We should know a lot about the industrial revolution. As matter a fact, that was a content of world's history when we were at school. For the ones who do not remember or did not pay attention I will develop this topic and related to education and teaching. It may sound not interesting at all, but you should read it and then critizices it.
The industrial revolution took place in Britain during the late 18th century and early 19th century. This revolution brought a lot of changes in England and Europe. Manufacturing, family structure, transport and economy were the main issues during those times. When we think about the industrial revolution we tend to associate it with technology. Although this association is not wrong, the industrial revolution not only has to do with that. The most important aspect, the industrial revolution brought, was the social changes. Before I start talking about the consequences it brought to Europe and the rest of the world, I am going to explain some of the reasons that make the industrial revolution such an important issue.
One of the most important causes of the industrial revolution was the economic changes that were taking place in Europe. “European trade and manufacture stretched to every continent except Antarctica; this vast increase in the market for European goods in part drove the conversion to an industrial, manufacturing economy.” (Hines, par. 3) In other words, Europe was developing so fast that in front of everybody’s eyes, their economy, which was most focus on agriculture, changed to an industrialized one.
Another important cause was the increased of population in Europe. It is a fact that when economy evolves, also does the population. Due to the developing of the economy new jobs were created, so people had different opportunities to make money.
Those were the main causes of this revolution. As I have said before, the industrial revolution started in England; therefore most of the changes started there.
Transportation was something that was improved during those days. The first public railway was open in 1825, and the whole way of transportation was changed because of that. People from the countryside were now able to move from one town to another faster than before. They also were able to go to the city and to come back in one day.
The railway not only helped people to move faster from town to town, but it also helped the new towns to grow. Now the people who lived in those towns were enjoying fresh food, fresh milk and fresh fruits.
Up to here it was all fine. Everyone was happy because they were doing what they wanted and they were having enough money to feed their families. The problem began a few years later. Hundreds of workers, with their families, started to migrate to the industrial cities. Those workers are the ones who created the working class.
Salaries were really low, the working conditions were not human and they were suppose to worked 14 hour per day or even more. That was not fair for them, but they had to accept that, at least for a few years. After a while, the employers began to hire woman and children, because they worked more for less money.
The workers with their families were having a difficult time. They accepted that for a while, but after a few years they realised that they could fight for their rights. The workers decided to make a revolution against the factories and their owners. During the beginning of the revolution, many Reform Bills were made in order to change the legislation which was in force during that time. The problem was that many of them were rejected by the parliament. Different characters appeared during this revolution, but most of them did not success to help their friends, families, etc. They were treated as slaves and they wanted to change that.
In 1833 their efforts received a reward, a new law was approved which made illegal to hire children under the age of 13.
Obviously some of those problems continued after that, but what I want you to understand is the importance of some of those issues in today’s world.
You would be amaze of how much we can learn from the past. I want to be an English teacher, and that is why I am studying English pedagogy. My purpose is not only to teach English, but to teach culture, and also to teach how to learn and how to think. It is important that we teach our children how to think on their own. To be critical and reflective are two abilities students should develop during their different learning stages.
I chose the industrial revolution as a clear example of how something that had already passed can affect our present. If we study what happen during that time we could easily understand many of the thing that are happened now. For example: People began to fight for their right, as they do now. Children and woman were trying to be protected by different people, nowadays we have organizations that are trying to do that, etc.
To finish I would like to say that it is important that we learn from our mistakes. We have to teach our students how to learn from their mistakes too. The industrial revolution brought a lot of changes in today’s societies. Technology is something which is helpful for us, but if we do not know how to manage it, it can cause a lot of problems. Teaching is one of the most important things in the world, but we must not forget that we are teachers but at the same time we are students.
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