An Experiment in Education

book by Bell

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July 16, 2026

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The book "An Experiment in Education" was written by Andrew Bell, a Scottish clergyman and educator. Published in 1797, the book described his "monitorial system" of education. This method aimed to address a shortage of teachers by having older or more advanced students instruct younger or struggling ones. Bell first implemented this system in an orphan school in Madras, India. The monitorial system, also known as the Lancasterian system, involved a teacher instructing a group of monitors who then taught smaller groups of students. This approach allowed for the mass education of many children with fewer adult teachers, emphasizing drill and memorization.12

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Andrew Bell
…of his Madras system in An Experiment in Education (1797), but his ideas had little popularity in England until they were adapted by Joseph Lancaster in a school opened at Southwark in 1801 and by Robert Owen in New Lanark, Scotland. (See monitorial system.) Meanwhile, Bell was made rector of…
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…of his Madras system in An Experiment in Education (1797), but his ideas had little popularity in England until they were adapted by Joseph Lancaster in a school opened at Southwark in 1801 and by Robert Owen in New Lanark, Scotland. (See monitorial system.) Meanwhile, Bell was made rector of…
Read More