Pre-figurative practice and the educational leadership of Sir Alec Clegg in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England (1945–1974)

Abstract

Research at York St John (RaY) is an institutional repository. It supports the principles of open access by making the research outputs of the University available in digital form.

‘Back to the future’: Thinking with Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) and Alec Clegg (1909–1986) on the promise of education

“…Clegg occupied the role of West Riding Chief Education Officer from this post-war era until 1974 when the West Riding of Yorkshire was disbanded under local government reorganisation (Wood et al, 2018;2021). At that time the West Riding education authority was 'the third largest education authority in the country -responsible for the education of over one and three quarter million, including by the early 1970s some 333,000 children in primary and secondary schools' (Newsam, 2008, p.109).…”

‘THE PAST NO LONGER CASTS LIGHT UPON THE FUTURE; OUR MINDS ADVANCE IN DARKNESS’1: THE IMPACT AND LEGACY OF SIR ALEC CLEGG’S EDUCATIONAL IDEAS AND PRACTICES IN THE WEST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE (1945-1974)

“…Drawing on archival sources in the special collections held by Leeds University Library, the National Arts Education Archive and the West Yorkshire Archive, Wood, Pennington and Su (2018) have highlighted some of Clegg's key educational ideas and leadership practices during his time as the Chief Education Officer in the West Riding of Yorkshire. They conclude that his vision was informed by a commitment to social justice and a belief in promoting access to educational opportunities to enhance the lives of working class children, enabling the ability and potential of ordinary children from modest and poor circumstances to be realised.…”

Muriel Pyrah: sources and myths from a West Riding of Yorkshire school, 1967–1972

“…In the case of the classroom experiences of pupils being taught by Pyrah, it is not so much that a myth has been constructed in the academic literature but that the interest in publications has centred on the figure of Clegg himself, rather than critically interrogating the work of those individuals, such as Pyrah, who were employed to work with pupils. Wood et al (2018) call for a re-establishing of the kind of supportive partnerships between school and LEA that Clegg oversaw and while their critique of the "undemocratic policy rhetoric" of the now is convincing, it is also crucial that we do not gloss over the more problematic elements of so called "supportive partnerships" such as Pyrah and Clegg were entangled within.…”