Richard Mulcaster’s Positions was originally published in 1581 during a very active period in the history of education in England. Dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I, it was an ambitious bid to change the direction of English schooling.
Mulcaster, who taught Edmund Spenser and Lancelot Andrewes, sets down propositions for a uniform political reformation of English schools. In arguing for public over private education, he promotes physical education, a closer control of the students admitted into schools, and ways to improve both the training and careers of teachers. He also discusses the teaching of women, school location, the role of parents in teaching manners and morals, and the need for uniform instruction and textbooks.
This is the first authoritative edition of the text and an important primary source for the study of Elizabeth language and culture. It includes an extensive introduction with biography and background to Mulcaster’s wide-ranging ideas. The notes provide further background and explain the archaic forms of Mulcaster’s English style.

William Barker is a professor in the Department of English at Dalhousie University and the former president and vice-chancellor of University of King’s College.

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