1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey Brainstuff. Lauren 2 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: vogelban here. If you follow the British royal family, you 3 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: may have noticed that when its youngest members appear in public, 4 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: they're often accompanied by a neatly dressed nanny wearing a 5 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: tan uniform and maybe a brown hat. A childcareb is 6 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:26,079 Speaker 1: always a rigorous job with lots to learn about, but 7 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:30,320 Speaker 1: these nannies have received a particular education at Norland College, 8 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: an academy that trains the nannies of the world's wealthiest families. 9 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: A formal childcare education is a relatively new phenomenon for 10 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: the article. This episode is based on How Stuffworks. Spoke 11 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:46,279 Speaker 1: with social historian doctor Louise Heron. She said Britain and 12 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: most European countries had some form of children's nurse, but 13 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,239 Speaker 1: they would learn on the job, so you could go 14 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: from being a scullery maid to getting bumped up to 15 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,319 Speaker 1: lower nurserymaid and then eventually one day you might make 16 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: children's nurse and be looking at the family. This would 17 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: change in England in eighteen ninety two when a primary 18 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: school teacher named Emily Ward saw an opportunity. Heron said 19 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:14,959 Speaker 1: she realized that the nurses and nursery maids were all uneducated. 20 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: She thought that there was a business opportunity in training 21 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: children's nurses who could both raise and educate the next 22 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: generation of our upper classes. Ward founded Norland College in Bath, England, 23 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 1: and at first the training program only lasted a few months. Still, 24 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: the cost to attend was a bit steep. The women 25 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,320 Speaker 1: who enrolled, and it was only women for a long time, 26 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:39,040 Speaker 1: had a bit of family money. Heron said, the fees 27 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 1: forgetting the education at Norland Institute were beyond most working 28 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: class young women. They were things like a greengrocer's daughter 29 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: or the daughter of people who had their own small business. 30 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: But the tuition was well worth it for those who 31 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: could afford it. In those early years, women who landed 32 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: a nanny position after their training at Norland started with 33 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: salaries around thirty to forty pounds a year, on top 34 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 1: of having their expenses paid by their employers. It was 35 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: great money, especially for a woman in that place and time. 36 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: As Norland's reputation grew, so did its student body, from 37 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: just a handful of students who studied for a few 38 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:15,680 Speaker 1: months to today's four year course with graduates earning a 39 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:20,799 Speaker 1: BA in early childhood, education and care. The things got 40 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: complicated for many of the Norlanders spread across Europe in 41 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: the early twentieth century, as Heron detailed in her book 42 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:29,760 Speaker 1: British Nanny's in the Great War, how Norlan's regiment of 43 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: nanny's coped with conflict and childcare in the Great War. 44 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: As she said, for Emily Ward, it was always one 45 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:39,080 Speaker 1: of her aspirations that she would be placing young women 46 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: in aristocratic families, if not royal families. Very quickly she 47 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: managed to place a couple of girls within the German aristocracy, 48 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: which worked really well until World War One kicked off. 49 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 1: There was one young lady who managed to look after 50 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: a branch of the imperial family in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. 51 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: When the revolution kicked off in nineteen seventeen, she managed 52 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: to escape with them to Finland, but sadly she died 53 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: in the nineteen nineteen influenza epidemic. Through it all, Norland 54 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: carried on with a curriculum designed to produce childcare professionals 55 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: who are equipped to deal with just about anything from 56 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: minor medical mishaps to cooking and nutrition to tutoring Haron 57 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: said they taught the children to read and write, in 58 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: basic arithmetic, singing, piano and other musical instruments. They'd trained 59 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: to deal with children up to the age of quite 60 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: precisely seven years and eleven months. That's because at eight 61 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: most young ladies would be passed to the care of 62 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: a governess and boys would be, as Heron puts it, 63 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 1: packed off to prep school. Times have changed in lots 64 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: of ways over the years. Other schools with a similar 65 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: model have cropped up. Since twenty fifteen, Norland has accepted 66 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 1: male students, but Norland leans on its traditions. A Norland 67 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 1: nanny is easy to spot thanks to the unmistakable uniform, 68 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: a crisp, light brown dress with white trim or beige 69 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: trousers and a tweed blazer, with women often sporting a 70 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: short brimmed brown hat emblazoned with a gold n for 71 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: formal occasions. For the most part, Norland graduates dress in 72 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 1: more modern clothing after graduation, but sometimes their employer will 73 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:18,600 Speaker 1: ask them to wear the uniform. Heron said, it's an 74 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:22,279 Speaker 1: old fashioned uniform. It's traditional. At some point the Princess 75 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:24,600 Speaker 1: of Wales has asked their nanny to wear a uniform 76 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: on public duty, not always, but at some key events. 77 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: In contrast, the school's curriculum now covers some very modern things, 78 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: the unusual situations that might possibly arise while caring for 79 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:40,760 Speaker 1: the children of the world's most powerful people. Heron said, 80 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:43,839 Speaker 1: they do lots of exciting things. There's some self defense. 81 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:46,919 Speaker 1: They practice a vasive driving or driving in snow, ice 82 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:52,840 Speaker 1: and fog, difficult conditions, and the nannies leave Norlands classrooms 83 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:56,600 Speaker 1: having become consummate professionals, thanks in part to the thousands 84 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:00,160 Speaker 1: of trainees who have come before them. Heron explained a 85 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:02,720 Speaker 1: think of a parent with a first child, muddling through, 86 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: getting on with it and just occasionally making mistakes. With 87 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,799 Speaker 1: a Norlander that doesn't happen. There have been some seven 88 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:11,480 Speaker 1: thousand nannies trained since the very first day, and they 89 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,360 Speaker 1: all provide feedback. If they had an issue, they'd write 90 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: the college asking for advice. Sometimes they'd write and say, 91 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:19,240 Speaker 1: this is how I've dealt with this predicament, and I 92 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 1: think other nannies ought to know about it. So in 93 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: each Norlander you're looking at nine on seven thousand nannies 94 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:30,280 Speaker 1: worth of experience. The total fees for the twenty twenty 95 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: two to twenty three school year four UK students are 96 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: just over fifteen thousand pounds that's about nineteen thousand American dollars, 97 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 1: and a Norland nanny can expect to make anywhere in 98 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 1: the range of thirty two thousand to one hundred and 99 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 1: twenty four thousand pounds or more depending on the type 100 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:46,920 Speaker 1: and location of service. That's around forty to one hundred 101 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: and fifty six thousand American dollars. Every year, about one 102 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: hundred nannies graduate from Norland, but there are some eleven 103 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: open positions for every trained Norland nanny, so graduates are 104 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:05,720 Speaker 1: very much in demand. Today's episode is based on the 105 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: article Norland College where the Royals Find their Nannies on 106 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: HowStuffWorks dot Com, written by Kate Morgan. Brain Stuff is 107 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com 108 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,600 Speaker 1: and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from 109 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 110 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.