Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Palgrave Macmillan
Book cover

Morality and Citizenship in English Schools

Secular Approaches, 1897–1944

  • Book
  • © 2017

Overview

Authors:
  1. Susannah Wright

    1. School of Education, Oxford Brookes University School of Education, Oxford, United Kingdom

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Winner of the History of Education Society 2020 Kevin Brehony Prize
  • Broadens understanding of the role of secularists in the education of working class children as good citizens.
  • Presents and analyses case studies of pressure groups and individual activists to develop the debates about morality and citizenship.
  • Considers both the national and the international providing a nuanced reflection of the period.

Part of the book series: Histories of the Sacred and Secular, 1700–2000 (HISASE)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Susannah Wright
    Pages 1-16

  3. Religion, Secularism and Education

    • Susannah Wright
    Pages 17-50

  4. Moral Instruction in the Provinces: F.J. Gould in Leicester

    • Susannah Wright
    Pages 51-82

  5. The Moral Instruction League, 1897–1919

    • Susannah Wright
    Pages 83-113

  6. International Dimensions of Moral Education, 1892–1914

    • Susannah Wright
    Pages 115-143

  7. The Positivist World Citizen: F. S. Marvin and F. J. Gould in the League of Nations Union, 1919–1939

    • Susannah Wright
    Pages 145-176

  8. The Faith of the Democrat: The Association for Education in Citizenship, 1934–1944

    • Susannah Wright
    Pages 177-208

  9. Conclusion

    • Susannah Wright
    Pages 209-220

  10. Back Matter

    Pages 221-251
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

This book sheds new light on early twentieth-century secularism by examining campaigns to challenge dominant Christian approaches to the teaching of morality and citizenship in English schools, and to offer superior alternatives. It brings together, for the first time, the activities of different educators and pressure groups, operating locally, nationally and internationally, over a period of 47 years. Who were these activists? What ideological and organisational resources did they draw on? What proposals did they make? And how did others respond to their views? Secularist activists represented a minority, but offered a recurrent challenge to majority views and shaped ongoing educational debates. They achieved some, albeit limited, influence on policy and practice. They were divided among themselves and by 1944 had failed to supplant majority views. But, with the place of religious and secular ideals in schools remaining a subject of debate, this analysis has resonance today. 

Reviews

“Wright presents a meticulously researched series of case-study snapshots into secular approaches to religious and moral education from 1897 until the 1944 Education Act … . Wright’s book thus significantly extends our understanding of how secularism was implicated in the teaching of morality and citizenship before 1944. It is therefore an important addition to the understudied history of religious education.” (Jody Crutchley, History of Education, October 14, 2019)

Authors and Affiliations

  • School of Education, Oxford Brookes University School of Education, Oxford, United Kingdom

    Susannah Wright

About the author

Susannah Wright is Senior Lecturer in Education Studies at Oxford Brookes University, UK. She has published on secularism, morality and citizenship in English schools, and on local case studies of educational and welfare provision. This is her first monograph. She is a co-editor of the journal History of Education.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Morality and Citizenship in English Schools

  • Book Subtitle: Secular Approaches, 1897–1944

  • Authors: Susannah Wright

  • Series Title: Histories of the Sacred and Secular, 1700–2000

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-39944-1

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-39943-4Published: 19 December 2016

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-67994-2Published: 19 December 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-39944-1Published: 08 December 2016

  • Series ISSN: 2946-3351

  • Series E-ISSN: 2946-336X

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XII, 251

  • Topics: History of Britain and Ireland, Cultural History, Political History, Legal History

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation