The changing position of a headmaster

Abstract

n an age which has experienced social and political upheavals of the most profound nature, no individual, and indeed no nation, can claim to have escaped the consequences. The transition from the authoritarian pattern of pre-war social divisions to the permissive atmosphere of the present time has produced serious problems for all who are concerned with the governance of the land and with the guidance and discipline of both adults and children. At one time there were those who were on the 'right' side of the law, the wealthy, the powerful and those who administered the affairs of the community under them; on the other hand there were those who from birth, through no fault of their own, were on the 'wrong' side, socially and economically and who were penalized for these deficiencies, rather than compensated for them. Education, which in the institutionalized sense had been but a poor thing up to that time, began in the early 184os to receive an attention in the independent sector which seemed likely to give it fresh strength and inspiration and to prepare the way for legislation in relation to the public sector. The time was ripe for such changes; the country was becoming richer every day and the number of middle class people became greater and greater; the Empire was increasing its sphere and needed more administrators to cope with its expansion; the growth of Commerce and Industry necessitated the training of school children in the three Rs, and it was this factor that underlay the 187o Education Act. Thus, between the I84OS and the I87os, a whole new machinery was set in motion to prepare the children of England to take their place in the greatest Commercial, Industrial and Imperial expansion known in the world up to that time. One question remained, and it related to the people who were destined to educate the children. There was no teaching profession as such-indeed, until 1858 there was no medical profession-but there were those who had themselves received a university education and also possessed the dedication necessary for the education of children, within the accepted standards of the day. Amongst such people was Thomas Arnold who sought to produce Christian gentlemen by a combination of firm discipline, religious principles, a sound academic curriculum taught by university graduates and by the delegation of authority to older boys, called prefects. This scheme proved so successful that it not only influenced the other English public schools but also provided the main criteria of 66