Outdoor Education: Its Origins and Institutionalisation in Schools with Particular Reference to the West Riding of Yorkshire Since 1945
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Outdoor Education: Its origins and institutionalisation in schools with particular reference to the West Riding of Yorkshire since 1945 Lynn Cook Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of PhD The University of Leeds School of Education July 2000 The candidate confirms that the work is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I should like to express my thanks to Professor E. W. Jenkins of the School of Education for his supervision throughout the period of study. His comments on the numerous drafts and his constructive suggestions as to the approach and style of the study greatly assisted me in bringing this study to its present form. I am thankful to all the people who gave their time so willingly and helped me in obtaining the necessary information for my study. Finally thanks are due to my husband Sam, my family, friends and colleagues without whose patience and faith in me this study would not have been completed. ABSTRACT This thesis offers an account of the origins and institutionalisation of outdoor education with particular reference to the West Riding of Yorkshire since 1945. It begins by describing what was understood by the term 'outdoor education' in the period from about 1890 to 1944 and relates this to its political, social and educational determinants. It then draws upon this broad, national account to focus attention on the origins and institutionalisation of outdoor education in the West Riding since 1945. Through an account of Bewerley Park, first as a camp school and later as an outdoor pursuits centre, the thesis explores how, under the influence of Alec Clegg, outdoor education was used by the West Riding to mitigate social and economic inequalities. Later, under the influence of Jim Hogan, outdoor education was also used to give substance to the belief that children should be treated equally and on their individual merits. The examples of practice in outdoor education presented in this thesis have, it is argued, been supported by a rhetoric that draws upon four major themes. These are imperialism, the physical well-being of the population, the stemming of moral decline and the narrowing of class and/or gender divisions. It is suggested that these themes might be grouped into two broad categories associated with a rationale that is either principally educational or social. The educational rationale of outdoor education focussed, in the early years of the century, at least, on character training and education for a class-based leadership and was largely associated with education through the physical - mens sana in corpore sano. The social rationale of outdoor education sought to address such matters as poor health, juvenile delinquency, preparedness for armed conflict, economic decline, industrial management and class tensions. The emphasis here was on personal development, co-operation and collaboration, and the exploitation of the potential of outdoor education in promoting social cohesion, if not social control. For the West Riding, there was never any doubt that outdoor education should be used within a programme of personal and social development or that the 'personal' development was for 'social' ends. In the West Riding, this thesis suggests, outdoor education was a means of offering children a set of standards of behaviour and morality which Clegg, and those sympathetic to his views, thought they should acquire for purposes of minimising social disruption. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF FIGURES vi ABBREVIATIONS vii INTRODUCTION 1 References 13 CHAPTER 1 The Early Twentieth Century Background: Imperialism and physical well-being 14 Imperialism and the needs of the British Empire 16 Physical well-being 26 References 38 CHAPTER 2 The Early Twentieth Century Background: Moral decline, social class and gender 43 Moral decline and moral instruction 44 Social class and gender 58 References 68 CHAPTER 3 The 1944 Education Act, outdoor education and the West Riding response 72 The social, political and educational context of the 1944 Education Act 73 The 1944 Education Act and legislation relevant to the provision of outdoor education 78 The West Riding Local Education Authority 89 Alec Clegg - Chief Education Officer to the West Riding 1945-1974 97 References 102 CHAPTER 4 From Policy to Practice - The West Riding's Bewerley Park Camp School 106 Camp Schools and the Camps Acts of 1939 and 1945 109 Bewerley Park Camp School 113 Developments at Bewerley Park in a wider national context 128 References 141 CHAPTER 5 Curriculum Change at Bewerley Park School The transition to an Institution for Outdoor Pursuits 1958 -1965 145 The residential experience of pupils at Bewerley Park 