Joseph Lancaster
Encyclopedia
Joseph Lancaster was an English
Quaker and public education
innovator.
in Southwark
, south London
.
In 1798, he founded a free elementary school
in Borough Road
, Southwark, using a variant of the monitorial system. His ideas were developed simultaneously with those of Dr. Andrew Bell
in Madras whose system was referred to as the "Madras System of Education". The method of instruction and delivery is recursive. As one student learns the material he or she is rewarded for successfully passing on that information to the next pupil. This method is now commonly known as peer tutoring (also Learning by teaching
) but the economics of Lancaster's or Bell's methodology is not widely discussed.
Lancaster wrote Improvements in Education in 1803 and later traveled to the United States
to lecture and promote his ideas. The height of popularity of his system was in the first decades of the 19th century. In 1818 Joseph Lancaster helped to start the first model school in Philadelphia to train teachers to implement his system. 1808 saw the creation of "The Society for Promoting the Lancasterian System for the Education of the Poor".
However, despite initial successes, Lancasterian schools were criticized. The standards were poor and the discipline to which children were subjected was harsh, even by contemporary standards. Although Lancaster had rejected corporal punishment, misbehaving children might find themselves tied up in sacks, or hoisted above the classroom in cages. The poet Robert Southey
noted that, despite his opposition to corporal punishment
, he would rather be beaten than subjected to Lancasterian discipline.
Lancaster fell out with "The Society" over a number of issues. While poor financial management was ostensibly the reason for the clash, his colleagues had also discovered that Lancaster had been privately beating a number of the boys with whom he worked. He was forcibly ejected from the society, which renamed itself the British and Foreign School Society
, in contrast to the National School
System, which provided an Anglican education. Although the BFSS was to be widely successful in the early part of the nineteenth century, the waning popularity of monitorial methods during the 1820s and 1830s meant that the body soon became a conventional school society. As the involvement of the British government in education increased, the body transferred its schools to government control and concentrated, instead, on the training of teachers.
A number of schools using his system were established in Lower Canada
before he settled there in 1828. He opened a school in Montreal
, but his attempts to obtain funding floundered and he moved back to the United States. Another school existed for some time in Nyon
, Switzerland. Reflecting the fact that Simon Bolivar visited his teacher training college in 1810 and resolved to send two Venezuelan teachers to be educated there, there is at least one school in Venezuela
that retains Lancaster's name. A school was set up in Caracas, and when Simon Bolivar was president he invited Lancaster to come there, promising $20,000 for the education of the children of the city; Lancaster stayed from 1825 to 1827 in Caracas and got married there, with Bolivar presiding over the wedding; however, the two fell out over the non-payment of the promised sum. Other schools were established by his followers in Bogota, Colombia, in Quito, Ecuador and in Lima, Peru. He also started a school in Baltimore, but it was financially unsuccessful.
In Mexico, Lancaster's pedagogy was implemented in the last years of the colonial regime and gained rapid acceptance. Beginning in 1822, the compañía Lancasteriana operated public schools throughout Mexico with generous support of philanthropists, gaining official support in 1843. It oversaw Mexican public schools until 1890 in conjunction with the Federal Directorate of Public Instruction, when a series of educational reforms replaced it with the Pestalozzian or Oswego method of object lessons (objective education) developed by Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
.
Lancaster died in New York
from injuries sustained after being run over by a horse carriage.
At the time of his death, between 1200 and 1500 schools were said to use his principles. Bell's methods were appropriated by the Catholic church
.
There is only one Lancasterian schoolroom, built to the exacting specifications of Lancaster himself, remaining in the world. It is at the British Schools Museum
, in Hitchin
, Hertfordshire
, England
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Quaker and public education
Public education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
innovator.
Life
Lancaster was born the son of a shopkeeperShopkeeper
A shopkeeper is an individual who owns a shop. Generally, shop employees are not shopkeepers, but are often incorrectly referred to as shopkeepers. Today, a shopkeeper is usually referred to as a manager, though this term could apply to larger firms .*In many south asian languages like Hindi, Urdu,...
in Southwark
Southwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
, south London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
In 1798, he founded a free elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
in Borough Road
Borough Road
Borough Road is in Southwark, London SE1. It runs east-west between St George's Circus and Borough High Street.- History and location :The route was created as part of the planning and road improvements associated with the completion of Westminster Bridge in 1750, to provide access to Southwark...
