Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1912 edition. Excerpt: ... the seventeenth and eighteenth centueies There are no striking developments within the schools to mark the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. There is a gradual, if slow, extension of educational facilities, some slight improvement in the emoluments of schoolmasters, a steady reduction in the length of the school day, and a considerable widening, especially during the eighteenth century, of the curriculum The burgh schools continued to be managed by the town councils and the clergy; the parish schools by the ministers and the heritors. Appointments of teachers were made in the burghs by the councils, but these usually depended on the church for the trials of the rival candidates; in the parish schools the presbytery charged itself with the duty of appointment. Vacancies were often advertised and the master selected either by a competitive examination of the candidates or by consideration of the recommendations they brought. When a test was set, it was, in the earlier part of the period, confined to classics; but later, mathematics, natural philosophy, history, and 60 geography find a place. The periodical visits of inspection were continued, but the eighteenth century shows on the whole some diminution of educational zeal on the part of the municipalities. Schoolmasters were supported by endowments where these existed, and by grants from the "common good" of the burghs. Where the "common good" had decreased or disappeared a voluntary assessment was levied for the upkeep of the school. The interest of the councils in the welfare of education, and their desire to provide facilities for the young, are constant features throughout the two centuries. In the case of the parish schools the church gave financial aid. The main...
