Children, teachers and society: The over‐pressure controversy, 1880–1886

The interdisciplinary use of “overpressure”

“…de Rycke, 1966), education (e.g. Robertson, 1972), engineering (e.g. Selig et al, 1960), medical sciences (e.g.…”

Payment by Results in Nineteenth-Century British Education: A Study in How Priorities Change

“…During the 1880s, Sir James Crichton Browne reported on cases of overpressure (psychological harm) that he found in children faced with the horror of taking the exams. 129 Whereas modern scholars think that reports of deaths were exaggerated, children were suffering from headaches and anxiety at least. 130 A massive scandal in the press followed and the Salisbury government committed in the 1886 election to convening a Royal Commission to refl ect on payment by results.…”

Education and Urbanization in Nineteenth‐century Britain

“…The "over-pressure" controversy (107), which culminated in the Crichton-Browne Report of 1884, was fanned by various pressure groups, including the medical establishment. The system of cramming children to get them through the standards, reinforced by "home lessons", was thought to have increased the incidence of nervous diseases, in some cases causing death, in the 5-15 age group.…”