Talk:Finishing school

Article as Advertising & Exclusion of Some Schools
The list of schools here is no more than an advertisement and should be deleted. Too, for whatever reason, someone deleted Institute Le Rosey and others yet they are the exact same thing. Why? And why is someone manipulating this page?... DW — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.105.200.103 (talk • contribs) 23 September 2002

For your information, le Rosey has never been a Finishing School ! Le Rosey is an High School that teaches the Baccalauréat International and provides access to a fantastic Alumni network. For a complete list of schools in switzerland see Swiss Association of Private Schools.

The most famous high school in Switzerland are: Le Rosey, Beau-Soleil, Zurz, ...

The list of school is unfortunately not an advertisement but the true representation of the market. Only two schools are still true Finishing Schools offering full curriculum from Cooking, Home Management, Floral Art & Table Decoration to International protocol, Business and social etiquette covering many different countries.

Most other Finishing Schools have ceased their activities (institut la Videmanette where Princess Diana went) or specialised in another field (for examples: Lucy Clayton's Finishing School is now a secretarial school that also teaches deportment).

Deportment is only a small part of what is taught in Finishing School, but it is the vision of the Anglo-Saxon press .... the girl walking with the book on her head.

As for the other schools that where deleted... -- The Shaqab Institute does not offer a finishing programme any longer and has never really done so -- Schiller University does not offer any finishing programme -- Some finishing schools in India (Solitaire) and Pakistan are mostly modeling schools and have a very ethno centric curriculum.

This is the reason why when someone is serious about doing a documentary about the Finishing Schools or starting one in a country, they always go back to the same two schools. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.117.127.210 (talk • contribs) 6 April 2005

Plagiarism
It appears that the first sentence of this article was plagiarized from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary by the user Jennifer on February 5, 2003. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.76.96.15 (talk • contribs) 8 May 2006

Informal/inappropriate tone
"As Etiquette and Protocol have become fashionable again, a lot of individual have jumped on the bandwagon and happily abuse the meaning of the word Finishing School. A finishing school is a SCHOOL, which offers (1 month to a year) course with an educational curriculum. The objective is to offer a solution not a patchwork." —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ajo Mama (talk • contribs) 22:44, 3 December 2006 (UTC).

Finishing Schools as Girls' Schools
I don't think defining finishing schools as only girls' schools is accurate. The BBC program The Country House Revealed (Clandeboye episode) refers to Eton as a finishing school. 31.16.112.35 (talk) 21:26, 13 June 2011 (UTC)


 * Eton is not a finishing school at all. Were they making some kind of analogy in the programme?? Certainly traditional finishing schools were strictly female only. Nowadays many educational companies identify themselves as finishing schools when there is no meaningful connection between what they do and the institutions halfway up Swiss mountains. That's not to say that a more legitimate attempt at a gender-inclusive finishing school couldn't come out of the works though. A L T E R C A R I 02:39, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

I have changed the lead to state that they are 'for young women'. − A L T E R C A R I 01:46, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

Can anyone do a full article?
Would very much appreciate more coverage of the term itself but even more, some extended treatment of the social and cultural history of finishing schools. What led to their appearance? Did they change over time and if so, how and why? To what extent have they declined (sounds like they have) and what, if any, is their future?

It would be interesting too, to see some discussion on their role in oppressing and/or liberating women.

Perhaps also some coverage discussing their place in the history of broader private school/college education.

Are there any serious books on the history or evolution of finishing schools? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.218.133.134 (talk) 09:45, 15 September 2011 (UTC)

This page definitely needs more cultural history. There is very little writing about finishing schools that I can find. Mostly seems to be articles and incidental mentions in books (although those can often be quite fascinating and insightful). I imagine if you are looking for information of finishing schools in their heyday, you would have to look at books on Victorian upper class practices especially in relation to women and education. As for their current state and future prospects, good luck finding anything!! A L T E R C A R I 02:39, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Institut Prealpina
Does anyone know if this Swiss all-girls school (attended by the once US Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright) was a finishing school? Seems likely but I can't find any evidence. − A L T E R C A R I 22:34, 25 May 2015 (UTC)


 * Yes, it was a finishing school. I was a student there for a short time in the 1980s. There was instruction on flower arranging, menu planning and cooking, comportment and I can't remember much else. Students were largely European and Middle Eastern, with a few S. Americans. I'm a Brit though my family was living in the US by then and American made up a small percentage of the cohort. It wasn't terribly glamorous. 2600:8801:E818:E800:757B:8E92:2B22:922C (talk) 08:19, 13 October 2023 (UTC)

Removal of Template:RefImprove
It was dated to January 2014. There are now citations for almost every sentence. I removed it. A L T E R C A R I 14:37, 3 May 2017 (UTC)