Exploring Education Studies

Vivienne Walkup

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781138432062
• eBook ISBN: 9781317862604
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Exploring Education Studies is a rich and multi-layered investigation of the world of education. Although aimed at Education Studies courses, the books thematic approach also makes it an excellent general introduction to education. Building around four central themes psychology, sociology, current policy and global education the authors lively discussions capture the essence of this diverse subject area.

Part 1

THE HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION

1 A history of education John Dolan

Contents

Introduction

Case study 1.1 A personal history of education

A partial overview of education in Britain, 1870 to the present day

The Elementary Education Act 1870 (the Forster Act)

The Education Act 1944 (the Butler Act)

The Plowden Report 1967

The Education Act, 1988 to the present

The ideological debate over the history curriculum in England

The contribution to education thought and debate by selected international educationalists

Maria Montessori

Carl Rogers

Paulo Freire

Conclusion

Case study 1.2 Deschooling society

Summary

References

Introduction

Ian Whitwham, a London comprehensive school teacher with nearly 20 years of experience, writes a very popular Sec.Ed. website blog (perhaps you are already familiar with it). In a recent posting he mused on the ways in which his own diverse and very modern students – typical of the great majority of students in schools – were obliged into conformity by school rules and procedures. ‘These days,’ he wrote, ‘[it’s] all about modules and targets and uniforms … If we continue to treat them like this, we will lose them’ (Whitwham, 2009).

Whitwham’s wistfulness may well find resonance with many current practitioners and students alike. Yet there is nothing odd about this: his views give part expression to one side of a debate about the purposes of schooling that has recurred throughout the 140 (or so) year history of state-provided education in this country. Some, like Whitwham, argue that education is about supporting children and young people to develop their knowledge, values and themselves in ways which are particular to them. For others, though, schooling is concerned to equip youngsters with the knowledge, skills and attitudes long respected by dominant society as relevant and useful for a purposeful adulthood.

When the 1870 Education Act established a national system of elementary schooling in the UK, their mere requirement to attend schools led children, some young people and their parents to protest in the streets, particularly in the industrialised towns of the north and in agricultural areas: in both, children as earners (whether full time or seasonal) were important in the family economy. How did schooling get from being a resented requirement on the individual to a closely managed opportunity from which those who are in any way unconventional might find themselves excluded?

This chapter is all about trying to map some of the landmarks of the debate about, and the reality of, schooling over the past 150 years or so. This provides us with a chance not only to understand our past education history and thereby to ‘extend our imaginations’ (Fielding, 2005), but also to think about what ‘education’ might be in the modern world of globalisation and of rapid and transforming information technologies. It is timely to do so for two reasons.

First, debates about the purposes of education (and schooling) are essentially ideological expressions. An ideology is best understood as a set of ideas and values about the world held by a group, influencing their behaviour and conversation or debate with others. These systems of understandings are usually seen as ‘“the way things really are” by the groups holding them, and they become the taken-for-granted ways of making sense of the world.’ (Meighan et al., 2007). Whitwham’s view of the purposes of education is expression of an ideology of liberalism, dating back at least as far as the eighteenth century; the alternative view is essentially an ideology of conservatism, sometimes termed neo-liberalism in the late twentieth century (Apple, 2004).

Second, the modern world demonstrates intense and increasing economic competition between nations and a belief that education is key to provision of marginal national advantage and yet, as internationally respected comparative educationalist Edmund King suggests, ‘all … established systems [of schooling] … were developed for a world that no longer exists’ (2000).

This chapter aims to:

● Develop your knowledge about selected developments in the history of education in Britain over the past 150 years or so.

● Provide closer examination of the ideological debate over schooling through a focus on to the provision of the history curriculum in English and Welsh schools.

● Discuss the enduring contribution to education thought and debate by selected international educationalists.

Case study 1.1 A personal history of education

The following short piece is taken from the website of Richard Cannon. Cannon began his website and blog after he chose to retire from his management job in the rail industry some eight years ago, and it has a wide readership. It was written as a piece of personal recollection rather than as ‘serious’ writing about education in the past. Even so, the writer’s experience seems representative of that of many people of his generation. Most young people in Britain in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s attended secondary modern schools; for good or ill, very few ‘passed to go to the grammar’. Though there were marked regional and local variations, only between 10 per cent and 35 per cent of pupils ever attended grammar schools, and the rest attended secondary moderns (Szreter, 2004).

The 1950s saw me going to three schools. It should have been only two, but a move of house intervened (something I always blame failing the 11+ plus on!!).

Back then there was no Comprehensive system, just the 11+ and into either Secondary or Grammar education. Most of them were male/female segregated and it could be argued over this being a good policy or not!

