What developments were

made in education?
Lesson 18
A Sixties Social Revolution? British Society, 1959-1975

LO: To analyse the steps

taken toward greater
inclusion in education

illustrate the main developments in Education during the

1960s

appreciate connections between education, class, aspirations

and achievement

understand the reasons for and impact of change in education

How to take effective Effective note
taking is an
important skill that
notes many college
students have not
mastered. Here are
 Listen carefully to the start. A lot of some tips for how
information is given quite quickly- just jot to listen actively
down key words and take accurate
notes.
 Decipher the outline by listening for:
− A topic for each part- break it up into
sections
 To make sure that you get everything, get in
the habit of skipping words like "the" and "a"
and make use of shorthand and abbreviations.

 Summarize your notes in your own words.

Remember: your goal is to understand, not to
try to record exactly everything said.

 Jot down details or examples that support the

main ideas.. Indicate examples with "e.g."
 10

How to take effective notes

Education

Harold, Ted and Jim, 1964 - 1979

The events of 1964 to 1979 are chronicled in Harold, Ted and Jim: When the
Modern Failed which describes the British desire for technology and advancement
that was bogged down in a Wilson government beset with industrial conflict and
decline.
 How to take effective
notes
Grimsby MP
“Future of Socialism” Coincided with move to child-centred teaching
Star- glamorous Rows of desks replaced
Attacked public schools Different ability in same room - chaos and
boredom
Education secretary
Grammar declined, creativity advanced
Controversial
Informality replaces discipline
Wife’s book: “If it’s the last thing I do..”
Hostility to trendy teaching

By 1965 division into 3 groups discredited

secondary moderns= second rate
Open University- Jennie Lee- Bevan’s widow
Technical schools forgotten about
Opportunity for those who missed chance
Sense of rejection and failure as a result of selection
TV, post to be used
People were in the wrong schools
Ranked in top 5
Division by geography
Helped 600,000 people
When C took over reform underway
C hastened destruction by use of money for new build
 5

What were the

problems with
the old system?

“The destruction of the selective state schools of

England merely drove more of the middle class to the
private sector, thus improving the prospects and profits
of the fee- charging public schools that Labour’s radicals
so despised. Other parents who could afford it bought a
home in a ‘good’ school district, leaving the children of
the poor at the mercy of the weakest schools and the
worst teachers and with a much reduced prospect of
Why was the new
upward educational mobility. The ‘comprehensivisation’ of comprehensive
British secondary education was the most socially
retrograde piece of legislation in post-war Britain.” system
Tony Judt, Post-war: A History of Europe Since 1945,
2007 criticised?
 20
Activity Anthony Crosland (1918 - 1977) was a Labour MP and socialist theorist. He
Create a fact file in your occupied the cabinet positions of Secretary of State for Education and Science,
notes on Anthony Crosland and Foreign Secretary. He grew up in North London and was educated at Highgate
School, and Trinity College, Oxford. He served as a paratrooper in Europe during
WW2, reaching the rank of captain. After the war, Crosland returned to Oxford;
became President of the Oxford Union; and then tutored Economics to among
others, Tony Benn.

He entered Parliament in 1950, as MP for South Gloucestershire. He held that

seat until 1955, when he was defeated. Losing his seat turned out to be a blessing
in disguise, as it allowed him to write the book The Future of Socialism, in which
he outlined the need for traditional socialism to adapt to modern circumstances.
Crosland returned to the House of Commons at the 1959 general election when he
was elected for the Great Grimsby constituency, which he would represent for
the rest of his life. He was a friend and protegé of Hugh Gaitskell and together
they were regarded as the "modernisers" of their day.

Crosland nominated, and voted for James Callaghan in the leadership contest
caused by Gaitskell's death on 18 January 1963. He rationalised his decision to
back Callaghan on the basis that "We have to choose between a crook (Harold
Wilson) and a drunk (George Brown)".

