The role and problems of educational support for vagrant children: a life history of vagrant children in the late 19th century England

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K04556
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Education
• Research Institution: Hiroshima University
• Principal Investigator: Santoki Makiko 広島大学, 人間社会科学研究科(教), 准教授 (90335711)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 児童福祉史 / 虐待 / イギリス / インダストリアル・スクール

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research analyses the factors central to the practices and realities of historical educational support for destitute and neglected children in the Manchester Certified Industrial Schools (MCIS) to determine how the schools acted to support the lives of children who were removed from parental guardianship. In nineteenth-century England, the most vulnerable children, destitute and often neglected (specifically, those considered to have improper guardianship), posed a serious challenge to public order in urban society. This study employs primary records to trace the experiences of four children during and after MCIS enrolment. Prior to the current study, none of these records had been used in research. The analysis of records demonstrates that MCIS officers supported and followed up students even after they were discharged to help them survive without their parents and become conventional members of society.

Free Research Field

イギリス教育史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は記録の残らない社会的に最も脆弱な子どもたちが、教育を受けたのち、どのような人生を歩んだのかの一端について明らかにした。これはこれまでの先行研究では明らかにされてこなかったものである。浮浪児の多くが貧困あるいは親からのネグレクトを理由に就学支援を受けた子どもたちであり、日本のみならずグローバルに子どもの貧困・虐待が問題視される今日にあって、「生きること」において就学が果たした役割と課題、社会的に最も脆弱な子どもたちを社会の通常のメンバーとすることを可能にした要因を具体的に明らかにした。この点は、現在の虐待児や極貧児に対する支援に歴史的示唆を与えるものである。