ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book demonstrates that Susanna Wesley was not only an early reader of Locke, but her education practices were, in no small way influenced by him. It also demonstrates that although John Wesley's enthusiasm for preaching house schools was thrown into question by his letter to Richard Terry, the evidence suggests that their decline was likely to have resulted for several reasons. The book provides a useful insight into the work of John Fletcher at Madeley. It suggests that although new concepts of childhood became increasingly influential through the eighteenth century, there remained clear gender distinctions in education, particularly where this applied to children from wealthier homes. While questions of gender, class and religious affiliation defined and contained educational practice, changing concepts of childhood influenced the way children were regarded, and impacted upon parental decisions regarding the upbringing of their offspring.
