From Private Experimentation To Government Domination

The 19 th century was an important period for the development of infant schools in Britain.From the birth to the national popularization,the development course of infant school laid the foundation of modern British elementary education.Meanwhile British society has gone through upheaval during the 19 th.Britain went from an island to an empire,the production mode from traditional manual operation to machine operation,which led to the industrialization;A large number of people immigrant to cities that made Britain was the first country to urbanize.During this process,Britain is full of sectarian conflicts and class confrontations.The soaring economy and the complex interests of the drastic society are interwoven to affect the reform in all aspects of the society.The rapid development of infant schools and the social upheaval in the historical endows this study with unique significance.The study of infant schools in this period can enrich our understanding of the history of early childhood education in Britain and deepen our understanding of the relationship between education development and other social factors.This study take the 19 th infant schools of British as the research object,guided by the basic principles of historical materialism,and with the help of some theories of education economics,education sociology and history,the historical materials were combed and analyzed by the methods of text analysis,historical approach and comparative analysis.In order to understand this period of educational history deeply,this study takes the running subjects of infant schools as the entry point,and divides the development process of infant schools into four stages during the 19 th century,namely the experiment of new Lanark infant schools(1800-1823).The rise of the infant school movement(1824-1838);The promotion of infant schools under government funding(1839-1869)and the popularization under government dominance(1870-1900).In the horizontal dimension,author investigates the characteristics of the teaching practice during the different stages of infant school.Based on the overall and partial analysis,it is found that from private experimentation to government domination was the inevitable way of the Britain to solve the problem of insufficient number of schools and the lack of a popular model of early childhood education.This way was full of thorny and struggling and the Middle-class character,which conforms tothe tradition cultural of the British and the development course of the British society.The demand of middle and upper class society,the development of economy and the guarantee of law were the reasons to promote the popularization of infant schools.In terms of the early childhood school system,the British early childhood school system shows a pattern of "evolution" rather than "progress".Wilderspin's system has met various challenges and developed into the foundation of the country.In this process,people's concept of early childhood education and the development of infant schools affect each other.Infant school realized the transfer from charity to welfare,the place of education moved from family and church to society and the nature of education gradually secularized.This paper is divided into 7 parts.The part of introduction mainly clarifies the origin of the research,the research significance,the connotation of the research object,and sorts out the related research at home and abroad.On this basis,the research problems and contents are clarified,the research ideas are determined,and the research methods suitable for this research are selected.Chapter one traces the status of early childhood education in the British social institutions before the 19 th century,focusing on the education status of poor children by charities such as workhouses,foundling houses and Sunday schools.Chapter two focuses on Owen's experiments in the new Lanark.It is mainly divided into three sections The first section describes the social background of England which Owen lived.The second is to elaborate the founding purpose of Owen's experiment,the theoretical basis of the experiment and the teaching and management of infant school.The third is to discuss the influence of new Lanark.Chapter three sorts out the rise of the infant school movement,which focuses on the organization of different infant school societies and Wilderspin's contribution to infant school movement.Wilderspin published a series of monographs on child education and improved teaching environment.He played a pivotal role During the infant school movement,he established plenty of infant schools across the country and changed the concept of child education in British societyChapter four analyzes the promotion of infant schools under the government funding.In this chapter,the development of infant schools is divided into two parts: "payment by application" and "payment by result".Under the "application by application",the subsidy of infant schools increases year byyear,and the Church of England start to dominate the infant schools.The number of infant schools increased,the teaching conditions had been improved,and the status of infant had been improved.Under the "payment by result",the subsidy of was sharply reduced,the enrollment rate was gradually increased,and the teaching inclined to 3Rs.Chapter five discusses the development of infant schools under the influence of a series of education Acts.The paper select the Elementary education acts of 1870,1876 and 1891,and discusses how the government promotes the popularization of infant schools and the changes of school scale and internal system in this process.Chapter six is a reflection on the development of infant schools in Britain in the 19 th century.The researcher analyzes the causes,characteristics and influences of the development of British infant schools,and points out some limitations.The conclusion mainly sums up and evaluates the development of British infant schools in the 19 th century,and responds to the three questions raised in the introduction of the study.