Although critical of Wilson, Crosland respected him as a political operator. In

Name:
1965 Wilson appointed him as Secretary of State for Education and Science. The
Background: ongoing campaign for comprehensive education in England and Wales gained a
Education: major boost with Circular 10/65, which as a statute rather than a Government Bill
was controversial at the time, although a government motion in favour of the
policy had been passed in January 1965.
Positions:

Crosland was seen as a leader of the right wing of the party in the 1970s. In 1972
Stood for: he stood for the deputy leadership after Roy Jenkins resigned, but was
eliminated in the first round. He contested the leadership in 1976 following
Wilson's resignation, but finished bottom of the poll. After his elimination, he
Achievements:
supported James Callaghan, who duly rewarded Crosland by appointing him Foreign
Secretary.
10
 5

What was
the OU?

What was
it for?
Going Comprehensive Expansion of
Higher education

Use the textbook, your

notes from Marr and any
Wideningyou can
other information
find to complete a chart
Opportunities in
of key information on
Education
widening opportunities in
Education.

Inauguration of
the OU
The “Two Cultures” debate was influential in persuading the government
that an expansion of higher education was required to improve scientific
knowledge and push forward the government’s modernisation agenda

“A good many times I have been present at gatherings

of people who are thought highly educated and once
or twice I have been provoked, and have asked the
company how many of them could describe the second
law of thermodynamics. The response was always cold:
it was also negative. Yet I was asking something which
is the scientific equivalent of: ‘Have you read a work
by Shakespeare?’

I now believe that if I had asked an even simpler

question, such as, ‘What do you mean by mass?’, or
‘acceleration’, which is the scientific equivalent of
saying, ‘Can you read?’ – not more than one in ten of
the highly educated would have felt that I was
speaking the same language. The majority of the
cleverest people in the western world have about as
much insight into modern physics as their neolithic
ancestors would have had.” C.P. Snow, The Two Cultures
 Going Comprehensive Expansion of
Higher education
What was the Butler Act 1944? What was the Robbins Report?

What were the problems with the old system? What did it recommend?

How would Comprehensive schools be How was this influenced by the “Two Cultures” debate?
different?

Examples of some of the new

universities created
What was Circular 10/65?

How does this link to the Plowden Results of the Robbins Report
Report? Widening
Opportunities in How did the number of students in
What criticisms were there of
the new system? Education higher education increase?

What was the purpose of the OU?

How did it work? Why was it important to Wilson?

Describe contemporary attitudes/

Who led the project? scepticism
What are its achievements?

Inauguration of
the OU
Going Comprehensive Expansion of 30
Higher education
Make separate notes
in different colours to
show the reasons for
and the results of the
changes that you
describe? Emphasise
the impact of the
change on equality and
its limitations.

Widening
Opportunities in
Education

Inauguration of
the OU
 10

Talking Points

• Were the educational changes of the

1960s and early 1970s a success?
• How was the reality of change different
from the theory?
• How are education and class linked?
• What is the link between education,
aspirations and achievement?
• What changes have there been between
then and now?
 The Snow-Leavis Controversy

The Two Cultures is the title of an influential 1959 Rede Lecture

by British scientist and novelist C. P. Snow. Its thesis was that
the breakdown of communication between the "two cultures" of
modern society — the sciences and the humanities — was a major
hindrance to solving the world's problems.

1. Do you think Snow was right about the two cultures?

2. What do you think was Wilson’s attitude to the debate?
3. What impact did this have on government policy?
4. Do you think such a divide still exists today?
 The Snow-Leavis Controversy

“A good many times I have been present at gatherings Although heavily

of people who are thought highly educated and once criticised by F.R. Leavis
or twice I have been provoked, and have asked the
in the Spectator, who
company how many of them could describe the second
law of thermodynamics. The response was always cold: dismissed Snow as ‘a
it was also negative. Yet I was asking something which public relations man’ for
is the scientific equivalent of: ‘Have you read a work the scientific
by Shakespeare?’ establishment, his work
was nevertheless very
I now believe that if I had asked an even simpler
question, such as, ‘What do you mean by mass?’, or
influential at the time of
‘acceleration’, which is the scientific equivalent of Wilson’s government
saying, ‘Can you read?’ – not more than one in ten of when science was seen
the highly educated would have felt that I was as essential for the
speaking the same language. The majority of the future.
cleverest people in the western world have about as
much insight into modern physics as their neolithic
ancestors would have had.” C.P. Snow, The Two Cultures