The Oxford Book of SchooldaysPatricia Craig Oxford University Press, 1994 - 430 pages `School', wrote Henry Green, `is no odder than the world outside, only more concentrated.' It is also an experience that everyone has to undergo, and many people have left accounts of their schooldays inspired either by repugnance or regret. The old school, whether you compare it to a Fascist state (as W.H. Auden famously did), a hothouse, a prison, or a place of lost content, remains with you for the rest of your life. Drawing on fiction, memoirs, autobiography, poetry, and letters Patricia Craig presents an enthralling selection of attitudes to schools and schooling. All manner of institutions are described, from village schools to state comprehensives, charity schools, public schools, private schools and grammar schools, with some (usually) fond reminiscences of primary schools for good measure. But the emphasis is on individual experience - on the playing field, in the classroom, making friends and enemies, encountering inspiring or eccentric schoolmasters. Pupils and teachers have their say, Miss Jean Brodie alongside Dr Arnold, Winston Churchill rubbing shoulders with Nicholas Nickleby. Through it all run the anarchic exploits of the heroes and heroines of the school story - Billy Bunter and the Greyfriars mob, Stalky and Co., William Brown, Tom Brown, and the creations of T.B. Reed and Angela Brazil. Ranging from the sixteenth century to the present day, and focusing on Great Britain and Northern Ireland, this anthology sheds incidental light on attitudes to children, educational systems, and the divisions of British society. It will strike a chord with every pupil, past or present, in revealing the glories and defects of British education. |
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Page 151
... desks , arranged in a squadron , and dread filled her . This was a new world , a new life , with which she was threatened . But still excited , she climbed into her chair at her teacher's desk . It was high , and her feet could not ...
... desks , arranged in a squadron , and dread filled her . This was a new world , a new life , with which she was threatened . But still excited , she climbed into her chair at her teacher's desk . It was high , and her feet could not ...
Page 336
... desks , not to speak of ink - soaked paper pellets used as missiles . Inkwells in desks came in handy . I had a share ... desk and sit at it from morning to night except when I was out on the playground - a diversion I did not enjoy . I ...
... desks , not to speak of ink - soaked paper pellets used as missiles . Inkwells in desks came in handy . I had a share ... desk and sit at it from morning to night except when I was out on the playground - a diversion I did not enjoy . I ...
Page 360
... desk . He reached to close its pages . There wasnt long to go now . And the weans were watching the weans were watching . I'm reading about the Pythagoreans , he said , I've had the book open on my desk . They were great believers in ...
... desk . He reached to close its pages . There wasnt long to go now . And the weans were watching the weans were watching . I'm reading about the Pythagoreans , he said , I've had the book open on my desk . They were great believers in ...
Contents
The World of School | 42 |
Customs Anecdotes Incidents | 88 |
At Odds with the System | 138 |
Copyright | |
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