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This paper examines the continuity and changes in Clarke’s ideas about the State and community in education, especially in relation to a rapidly changing political situation in England in the 1930s and 1940s. His ideas evolved in the intellectual context of British idealism. Moreover, in response to the threat to democracy arising from Fascism or Totalitarianism, the distinction between the State and community was a key theme in Clarke’s ideals of liberal democracy. Additionally, this paper also proposes the implications of Clarke’s ideas for future educational development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the emergence of schools ‘micro-computing’ in the UK between 1977 and 1984 – a period of significant educational, technological and political change. During this time, computing developed rapidly from a niche activity in a few select schools to the state subsidized purchasing of a ‘computer in every school’ and the nationwide promotion of computers as a feature of curriculum and pedagogy. Through a series of in-depth retrospective interviews with key policy actors (n=20) this paper develops a detailed ‘policy historiography’ of this period - shedding light on the complex power relations and interests that underpinned these developments. In particular, the paper highlights the origins of these policy interventions in earlier activities, and examines the negotiations and conflicts between and within the two government departments involved in the mass introduction of computing into the UK school system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper establishes and explains the important role of the Conservative Government of 1959–1964 in supporting the raising of the school leaving age in Britain from the age of 15 to 16. This was a significant and high-profile national issue that generated much educational, social and political debate around conflicting priorities during this period, and was emphasized in both the Crowther Report of 1959 and the Newsom Report of 1963. The Treasury was strongly opposed to the proposal due to its high financial cost. There was a large element of electoral opportunism involved in the Conservative Government’s approval of raising the school leaving age (ROSLA), announced in January 1964, but it also highlighted deeper complexities and reservations in Conservative attitudes to ROSLA as well as a long-term ambition to consolidate education as a Conservative issue. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It is common in the literature to refer to British colonial education policy as if it were 'a settled course adopted and purposefully carried into action', but in reality it was never like that. Contrary to popular belief, the size and diversity of the empire meant that no one really ruled it in any direct sense. Clearly some kind of authority had to be exercised from London but as Arthur Mayhew said of education policy in the Colonial Empire in 1938: 'No Secretary of State for the Colonies ... [is] anxious to adopt too definite a policy. He will be content with a few assumptions and a statement of general principles. And he will not be surprised if these principles in their local application are adapted with the utmost elasticity to local conditions.' In the absence of any strong direction from the centre, this paper examines the factors that shaped twentieth century education policy in the 47 crown colonies, protectorates and mandates under the aegis of the Colonial Office in Whitehall. They included the all-important attitudes of the governor and his senior administrative officers towards education; the status of the director of education; the influence of the Christian missions both in London and in the colonies; denominational rivalry; long-standing British educational traditions based on social class; the state of the local economy; the attitudes of the European settlers; the advice and status of the London-based Advisory Committee on Education in the Colonies; the influence of the Secretary of State for the Colonies on the government of the day; the attitudes of key senior Colonial Office officials towards education; indigenous pressure groups; special reports and recommendations; war; national rivalry; the so-called Cold War; post-war constitutional changes, and the pressure of world opinion as reflected in the League of Nations after 1918 and the United Nations after 1945. Clearly there was great diversity in the ways in which education was developed from one territory to another but only detailed case studies can generate the data for broader and more historically accurate hypotheses about the development of British colonial education as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]