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Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/History of infant schools in Great Britain

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History of infant schools in Great Britain

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This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page.

The result was: scheduled for Wikipedia:Today's featured article/March 7, 2025 by Wehwalt (talk) 19:32, 22 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Which is your Right Hand?, illustration of an unidentified infant class, drawn by Paul Renouard [fr] and published in The Graphic (1898)
Which is your Right Hand?, illustration of an unidentified infant class, drawn by Paul Renouard [fr] and published in The Graphic (1898)

The history of infant schools in Great Britain began in 1816, when the first infant school was founded in New Lanark, Scotland. It was followed by other philanthropic infant schools across Great Britain. A theory of infant teaching developed which included moral education, physical exercise and an authoritative but friendly teacher. Infant schools served to maximise the education children could receive before they left school to start work and were valued by parents as a form of childcare. State-funded schools in England and Wales were advised in 1840 to include infant departments within their grounds. Infant education came under pressure to achieve quick academic progress in children and shifted towards rote learning. Beginning in 1905, infant lessons in England and Wales shifted towards more child-centred methods of teaching, where education was meant to reflect the preferences of children. The child-centred approach reached its peak following a report in 1967. In 1988, a more centralised curriculum was introduced. The term "infant department" for the early years at school was used widely in Scotland in the 1960s but is no longer generally used there. (Full article...)