Victorian Education and the Ideal of Womanhood

by Joan N. Burstyn

Overview

This study, first published in 1980, argues that higher education for women was accepted by the end of the nineteenth-century, and higher education was becoming a desirable preparation for teachers in girls’ schools. By accepting the opponents’ claim that higher education for women had the potential to revolutionise relations between the sexes, this fascinating book demonstrates how the relevance of the nineteenth-century serves to enhance our understanding of the contemporary women’s movement. This title will be of interest to students of history and education.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138215221
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/08/2016
Series:	Routledge Library Editions: Education 1800-1926 , #2
Pages:	186
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations; Preface; 1. Politics of Aspiration: Education for the Middle Classes 2. Education and the Ideal of Womanhood 3. Women and the Economy 4. Woman’s Intellectual Capacity 5. Education and Sex 6. Religion and Woman’s Education 7. The Ideal of Womanhood Confronts Reality 8. The Opposition’s Influence on Higher Education for Women 9. Conclusion; Select Bibliography; Index

Editorial Reviews

"Rejecting Whiggish interpretations that highlight the progress liberal reformers made in expanding educational and vocational opportunities for women, [Burstyn] has adopted a more comprehensive conceptual framework in which to consider the ideas of both the proponents and the opponents of advanced female education....[Her]conceptual framework provides a beneficial means for comparing male and female education in the nineteenth century; it also helps one place the accomplishments of educational reformers such as the Shirreff sisters into the more general history of women's education in Victorian England."

Choice

Rejecting Whiggish interpretations that highlight the progress liberal reformers made in expanding educational and vocational opportunities for women, [Burstyn] has adopted a more comprehensive conceptual framework in which to consider the ideas of both the proponents and the opponents of advanced female education....[Her]conceptual framework provides a beneficial means for comparing male and female education in the nineteenth century; it also helps one place the accomplishments of educational reformers such as the Shirreff sisters into the more general history of women's education in Victorian England.

Choice Reviews

Rejecting Whiggish interpretations that highlight the progress liberal reformers made in expanding educational and vocational opportunities for women, [Burstyn] has adopted a more comprehensive conceptual framework in which to consider the ideas of both the proponents and the opponents of advanced female education....[Her]conceptual framework provides a beneficial means for comparing male and female education in the nineteenth century; it also helps one place the accomplishments of educational reformers such as the Shirreff sisters into the more general history of women's education in Victorian England.

CHOICE