created new jobs in factories and mines. Many of these jobs were at first done by children, because children were cheap( a child was paid less than adults).