From poverty to prosperity: the impact of socio-economic change on finnish elementary education in the late 18th and early 19th centuries

Abstract

The present study describes the private pursuit of improved Finnish elementary education in the time of Gustavus (1771–1808). In those days, the Government did not have enough resources to reorganise the Swedish educational system as a whole; therefore, the most efficient way to promote elementary education was to rely on private initiatives. The common course of action was to collect a school fund, invest the money and use the yearly interest to found a school by employing a professional teacher. Here three different cases representing different socio-economic backgrounds to school reform in 18th century Finland will be discussed more closely. The three cases, the Elima¨ki county school, the Ahlman school and the Fort Sveaborg, are manifestations of different answers to the same two questions: how to improve elementary education and why should it be improved?