, Southwark, using a variant of the monitorial system. His ideas were developed simultaneously with those of Dr. Andrew Bell
Andrew Bell (educationalist)
Andrew Bell was a Scottish Anglican priest and educationalist who pioneered the Madras System of Education in schools and was the founder of Madras College, a secondary school in St. Andrews.-His life and work:Andrew Bell was born at St. Andrews, in Scotland on 27 March 1753 and attended St...
in Madras whose system was referred to as the "Madras System of Education". The method of instruction and delivery is recursive. As one student learns the material he or she is rewarded for successfully passing on that information to the next pupil. This method is now commonly known as peer tutoring (also Learning by teaching
Learning by teaching
In professional education, learning by teaching designates currently the method by Jean-Pol Martin that allows pupils and students to prepare and to teach lessons, or parts of lessons...
) but the economics of Lancaster's or Bell's methodology is not widely discussed.
Lancaster wrote Improvements in Education in 1803 and later traveled to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to lecture and promote his ideas. The height of popularity of his system was in the first decades of the 19th century. In 1818 Joseph Lancaster helped to start the first model school in Philadelphia to train teachers to implement his system. 1808 saw the creation of "The Society for Promoting the Lancasterian System for the Education of the Poor".
However, despite initial successes, Lancasterian schools were criticized. The standards were poor and the discipline to which children were subjected was harsh, even by contemporary standards. Although Lancaster had rejected corporal punishment, misbehaving children might find themselves tied up in sacks, or hoisted above the classroom in cages. The poet Robert Southey
Robert Southey
Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843...
noted that, despite his opposition to corporal punishment
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
, he would rather be beaten than subjected to Lancasterian discipline.
Lancaster fell out with "The Society" over a number of issues. While poor financial management was ostensibly the reason for the clash, his colleagues had also discovered that Lancaster had been privately beating a number of the boys with whom he worked. He was forcibly ejected from the society, which renamed itself the British and Foreign School Society
British and Foreign School Society
The British and Foreign School Society offers charitable aid to educational projects in the UK and around the world by funding schools, other charities and educational bodies...
, in contrast to the National School
National school (England and Wales)
A national school was a school founded in 19th century England and Wales by the National Society for Promoting Religious Education.These schools provided elementary education, in accordance with the teaching of the Church of England, to the children of the poor.Together with the less numerous...
System, which provided an Anglican education. Although the BFSS was to be widely successful in the early part of the nineteenth century, the waning popularity of monitorial methods during the 1820s and 1830s meant that the body soon became a conventional school society. As the involvement of the British government in education increased, the body transferred its schools to government control and concentrated, instead, on the training of teachers.
A number of schools using his system were established in Lower Canada
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
before he settled there in 1828. He opened a school in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, but his attempts to obtain funding floundered and he moved back to the United States. Another school existed for some time in Nyon
Nyon
Nyon is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometers north east of Geneva's city centre, and since the 1970s it has become part of the Geneva metropolitan area. It lies on the shores of Lake Geneva, and is the seat of the district of...
, Switzerland. Reflecting the fact that Simon Bolivar visited his teacher training college in 1810 and resolved to send two Venezuelan teachers to be educated there, there is at least one school in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
that retains Lancaster's name. A school was set up in Caracas, and when Simon Bolivar was president he invited Lancaster to come there, promising $20,000 for the education of the children of the city; Lancaster stayed from 1825 to 1827 in Caracas and got married there, with Bolivar presiding over the wedding; however, the two fell out over the non-payment of the promised sum. Other schools were established by his followers in Bogota, Colombia, in Quito, Ecuador and in Lima, Peru. He also started a school in Baltimore, but it was financially unsuccessful.
In Mexico, Lancaster's pedagogy was implemented in the last years of the colonial regime and gained rapid acceptance. Beginning in 1822, the compañía Lancasteriana operated public schools throughout Mexico with generous support of philanthropists, gaining official support in 1843. It oversaw Mexican public schools until 1890 in conjunction with the Federal Directorate of Public Instruction, when a series of educational reforms replaced it with the Pestalozzian or Oswego method of object lessons (objective education) developed by Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach....
.
Lancaster died in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
from injuries sustained after being run over by a horse carriage.
At the time of his death, between 1200 and 1500 schools were said to use his principles. Bell's methods were appropriated by the Catholic church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
.
There is only one Lancasterian schoolroom, built to the exacting specifications of Lancaster himself, remaining in the world. It is at the British Schools Museum
British Schools Museum (Hitchin)
The British Schools Museum is an educational museum based in original Edwardian and Victorian school buildings in Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England. The museum complex is made up of Grade II listed school buildings housing infants, girls and boys schools with houses for Master and Mistress...
, in Hitchin
Hitchin
Hitchin is a town in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 30,360.-History:Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people mentioned in a 7th century document, the Tribal Hidage. The tribal name is Brittonic rather than Old English and derives from *siccā, meaning...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Works
- Improvements in Education (London, 1803; New York, 1807)
- The British System of Education (Washington, 1812)
- Epitome of the Chief Events and Transactions of my own Life (New Haven, 1833). See Life of Lancaster, by his friend William Corston.