Ragged Schools..

Most victorian schools in london are a piece of history and considred historic. Alot are however preseved and are included in museums. For example "The Ragged School Museum" in London.

Ragged schools is a name commonly given after about 1840 to the many independently established 19th century charity schools in the United Kingdom which provided entirely free education and, in most cases, food, clothing, lodging and other home missionary services for those too poor to pay. Often they were established in poor working class districts of the rapidly expanding industrial towns.

V is for VICTORIAN

Here in England, an elementary education isn't free. Schools were and continue to be financed by private individuals, churches, charitable organizations and businesses. One can expect to pay between one and nine pence per child per week. As a result of the Education Act things are beginning to change, and some schools are now able to obtain assistance through government grants.

What are schools like here in England?

Prior to the 1870 Education Act, children in Victorian England were educated in many different ways, or not at all, depending upon their sex and their parents' financial situation, social class, religion and values. The first schools of record, dating back to the 16th century, were Sunday schools. This type of school is often associated with Robert Raikes, a newspaper publisher, who popularized the idea. By the middle of the 19th century, approximately two thirds of all working class children between the ages of 5 and 15 were attending Sunday school.

Discipline during the Victorian period was very strict, and even more so in the classroom.

The dunce cap comes from a 13th-century philosopher named John Duns Scotus, who, not surpisingly, was born in Duns, Scotland. This well-respected but terribly oblique scholar felt that conical hats actually increased learning potential. Here's the theory -- knowledge is centralized at the apex and then funneled down into the mind of the wearer.
So the logic behind the dunce cap is that it makes slow pupils learn better, but it was later used to humiliate the wearer and motivate students to try harder.






Some of the rules my students must follow or receive raps on the hand with a ruler or they are sent to the corner with a dunce cap on their heads.

1.Students must stand up to answer questions and wait for permission to speak.

2.Students must call teachers "Sir" or "Ma'am".

3.Students must stand when an adult enters the room.

4.Students must use the right hand at all times for writing.

5.Girls will learn needlework and boys will learn technical drawing.

6.Prizes will be given for good attendance.

7.Students must not raise their hands, unless told they can do so.

8.Students must not ask questions.

9.Talking and fidgeting will be punished.

10.Children who are truant (late), behave badly or do poor work will be caned.

Pink&White

August 11, 1834
So today was my first day at work... My class room is medium sized but rather spacious. I have about 20 desk lined up in four rows of 5, on the backboard is a map of the World. In the front there's a blackboard behind my desk lined with three new sticks of white chalk. And on my desk, I was suprised to find a bundle of pink and white carnations.. on the card said "Pink for the fresheness and aspiration in the blush of your cheeks. White for the kindness and purity of your soul." signed George P. Witherspoon.

Breaking the Ice

For my new job at the "Ladies' College" in Bedford Square, this evening we had an ice breaker dinner for all the new employees. I sat next to a gentleman with his own head of beautiful hair and a wonderful smile. The conversation was extravegant, he teaches sociology. The handsome man introduced himself to me as George P. Witherspoon. George says he would love to get to know me better outside of work. I think we may be courting soon.

Inspiration

The expression "New Catholics" or "New Converts" refers to those Victorians who converted to the Roman Church, generally as a result of Tractarianism (or the Oxford Movement). John Henry Newman— later Cardinal Newman — was the most famous and influential of these converts, and he inspired Elizabeth Martineu in a number of her wrintings.