Hogwarts in the Context of the British Public School

[justcarol67]

Shaun Hately wrote:
<snip>
> The main thing that inspired the post if anything were the recent 
> discussion on Snape's teaching style. I gave my views based on my 
> experiences during that thread, and it was clear that other people 
> were doing precisely the same - and it became very clear that a 
> number of fans were, in my opinion, falling into the trap of 
> comparing Hogwarts to a modern school founded on modern educational 
> beliefs - and in some cases, specifically American modern 
> educational beliefs. People were not considering that Hogwarts is 
> not part of modern culture - and certainly isn't a part of modern 
> American culture. To me, one of the most attractive things about 
> the Harry Potter books is they draw on a specific cultural 
> heritage. So I was seeking to draw out the points of that cultural 
> heritage. <snip>

Carol responds:
I've noted the same problem, a number of (mostly youngish?) posters
assuming that their assumptions about education are the only valid
assumptions. Without getting into my own views on the subject, which
no doubt would be attacked by younger posters indoctrinated in
postmodernism, I think it might be a really good idea to present your
ideas in simplified form, minus footnotes and academic language, on
the main list. Long posts, as I know from my own experience, deter
many readers, particularly the one who would benefit most from such
information. I've argued repeatedly that the WW's standards are not
those of the modern world and have been repeatedly resisted by those
who see Dumbledore's policies as "wrong" and Snape's teaching methods
as "abusive." (If they knew the disciplinary practices at Eton in the
early nineteenth century, they might have a clearer idea of what abuse
really is.)

Your previous post, IIRC, was based on your experiences in an
Australian boarding school. I think that a historical perspective is
better for this particular purpose.

Carol, who hopes you'll follow up on this idea and not be discouraged
by the lack of response to the more scholarly post

P.S. I looked up "meta-analysis" in my 1988 "Glossary of Literary
Terms" and it wasn't there. I can't find a more recent glossary at the
moment. Maybe the term came in with cultural criticism or
deconstructionism? Those schools of thought (neither of which appeals
to me) came in just as I was working on my dissertation, so I never
mastered their terminology.

Carol

Carol