The emergence and development of maintained secondary education in ealing1902-1944

Abstract

The thesis attempts to explain the emergence of maintained secondary education in Ealing by 1913 and to describe the subsequent development of the maintained secondary schools up to 1944. These developments are set within the context of the community which formed the borough and of the county of Middlesex. They are related to contemporary educational ideas and practices. Contributory demographic, social and political influences on the development of maintained secondary education in Ealing are identified and an assessment of the roles of influential personalities is undertaken. Some appraisal of the success or otherwise of Middlesex and Ealing policy and of the place of this policy within the national framework is offered. An effort has been made to portray adequately the educational experiences of boys and girls at the Ealing County Secondary Schools in the period 1913-1944.The possibility of a thesis first arose with the acquisition of notebooks and documents belonging to the late Mr. E.P.H. Pugh. These were kindly lent by Mrs. Pugh. The notebooks contain copies of documents relating to many aspects of Ealing's history including some relevant to education. The documents in the collection include some annual reports of the Ealing Educational Association and the Ealing Education Committee together with letters and papers concerned with discussions prior to the implementation of the 1944 Education Act in the borough. As such the collection has been a useful springboard from which to launch a study of secondary education in Ealing between 1902 and 1944.other local primary sources consulted are to be found in the Ealing Reference Library and the Greater London Records Office and History Library. They include newspapers, the minutes of various education, borough and county committees, head teachers’ reports, the reports of H,M. school inspectors and the texts of various addresses and lectures given during the period by the personalities involved. National primary sources consulted are to be found in the Public Records Office. Attempts were made to contact former pupils and teachers who worked in the Ealing County Schools between 1913 and 194.4,. Those who contributed are listed in the bibliography.