Facing the back cover is a list of "Places to Visit," mostly museums with displays on Victorian school life, and inside the back cover is a handy glossary with brief definitions of the different types and levels of education offered in the period, from Dame Schools and Ragged Schools to the several grades of secondary education available for the children from better-off families. She then covers a whole range of topics from "An Elementary Education" through to "Education's Evolution," which brings us briefly up to date with, for example, the controversial conversion of some state-funded schools to "academies." Her topics include the school day, school buildings, public schools, and girl's education. She starts with a useful chronology, adding to the usual legislative milestones such important steps as the first time schools inspectors were appointed, in 1839, and the introduction of a teacher's certificate examination in 1846. A typical page has a few paragraphs of text under one or two headings, accompanied by several fully captioned illustrations (historic photographs, charts, cartoons from contemporary magazines, and so forth), and some additional information in one or two coloured boxes.Īs might be expected, Horn's emphasis is on reform and progress. Like other Pitkin Guides, it is attractively presented on glossy paper with the sort of format to be found on many websites. Pamela Horn's Life in a Victorian School is only thirty-two pages long but it packs a wealth of information into a short space.
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