However, Carver’s system was not universally approved. Critics of his syllabus claimed there were ‘very important omissions’ in the curriculum, and parents complained of unreasonable amounts of homework being issued; boys
education, distinguishing it from many contemporary schools. Despite this, some argue that Carver’s personal shortcomings seem to have meant that his passion for the College was most successfully channelled in promoting its
were expected to complete three to four hours of work per day. Carver’s direction was found to be lacking in other respects. For example, he was notoriously autocrat- ic, neglecting to hold staff meetings, and communicating with his Assistant Masters by letter. Additionally, Carver
organisational reform, rather than in enabling the develop- ment of its students. Arthur Gilkes was appoint- ed two years after Carver’s retirement, and the period under his tenure came to be known as the school’s ‘Gold- en Age’. Gilkes is credited
Gilkes deemed contemporary art to be ‘decadent’, withdrawing much of the support Carver had allocated to the Art Department
with breaking away from Carver’s laxity and enforcing a keen sense of individualism and virtue. During this period, the College sent a high number of Alleynians on to suc- cessful careers in many branches of society, such as law, medicine, and the civil service. The new Master was a loyal adherent to Thomas Arnold of Rugby School’s principles for public schoolboys: strong Christian principles first, gentlemanly conduct second, and intellectual development third. In keeping with this, Gilkes championed personal discipline and independ- ence. To this end, the Master often delegated parts of the College’s administration to boys, ensuring that the
participated in great rivalries with those who thought dif- ferently from him, the most famous example of this being his resistance to the Governors’ pressures to restructure the College and to divert its funding elsewhere. Finally, by the end of his tenure, even some pupils believed that discipline was too lax at the school, and that Carver had ‘lost his firmness of hand’. In sum, the College under Carver was an institution which, above all, concentrated on helping students find their own passions by offering them many options. Further- more, Carver transformed Dulwich into an institution that embraced the more modern ideas emerging within
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