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15 - Education

from PART IV - MATTERS OF DEBATE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2012

Kate Flint
Affiliation:
University of Southern California
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Summary

Education is the process underlying the production, transmission, and interpretation of all texts, and as such it is the bedrock of literary culture. Its purposes and methods were debated with particular intensity during the nineteenth century. What was at stake was the means to power and self-determination. Some saw its development as a necessary social control; for others, it could provide a way of escaping constraint. The politics and practice of schooling were often a central theme for Victorian writers. But literature could also be in itself a vehicle for teaching, and many saw it in these terms. Conflicting definitions of the pedagogies of writing shape the most prominent features of the literary landscape, defining the fundamental premises which were extending the scope of every genre, whether fiction, poetry, drama, journalism, or criticism.

Education and reform

Numerous campaigns throughout the nineteenth century drove a wholesale transformation of schools, colleges, and universities, and the consequences were far-reaching. By 1901, the entangled and often chaotic condition of education in England and Wales that had characterized the early 1830s had developed into a more heavily regulated system, supported and supervised by the state. In the early decades of the nineteenth century, educational provision at all levels was still heavily dominated by religious institutions, as it had been for centuries. The role of organized religion was particularly crucial in supplying elementary education for the poor.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

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  • Education
  • Edited by Kate Flint, University of Southern California
  • Book: The Cambridge History of Victorian Literature
  • Online publication: 28 March 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521846257.017
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  • Education
  • Edited by Kate Flint, University of Southern California
  • Book: The Cambridge History of Victorian Literature
  • Online publication: 28 March 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521846257.017
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Education
  • Edited by Kate Flint, University of Southern California
  • Book: The Cambridge History of Victorian Literature
  • Online publication: 28 March 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521846257.017
Available formats
×