The Old Boys: The Decline and Rise of the Public School

by David Turner

To many in the United Kingdom, the British public school remains the disliked and mistrusted embodiment of privilege and elitism. They have educated many of the country’s top bankers and politicians over the centuries right up to the present, including the present Prime Minister. David Turner’s vibrant history of Great Britain’s public schools, from the foundation of Winchester College in 1382 to the modern day, offers a fresh reappraisal of the controversial educational system. Turner argues that public schools are, in fact, good for the nation and are presently enjoying their true “Golden Age,” countering the long-held belief that these institutions achieved their greatest glory during Great Britain’s Victorian Era. Turner’s engrossing and enlightening work is rife with colorful stories of schoolboy revolts, eccentric heads, shocking corruption, and financial collapse. His thoughtful appreciation of these learning establishments follows the progression of public schools from their sometimes brutal and inglorious pasts through their present incarnations as vital contributors to the economic, scientific, and political future of the country.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Education, British Literature, Politics

352 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2015

About the author

David Turner is the former education correspondent for the Financial Times and a London-based journalist who has worked for Reuters.

Reviews

[John Bohnert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the topic of British public schools fascinating reading.

[Amy Gaskin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really intelligent and fascinating insight into the world of public schools over the centuries, their role in supporting the institutionalised classism in British society (David Cameron et.al automatically spring to mind), and indeed, the roles that state schools have had to play in competing with (and indirectly forcing change) in public schools. The reasons for the rise and fall of public schools over time have really surprised me, and, well, it looks like I've received an education on education!

The feminism the author discussed was particularly insightful: the apparent belief that botany was a viewed as a "female science" because it "dealt with pretty flowers"; the mind-boggling opinion that "men were afraid of clever women" and they were "embarrassed to be seen with a clever woman" because they weren't "marriage material"; the fact that Latin, Greek, and the Classics were long regarded as "male-only" subjects whereas French was a "feminine language" restricted to the "feminine arts"; and that the only way for a woman to reach or maintain her middle-class status was not to have an education in which she could make choices about what she wanted to study, but being "worthy enough of marriage" to marry for wealth. As a woman studying biology at a UK university in the 21st century, it all seems so... bizarre, but that was the accepted fact back then. To be honest, the excuse "men were afraid of clever women" seems somewhat pathetic because to go as far as to forcibly restrict women's access to education due to a few men feeling threatened by women is a ludicrous policy that I still can't quite process!

In addition, it still surprises me just how damaging it was that public schools hung on to the Classics for so long despite the economy practically begging for budding scientists! I guess that's just a classic debate of traditionalism vs. progressivism! The latter seems to have won judging by the wide availability of studying sciences, mathematics, modern languages, and modern history to both boys and girls in all the types of school in the UK.

I really enjoyed this book. I was expecting a skewed perspective of how the elite are awful for social mobility, but it dealt with so much more than that. I'm a girl who is mainly drawn to reading popular science, so I was surprised when I did pick this book up in Waterstones! However, I've learned a lot by reading a style of book I never thought I would have. This book was intriguing, well-written, and well-sourced.

[Conor Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some time I have been interested in reading a book that attempted to document the tumultuous and, at times, torrid history of the English public school system, and this only grew following the handling of the COVID pandemic and the highly questionable dispensing of government contracts. I ought to mention that I say ‘English’ because, as this book explicitly mentions, it was not really until the middle of the 19th century that public schools could be said to be a feature of British - rather than English - society, despite the fact that Wales has always been and to this day remains ‘comparatively bereft of public schools’. Nevertheless, I had hoped the book might touch more on the excrescent features of the old boys’ network as seen today and, even though it was published almost a decade ago, I feel giving the topic of governmental cronyism only the most cursory of examinations to be a rather large oversight.

Other than that, I think the book is admirably exhaustive in its examination. Turner, the author, shows how the austere, calculating and contradictory nature of William of Wykeham, as well as his devotion to religiosity, permeated throughout the nexus of institutions he helped create - starting with his establishment of (the first public school) Winchester College in 1394 - from the very beginning up until the 20th century. Alongside this theme, Turner documents various educational innovations and milestones, from the placement of forms in different classrooms in the early 17th century to the introduction of standardised school fees in the mid-19th century. Moreover, the book details the lives and actions of a string of individuals who shaped the public school system, whether for the better - by improving educational or societal standards, such as Thomas Arnold or Edward Thring - or the worse - as was the case with Joseph Drury who cared more for his own financial gain - but importantly covers the impacts of both the arrivistes and reformers.

