The Road to 1944

The Road to 1944 - the history of the development of education in south and south west Wales in the lead up to the wartime Education Act, and its implementation in the years that followed. Mary-Lyn Patricia Jones, (MPhil, M.A., B. Ed). Director of Studies: Dr Jeremy Smith, Second Supervisor: Professor Stephen Parker, Advisor: Dr Andrew Reynolds. Submitted to the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in partial fulfilment for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. University of Wales Trinity Saint David 2016 Abstract This thesis is principally concerned with the period between the two Education Acts of 1918 and 1944 and as such, builds on and contributes to the history of education in Wales. Although a number of studies1 have examined aspects of Welsh education there has not been a strong focus on its development during the interwar years. This particular period is generally regarded as one ”untouched by significant research.”2 In spite of this neglect, it was an extremely interesting period, and one when the service was faced with grave difficulties: austerity during the depression years, and severe disruption caused by evacuation during the Second World War. The period culminates with the serious negotiations which preluded the Education Act 1944, which was the only major piece of social legislation to be pass onto the statute books during the war years.3 The study is set against overarching national education legislation and considers how this affected implementation in south and south west Wales. The research differs from previous studies in that it focuses on a neglected period in the history of education in Wales. It identifies and documents the way in which two major sources of influences: politics and religion shaped the society which predisposed education provision in south and south west Wales to be modified in specific ways. It draws strongly on the work of Welsh historians to assess the effect of non-conformity in Wales and how society became radicalised after the publication of the Blue Books in 1847. It explores the part that the non-provided sector had in delaying education change and also identifies the considerable differences that developed between education in England and Wales, caused partly by the Welsh Intermediate Education Act of 1889 and partly by the attitudes and influences of Welsh politicians at all levels. 1 Evans, L. W., Studies in Welsh Education: Welsh Educational Structure and Administration 1880 – 1925 (UWP: Cardiff, 1974). Jones, G. E., Controls and Conflicts in Welsh Secondary Education 1889-1994 (UWP: Cardiff, 1982). 2 B. Simon, ‘The History of Education in the 1980s.’ British Journal of Educational Studies, 1982. p. 87 3 C. Chitty, Education Policy in Britain, 2nd Edition (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.) p. 18. See also http://www.legislation.gov.uk/1944 which indicates that ten Acts passed into legislation during 1944. The majority of these were related to the ongoing conflict. For example: Police and Firemen (War Service) Act 1944 (repealed). Table of Contents. Page Chapter 1 – Introduction 1 Chapter 2 – Setting the Scene 33 Chapter 3 – Education in England and Wales 1918-1939 55 Chapter 4 – Evacuation 97 Chapter 5 – Reconstruction 133 Chapter 6 – Implementation 174 Chapter 7 – Conclusions 214 Bibliography 228 Appendices 255 Appendix 1 – Local authorities in south and south west Wales Appendix 2 - Evacuated schools in south and south west Wales List of Abbreviations AAW Archdiocesan Archives Westminster BRL Library of Birmingham BodL Bodleian Library CinWA Church in Wales Archive CofERC Church of England Record Centre CAS Carmarthen Archive Service CCL City of Cardiff Library IWM Imperial War Museum GA Glamorgan Archives KHLC Kent History and Library Centre LMA London Metropolitan Archives LRL Llanelly Reference Library NA National Archives NLW National Library of Wales PHM People’s History Museum TRL Treorchy Reference Library WGAS West Glamorgan Archive Service Chapter 1 - Introduction “The duty of the historian of education is to rescue from oblivion those whose voices have not yet been heard and whose stories have not yet been told.”1 This thesis is about education legislation and policy in England and Wales during the first half of the twentieth century. It will set out the social, political and religious dynamics which influenced legislation and the way this was implemented in south and south west Wales. This research will have a specific focus upon the development of elementary and secondary education from the Education Act 1918 until after the planning for the implementation of the Education Act 1944. Other aspects of education such as the curriculum, pedagogy, gender issues or Welsh education will not feature prominently unless these matters occur incidentally during the research. All are worthy of a detailed examination beyond the scope of this study. Despite the importance of this period in terms of education development, it has previously been subject to limited academic research. The implications of the Consultative Committee of the Board of Education