The Renaissance of Girls' Education in England: A Record of Fifty Years' ProgressZimmern, Alice
History
The Renaissance of Girls' Education in England: A Record of Fifty Years' Progress
Zimmern, Alice
Women -- Education -- Great Britain
In their fundamental aims there is a close resemblance between these
schools. They represent a fresh break with the past. The false ideal of
showy accomplishment had already given way to the worthier aim of
thoroughness and a more serious mental development. With the
intellectual aims came a change too in the moral. The larger life of the
day school of itself promoted more freedom and a greater sense of
responsibility in the girls, but their moral training was divided
between the school and the home, and sometimes suffered from a lack of
co-operation between the two. As Mrs. Sidgwick pointed out, when laying
the foundation stone of the Roedean buildings:—‘Boarding-schools have a
wider function, a more responsible task than day-schools. They have to
care for pupils in play-hours as well as work-hours; they have, far more
than day-schools, to superintend their development in matters moral and
physical as well as intellectual.’ It is therefore largely in
boarding-schools that the newest ideas can be worked out. The worst
feature of the old boarding-school was the excessive supervision, and
the deceit and silliness it engendered. _Punch’s_ immortal direction,
‘Go and see what Baby’s doing, and tell her not to,’ might stand as the
rule of conduct in many a seminary for young ladies. The atmosphere of
suspicion engendered the very faults it was intended to obviate. The
giggling boarding-school miss was a type it was not desirable to
perpetuate. What was wanted was something that should prepare girls for
life and its responsibilities, as boys were prepared at public schools.
This term ‘a public school’ is curiously difficult to define, though we
all know pretty well the meaning attached to it in England. It has
perhaps been best described as ‘one where the government is administered
in a greater or less degree by the pupils themselves.’ The true ‘public
spirit’ could only develop as the schools became centres of something
besides study. With the increase in their sphere of action the high
schools have fostered its growth; to bring it to its full perfection
must be the task of the modern boarding-school.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account