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Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs The role of women in education of the working classes - 1870-1904 Thesis How to cite: Martin, Jane (1992). The role of women in education of the working classes - 1870-1904. PhD thesis The Open University. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 1991 The Author Version: Version of Record Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk 6S7Ai JANE MARTIN B.A. (OPEN) M.A, (WARWICK) THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE EDUCATION OF THE WORKING CLASSES - 187o-lgo4 DEGREE APPLIED FOR - Ph.D CENTRE FOR SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL RESEARCH -r,+ a I D-/ SUBMITTED 1991 Ator osmLc 14I' 0 1 g c EX 12 HIGHER DEGREES OFFICE LIBRARY AUTHORISATION FORM STUDENT: .T M4.T ' SERIAL NO: K ) 7O DEGREE: T1TLEOFTHESIS: l CL C4 Gt1E( (N TrtE Coc PcT1cJ C. TU Ccgcç I confirm that I am willing that my thesis be made avaflable to readers and maybe photocopied, subject to the discretion of the Librarian. 1d17/ SIGNED: 'i. DATE: ?'-j ABSTRACT Focusing upon the twenty-nine female members of the London School Board, this thesis examines the position of women Involved with the institution of elementary education in late-Victorian and Edwardlan England. It is usually assumed that the responsibility for mass schooling mostly lay with men working within both central and local government, I have gone beyond this perspective in order to examine the problem of class and gender as competing power structures in the development of an English school system. The Issue of gender Is addressed by investigating both gender relations on the various School Boards for London, and the relationship between contemporary notions of masculinity and femininity and elementary education between 1870 and 1904. In exploring the ways in which the social inequalities of gender shaped and influenced women's experience of public office, the study goes some way towards correcting the emphasis upon predominantly male agents in existing historical accounts of the relationship between the educational structure and society and the inter-relationship of its component parts. Focusing upon the biographies of female members of the London School Board, the thesis explores the links between private life, social networks and the entry of women to the public domain. It examines the stance adopted by individual London School Board women on the formal curriculum, the adminstration of reformatory institutions, and attitudes towards working class children In school, considered In terms of the Interplay of the social divisions of gender and class. Please note that both Chapter Four and the opening section of chapter Five were published (September 1991) in the History of Education under the title: 'Hard-Headed and Large-Hearted: Women and the Industrial Schools.' CONTENTS INTRODUCTION p. 1 Chapter 1. Literature Review p. 36 Chapter 2. Women In The Public Sphere - The Female Members Of p. 82 The London School Board Chapter 3. "The Only Drawing Such Girls Would Require To Know p.127 Would Be The Drawing Of Geese And Other Things Of That Kind For The Table" - Gender And Class In The Shaping Of A Formal Curriculum For London's Board Schools Chapter 4. "Hard-headed And Large-hearted" - Women And The p.173 Industrial Schools Chapter 5. Moralislrig The Poor? Attitudes To Working Class p.205 Children In School CONCLUS ION p. 241 APPENDICES 1. Methodology p.256 2. Female Members Of The London School Board p. 263 3. Other Women In The Study p. 289 4. Key Men p.302 SELECT B IBL IOGRAPHY p.313 INTRODUCTION. This thesis examines the work of twenty-nine women elected to the School Board for London between 1870 and 1904 who, along with their predominantly male colleagues, faced the unenviable task of shaping the embryonic system of working class education. I wanted to question the implication, rarely spelt out but implicit in much of what has been written, that the responsibility for mass schooling lay with men working within both central and local government. The topic reflects both my personal interest in the subject of women and education and a more general interest in late-Victorian and Edwardian England. My initial interest In the process of schooling dates back to the years I spent as an undergraduate with the Open University, during which I first encountered work within the sociology of education in the field of gendered schooling. Already harnessed to the yoke of domesticity, I can well remember the impact it exerted upon my self-image and perception of the world to discover that my own experiences of state schooling were mirrored in much of the empirical research on the process of girls' schooling! A feeling of empathy with the bulk of contemporary sociological studies of women and schooling was to be deepened and enriched following my re-introduction to history as an academic field of study. This re-introduction occurred during my time as a postgraduate student at Warwick University studying for a Master of Arts in the sociology of education. Although part of the course was directed towards a 1 consideration of the methodological issues raised by sociological research into schools and classrooms, this was also balanced by more theoretical accounts of the relationship between school and society. Exploring the social origins of public educational systems therefore provided a contextual framework in which to consider such issues as the relationship between contemporary studies of classroom and curricula and the broader institutional and societal structure. Acutely aware of the social inequalities of gender, that Is, "the psychological and cultural definitions of the dimensions 'masculine' and 'feminine'"(Deem, 1980, p.1), I was to be severely disappointed by mainstream historical accounts of the development of mass schooling in England and Wales. All too often such accounts were characterised by the tendency to subsume the social divisions of gender within the social divisions of class. Consequently I wanted to help redress this imbalance by tracing the links between patterns of girls' schooling and the influence exerted by custom, tradition and practice, using the medium of an historical exploration of the relationship between the concept of an 'educational system' and Its social origins. (1) These concerns took shape in a Masters' dissertation exploring the significance of gender in relation to the process of educational change whIch took place in England between 1810 and 1902. (Martin, 1987) The adoption of a historical perspective for the sociological study ensured that the process of data collection was a pleasurable experience, providing me with the opportunity to handle historical sources at first hand. Just as the origins of public educational systems cannot be 2 understood apart from their context, similarly, the Issue of gender as an organising principle of contemporary schools, classrooms and curricula cannot be understood apart from the long history of the debate over sex and gender divisions reflected within the present institutional forms. On the basis of the evidence presented, I concluded that nineteenth century schools were clearly involved in the transmission of gender divisions and power relationships designed to inculcate the status quo. It is important not to lose sight of the individual by being overly deterministic. However there is a need to acknowledge the fact that differentiation along the lines of gender does have implications for both girls and boys, irrespective of class, causing each to narrow their expectations and life experiences accordingly. As the pathos of this contemporary example relating to seven-year-old Michael illustrates, gender differentiation affects boys as well as girls: Michael, much to the concern of his teachers and to the contempt of his peer group, loved to play with dolls. He liked to bake, and constantly sought the company of girls, despite their insults. He was constantly admonished by his teacher to 'try to behave properly' but to no avail ... Because It is conveyed to the class that Michael's behaviour Is deviant, he is the target of much bullying by some girls and most boys. The headteacher, a kind and progressive woman, remarks that Michael is confused between masculine and feminine roles, and she suspects that he has 'feminine genes' ... The obvious implications in this, is that deviant behaviour is caused by some personality disorder, that is, a biological malfunction. It is not that Michael is being attacked personally, but rather his behaviour - his identification with the inferior sex, female. Clarricoates, 1980, pp 35-6. This thesis represents a significant change in emphasis from my earlier work in that it moves beyond the focus upon social and economic factors 3 causing girls and boys to have dissimilar educational experiences to consider the role played by female policy-makers and administrators in the field of elementary education. To some extent this represents my personal response to the historical and sociological literature on gender and schooling, since the process of reading served to accentuate a quite significant gap in the field. Broadly speaking, despite the growing body of work on the education of women and girls, both historical and sociological studies share a marked tendency to approach the subject matter from the perspective of the schooling process and its impact upon the student rather than from the position of women involved with the institution of schooling. This in itself may represent a response to previous neglect of women and girls in studies focusing mainly on the education of men and boys. Furthermore, all male studies were too frequently misrepresented by subsequent authors as studies of both sexes, through the use of the misleading and blanket term children, in later publications.
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