A teacher sits in front of a number of children, many of whom do not appear very attentive. Which is your Right Hand?, illustration of an unidentified infant class, drawn by Paul Renouard [fr] and published in The Graphic (1898)[note 1] The first infant school in Great Britain was founded in New Lanark, Scotland, in 1816. It was followed by other philanthropic infant schools across Great Britain. Early childhood education was a new concept at the time and seen as a potential solution to social problems related to industrialisation. Numerous writers published works on the subject and developed a theory of infant teaching. This included moral education, physical exercise and an authoritative but friendly teacher.
In England and Wales, infant schools served to maximise the education children could receive before they left school to start work. They were valued by parents as a form of childcare but proved less popular in Scotland. State-funded schools in England and