Something which I found made the book an enjoyable read was that it touches on all the anticipated aspects of public school life, the: asceticism; development, refinement and unintended consequences (if that is an appropriate term for systemic bullying and harassment) of Butler’s praeposter system; apparent latent homosexuality, which bridged the gap between ‘Phileo’ and ‘Eros’, that the conventionally Christian schools tried to cover up; and, quality of education and how this translated to career prospects and success. Turner’s attempt at covering such a broad range of topics is greatly aided by his decision to study the public school system using a chronological approach, which gives it a fluid coherence. However, I feel this alone would be too much and, so, the book is dispersed with entertaining and intriguing anecdotes - my favourite being the period of pupil rebellions and widespread violence between public school pupils and their teachers, which took place during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Another thing I found interesting in the book was the gradual decoupling of traditional notions to the point of almost complete inversion. For instance, public schools were initially looked down upon by the elite as they considered the unavoidable interaction with members of the lower classes - both the genuinely needy granted a sponsored place and even the wealthy but not upper class - to taint their scion. However, over time they evolved to become a way to preserve social standing and, today, I believe they are rightly seen as a way to bolster prospects and engender social mobility - although, as the author shows, public schools are still doing virtually the bare minimum to help provide poorer but bright children with a public school education. Instead, both they and independent schools use their bursaries to appeal to middle class parents who might otherwise be convinced to send their children to grammar, comprehensive or state schools.

The discussion towards the end of the book around the growth in parental pressure on public schools to improve academic excellence, in relation to the wider populace and, in particular, comparative to grammar schools - following the Labour Government’s Education Act 1976, which was also inadvertently responsible for the creation of independent schools - in order to increase the likelihood of obtaining university places and professional opportunities was also very interesting. I think most everyone will agree the pursuit and promotion of a knowledge-based economy built on the idea that as many people as possible attend university has been a disaster in Britain, but it raises an interesting question: should we try to provide a high level of academic education to everyone, or does this merely add to an ever burgeoning and ever more expensive catering to the academic middle or ‘the average boy’?

Finally, the author is very critical of the public schools’ historical intransigence and persistent unwillingness to elevate other subjects to the level of the Classics, arguing that the eventual preferential treatment of, and subsequent excelling in, sciences has been central to the schools’ survival - especially considering both ‘day and boarding school fees have roughly tripled in real terms since 1980’. Notwithstanding the obvious advantages, I subscribe more to the belief of Shelley that “[w]e are all Greek. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our arts, have their roots in Greece” and the traditional political ruling class forgetting - or not being taught - this is, at least in part, the reason we seem to have lost our way and appear to be abandoning the values and customs that underpin Western civilisation. After all, as Turner himself states, ‘the school shapes the boy and the boy is father to the man’.

[Josh Laird · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superb insight into the history of the Public School. Originally created to educate students where the entry price was beyond their family's means and the cost of educating these students was offset by the fee paying students. Over the years this proved to be a challenge be it from political opposition, personal vendettas and world wars amongst several other things which David Turner goes into in-depth.

It is interesting to see how the rough periods that public schools in the UK went through have shaped the "golden era" that they are currently experiencing. I definitely would not have been able to survive in one during the 16th century.

Reading that Captain Hook's final words were "Floreat Etona" (May Eton Flourish, the school's motto) was particularly amusing.

A very interesting and well-researched read.

[Zandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating account of the history of Public Schools. I appreciate the fact that Turner tries to be objective in his assessment, while he is obviously also biased. I enjoyed reading about the past through the eyes of an FT journalist, as Turner sought to answer modern preoccupations: how 'inclusive' were schools in the past, did they really take in 'the poor' as they were set up to do, did they help with social mobility at all, did the education they provided serve the national good (Turner is rather heavy handed in continually dismissing the value of classics, in favour of science.) Overall, I enjoyed this account of 'the good, the bad and the ugly' aspects of public schools throughout history.

[Matt Neely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wry at points. Hard-ish for a yank.