Risinghill School was one of a new type of secondary school, called a 'comprehensive', which opened in Islington, north London, in 1960, under the headship of Michael Duane. He had a cause: a clear view as to the style of school that he wished to create: it was one that was progressive, democratic and inclusive: for him, the true essence of a…

This article examines the career of the educationalist, Conservative politician and published writer on education and politics, Rhodes Boyson (1925-2012). As an educationalist, Boyson established Highbury Grove Boys' Comprehensive School in Islington, North London: An inner-city school which was antithetical to the wave of progressivism in the…

A schoolteacher from Lombardy, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917), founded the Institute of Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC) in 1880. It was one of the 185 female religious institutes established in Italy in the nineteenth century. In the newly unified Italy, Cabrini found opportunities to formulate progressive Catholic…

This article examines the ways in which Gipsy Hill Training College's (GHTC) graduates represented their lives and work in the college magazine, the "Gipsy Trail". The so-called "Wraggle Taggle News" featured snippets from married and single women teachers at every stage of their lives and work in Britain and overseas by the…

Using a transnational framework, this paper focuses on four graduates of Gipsy Hill Training College (GHTC) for nursery school teachers in London, United Kingdom, in the early to mid-twentieth century. Firstly, I explore GHTC's progressive ideals and highlight ways in which its principal, Lillian de Lissa, encouraged students to "think…

Focuses on the history, attributes of, and contributions to education of the former Risinghill (London, England) school in the 1950s and 1960s, and its former headmaster, Michael Duane. Discusses the school's innovative and controversial educational practices of that time period. (KDR)

This article explores the process by which different elements of the material culture of educational settings, including learning tools, classroom design and other aspects of the physical environment that embody a particular educational philosophy, become transmuted when taken over by those with very different pedagogical aims. The article focuses…

In this article an attempt is made to examine the continuing implications of the operation and closure of London's Risinghill school, a co-educational comprehensive extant from 1960 to 1965. It is suggested that Risinghill's controversial headteacher, Michael Duane (1915-1997), was an educational celebrity and folk hero amongst teachers and in…

Explains that Helen Parkhurst's Dalton Laboratory Plan disappeared quickly in many British schools but remained for over 40 years in the King Alfred School in London (England). Explores the development of the Dalton Plan at King Alfred, why this educational innovation thrived at the school, and the causes for its disappearance. (CMK)