What were classrooms like in the 1930?

Answer 1

Classrooms of the 1930s were much stricter and more regulated than modern classrooms. Children often sat at long wooden benches with inkwells. Some places had slates, which were like miniature blackboards or chalkboards, written on with a slate pencil or hard chalk. The only technology they had was a radio, to which the children might listen for important news items. The teacher taught all subjects, including sports and singing. Girls would learn things like sewing. There was very little by way of decoration or displays of children's work on the walls. Walls might contain just a photograph of the president (or, in England and Australia, the King or Queen) and a map of the world. It goes without saying that there were no TVs or computers, photocopied worksheets or white boards. Lessons were "chalk and talk" or lecturing - the teacher did all the talking and the children did all the listening. There were no group discussions or group work. Children learnt for knowledge and content, not for meaning and understanding. They taught just subjecs like English and Maths, Geography and History, but did not teach "life-skills" style subjects or discuss moral issues. Children HAD to raise their hand to answer a question - no talking out of turn. They had to write very neatly in "copperplate" style, and sit up straight in their hard seats. They were assigned their seats by the teacher, and could not choose where they wanted to sit. If the teacher set them a task, they had to just do it or be disciplined. For example, if you were told to write an essay, you wrote an essay. No planning, no discussion, no sharing ideas or stimulus pictures. Discipline varied. There was the dreaded "cane", a long, thin piece of bamboo slapped hard on either children's hands or their backsides. It was very painful. Children who got answers wrong might be sentenced to sit in the corner. Believe it or not, some classrooms had a "harness" hanging from the ceiling, and disobedient or wilful children were suspended in this harness! Children were often not treated very respectfully, but they were expected to show complete respect to the teacher. Manners were expected to be shown at all times. School teachers also had very strict rules. The teacher had to clean the room herself and, in Winter, light the fire to warm the room before all the children arrived. there were rules about what teachers could wear and who they could associate with outside of school. Children took their lunch to school in brown paper bags - there were no cafeterias or tuckshops (Australia) to buy from.