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School Days in the 1830's
Sunday June 24 and Sunday July 15
• 1 pm – 4pm
Admission Free
(Three 45 Minute Sessions)
Allaire State Park $5 Per Car Parking Fee Charged Memorial Day to Labor Day
Allaire Village Inc. will present "School Days at the 1830s Howell Works" where children, ages 6 to 12 years old and curious adults will get a taste of what it was like to attend school, even if only for one half hour at a time, in the year 1836 at the Historic Village Carriage House. Three separate forty-five minute sessions will be conducted.
Students will be instructed by a volunteer in period dress, using the Lancastrian method. This course of instruction included a system of reciting the lessons of the day. Led by an older student, a group of younger children would repeat the lessons for a chosen subject, and by using their slates, pencils and lesson books, would make notations to help them remember that which they needed to learn.
A maximum group of 30 boys and girls may participate in each half-hour session by donning a cap or neckerchief of the period. In addition they will experience the use of authentic school materials of the 1830s at each 30 minute session. There will be room for parents to observe.
Housed initially in the Church, the "school" was held in front of the altar area, which was closed off for this purpose by a set of sliding doors. At a time when schools were few and religious education rare, James P. Allaire insisted that children should receive an education, both boys and girls. Having had the privilege of a good basic education himself as a youth, Mr. Allaire understood well the advantages of even the most rudimentary instruction. The earliest method of instruction used at the Works' school was the rather severe Lancastrian method which Allaire held in high regard at the time. It was a simple method of instruction based on discipline and rote memorization that was designed specifically to address the needs of working class children. According to Joseph Lancaster who devised the method, any system of education that wastes the teacher's or the class' time is a flawed system. To Lancaster that meant freeing up the teacher from administering tests and from a lot of one-on-one interaction with pupils which wasted the time of the class as a whole.
The use of humiliating punishments such as the wearing of a log around one's neck, walking around the class with manacles about one's ankles, or suspension from the classroom ceiling in a metal "bird cage" were employed with varying degrees of success to control disruptive behavior and provide "negative reinforcement." For Mr. Allaire's school a further, more dire punishment always hung over the pupils' heads. Because Mr. Allaire recognized how essential education was, he demanded it of his employees' children. A disruptive child would not reflect well on his or her parents and might be considered by Mr. Allaire to be disrespectful of his wishes, indicating a lack of gratitude for all that he provided. Thus, perhaps if a problem child could not be controlled by the teacher's talking to the parents, the parents' abilities as employees might be called into question by the Manager or Mr. Allaire personally. Although no records exist to prove this, it would not be impossible that Mr. Allaire could discharge an employee for his child's abstinence as a pupil.
Finally, liberal use of what we would consider bribes was also strongly encouraged by Lancaster who was convinced that children needed a reason to succeed in their lessons. A teacher's awarding of simple toys, pins, books or other items were, for a working class child, very exciting.