Monitorial system

The monitorial system, also known as Madras system, Lancasterian system/Lancasterism or the Bell system of instruction, was an education method that took hold during the early 19th century. It was related to colonial education systems that had developed in the possessions of the European powers. This method was also known as "mutual instruction" or the "Bell–Lancaster method" after the British educators Andrew Bell and Joseph Lancaster, who independently promoted versions in which children had a tutorial role. Abler pupils became pupil-teachers, passing on what they had learned to other students. Andrew Bell was an Army chaplain in India, and from 1789 to 1796 held the position of superintendent of the Male Orphan Asylum in Madras, now known as Chennai. He observed the system of pupil teachers that obtained in the Madras Pial schools (run around temples), and which in essence was also the system in the Bengal Pathsalas. He developed the Bell System of Instruction, writing of it "The school teaches itself". It was adopted at the Royal Military School and the Royal Hibernian Military School.

The monitorial system, also known as Madras system, Lancasterian system/Lancasterism or the Bell system of instruction, was an education method that took hold during the early 19th century. It was related to colonial education systems that had developed in the possessions of the European powers. This method was also known as "mutual instruction" or the "Bell–Lancaster method" after the British educators Andrew Bell and Joseph Lancaster, who independently promoted versions in which children had a tutorial role. Abler pupils became pupil-teachers, passing on what they had learned to other students. Andrew Bell was an Army chaplain in India, and from 1789 to 1796 held the position of superintendent of the Male Orphan Asylum in Madras, now known as Chennai. He observed the system of pupil teachers that obtained in the Madras Pial schools (run around temples), and which in essence was also the system in the Bengal Pathsalas. He developed the Bell System of Instruction, writing of it "The school teaches itself". It was adopted at the Royal Military School and the Royal Hibernian Military School.

Monitorial systems

The monitorial system was found very useful by 19th-century educators, as it proved to be a cheap way of making primary education more inclusive, thus making it possible to increase the average class size. Joseph Lancaster's motto for his method was Qui docet, discit – "He who teaches, learns." The methodology was adopted by the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, and later by the National Schools System. The monitorial system, although widely spread and with many advocates, fell into disfavour with David Stow's "Glasgow system," which advocated trained teachers with higher goals than those of monitors. The basic teaching and learning process used in the monitorial system has been used in passing knowledge between people in many cultures because of its low cost to benefit ratio. Numerous institutions use the basic concept as their primary mode of instruction. There have been many observations regarding its efficacy, in 35 AD in Rome, Seneca the Younger, in an epistle to his friend, Lucillus, noted: Docendo discimus – we learn by teaching.

Comparison

Frederick John Gladman, writing in the 1880s, distinguishes between the Lancasterian system and the Madras system. Lancasterism is described as preferring smaller classes, unlike Bell's Madras system. Despite the many similarities of the two systems, and the initial friendship of Lancaster and Bell, divisions appeared between their advocates. In 1805, Sarah Trimmer published a paper claiming Lancaster's system was antagonistic to the Anglican Church. It was said that the country was soon divided into two camps; speeches, sermons, magazine articles and pamphlets appeared on each side. The National Society was formed to propagate Bell's system and the British and Foreign School Society (B&FSS) was formed to propagate Lancaster's system. There is one surviving Lancaster-designed British School in Hitchin, Hertfordshire—and this is now run as a museum with an experiential educational program suitable for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils.

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

, about the monitorial schools.

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368414033 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.