John Wesley and the Education of Children

Linda A. Ryan is a mature researcher with an interest in early Methodism, and more specifically eighteenth-century attitudes to children, education and gender. She has previously published articles in Wesley & Methodist Studies and the Journal of Religious History, Literature and Culture.

• Introduction; 1 Child-rearing and Education in Eighteenth-century England; 2 Influences that helped shape John Wesley’s Educational Thinking; 3 The Implementation of John Wesley’s Thinking on Education; 4 Educating Pauper Children: 1723-1780; 5 Kingswood Boarding School: 1746-1780; 6 Growing Tension between Education and Evangelism: 1760-1791; 7 Educating Pauper Children after 1780; Conclusion

"Linda A. Ryan’s thoroughly researched book provides a valuable contribution to the history of children’s education. Exploring John Wesley’s beliefs about schooling, Ryan considers how Wesley developed a philosophy which simultaneously rejected and wove together ‘Enlightenment’ ideals about nurturing the individual with eighteenth-century English concerns centred on the moulding of children’s religious characters. Ryan’s book successfully illustrates that anxieties surrounding the appropriate ways to educate children are not new, although the challenges may change." —Anna French, University of Liverpool, Journal of Ecclesiastical History