Why you should thank the Victorians

In this post I’ll be comparing desks in a Victorian classroom with those in a modern school. You may find the results on the children’s handwriting surprising!

When comparing a Victorian classroom with a modern classroom, you’d notice a number of differences

Perhaps none more so than the very desks children were sitting at! In Victorian times, all of the children sat at individual desks in rows facing the front of class. And the desks at the back were often higher than those at the front. The desks themselves were iron-framed, made out of wood and were often bolted to the floor. This stopped them moving. Similarly, wooden chairs were often attached to the desks in a fixed position.

Fast forward to today and classrooms are comparatively higgledy-piggeldy. Desks are often situated amongst larger table groups, and facing all directions in the classroom. Desks today are flat tables made of a variety of materials, there is no fixings to the floor. Chairs too are made of many materials and none are not connecting to the tables. This might seem like an arbitrary matter—after all, it’s just tables and chairs. But actually, those Victorians may have been on to something.

Desks in a Victorian classroom were actually better for children’s handwriting than today’s desks, and here’s why:

1. In a Victorian classroom the desks always faced the front. Meaning there was no need for a child to twist and turn their heads to face the board. As a result, children could write comfortably without twisting.
2. The desk surfaces were often sloped at an angle towards the child. This meant that the child’s wrist was at a more natural position to help them write. It also reduced the pressure on their hand when writing by taking the weight off their arm. Today, the modern day equivalent is a sloping board.
3. The desk surface on a Victorian desk was comparatively large compared to today’s desks. Now children sit closely beside their class mates. As children had their own individual desks, they had more space to work on without banging elbows with the child sat next to them.
4. As the desk and chair were often bolted to the floor in a Victorian classroom, children were forced to retain a better posture. A good posture is vital not only to good health, but also to good handwriting, and some issues with handwriting are a result of poor posture. A good posture for handwriting is feet flat on the floor. Back up straight. The paper tilted, and the chair not too far from the desk. Victorian desks ensured this posture was maintained.
5. As the desks at the back were often higher than those at the front, so all of the children could see the board without having to stretch or strain.

Aside from the desks, in Victorian education, there was a lot more repetition when learning. This helped “muscle memory”, meaning that children could write without looking at the page because handwriting became second nature to them. When it comes to desks, it looks like the Victorians had something write.. I mean “right”!