Great Britain -- Social conditions; Moral conditions; Social problems
With the growth of democratic aspirations, the Conservative began to
see a danger in this plea that the community must see to the full
development of all its children, and new phrases were invented.
"Industrial efficiency" was the most plausible of these checks on
education. The manual workers were to have their intellects awakened
to the slight extent which was needed to make them better instruments
of production, but no further: lest they should become dissatisfied
with their position of inferiority and disturb our excellent
industrial order. Educators, however, refused to be restrained by this
kind of sociology. It was their business to develop the child's
intelligence, and they had a fine ambition to do it thoroughly. They
built infant-schools, which took the tender young away from their
mothers, to the great advantage of both. They found that large numbers
of children were too poorly fed or too defective in body to receive
real education, and they instituted drill and demanded cheap or free
meals and medical inspection. They abolished the half-timer, and
raised the age of compulsory attendance. They began to resent the idea
that lessons from the Bible were a training of character. These
developments have alarmed many. They begin to see that in the long-run
these things will impose on the State the duty of developing the
child's whole being--body, mind, and character--before the boy or
girl is allowed to enter the industrial world. We hesitate, as we do
in face of all large and fully developed ideals, and look round for
ways of escape.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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