Reports2 and the effects that the economic circumstances, together, had on education in England and Wales have been largely ignored. Similarly, the historiography of Welsh education during the period fails to provide any in-depth study of the cause and effect of the pivotal influences of religion and politics on development,3 and the most important investigation of education during the interwar years makes only passing references to Wales.4 This thesis will attempt to rectify this by drawing together the threads of education legislation, political, religious, and socio-economic influences and offer an interpretation of how these impacted on the development of educational policy in south and south west Wales. It will examine the complex interplay between the Board of Education and the local authorities and how this was affected by extrinsic factors, particularly by religious attitudes and the economics of the period which proved fundamental to the ongoing development of the service. The research will also investigate how the education philosophy of the two main political parties: 1 R. Aldrich. Lessons from History of Education: The Selected Works of Richard Aldrich (Routledge: London, 2005), p. 18. 2 Under the Board of Education Act 1899, a Consultative Committee was set up to advise “on any matter that may be referred to it by the Committee of the Board.” Board of Education Act 1899 Para 4. 3 See for example G.E. Jones and G. W. Roderick, A History of Education in Wales (UWP: Cardiff, 2003). 4 B. Simon, The Politics of Educational Reform 1920-1940 (Lawrence and Wishart: London, 1974). 1 Conservative and Labour, influenced the decisions made about the direction and purpose of education during the period. These were fundamentally significant to the way education progressed and led directly to the subsequent changes made by many Local Education Authorities5 immediately after the Education Act 1944. The history of education for the period appears to put forward a supposition that very little happened, but this study will suggest that this is something of an unfounded conclusion. It soon becomes apparent from research that it was a period of tension with intricate manoeuvrings on the part of the Government and the Board of Education to covertly manipulate education provision at a local level. The thesis is divided into historical periods associated both with educational legislation and the social, economic and political events with influenced the development of education. Its main aim will be to link the key national developments with those at local level in south and south west Wales. This geographic area includes the two counties of Carmarthenshire and Glamorgan; the nine Part III local authorities within their boundaries and the three county boroughs of Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil and Swansea.6 Although these local authorities were closely clustered they were diverse: economically, socially and politically and this led to fundamental differences in the way education legislation and recommendations were interpreted. The scrutiny of primary sources of these local authorities will provide the basis for an empirical examination of development. This will include an overview of the political and financial pressures on reform, and the way in which the Board of Education attempted to coerce LEAs into implementing legislation through the recommendations of the Consultative Committee of the Board of Education,7 and a series of non-statutory instructions.8 It will also scrutinise the actions taken by the some authorities in their attempts to implement legislation and the substantial barriers to educational change that they encountered. This thesis will depend almost entirely on primary research for its outcomes and the lack of secondary sources is more than compensated for by the vast amount of primary archival material at all levels. Those at local level reflect the pressures 5 From now on abbreviated to LEA. This term should not be confused with the way that the term ‘local authority’ is used in this research to the term ‘local authority’, This latter provided wider services, for example, housing and billeting. 6 See Appendix 1. 7 Particularly the Report of the Consultative Committee on The Education of the Adolescent (HMSO: 1927). 8 Through a series of instructions delivered in circular for example: NA ED 22/180, Circular 1397. Raising of school leaving age and NA ED 110, Secondary Education Fees and Special Places, and LEA Files 2 for change at national level and their wide variety adds interest and variation. The findings of this research will add considerably to the very limited level of knowledge and understanding of the history of education during the period at a national, and most importantly at a local level. It will offer an insight into a number of aspects of educational change, particularly the ongoing battle between the Welsh LEAs and Government for devolution of education, and the subtle politically religious undercurrents which were so influential during the period from 1918 until 1950.

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