Blog 7 The end of an era. Education changes direction.

The period around the end of the second World War marked a change in education as far as the working class was concerned. In our discussions so far we have considered education as a single aspect. The change came with a widening of issues connected with education. A significant feature was the Report of the Committee on Public Schools appointed by the President of the Board of Education. The Fleming Report ⁱ . We have not considered Public Schools so far in our discussions. Rightly termed Private Schools, these along with the Universities were the means that the Senior Ruling Class educated, trained their successor and maintain the dominant culture which pervaded society. These were the young people who would take the leading positions in society, in Government, in the Courts of Law, in the Administration and Foreign Services and in the Professions. In this way they maintained their control over society. The Commission came about as a result of their request for such a commission. No major changes came about as a result of the Commission. This request does indicate that the Senior Ruling Class were aware that significant changes were coming about.

The McNair Report ⁱⁱ rejected the view, expressed by those arguing for University Schools of Education, that there is a distinction between Training and Education. They defined training to be that part of the education of a student which emphasises that he is preparing himself for a particular profession. The studies that reveal that he is to be a teacher rather than an engineer; or that he is to be an engineer rather than a teacher. The argument was about whether there should be University schools of education responsible for all students who were seeking to be recognised as qualified teachers, or should there be a joint board under which the University Training Departments and the Training Colleges retained their own identities. The Report called for reciprocality between the two systems to provide a unified service. Another report ⁱⁱⁱ , the Percy Report, called for the development of higher technological education. Lord Percy stated that the granting of degrees was a distinguishing mark of Universities. This in relation to the formation of newer bodies providing for higher education, thus reflecting the type of arguments being made around the education and training of teachers.

The 1944 Education Act ^iv introduced important provisions. The Minister of Education was to be responsible for the education of the people of England and Wales. Local Education Committees were required to carry out their duties under his control and direction. There was to be a three stage process of continuous education with primary, secondary and further education. Local Education Authorities (LEAs) were to be responsible also for nursery and special schools. Tuition fees at maintained schools were forbidden and arrangement were made for Church schools. The leaving age was set at 15, to be raised later, when circumstances warranted it, to 16. Also referred to the future was the provision of part time education to 18. The Burnham committee, which fixed teachers salaries became statutory. A duty was laid upon LEAs to contribute to the spiritual, moral and physical development of the community by ensuring the availability of efficient education throughout these stages to meet these needs. Consideration was given to parents in that they had the right to decide their children should not attend at religious requirements, but they were given the duty of ensuring that every child of compulsory school age should receive an education appropriate to his/her age, ability and aptitude by regular attendance at the school according to the wishes of the parent.

In our review of Educational Documents from 1816 until 1944, we have seen a gradual development as regards the education of the working Class. Initially little regard was given to the needs of the children of the working class to receive education. Where a need was recognised it was in terms of the behavior and moral attitude of these young people. The education that was proposed was in order to benefit society by removing a source of irritation or worse. We have seen that, over the years, this changed as the champions of industry realised that there was a need, within industry, for a better educated workforce. Again, the basis for educating the working class was the needs of industry. This applied at all levels within industry, managers, foremen and workers. Whilst the Ruling Class, with its Public Schools and Grammar Schools leading to its Universities, made provision for their own cultural development, little was done regarding the cultural development of the whole community. This does not mean that the working class was without culture. They had there own culture which was often denigrated and despised by the ruling class but was in fact of much greater social value for the communities it served than was true of the ruling class culture, based as it was on the competitive demands of the economic system.

As implied by the title of this blog, change was coming. Education was beginning to widen out covering more aspects. As stated at the start of my blogs, I am interested in ‘The purpose of Education’ and the question of ‘Why do we teach?’, especially in reference to the working class. I am also interested in these matters in terms of education as it exists today. However, to fully investigate the present, we need to follow through to see how education has developed. In future blogs we will see that education has been a bit of a football knocked too and fro as competing ideologies have sought to fashion education according to their beliefs. At the centre of my thinking is the belief that all our young people deserve respect and have the right to be able to develop their own personalities, abilities and aptitudes to the full. Education is about developing the individual not fitting them for a role in an economic system. We will examine to what extent that has been a consideration in Education Policy in the periods following the end of World war Two.

Scribart 6.4.2020

iReport of the Committee on Public Schools appointed by the President of the Board of Education (Fleming Report) 1944 in Maclure Educational Documents p 210 - 215

iiReport of a committee appointed by the President of the Board of Education to consider the Supply, Recruitment and Training of Teachers and Youth Leader (McNair Report) in 1944 Maclure p 216 – 221

iiiReport of the Special Committee on Higher Technological Education appointed by the Minister of Education (The Percy Report) 1945 in Maclure p 226 - 229

ivEducation Act 1944 in Maclure p 222 - 225