School education and professional educators as a problem in Charles Dickens

Abstract

This article studies the evolution of the Dickensian view of school education and teachers through the literary production of the famous English author. For this purpose, three basic elements are used: biographical school experiences; the schools and educators described in their fifteen great novels; references to the school world in letters, speeches and minor publications. The result of the study is that Dickens's initial confidence in the educational and reforming capacity of schools and professional teachers was declining over time until he arrived in his latest novels to turn the professional teacher into a villain.