Their motives were various, but their primary objective was intellectual independence… There is nothing distinctively “bourgeois” in this desire for intellectual freedom.
I couldn't agree more; and also agree that this is a relatively new conception. I think it links in to the 'means to an end' view of education - if you think this is only important because it leads to a job that isn't for you, why bother?
Back in the early 1900s Charlotte Mason worked in schools for children in mining villages from illiterate families and had them reading the classics, memorising poetry and studying art to "hang permanently in their imagination", because "a liberal education is, like justice, religion, liberty, fresh air, the natural birthright of every child." Somehow it feels that within a focus on disadvantage we have given the impression that this is not natural and has to be forced rather than offered.
Yes I think you're totally right. Seeing education primarily as preparation for work is at the heart of lots of this. Have come across Charlotte Mason recently via a school in Cambridge and she's inspirational!
I couldn't agree more; and also agree that this is a relatively new conception. I think it links in to the 'means to an end' view of education - if you think this is only important because it leads to a job that isn't for you, why bother?
Back in the early 1900s Charlotte Mason worked in schools for children in mining villages from illiterate families and had them reading the classics, memorising poetry and studying art to "hang permanently in their imagination", because "a liberal education is, like justice, religion, liberty, fresh air, the natural birthright of every child." Somehow it feels that within a focus on disadvantage we have given the impression that this is not natural and has to be forced rather than offered.
Yes I think you're totally right. Seeing education primarily as preparation for work is at the heart of lots of this. Have come across Charlotte Mason recently via a school in Cambridge and she's inspirational!
A huge amount to think about here - thank you
Thanks Rufus!
Really thoughtful. It’s something I think about a lot. Diane Reay puts it very bluntly in Miseducation.
Thanks Sammy. I haven't read it, so will correct that!