A 'Transcript of Their Mind'?: Ragged School Literacy in the Mid-Nineteenth Century.

This article explores the education ragged schools imparted in the mid-nineteenth century. It argues that the ragged school movement filled an important need within communities, teaching reading and writing to those children excluded from existing institutions by their poverty. Until now, scholarshi...

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Publicado en:Journal of Victorian Culture Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 18 - 33
Autor principal: Mair, Laura M
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Oxford University Press / USA Jan2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: A 'Transcript of Their Mind'?: Ragged School Literacy in the Mid-Nineteenth Century.
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        au: Mair, Laura M
        affil: University of Edinburgh
      su:
        Ragged schools
        British education system
        Literacy
        Victorian Period, Great Britain, 1837-1901
        Poor children
        Children's letters
        Letter writing
        Emigration & immigration
        Nineteenth century
        History of education
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          Ragged schools
          British education system
          Literacy
          Victorian Period, Great Britain, 1837-1901
          Poor children
          Children's letters
          Letter writing
          Emigration & immigration
          Nineteenth century
          History of education
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        Britain
        education
        emigration
        emotion
        letters
        literacy
        poverty
      ab: This article explores the education ragged schools imparted in the mid-nineteenth century. It argues that the ragged school movement filled an important need within communities, teaching reading and writing to those children excluded from existing institutions by their poverty. Until now, scholarship on the education offered in ragged schools has focused on the assessment of government inspectors or the movement's own literature. Using a collection of 227 letters ragged school emigrants sent their former teacher, this article shifts attention towards the children's own words and penmanship. It demonstrates the widely varying abilities found within one classroom, contrasting those who required amanuenses with those who composed poetry. This article offers new and valuable insights into the literacy attained by the poorest children in Victorian society, as well as their individual efforts to improve. The letters evidence the value placed on literacy and reveal the time former ragged school scholars invested in cultivating their reading and writing skills. It suggests both pride and shame could be attached to literacy, with letter composition evoking anxiety for some. More broadly, this article presents a new view of working-class education by revealing young men's immediate attitudes towards literacy that are inaccessible through autobiographies or memoirs.
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      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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