Over the years there have been many influences on education
in England. A philosopher called Ruskin had strong ideas. He postulated that there
should be training schools for youth – at Government cost and under Government
discipline over the whole country. He insisted on:
1.
Laws of health and the exercises enjoined by them
2.
Habits of gentleness and justice
3.
The calling by which he is to live.
Ruskin did not believe in a uniform system of education. He
felt that schools should fall into three classes:
1.
For children who will probably have to live in
cities
2.
For those who will live in the country
3.
For those who will live at sea.
The children who lived in the city needed to be taught
mathematics and the arts, children in the country needed natural history and
agriculture while the children who were to go to sea needed geography, astronomy
and the natural history of sea fish and sea birds.
He wanted to see the schools in the `fresh country where the
air was fresh’. He wanted girls to be taught courage and truth. He valued sincerity
very highly.
We can see from this brief look into thinking over a hundred
years ago that there were feelings, among some, that girls should be given as
good as education as possible, that schools needed to be progressive and that
health and exercise were essential. To some of us this is almost like the prescription
for one of today’s progressive grammar schools. If only Ruskin had added an
eleven plus test! We could have had our children tested for honesty and valour;
we could have had a comprehension vocational guidance system for ten year olds and
bunches of fit and healthy academics running around.
