The revised code of 1862
In 1858 a Royal Commission chaired by the Duke of Newcastle, was formed to investigate the rising level of public expenditure on education. The findings, titled The State of Popular Education in England, were published in 1861 and recommended that money for education should continue. Such funding would be based upon a system of "payment by results". The Vice President of the Education Board at this time, Robert Lowe, accepted the main points set out by the Newcastle Commission and in 1862 announced a Revised Code for Education. The aim of this essay is to explain the intentions and targets of the revised code and whether these were achieved.The Commission was appointed in June 1858 and after examining the reports of Inspectors of Schools from 1839 to 1858 the Commissioners decided they required fresh information on schools. In order to obtain this, Assistant Commissioners were selected to gather the information from a number of districts. These districts were to be representative of the country, and comprise two of the agricultural, manufacturing, mining, maritime, and metropolitan areas. Robert Lowe, at this time the Vice President of the Education Board, accepted the report totalling 634 pages on behalf of the Government. L
As Musgrave writes about the code and the effects on teachers: "it lowered the status of the teacher, gave the profession a grievance whichwas to shape its ideology for the next fifty, and reduced the whole level ofof instruction both of the teacher and of the children taught. )In order for these reforms to be controlled, the Revised Code placed the task of judging schools performances on School Inspectors. However by the end of the 1860's is became increasingly clear that the Government needed to have a more direct involvement. After immigrating to Australia, where he developed a successful law firm, he returned to England in 1850. (Evans, 1975)In order to ensure an increase in pupil attendance the Code linked payment against the pupils attending classes. html,Evans, K, 1975, The Development and Structure of the English Educational System, Hodder and Stoughton, LondonMaclure, J, S, 1979, Educational Documents England and Wales 1861 to the Present, Methuen, LondonMorrish, I, 1970, Education Since 1800, George Allen & Unwin, LondonMusgrave, P, S, 1970, Sociology, History and Education, Methuen & Co, LondonStephens, W,B, 1998, Education in Britain 1750-1914 , Macmillian Press, London. This new system was assessed and controlled by inspectors and as such was transparent to the voting public. From August 1861 until May 1862 debates within Parliament became extremely fierce over the lowering of the status of teachers. He took office with the government in 1852 and in 1859 was appointed Vice President of the Education Board. Teachers viewed the inspectors at worst as people who had the power to finish careers without any rights to appeal and at best people who had the power to reduce next year's wages. What was recorded after the introduction was: "A considerable rise in the school population and greater regularity of attendance" (Evans 1975 pp25)It could be argued that one of the hidden agendas of the revised code was to reduce or if possible eliminate the teaching of religious subjects from state funded schools. There was a mistrust and hatred relationship quickly formed between the Inspectors by the majority of teachers as the new roles developed. If it is not cheap, it shall be efficient; if it is not efficient, it shall be cheap" (Maclure 1979 pp79)The fact that grants provided to schools by the government had dropped by 22 per cent in the first 3 years after the code was introduced according to Ivor Morrish (Morrish 1970), and though Keith Evans states 23 per cent in the first five years (Evans 1975). The New Code abolished funding from government directly to certificated teachers by introducing managers instead and funding money was directed to these managers in the form of a single payment.
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