In this text, We will read a brief biography of Dickens, the sources is from: Victorianweb.org - 42explore.com - Education.goodmantheatre.org - BBC.co.uk - Infed.org - Dickens2012.org - OMF.UCSC.edu
Charles Dickens started to work at twelve-year-old, when his father was imprisoned for debt, with the exception of Charles, all the family was to jail. The good fortune of being sent to school at the age of nine year-old was short-lived because at twelve he had to quit. At fifteen, he started to work as an office boy while studied at night. His brief stint at the factory haunted him all of his life and became a source of creative energy and of the preocupation with the themes of alienation and betrayal which would emerge, mostly notably in David Copperfield (1850). At twenty- two year-old, he became a reporter of parliamentary debates for the newspaper Morning Chronicle. Three years later he published his first book ¨The Pickwick Papers¨(1837), which made his characters the centre of a popular cult.
Despite Dickens to have attended school sporadically, he was an avid reader. He exhibited warmth and humor and great understanding of humanity, besides writing, he busied himself with charities that included mainly schools for poor children. His writing empathized with the poor and the helpless and mocked or criticized the selfish, the corrupt greedy and the cruel.
In the 19th mid-century, 80% of London`s population were poor, which was the largest, most polluted and economically polarized city in the world. ¨A Christmas Carol ¨ (1843) orphans were meant to illustrate the idea that only education would release the poor from the vicious circle of poverty and ignorance.
As well as a huge list of novels he published, he edited weekly periodicals, wrote travel books and administered charitable organisations. He was not a merely a concerned bystander but an active participant in almost every major issue of his time such as: education of the poor, penal reform, child labor, prostitution, copyright laws, bureaucratic red tape and he also lectured against slavery.
We need to note his campaigning around education, his harrowing accounts of schooling in Hard Times (1854) for example in the cause of educational reform are example of this.
Dickens is of particular significance as an example of a writer that is concerned with popular education or what is described as social education, the educative power of newspapers, novels, and various forms of entertainment ( nowadays, I`d put also music and movies). There are Dickens efforts to facilitate self-education through the publishing of a weekly journal ( Household Words 1850-1859) and ( All Year Round 1859-1870).
Dickens believed of education on sound principles to all citizens. He was a pioneer in introducing the theme of education into prose fiction, and proved in his journalism and speeches, that he had great familiarity with the subject. In the year of his death, parliament passed the Elementary Education Act, which raised the standard of teacher training and inaugurated compulsory schooling. If Dickens made any contribution for this end, it was by reinforcing the public`s sense of moral feeling and providing additional momentum for change.
Dickens believed that enriching people`s life with knowledge and enjoyment of the arts was key to building a fair society and creating opportunities. Dickens2012.org is committed to following Dickens`s educational mission by supporting learning activities around the world, from teacher`s conferences to writing competitions.
