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The Workers' Educational Association and the Pursuit of Oxford Idealism

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The Workers' Educational Association and the Pursuit of Oxford Idealism The Workers’ Educational Association and the Pursuit of Oxford Idealism, 1909-1949 Chih-Hao Lee Jesus College Faculty of History University of Cambridge This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. November 2018 Abstract – The Workers’ Educational Association and the Pursuit of Oxford Idealism, 1909-1949 Chih-Hao Lee This study examines the practical application of Oxford Idealism to education reform and the adult education movement. According to Idealist philosophy, enlightened and active citizenship was the cornerstone of a participatory democracy. This thesis thus explores how Oxford Idealists used the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) to pursue the aim of cultivating good citizenship and forming a common purpose for the future society they wished to see emerging. The WEA, founded in 1903, embodied the Idealist vision by promoting its two-fold practices: first, it organised university tutorial classes to foster mutual learning and fellowship between intellectuals and workers; second, it campaigned for a state-funded ‘educational highway’, from nursery to university, so that every citizen would have the opportunity to receive the kind of liberal education which had hitherto been limited to upper and middle classes. By exploring the development of the dual initiative, this thesis examines the achievement and limitations of the Idealist project. In particular, it investigates whether and how this pursuit, in the long run, contributed to the rise of professionalism, a trend which has been ascribed to the efforts of Idealists but which in many ways contradicted the ideal of participatory democracy. In so doing, this thesis explains why the influence of Oxford Idealism—this highly moralistic philosophy which inspired a generation of intellectuals and politicians and lent a distinctive flavour to British public policy at the beginning of the twentieth century—gradually ebbed in the public domain. ii Preface This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other university or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It does not exceed the prescribed word limit for the relevant Degree Committee. iii Acknowledgements My primary debt is to my supervisor, Prof. Eugenio Biagini. His suggestion to situate the practice of the WEA within the general context of the rise of professionalism proves wise and invaluable. Along with his careful and patient guidance, he offered every possible help with my thesis no less than with my life in Cambridge. I am really grateful to him for being a constant and supportive presence for me and for always having full confidence in me. I deeply thank Prof. Alastair Reid for generously lending his support to this project, including offering me boxes of books from his study, which substantially facilitated my work. His reflections on his own intellectual journey, and especially on his indebtedness to Scottish and Chinese traditions, helped me to consider the purpose of my research from a wider perspective. I wish to express my gratitude to my two examiners, Prof. Jon Lawrence and Prof. Ben Jackson, for their rigorous criticisms and sympathetic comments. Their recognition is truly important to me. It is my privilege to have received much useful advice and positive encouragement at different stages of this project. I would like to acknowledge the assistance of Peter Clarke, Mark Freeman, Josh Gibson, Lawrence Goldman, Ben Griffin, Ke-chin Hsia, Richard Johnson, Emily Jones, Stephen Leach, Peter Mandler, John Marshall, Jon Parry, Colin Rochester, Tim Rogan, Marcella Sutcliffe, Gill Sutherland, Pat Thane, Deborah Thom, Geraint Thomas, Colin Tyler, Fei-Hsien Wang, Rong Wu, Chong Zhang, and Meta Zimmeck. I am grateful to the convenors and members of the Modern British History Seminar at Cambridge, the Voluntary Action History Seminar at the IHR, and the ICHRE Seminar at the UCL Institute of Education, for providing me with opportunities to present draft Chapters One, Four, and Five of this thesis. My thanks also go to the Taiwanese Government for granting me a study abroad scholarship, to the Cambridge History Faculty for awarding me a Stanley Baldwin Studentship, and to Jesus College, Cambridge for both financial and non-financial support, all of which made possible my studies in the UK. iv This thesis would not be what it is now without the company, help, and encouraging words of Julian Sommerschuh. It was out of our exchanges of ideas, observations, joys and pains (and table tennis shots) that this thesis took shape. I especially thank him for carefully proofreading every chapter of this thesis, in many cases, more than once. Of course, in recording my thanks to him, all errors and mistakes are mine. My deepest debt of gratitude is to my family. I greatly appreciate the affection and tolerance of my wife, Ming-Fang, during the lengthy process of writing this thesis. It proves a big challenge for a young couple to live in a foreign country. For all the efforts she made to build up a warm and lovely haven for us, I am very grateful. Her emotional and intellectual help was essential to the completion of this journey. I thank my parents for their unconditional support and care. They offered me financial assistance without any hesitation. It is my great fortune that both of them pursue careers in education and therefore have professional insights about the practice of the WEA. I wish to thank them for being willing to read my drafts and share with me their thoughts and practical knowledge. This thesis is dedicated to my four late grandparents. After all, my interest in history grows out of the life stories they movingly told me. v Contents Abbreviations ............................................................................................................... 5 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 7 The Workers’ Educational Association and the Practice of Oxford Idealism. .................. 7 Idealism and the Professionalisation of English Society. .............................................. 14 Idealism, Professionalism and the Rise and Fall of the WEA. ........................................ 20 Synopsis and Sources. .................................................................................................. 23 PART I Idealism and the Advance of the WEA Movement, 1908-18. ........................ 26 Chapter One Idealism, Professionalism and the Origins of the WEA. ......................... 27 1-1 Oxford Idealism and the Founding of the WEA: University Liberal Education and Enlightened Citizenship. ......................................................................................... 28 1-2 Two Visions of a ‘National University’: Democracy and Professionalism. ............... 37 1-3 The Oxford Report and the Creation of University Tutorial Classes: A Synthesis of Idealism and Professionalism? ............................................................................... 46 Conclusion. .................................................................................................................. 56 Chapter Two Idealism in Full Swing: Tutorial Classes, Education Reform and the Pursuit of ‘a Common Ideal’, 1909-18. ........................................................................ 57 2-1 Creating a ‘Workers’ University’: the ‘Heroic Age’ of WEA Tutorial Class. .............. 58 2-2 The First World War and the Formation of a WEA Scheme of Education Reform: Liberal Education for All. ........................................................................................ 67 2-3 Idealism and Its Discontents: University, State, and Workers. ............................... 77 Conclusion. ................................................................................................................. 93 PART II The Professionalisation and Democratisation of the WEA Tutorial Programme, 1919-39. ......................................................................................................... 95 Chapter Three ‘The WEA at the Cross Roads’: Institutionalisation and the Question of ‘Workers’ Control’, c. 1919-26. ........................................................................ 98 3-1 Framing the Movement: The 1919 Report, Extra-mural Departments, and the Adult Education Regulations of 1924. ............................................................................. 99 3-2 The Pursuit of ‘Workers’ Control’ over WEA Education. ...................................... 111 Conclusion. ............................................................................................................... 121 Chapter Four Debating the Aims and Methods of the Tutorial Class, 1919-39. ........123 4-1 The Objective Method: Distinguishing Education from Propaganda. ................... 125 4-2 From Critical Thinking to Detachment:
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