I started at Chevening Primary in 1953 nestled away on the Chipstead to Chevening Road and not far from Chevening Halt, the railway station on the Dunton Green to Westerham Line, later shut by the infamous Mr Beeching and now the M25!

Probably the biggest difference between now and then was actually getting there and coming home. Not many parents would drive their young ones to School (mainly because not many people had cars). You were left more to your own devices and my sister Julia and myself would make the two mile walk over ground no Parent would ever allow now. It entailed going across fields, crossing two Stream’s where no one would hear you if you fell in and along a fairly quiet Road.

Come the 11+ and I didn’t get through, so it was off to Wildernesse Secondary for Boys, somewhere I enjoyed very much for many reasons pertaining to that period in time.

But, between these times, I did do a little work! The day would always start with Assembly, which would comprise of a Hymn, a Bible Reading, a Talk from the Headmaster, Prayers and another Hymn. Usually someone would faint at some point and often lead to a chain reaction. You’d hear thumps and bumps all round the Hall, quite amusing to most of us who didn’t have that problem!

You took the basic subjects; Maths, English, PE, Geography, Music and History. To these there was some choice between Biology, Science, Physics etc. plus a ‘skilled’ class in either Woodwork or Metalwork.

I got branded the Class Creep as we progressed through the years. I’d always been a neat writer and loved maps. By chance, the Headmaster taught us Geography and would always use my Book work as the example of how it should be done.

To avoid the Cane on my [sic] from the Headmaster and spoiling my credibility after being caught throwing a Rubber Bung at the Stand-in Biology Teacher, I gave my name as Paul Eaton to him. He got six of the best and 48 years on he still doesn’t know it was me!

I did get the cane once though. This followed a tremendous in-swinging snow ball landing right on the back of Mr Wright’s (the Gardening Teachers) head. This comes back to me every time I put the Runner Bean poles up in Spring!

They were good schooling days though. After Assembly, we’d sit down in our Class and have to spell twelve words. If one single person got one wrong, we’d have that word again the next day. Any sign of ‘cheating’ was severely dealt with by a Chinese Grip on your elbow – and boy, did that hurt!

You would never wear your shirt outside your trousers, always wear your tie. You’d know your Anthem off by heart, drink your free one third of a pint bottle of milk at morning break and ALWAYS keep our handwriting upright!

Source: http://www.downthelane.net/growing-up-50s-60s/going-to-school-1950s.php

Of course, Cannon’s is a personal rather than an academic account. However, we would argue that the work of educational historians (such as Szreter) suggests that we can place some reliance on it.

Questions for discussion

1 What is your reaction to Richard’s account of his schooling?

2 Does his experience mirror your own, or are there significant differences?

3 Overall, does his seem an education experience that you would have welcomed for yourself, or do you find it unappealing?

A partial overview of education in Britain, 1870 to the present day

The word ‘partial’ is used here to reflect both of its meanings: partial can mean part of something larger, it is not complete. Equally, it can mean that one has a liking for something, that it accords with one’s own taste or preferences. We use the term in both of these senses. History is a complex and intricate field of study. To expect comprehensive coverage of any historical topic (and especially to expect it in a short coverage of the topic) is unrealistic. However, a short overview, such as that that we offer here, has the virtue of helping to set a particular historical event, personality or experience into a wider frame of information and so aids understanding.

In addition, we would say that developments we have selected correspond with shifts in education policy that provide further illumination about the ideological debate surrounding education and schooling. Even so, what we provide here is our ‘partial’ overview of the history of education in Britain: it is not the only possible interpretation of the basic facts. (You could, of course, appraise what we say by going back to the original information and read the interpretations of that provided by others. If you are interested to do so, the bibliography may help you do that.)

We are going to concentrate on four main landmark events:

● The Elementary Education Act 1870 (aka the Forster Act), which established the first national system of elementary education (5- to 14-year-olds).

● The Education Act 1944 (aka the Butler Act), which systematised a selective structure of secondary education, with pupils attending either grammar or secondary modern schools post age 11 depending on their results in the competitive 11+ transfer examination.

● The Plowden Report 1967, which returned the focus sharply back from post-11 secondary education and to elementary provision, and on to infant and junior years (ages 5–11) in particular.

● The Education Act 1988, making the final achievement of the neo-conservative education project that really began with the Black Papers in the 1970s. In Britain, this project stemmed from a belief that schools and colleges in particular were generally failing to provide their students with a relevant and robust st...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Brief contents
• Table of Contents
• List of acronyms
• About the authors
• Guided tour
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• PART 1 THE HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION
• PART 2 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION
• PART 3 CONTEMPORARY POLICIES AND DEBATES IN EDUCATION
• PART 4 NEW PERSPECTIVES IN EDUCATION
• Conclusion
• Glossary
• Index