Victorian Education and the First Part of Hard Times by Charles Dickens

Victorian Education and the First Part of Hard Times by Charles Dickens

The education system in the 19th century was one of the more prominent

floors in society. Trainee teachers usually began work around 14 years

of age, predictably resulting in poor quality teaching. Subjects and

topics were drilled repeatedly until set deep into the children’s

memories. Numbers of children to a class were incredibly high, meaning

there was a huge lack min teacher – pupil relationship. If you

happened to be particularly bright then you were likely to be dragged

behind whereas if you were unfortunately slow, then you would be left

behind with no special help or encouragement. Authorities were very

domineering; everybody was expected to be able to follow the system,

personal differences were not taken into account in any way

productive. Corporal punishment is another feature commonly used by

Victorian teachers; children were often beaten because of mistakes,

and as you can imagine, violence from teachers was a frequent event

mainly due to the narrow minded peremptory conditions.

Evidently, the consequences of such an education produced uniformity

to such a degree that linked each child into the system. The sense of

depersonalisation that consumed the tender young imaginations, so

vivid and active - the impersonal existence that dissolved away any

trace of flourishing enthusiasm and discarded the dregs; deadpan,

stunted adults. All the same, and all plugged into the same matrix.

The novel Hard Times powerfully reflects Dickens’ personal interest in

the education system. He seems to have taken samples from particular

features of education and amplified them to create a fictional

scenario constructed from reality.

Th...

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...ian education absolutely horrifies me (probably due to my

love of expressive arts), and I think that there is no way that the

humiliation and dehumanisation could have had any positive affect on

the children. There was no stimulation or variations of syllabus for

different levels of academic intelligence and I think that the

introduction of these things have had a positive and productive

outcome. I am curious to read on having reached this point, especially

to look into how the young Gradgrinds turn out. I’d also like to see

how Sissy is affected by the system – if she is at all.

One of the things that really makes me want to read on, is the

introduction of several new characters fairly early in the story; the

way they are linked to each other and how they differ as individuals

seems to entice my imagination – I want to know what’s going to happen

next.