The Growth of Schools 1889–1898

Abstract

By definition the innovating schools were in protest, were asserting their differences, with theory and practice to support their claims. By definition they were enthusiasts who not only protested against something but also urged a positive alternative with conviction. But these schools urged different alternatives — some were for boys or girls only, others were co-educational: some were boarding schools, some day: some were based on religious convictions, some were firmly rationalist, some were neutral: some accepted a hierarchy of authority in the school, others rendered it minimal. I wish to describe the growth of schools to give historical context to this study of unorthodoxy in education. When we know which schools we have to consider we can see the principles and practices which distinguish them one from the other within the broad progressive category.