Entirely random question: why are public schools in the UK called "public"? I'm reading something that's comparing the educational systems in the UK and the US, and it keeps having to specify whether it means the American meaning of "public" or the British one, so now I'm getting curious about how the UK and US ended up with two such contradictory meanings for the same term.
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Hil R. - Jan 11, 2003 6:04:47 pm PST #1274 of 9843
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
CaBil - Jan 11, 2003 6:06:56 pm PST #1275 of 9843
Remember, remember/the fifth of November/the Gunpowder Treason and Plot/I see no reason/Why Gunpowder Treason/Should ever be forgot.
Because British public schools aren't public, they are private, I believe...
Rebecca Lizard - Jan 11, 2003 6:09:27 pm PST #1276 of 9843
You sip / say it's your crazy / straw say it's you're crazy / as you bicycle your soul / with beauty in your basket
Because UK public schools are open for anyone who want to pay for them, I believe, was the logic?
Hil R. - Jan 11, 2003 6:10:33 pm PST #1277 of 9843
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
Because British public schools aren't public, they are private, I believe...
Which is my question. Why are they called "public"? What were they being differentiated from?
CaBil - Jan 11, 2003 6:13:40 pm PST #1278 of 9843
Remember, remember/the fifth of November/the Gunpowder Treason and Plot/I see no reason/Why Gunpowder Treason/Should ever be forgot.
As comparision to US public schools, which were publically funded
Hil R. - Jan 11, 2003 6:18:46 pm PST #1279 of 9843
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
As comparision to US public schools, which were publically funded
I'm not sure what you're getting at here. I'm pretty sure they've been called public schools since long before the US had a public school system (probably since long before there was a US.) What I'm asking is, what other sort of school was around back then that they had to call places like Eton "public schools" rather than just "schools," and what differentiated them from those others that made "public" the logical choice of term?
CaBil - Jan 11, 2003 6:24:06 pm PST #1280 of 9843
Remember, remember/the fifth of November/the Gunpowder Treason and Plot/I see no reason/Why Gunpowder Treason/Should ever be forgot.
Schools that required a certain social standing to attend, rather than being open to those who have the funds. No sons of wealthly merchants in those schools, for instance...
Fay - Jan 11, 2003 6:24:46 pm PST #1281 of 9843
"Fuck Western ideologically-motivated gender identification!" Sulu gasped, and came.
What I'm asking is, what other sort of school was around back then that they had to call places like Eton "public schools" rather than just "schools," and what differentiated them from those others that made "public" the logical choice of term?
The alternative, I have always assumed, was a personal tutor.
Hil R. - Jan 11, 2003 6:26:10 pm PST #1282 of 9843
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
Oh! That makes sense. Thanks.
Hil R. - Jan 11, 2003 6:28:13 pm PST #1283 of 9843
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
OK, I did some actual research (well, googling), and Eton's website says:
Until 1902 there were no publicly-supported secondary schools in England. Schools were either privately-owned (by an individual or family) or ‘endowed’ – that is, deriving at least part of their income from an endowment, often in the form of land, and run by some sort of Governing Body. In both cases fees were charged. The endowed schools were known as ‘public schools’ to distinguish them from the ‘private schools’ being run for an individual’s private profit. In that sense Eton has always been a Public School.