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=Elizabethan Educational Practices and Curriculum=

[|Francis Bacon] writes in his //Essayes//, "Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man" (Pritchard 88). Education during the Elizabethan era was considerably different from modern education in systems, teaching, discipline, and curriculum. However, the goal was improving the students just as it is now.

Under the rule of Queen Elizabeth the English education system was greatly expanded, with 136 endowed grammar schools opening their doors. By 1600, J. Howard Brown estimates 361 grammar schools existed in England (7).

Typical schooling:
From the age of four or five, boys might go to a reading or song or petty school. There they would learn to read from primers or hornbooks (see image linked). Around the age of seven, by which time students have been taught how to read and write, they would transition to the "grammar" stage of their education. Grammar school might involve switching to a new building if students were in large enough cities to have multiple schools. For four or more years students studied Latin grammar and literature in the Grammar school (Orme; Picard 190-91). If students had the means to continue their education, around the age of 15 students could attended Oxford or Cambridge for sixteen terms to earn a BA (Pritchard 86).

Other students took apprenticeships starting around age 15. Those with significant means sometimes traveled Europe with a tutor learning about the world through experience (Pritchard 87).

School Calendar:
The Elizabethan school year usually went September through June. This allowed farm families to complete the harvest in August before the children returned to their studies (Orme). The year contained from 40-44 weeks with 6 days of instruction (Brown 96). According to John Brinsley who wrote //Ludus Literarius, or the Grammar Schoole// in 1612//,// the day began about 6 a.m. and continued until after 11 a.m. with just a 15 minute break at 9 a.m. for breakfast. The lunch break might last until one, then the day continued until 5:30 p.m with another break at about 3 p.m. For Brinsley, "it is very requisite also that they should have weekly one part of an afternoon for recreation, as a reward of their diligence, obedience and profiting" (Pritchard 89).

Teachers:
The most important qualification of an Elizabethan schoolmaster was his religious soundness. His moral qualifications were also important, for example at Oundle (a school) he should not be "a common gamester, haunter of taverns, neither to exceed in apparel nor any other ways to be an infamy to the school, or give evil examples to the scholars" (Brown 29). Schoolmasters generally had to be over the age of 26, preferably over 30, and often a degree from Oxford or Cambridge would be required (Brown 29-30). The pay for schoolmasters was comparable to local officials, not as bad as typically assumed. In money of the time they made on average 16.5 English pounds (Brown 36-7).

Study of Latin:
Even in sixteenth and early seventeenth century England, Latin was the language of professionals from Doctors to clerks, "everyone who was neither a mere soldier nor a mere handicraftsman wanted, not a smattering of grammar, but a living acquaintance with the tongue as a spoken as well as a written language" (Rowse 501). Therefore, the main focus of Elizabethan education was learning to read, write, and speak Latin. After learning the Latin alphabet and basic phonetics in petty school, Latin grammar was introduced in the grammar schools (Pritchard 86).

The primary Latin grammar book written in English was written by William Lily and authorized in 1541 by king Henry VIII as the official text for schools (Brown 69). After much study of the 200 page book, students moved on to translating classical authors into English. The most popular authors were Cicero, Terence, Virgil, Ovid, Sallust and Horace (Brown 74). Students also were required to write in Latin style, both prose and verse. Finally, the students learned spoken Latin by constant practicing; most of the school day was conducted in Latin only, and in many schools speaking English was forbidden (Brown 77-82).