147 Jim Hogan 149 Curriculum change and the introduction of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme at Bewerley Park School 153 Reports relevant to the development of outdoor education 159 Comprehensive education and a redefinition of education for leadership 166 Responses to the growth of interest in outdoor education 170 References 177 V CHAPTER 6 Bewerley Park Outdoor Pursuits Centre - 1965-1974 182 Bewerley Park as a manifestation of the West Riding rationale 183 Mike McEvoy 185 The residential experience of pupils at Bewerley Park Centre 188 Outdoor Activities at Bewerley Park Centre 190 The pupils who attended courses at Bewerley Park and Humphrey Head Centres 200 The teaching staff at Bewerley Park Centre 207 References 212 CHAPTER 7 Bewerley Park Outdoor Pursuits Centre and national developments in outdoor education 215 Interpretations of outdoor education 216 Bewerley Park: an atypical outdoor education centre? 221 The development of outdoor education at a national level 226 The struggle for qualifications 232 The training of teachers in outdoor education 234 Outdoor education in West Riding schools 242 References 247 CHAPTER 8 Outdoor Education at Bewerley Park following Local Government Reorganisation in 1974 251 The 1974 local government reorganisation and Bewerley Park Centre 253 The 1974 local government reorganisation and Buckden House 267 Youth Opportunities Programmes and Youth Training Schemes at Buckden House 269 'Catch 'em Young' at Bewerley Park Centre - Juvenile Delinquency 271 The national context of developments in outdoor education - examinations and personal and social development 280 Outdoor education from 1974 and the rationale established by the West Riding Education Committee and Sir Alec Clegg 286 References 289 CHAPTER 9 Conclusion 294 References 309 BIBLIOGRAPHY 310 APPENDIX 331 vi LIST OF TABLES 3.1 - Chairmen of the West Riding Education Committee 1937-74 90 3.2 - Arrangement of Sub-committees of the Education Committee in the later 1960s 97 4.1 - The number of places allocated to Divisions in the West Riding between 1945 and 1955 120 4.2 - The administrative divisions of the West Riding grouped into three sections 126 6.1 - A typical evening programme at Bewerley Park Centre - 1976 190 6.2 - The programme of a typical 3 week course at Bewerley Park Centre - 1967 191 6.3 - The programme for a 10 day winter course at Bewerley Park Centre - 1970 195 6.4 - The activities on the programme of Humphrey Head Centre - 1967-74 196 6.5 - The activities in order of popularity at Bewerley Park Centre - 1974 198 6.6 - The programme of courses offered at Bewerley Park Centre - 1976 199 6.7 - Numbers of pupils attending some courses at Bewerley Park Centre - 1965-67 201 6.8 - Number of applicants for places on courses at Bewerley Park Centre - Autumn Term 1969 201 6.9 - Comments of pupils following a course at Bewerley Park Centre - 1974 205 7.1 - Activities undertaken by Year Groups at Rossington High School - 1970s 245 8.1 - The financial contribution of each LEA involved in the Consortium 1975/76 256 8.2 - The involvement of LEAs in the Joint-User Agreement and the length of time for which each was involved 259 8.3 - The ages of children attending courses at Bewerley Park Centre in 1976/77 and 1980/81 and the number of days they attended 263 8.4 - The timing of 'Catch 'em Young' courses at Bewerley Park Centre 277 8.5 - A typical 5 day programme for a 'Catch 'ern Young' course 278 8.6 - The assessment grids for practical sections of a Mode III CSE examination syllabus in outdoor pursuits 281 8.7 - The relative emphasis on the aims of outdoor pursuits in outdoor centres according to Mantle - 1978 284 LIST OF FIGURES 0.1 - Map to show the former West Riding boundary and the County boundaries following government reorganisation in 1974 1 3.1 - The Committee structure of the West Riding LEA established in 1945 96 4.1 - The number of places allocated to Divisions in the West Riding - 1945 to 1955 ....121 4.2 - Map to show the administrative divisions of the West Riding grouped into three sections 122 8.1 - Occupations of delegates to the 1975 DES Dartington Conference. 252 8.2 - LEAs involved in the Consortium and the proportion of the budget each paid in relation to the proportion of places each was allocated for 1975/76. 256 8.3 - Charges per day, to pupils at Bewerley Park Centre - 1974 to 1984. 262 8.4 - The ages of children attending courses at Bewerley Park Centre in 1976/77 and 1980/81 264 8.5 - The length of courses at Bewerley Park Centre in 1976/77 and 1980/81 and the numbers attending each 264 8.6 - The number of days allocated to different types of courses at Bewerley Park Centre in 1976/77 265 8.7 - Number of days allocated to different types of courses in 1980/81 265 8.8 - Number of days allocated to different types of courses in 1976/77 and 1980/81 266 vii ABBREVIATIONS B.Ed.