Kiss_Zsuzsanna_Helyes_aranyok

“Correct Proportions”: The Agricultural Curriculum in Elementary Education in Nineteenth-Century Hungary

Abstract

The study examines classroom materials used in teaching the economy curriculum and classes of agricultural subjects in elementary schools at the end of the nineteenth century. First, it addresses the challenges which Hungary, particularly its rural society, faced following the dissolution of the feudal land tenure system. I introduce the concept of “correct proportions” employed by agricultural experts of the era, which designated the duties across all those dimensions of agriculture that these professionals deemed essential for comprehensive eco-
nomic and social development.

By detailing the post-1848 legal frameworks for elementary education, the second part of the study traces how and when agricultural knowledge was integrated into the curriculum and what content the educators wished to deliver to the students. Lastly, the final section presents the curriculum itself, analysing the format, structure, and content of textbooks used in elementary agricultural education. The study uncovers the methods and content used to convey the complex concept of „correct proportions” to schoolchildren.