History of Education

Education, social change and the Co-operative College

• Tom Woodin
• Linda Shaw

Learning for a Co-operative World explores the remarkable growth of co-operative education in formal and informal learning, and its future potential for all ages and in diverse settings. It celebrates its values of democracy, solidarity, equality and self-help, which inform over 600 schools and the Co-operative College as it achieves its centenary.

The struggle to establish school science in England

• Edgar Jenkins

Science for All is a thoroughly researched account of the long battle to establish school science in England, from its introduction to the classroom in the mid-nineteenth century to the launch of the National Curriculum in 1989. It addresses the underlying question of what school science is for and reveals when, how and why the answer has changed.

The life and achievements of Harry Rée, 1914–1991

• Jonathan M. Daube

This is the extraordinary story of Harry Rée, ‘the pre-eminent educationalist of the post-War years’. The youngest of eight children, he went to Cambridge and then into teaching, and after ten years as headmaster of Watford Boys’ Grammar School he became a fervent advocate for comprehensives. The first professor appointed at the University of York, he argued for innumerable causes: community education, comprehensives, curricular reform, voluntary suicide, and much else. His life and thought explored such questions as: What can you do if you truly believe in the power of education? What does it mean to live a life committed to public service? Is one person’s compromise another’s sell-out? And what does it mean to be a visionary?

The forgotten story of chemistry at British independent girls’ schools, 1820s–1930s

• Marelene Rayner-Canham
• Geoff Rayner-Canham

In this groundbreaking work the authors reveal that from the 1820s to the 1930s chemistry teaching flourished in girls’ independent schools in Britain. The fruit of years of research in the archives of dozens of schools, this rich and multifaceted account reveals the hidden history of a landmark achievement in the education of women.

• Clyde Chitty
• Brian Simon

Stating the case for comprehensive education in the 21st century, the contributors to this book argue against politicians re-introducing selection for schools. This process they contend must be challenged if we are to avoid being thrown back into an old system which has done so much damage.

Education in South Africa

• Mary Metcalfe

Mary Metcalfe gives an inside account of the move to replace gross educational inequality with opportunity for all.

A history

• Simon Gibbons

Traces the birth and development of the London Association for the Teaching of English. Founders of LATE, such as James Britton, Harold Rosen, and Nancy Martin, were critical in the development of an English-teaching pedagogy that still influences the work of teachers across many parts of the world today.

The case of geography 1800-2000

• Norman Graves

This book is an analysis of the evolution of geography textbooks in use in the United Kingdom from 1800 to the end of the twentieth century.

A journey through social histories, biography and politics

• Jane Martin

This lecture revisits nineteenth and twentieth century education policy and politics in the light of the experiences and struggles of educator activist Mary Bridges Adams (1855-1939).

Thomas More on Utopianism and William Hazlitt on plain speaking

• David Halpin

Reflecting on the disadvantaged ‘London lives’ of many of the capital’s children, Halpin commends aspects of the writings of two eminent Londoners: Thomas More and William Hazlitt, and illustrates how we should re-engage with these as we consider the scope, nature and potential of school reform, not just in London, but generally.