The Rise of Popular Literacy in Victorian England: The Influence of Private Choice and Public Policy

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In early Victorian England, there was an intense debate about whether government involvement in the provision of popular elementary education was appropriate. Government did in the end become actively involved, first in the administration of schools and in the supervision of instruction, then in establishing and administering compulsory schooling laws. After a century of stagnation, literacy rates rose markedly. While increasing government involvement would seem to provide the most obvious explanation for this rise, this study seeks to demonstrate that, in fact, popular demand was also an important force behind the growth in literacy. The author compares the relative importance of the rise of popular demand for literacy and the development of education policy measures by the Church and state as contributing factors that led to the rise of working-class literacy during the Victorian period. He considers the initial demand of the working classes for literacy and how much that demand grew. He also examines how literacy rates were influenced by the development of a national system of elementary school provision and by the establishment of compulsory schooling laws.