France 2024: 5/31 - Day Trip to Rouen!

Hi, this is Hally and Leo!

Today we traveled to visit the National Museum of Education. After the 1-hour train ride from Paris, we arrived in the lovely town of Rouen! We stopped briefly to see the Tower where Joan of Arc was held! She was burned at the stake in this town in 1431 at just 19 years of age. We walked to the center of town to see the place where she was burned. A memorial church was built in her honor and it felt surreal to be at the exact spot where she once was.

We then split up to explore town, shop, and eat lunch. We saw the famous clock and cathedral of Notre Dame- Rouen which began construction in 1035 and finished in 1506, for a long time it was the tallest building in the world. The entire town was unexpectedly beautiful and so fun to explore, we were all sad we only had 6 hours here. Leo ate a white chocolate eclair. It was pretty good.

At 3:30 we all met at the Museum of Education for a lovely guided tour of their exhibit. We learned about the evolution of education in France from 1600-1900.

Our biggest takeaway was that until 1881, something called Jules Ferry School was implemented and it was very much connected to religion. The Christian brothers' schools were popular for boys and most girls were taught by nuns. At this time it was common for more girls to go to school than boys because of the confidence that society had in the sisters to educate the girls. There were separate schools for boys and girls.

After 1881 in Compulsory schools children study at these from age 6-13. Religion was not a part of these schools whatsoever. Boys were taught pre-military skills. They practiced drills using wooden guns and learned to care for the wounded. They also learned other trades such as woodworking. Girls learned to cook and clean. They again favored girls' education as they realized that they were the ones around the children the most so they needed to be able to transmit education to the children when they had them later in life.