The Social World of the School: Education and Community in Interwar London - Hardcover

by Hester Barron (Author)

This book shows why the study of schooling matters to the history of twentieth-century Britain, integrating the history of education within the wider concerns of modern social history. Drawing on a rich array of archival and autobiographical sources, it captures in vivid detail the individual moments that made up the minutiae of classroom life. It focuses on elementary education in interwar London, arguing that schools were grounded in their local communities as lynchpins of social life and drivers of change. Exploring crucial questions around identity and belonging, poverty and aspiration, class and culture, behaviour and citizenship, it provides vital context for twenty-first century debates about education and society, showing how the same concerns were framed a century ago.

Back Jacket

What were schools for, why did they matter and what do they tell us about society? In this compelling account, the lived experience of the classroom illuminates the social history of interwar Britain. Drawing on a rich array of archival and autobiographical sources, it captures the individual moments that made up the minutiae of classroom life. Focusing on elementary schools in London - where global, imperial, and national identities competed with local and family interests - it creates a mosaic of the educational experience across the capital between the wars.

Author Biography

Hester Barron is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Sussex