Foster Watson – författare

First published in 1968. At the time when the English Grammar Schools were most flourishing, namely the 17th century, they subserved a practical national aim. Puritan England, by no means concerned with the teaching of the Classics per se, looked to the Grammar Schools for that subsidiary help which the study of Latin, Greek and Hebrew afforded to the intensive study of the Scriptures and pietas literata. The question this study looks at is related to the loss of these classic subjects in Secondary schools and therefore to measure in the long-run, the value of our new ‘Secondary’ Schools relatively to the old Grammar Schools—rather than the comprehensiveness of the list of subjects included in the new curricula.

Originally published during the early part of the twentieth century, the Cambridge Manuals of Science and Literature were designed to provide concise introductions to a broad range of topics. They were written by experts for the general reader and combined a comprehensive approach to knowledge with an emphasis on accessibility. The Old Grammar Schools by Foster Watson was first published in 1916. The book contains an account of the structure of early English grammar schools, together with information on their historical development.

First published in 1908, this important work on the history of education traces the development of teaching in English Grammar Schools from the invention of printing up to 1660. It is not a history of the theories of educational reformers as to what should or should not be taught, but a history of the actual practices of the schools, of their curricula and of the differentiated subjects of instruction. The author relies heavily on the textbooks used in schools in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in particular the ‘Ludus Literarius’ of John Brinsley and the ‘New Discovery of the Old Art of Teaching School’ of Charles Hoole, and makes free use of the School Statutes which state the express intention of the Founder as to what was to be taught.The period covered is one of great significance in which the Encyclopaedia of the medieval curriculum was abandoned for the modern practice of the differentiation of school subjects. The new knowledge of the Renaissance and the introduction of critical methods and of close analysis gave students a detailed knowledge which could not be fitted into the rigid confines of the medieval Encyclopaedia, while the invention of printing enormously facilitated the increase and spreading of text books for both teachers and pupils.

First published in 1908, this important work on the history of education traces the development of teaching in English Grammar Schools from the invention of printing up to 1660. It is not a history of the theories of educational reformers as to what should or should not be taught, but a history of the actual practices of the schools, of their curricula and of the differentiated subjects of instruction. The author relies heavily on the textbooks used in schools in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in particular the ‘Ludus Literarius’ of John Brinsley and the ‘New Discovery of the Old Art of Teaching School’ of Charles Hoole, and makes free use of the School Statutes which state the express intention of the Founder as to what was to be taught.The period covered is one of great significance in which the Encyclopaedia of the medieval curriculum was abandoned for the modern practice of the differentiation of school subjects. The new knowledge of the Renaissance and the introduction of critical methods and of close analysis gave students a detailed knowledge which could not be fitted into the rigid confines of the medieval Encyclopaedia, while the invention of printing enormously facilitated the increase and spreading of text books for both teachers and pupils.

First published in 1968. At the time when the English Grammar Schools were most flourishing, namely the 17th century, they subserved a practical national aim. Puritan England, by no means concerned with the teaching of the Classics per se, looked to the Grammar Schools for that subsidiary help which the study of Latin, Greek and Hebrew afforded to the intensive study of the Scriptures and pietas literata. The question this study looks at is related to the loss of these classic subjects in Secondary schools and therefore to measure in the long-run, the value of our new ‘Secondary’ Schools relatively to the old Grammar Schools—rather than the comprehensiveness of the list of subjects included in the new curricula.