Author Description
Teaching Britain examines teachers as key agents in the production of social knowledge. Teachers in nineteenth century Britain claimed intimate knowledge of everyday life among the poor and working class at home, and non-white subjects abroad. They mobilized their knowledge in a wide range of media, from accounts of local happenings in their schools' official log books to travel narratives based on summer trips around Britain and the wider world. Teachers also obsessively narrated and reflected on their own careers. Through these stories and the work they did every day, teachers imagined and helped to enact new models of professionalism, attitudes towards poverty and social mobility, ways of thinking about race and empire, and roles for the state. As highly visible agents of the state and beneficiaries of new state-funded opportunities, teachers also represented the largesse and the reach of the liberal state - but also the limits of both.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This book investigates how nineteenth-century British teachers functioned as primary agents in the construction and dissemination of social knowledge regarding class, race, and the state. Christopher Bischof, a historian specializing in modern British history, utilizes a wide array of primary sources—including school log books, personal career narratives, and travelogues—to demonstrate how educators shaped public discourse. He argues that by documenting the lives of the working class and colonial subjects, teachers established new professional identities while simultaneously defining the reach and limitations of the liberal state.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Analysis of nineteenth-century school log books as ethnographic records
- Examination of teacher-authored travel narratives and their influence on imperial perspectives
- Exploration of the development of professional identity among state-funded educators
- Case studies on how teachers conceptualized poverty and social mobility
Scope Limits
- The analysis is geographically confined to Britain and its specific colonial interactions as perceived by teachers
- The study focuses primarily on the nineteenth century and does not extend into twentieth-century educational reforms
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars in the field of educational history recognize this work as a significant contribution to understanding the intersection of state power and professional identity. The text is noted for its rigorous use of archival materials and its ability to synthesize disparate personal accounts into a cohesive historical argument.
Page Count:
256
Publication Date:
2019-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
019256983X
ISBN-13:
9780192569837
History
19th Century
Social History
British History
Education - History
Professionalism