Primary School Education

Abstract

Primary schools, sometimes labeled elementary schools, have typically been the first educational institutions to educate all but a small minority of the population. This chapter considers the varied aims and educational practices and the interests and experiences of different parties involved in building, funding, administration, curriculum design, and teaching in and attending these schools which provided for mass education. Following an introductory section, three case studies – selected to consider a geographical and cultural range across different educational structures and political and policy regimes – are provided to offer insight into curriculum and pedagogy over the period from 1800 to the mid-twentieth century. Firstly, the internationalization of monitorial schooling in the first half of the nineteenth century, with a particular focus on Latin American and Indian contexts, is considered. Secondly, the teaching of civic morality in English elementary schools from the 1870s to the eve of the First World War is reviewed. Thirdly, primary schooling in Russia from the 1890s to the 1940s is examined. A final section considers some important questions raised about the content and purposes of primary schooling and, with reference to the case studies, addresses methodological developments in the history of the field.