Messages from Victorian Schools
An Analysis of the Messages about Schools from Hard Times and Jane Eyre
“You will be never more than someone who flips burgers!” Sometimes, very rarely, teachers may tell this to their students. Whether it be that the teacher may feel that that student be stupid, or maybe that teacher doesn’t like that student for a reason. Although it is very highly unlikely for this incident to occur in today’s society, this occurred all the time in Victorian schools. It has been noted that Victorian teachers at this time were; dull, strict, and mean. In other words, Victorian schools were a very uncomfortable place for young children to begin their education. This ideology is well depicted in the short stories Hard Times and …show more content…
It can clearly be seen in each of these two stories that the children were not allowed to think freely. The children were not allowed to develop their own opinion, but only the opinion that the teacher gives them. For example, Gradgrind asked his students if they should paper a room with representations of horses, this is what he said when some of the students said that they would, “you must paper it, whether you like it or not. Don’t tell us you wouldn’t paper, it…,” (Page 1002.) This quote from the story Hard Times clearly shows that Gradgrind would not allow his students to have an imagination. The issues with his student’s not having an imagination is that the students would only be shown one opinion. This could be problematic because if the students are only shown one opinion, then they would not know the other, therefore not allowing the children to decide their own opinion. School, especially elementary school, is supposed to be a fun experience for students. One of the many ways children in elementary schools have fun is by using their imagination, which is no shortage of young children. If these children are taught at a very young age that imagination is bad, then they will most likely keep that kind of attitude with them for the rest of their lives. Clearly, the teachers in Hard Times and Jane Eyre discouraged children from using their
An Analysis of the Messages about Schools from Hard Times and Jane Eyre
“You will be never more than someone who flips burgers!” Sometimes, very rarely, teachers may tell this to their students. Whether it be that the teacher may feel that that student be stupid, or maybe that teacher doesn’t like that student for a reason. Although it is very highly unlikely for this incident to occur in today’s society, this occurred all the time in Victorian schools. It has been noted that Victorian teachers at this time were; dull, strict, and mean. In other words, Victorian schools were a very uncomfortable place for young children to begin their education. This ideology is well depicted in the short stories Hard Times and …show more content…
It can clearly be seen in each of these two stories that the children were not allowed to think freely. The children were not allowed to develop their own opinion, but only the opinion that the teacher gives them. For example, Gradgrind asked his students if they should paper a room with representations of horses, this is what he said when some of the students said that they would, “you must paper it, whether you like it or not. Don’t tell us you wouldn’t paper, it…,” (Page 1002.) This quote from the story Hard Times clearly shows that Gradgrind would not allow his students to have an imagination. The issues with his student’s not having an imagination is that the students would only be shown one opinion. This could be problematic because if the students are only shown one opinion, then they would not know the other, therefore not allowing the children to decide their own opinion. School, especially elementary school, is supposed to be a fun experience for students. One of the many ways children in elementary schools have fun is by using their imagination, which is no shortage of young children. If these children are taught at a very young age that imagination is bad, then they will most likely keep that kind of attitude with them for the rest of their lives. Clearly, the teachers in Hard Times and Jane Eyre discouraged children from using their