Public and Private Education - Essay Example

Education is the process of experiencing. Experiencing happens through or by learning. Every initial set of experiences is nothing but a learning. Ina random literature search, we can easily find what precisely the definition of education is; as for now, according to one of the globally used websites, education has been explained as any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual (Wikipedia, 2008). Going further deeply into how some eminent educationalists define the same term, Richard Aldrich (2006, p. 1) believed in his working definition of education that it is concerned with the promotion of knowledge over ignorance, of truth over falsehood, of concern for others over selfishness, of mental and physical well-being over despair and debility. Not only in the above statement, nowhere in the modern world as a matter of fact or none of the legal literature of any country, does it pointedly specify that race, class, status are, by any means, the criteria for any individual to receive formal education. However, the sole objective of any governments actions toward maintaining the data of local communities, economic classes or division of households according to their income status has always been for the sake of giving the right person the right priority and preference. In principle, education received by any individual is strongly supposed to be equal. The studies like that of Sociology are particularly interested and motivated to take an action on, wherever an amount inequality seems to exist. This essay makes a modest attempt, may not be to the fullest, toward the same goal. Going back a little into the history of the UK, and specifically considering the lifestyle of its citizens during the time between 16th and 18th centuries, we can understand why there a variety of educational systems is in the present times. As pointed out in the CICA Investigation Committee Report, according to the Act for the Relief of the Poor of 1598, the countrys primary responsibility was of setting to work the children of all such whose parents shall not be thought able to keep and maintain their children (Morgan et al.) In the same report by Morgan et al. (p. 35) it was mentioned that not until the the year 1771, the legislation appointed, on an official level, overseers to look after the education for orphaned children. These systems ran with success for some years and with failures too until the 18th and mid 19th centuries. The report claims that by 1853, 77, 000 children below 15 years of age (…) were living in workhouses, while an unknown number of street urchins were still living wild in the towns. (p. 35) Workhouse was a place-to-live for the poor which were built by fundings from governmental grants. As a result, some individuals and charities formed communities and began to adopt the leftover children and provide them with education alongside shelter, food, etc. basing on the voluntary contributions. These communities called their educational institutions as ragged schools. More precisely, the idea of ragged schools was coined by John Pounds in 1818, who taught poor children without charging them (p. 36). The issue of poverty and needy continued to exist despite all the aforementioned efforts. Consequently, the legislation took another step forward in 1854 (in the form of Industrial Schools Act) and thought that the solution could be emerged from the idea of industrial schools. The expression industrial school means a school for the industrial training of children, in which children are lodged, clothed and fed, as well as taught. (Children Act, 1908) The aim or objective of such schools were meant to be providing the practical and industrial training to the children more than just academic education leading them to a quicker employment status (p. ). This is how the two current topics of interest, industrial and ragged schools, came into picture in the U. K. s educational system. I affirm now that in order to get the clear understanding of the differences between these two schooling systems, it is highly essential to depend on the canvas of history. History of these two kinds of school systems is a key to how we can follow or modify education for children in the future. It is time to draw carefully a vivid portrayal of the comprehensible differences between the education received by working-class children and the same by upper- and middle-classes. As was the case shown in the historical overview of the educational systems, the ragged schools were strictly meant for the poor and orphaned. As explained by Dennis Dean in one his papers dealing with education in the U. K. and edited and collected in the book, Public or Private Education? Lessons from History, during the first half of the nineteenth century voluntary educational institutions proliferated – ranging from infant establishments through teacher training colleges to adult schools and mechanics institutes (Aldrich, 2004). Dean also proved how those ragged schools failed to keep their students and educate them completely due to the students prevailing family circumstances, with necessary exemplifications. In his paper, Dean writes in simple words, voluntary schooling meant voluntary attendance (p. 27). Dean exemplifies the life situations of a working-class student, Robert Lowery, who was consistently kept away from his school due to several domestic and personal inevitabilities. In case of working-class children, on one hand, their domestic inevitable circumstances prevailed. On the other hand, they genuinely realised the value of basic literacy. It was definitely a tug-of-war for them to prioritize their ambitions for most part of their life. On the other side of the coin, the upper- and middle-class children had a completely peculiar situations and beliefs. In the same paper of Aldrich, another debate by Michele Cohen, the structure and consequences of industrial education was not only thoroughly explored but also widely supported. Going back to the CICA Investigation Committee Report, the main objective of industrial schools has been emphasised as described in an another research article, and that is making the children capable of supporting themselves by honest labour (Barnes, 1989). But the necessary action to be taken for this was to ruthlessly detach the children from home as domestic influence was considered bad. During their education in industrial institutes, children were separated from their families for quite long periods and the parental visits were rarely allowed (p. 38). Due to these, the major impacts were on the family relations. However, education, because of the rules maintained by the authorities, was in most cases completely acquired by children. As per the possibilities for going with the above mentioned circumstances, upper- and middle-class communities became the advocates of education in industrial institutes. The above discussion suggests, generally the working class family sent their children to these kinds of schools because they did not have any money to afford a good school for their children. The situation has not improved and it is only the financially stable class that is getting the benefits of quality education. Thus, they have more chance to get the anticipatory rights and secure a better future. Bibliography: Aldrich, R 2004, Public or Private Education? Lessons from History, Woburn Press, London. Aldrich, R 2006, Lessons from History of Education, Routledge, New York. Barnes, J 1989, Irish Industrial Schools, 1868 – 1908, Irish Academic Press, Ireland. Morgan, DG 2005, The Commission to Inquire Child Abuse (CICA) Investigation Committee Report. Read More