Chapter 1
The Victorian spark and the Forster Act
Chapter 2
The wartime blueprint and the Butler Act
Chapter 3
The modern classroom landscape
Chapter 4
Education, capitalism, and the social contract
YOUR GOAL
Master of Classrooms and capital in the British school experiment
Ch 1 · The Victorian spark and the Forster Act
schott Compulsory Victorian Education
Pay the school pence! Pay the school pence! We gotta go but it isn't free!
Fun Fact
Victorian school fees: Even after the 1870 Act, poor parents paid pennies weekly for school, which was only made entirely free across Britain in 1891.
Glossary
school board (noun)
A local administrative body elected to oversee public education within a specific district. The Elementary Education Act of 1870 established these boards to build schools across England and Wales.
A local administrative body elected to oversee public education within a specific district. The Elementary Education Act of 1870 established these boards to build schools across England and Wales.
Quiz
Why did nonconformist Christians strongly object to Section 25 of the 1870 Education Act?
Quiz
What was the name of the famous 1870 compromise clause that banned denominational catechisms in state schools?
Quiz
Which political reform in 1867 convinced British politicians that the working class needed to be educated?
Quiz
Which European nation's compulsory school system deeply worried British industrial leaders in 1870?
Quiz
How did Victorian school boards enforce attendance when parents kept children home to work?