A Survey of Church Influence on Education in Scotland in the 19th Century, With Special Reference to the Extent and Content of Religious Teaching in the Day Schools Before 1872

McFarlan, Donald M (1957) A Survey of Church Influence on Education in Scotland in the 19th Century, With Special Reference to the Extent and Content of Religious Teaching in the Day Schools Before 1872. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Scottish parochial education in the 19th century has its roots in the Reformation. The Scots Confession of 1560 and the First Book of Discipline furnish the doctrine and ground-plan for an educational system which evolved over three centuries. Behind these documents lies the teaching of John Calvin, who inspired Knox to plan for 'the virtuous education and godly upbringing of the youth of this realm,' and to make every citizen in the commonwealth 'a profitable member within the same.' At the beginning of the 19th century the Church was in control of education by means of its parish schools, or through Assembly and Society schools. Bible and Catechism were the supreme text-books. In the reading, writing and memorising of Scripture the minds of the children were to be informed by the truth of God, and right manners and morals inculcated. The Catechism, founded on and. derived from the Bible, was a vade-mecum to the understanding of right doctrine. The teachers were men approved by the Church, subject to the Presbytery, and under the oversight of the perish minister. The 19th century situation shows the traditional system of belief gradually breaking down in changing social and economic conditions. The outcome of the industrial revolution was a shift from a rural to here and enjoy him through eternity. Various Government and Church reports in the 1860s, however, revealed that the means of education were still deficient. The outcome was the establishment of a national system of education by the Act of 1872. Bible and Catechism were to be, by 'use and wont', the basis of Scottish education. To the Church leaders of the time it seemed that the 1872 Act had set a seal on John Knox's plans for the Christian good of Scotland. State education, so long as it was informed by the teaching of Bible and Catechism, would foster 'a public form of religion', and achieve in widest measure what the Church had hitherto sought to do within the limits of its own resources.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Religious education, Religious history
• Date of Award: 1957
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1957-79202
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 05 Mar 2020 11:29
• Last Modified: 05 Mar 2020 11:29
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/79202