The articles “Motherhood and Public Schooling in Victorian Toronto”[1] and “The boys in Nova Scotian Coal Mines: 1873-1923”[2] elucidate two corresponding aspects of Victorian education and changing society: control and rebellion of the youth.
In Clubine’s article he stresses the problems that arose with the “Compulsory Schooling Act” due to changing Victorian society and the “new culture that public schools … propagated.”[3] Changing motherhood roles and strict discipline by the truant officer are explained in depth, as well as the dependence on child labour within the home, but the biggest change is children’s rebellion to new educational norms. It is noted that the mother held power over decision on a child’s behalf [4], but the diaries of W.C Wilkinson present how “children [decide] for themselves whether or not to attend school][5] and contradicts the argument Clubine makes that the mother’s were to blame for a child’s absence or disobedience. The standard view is that “children are internally capable of developing autonomy, but not yet internally capable of exercising autonomous choice”[6] but within Clubine’s article there is increased school absence with the progression of mandatory schooling, which shows how they are capable of making their own choices. This could be a result of schools change from being an occasional practice to a component of childhood, and it’s implementation of control: “to prevent any child ‘from being unjustly’… the parent or guardian was required to inform the teacher.”[7] Kids were being introduced to discipline and organization, something they had not previously known and this new phenomena in Toronto was not progressively introduced, but rather quickly and rigorously implemented.
McIntosh’s article was slow to provide his argument, but in the end provided one quite similar to Clubine– the struggles of changing society. His article explains how social attitudes emerging with the Victorian era took precedence over a boy’s desire to mine and “dwindled boys’ place in colliery workforce.” [8] McIntosh’s article is less about education and more about the advancement of the mining industry’s acceptance to social expectations and educations importance. The mining industry in 1890 was 21.5% boys, and by 1914, after being criticized by F.H Sexton for their ill-educated mining towns, depleted to a mere 6.1%. [9] There’s evident maturation in mine boys as they show independence by striking,[10] and this also presents their ability to have autonomy rather than be succeptible to what an institution deems right for them. McIntosh’s article agrees with the notion that children are capable of exercising an autonomous choice.
I disagree with McIntosh’s argument that the “Victorian age… idealized childhood and the family.” [11] I believe the Victorian era idealized childhood over the family. In both articles the issue of children being taken from work to gain an education is presented, and this often meant the family was losing an income; therefore strengthening the idea that collectively the child and family were not idealized, but rather the child taking precedent over the family.
The deviation from an economy driven society to an education based society drives the argument to both articles. The effects of societies new attitudes are exemplified within the household as well as large corporations (mining), and both present cases of conflict and rebellion from children. The Victorian era brought order to lives that were independently sustained; therefore people were often doing things they did not want to be– and children were most evident to rebel against this.
[1] Clubine, Christopher, “Motherhood and Public Schooling in Victorian Toronto,” in Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Eds.), Schooling in Transition: Readings in the Canadian History of Education, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012: 115-126.
[2] McIntosh, Robert. “The Boys in the Nova Scotian Coal Mines: 1873-1923,” in Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Eds.), Schooling in Transition: Readings in the Canadian History of Education, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012: 126-139.
[3] Clubine. “Motherhood and Public Schooling in Victorian Toronto.” in Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Eds.): 123.
[4] Clubine. “Motherhood and Public Schooling in Victorian Toronto.” in Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Eds.): 120
[5] Clubine. “Motherhood and Public Schooling in Victorian Toronto.” in Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Eds.): 122.
[6] Frierson, Patrick R, “Making Room for Children’s Autonomy: Maria Montessori’s Case for Seeing Children’s Incapacity for Autonomy as an External Failing.” Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 50, No. 3, 2016: PDF- ebook: 336.
[7] Clubine. “Motherhood and Public Schooling in Victorian Toronto.” in Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Eds.): 117.
[8] McIntosh. “The Boys in the Nova Scotian Coal Mines: 1873-1923,” in Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Eds.): 130.
[9] Ibid. 127, 134.
[10] Ibid. 131.
[11] Ibid. 130.
