Mr Wopsle's Great-aunt's School
In chapters 7 and 10 of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, we encounter a school conducted by Mr Wopsle's great aunt. Here Dickens narrate the educational practices of his own time. Dickens does not mention it a school, but an Educational Scheme or Course. It is conducted in a little general shop, which also serves as the great-aunt's sitting room and bed room. The great-aunt spends much of the time asleep. The children play, fight, pull one another's toes and make terrible noise. Biddy who is in charge of the shop and the school maintains some semblance of teaching. Even writing is left to the children's own amusement. We may call this Dame's school. We, in Malabar also had similar institutions conducted by teachers called Ashan. Traditionally they were conducted by men. Later, before the advent of kindergarten women also used to conduct this. These women were called Ashathis. In Malabar these institutions provided skills in writing l...