Category Archives: History of Education
If childhood is an invention, how did children once grow up?
‘Education’ stands for blackboards and computers, school benches and sculleries, china dolls or rag dolls, pies and puddings and a roast goose or bowls of pallid porridge. At the Institute of Education, beyond schooling, studying, and training, ‘Education’ encompasses bringing … Continue reading
The ‘gloomy sky’ and the ‘ruddy glow’ of Dickens’ London
“It was a Sunday evening in London, gloomy, close and stale… Nothing to see but streets, streets, streets. Nothing to breathe but streets, streets, streets.” A ‘Dickensian’ world has become a figure of speech, evoking grim workhouses and haunted graveyards, frosty … Continue reading
Posted in History of Education
Tagged Charles Dickens, child labour, childhood, Christmas, exhibitions, fiction, London, museums, novels, orphans, poverty, social history, Victorians
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How wooden bricks can build a world : the Play Well exhibition at the Wellcome Gallery
Little wooden cubes and balls, plain and smooth, tiny wooden squares and triangles, painted in primary colours, all elevated to the status of exhibits in glass cases. Contemporary art perhaps? Much better. The next case shows a wooden model of … Continue reading
Posted in History of Education
Tagged dolls, exhibitions, Froebel, gender roles, history of education, outdoor learning, play, Reggio Emilia, toy bricks, toys
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“Liberty, Fraternity, Labour” : histories of adult education in Germany
What we take for granted today had to be gained in tiny steps, had to be fought for in endless campaigns: learning to read; having something to read; learning to write; being free to write what you think; learning to … Continue reading
An eminent female academic at the IOE: Clotilde von Wyss (1871-1938)
I have been doing some research on some women teacher trainers at the IOE in order to understand their contribution to pedagogical practice in London during the interwar years. One of the teacher trainers I have been most intrigued with … Continue reading
Spotlight on the NUT Donation: ‘The New Importance of Adult Education’: Sir Fred Clarke
Last winter we received a wonderful donation from the National Union of Teachers (NUT), which included 380 pamphlet boxes containing material published by the NUT itself and many other organisations operating in the areas of education, children and families. Over … Continue reading
‘Excavations’ in the IOE’s School Histories Collection
The Newsam Library at the Institute of Education has a large collection of education institutional histories. These form a discrete collection and provide a rich source of information on individual schools, colleges and universities and their communities across Britain. The … Continue reading
“Whip top! Whip top!”: play throughout the seasons… and times
How would you find out about games and toys in former times? Are there instructions for families on how to make a spinning top or a rag doll? Are there essays on the origin of obscure nursery rhymes? And were … Continue reading
Of ‘Guns at Bull Run’ and ‘Good wives’ : children’s worlds in the past
My favourite book, when I was little, was my mother’s illustrated description of Technological masterpieces of millennia past. My father would buy us whole series of colourful children’s books on animals in habitats all around the world. All my childhood, I … Continue reading
Learning outdoors and open-air schools
I am writing this on a beautiful sunny day with the temperature is forecast to rise to 17 degrees. I can’t help but think there will be a lot of outdoor learning taking place in schools throughout the country. … Continue reading
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