Savages or citizens? children, education, and the British Empire, 1899-1950.

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason (1841/42-1923) and her educational organizations, the Parents' National Educational Union (PNEU) and the Parents' Union School (PUS) to better understand how white, English children living in the British Empire learned what it meant to be English during the years 1899 to 1950. Through the PUS, Mason provided an organized home-school curriculum to families living abroad that promised to solidify an English national identity in their children. Mason's educational philosophy built on New Liberal conceptions of the individual and extended them to children. PUS children's schoolwork and letters demonstrate that they were not just passive recipients of lessons on "place and race" but actively participated in shaping a new sense of Englishness.