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‘No study so agreeable to the youthful mind’: geographical education in the Georgian grammar school

2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 39; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00467600802256985

1464-5130

Paul Elliott, Stephen Daniels,

Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy

Abstract The conservativeness of Georgian grammar schools used to be emphasised; however, as the case of geography teaching shows, this picture is complex with the growth of British trade and empire and the requirements of polite society and culture fostering a demand for ‘modern’ subjects. Drawing on work in the history of education, Georgian society and culture and the history of geography, this paper argues that there was considerable change and development in geographical teaching in some grammar schools stimulated by changes in the nature and perceptions of ‘classical’ education and increasing demands for ‘modern’ subjects. It contends that Robert Mayhew’s emphasis on the continuity of the early‐modern humanist textual geographical tradition within grammar schools does not sufficiently account for changes in teaching practices that occurred in these institutions. It explores how and why geographical subjects were introduced in grammar schools, including the role of teachers such as John Clarke and John Holmes, institutional government and external bodies, and assesses the importance of opposition to this process. Keywords: geographygrammar schoolGeorgianEnlightenment Notes 1This paper is one of the outcomes of a major study of Georgian geographical education funded by AHRC Research Grant ‘A Place in the Nation: Geographical Education and Citizenship in England 1700–1830’ Grant No. B/RG/AN6156/APN12558 and the authors would like to express their gratitude for this assistance. Sections were read at a symposium on Georgian geographical education at Nottingham Subscription Library, Bromley House, December 2003, and the authors wish to thank the other participants, Susan Skedd and Roey Sweet, John Beckett, Charles Withers and Charles Watkins, for their valuable contributions. 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