The world of female educational institutions

Introduction: Philanthropism, as it evolved at the end of the 18th century in Germany, wanted to break completely with the contemporary methods persisting in education, with the hegemony of classical languages, and with the study of antique authors’ works; instead, it laid emphasis on practical and useful knowledge, on teaching modern languages, on acquiring knowledge based on demonstration, and on an intimate connection to nature. The impact of philanthropism on contemporary Hungarian public education, especially in the first half of the 19th century, can be clearly detected, which can be accredited to study trips to Germany and the Hungarian translations of German works. Salzmann’s institution, founded in 1784 was visited by 366 Hungarian educators, among others by Teréz Brunszvik, who also gave an account of her impressions in her memoires. Yet, we also need to mention Samuel Tessedik, who made good use of his experience gained during his journey to Germany in his school in Szarvas. Purpose: In this study, four 19th century female educational institutions were selected and the presence of philanthropist ideas in the training offered there was investigated. Three of these were established for the education of the middle-class, while one was founded specifically for aristocrats. We investigated whether the presence of philanthropism can be detected in the education offered by these four schools. Methods: In the presented study, we applied source analysis as a traditional research method in history of education. Conclusions: All the institutions under scrutiny have it in common that the founding and contributing educators and teachers were provably well-acquainted with the pedagogy of the philanthropists, and they incorporated several of its elements into their programmes. The preparation for the housewife role, conveying knowledge utilizable in practice, practical approach to teaching content, and the application of the method of illustration were all emphasized. These features show that several philanthropist characteristics can be identified in the educational principles and curricula of these institutions. Nevertheless, on closer inspection, it cannot be stated that they would have taken on an institutional character exclusively reminiscent of the “philanthropinums”