Instruction obligatoire (détail), tableau de J. Geoffroy, 19th century,
© J. L. Charmet
En retenu (détail), tableau de J. Geoffroy, 19th century,
© Roger Viollet
Industrialisation, begun in England in the 18th century, takes hold in France. Jobs, skills and knowledge formerly spread throughout the countryside are concentrated in urban areas causing rural depopulation. As the needs of labour grow, women and children are forced to work. Worker revolts and the Commune consider education a political priority. Mentalities change and people regard it as "shameful to be uneducated." In 1882 Jules Ferry proclaims secular education, compulsory and free between 6 and 13. Two subjects are added to the curriculum: Republican ethics and nature study. The school participates in promoting national unity by teaching the newly adopted metric system. Specific cultural and regional identities are denied. In a single century the number of pupils in schools jumps from 40,000 in 1814 to 300,000 in 1914.
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19th century, educating to form citizens
Public, state-run educational systems appeared in the 19th century, in response to the concern with rationalisation and the ever growing industrialisation that characterised the period. In France, public schools contributed to building national unity, a process underway since the French Revolution. The government made education compulsory, free and secular and took charge of organising it.
School rules gave expression to the essence of Republican secularism, based on the idea that reason is the foundation of public life and that individual particularities are to be disregarded.
Cross-age teaching
In the 19th century, the shortage of educational establishments became a cause for concern. In England, Bell and Lancaster recommended an economical solution: a single master for every 500 to 1,000 students. Cross-age teaching is based on a tutoring system whereby students from higher grade levels tutor younger students from lower grade levels. Classes were punctuated with orders given by the master, either verbally, through hand signals, or using a whistle. Although the latter was dispensed with when the first laws on free and compulsory education came into effect, a number of tools were retained, such as slate tablets, blackboards, and teaching charts.
Vocational education
In the 19th century, as France gradually became industrialized, vocational education was slow to adapt to the changing times. There was no organizational plan for technical education. Only the handcraft trades provided apprenticeship training. A number of initiatives, such as l’école de la Martinière and the professional school for girls, founded by Elisa Lemonier, involved vocational training programs that would later be held up as a model.
In 1919, the Astier Act officially recognized and established free and compulsory vocational training.
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The right to play
Various educational movements recognized the importance of play in early childhood. Play found its way into schools, and notably into asylums, which were the forerunners of kindergartens. Cognizant of the importance of this new market, educators requested various types of toys, ranging from the simple, wooden kind, to the more sophisticated, which were intended for children in the upper grade levels. As schools became compulsory and free of charge, scores of children’s books were published. |
