W. McCann – författare

This two-volume study of progressive education covers the period between 1750 and 1967. The first thoroughly comprehensive general survey of progressive education in England, it is a work of scholarship unequalled since its original publication in 1967. At this time of continual upheaval in educational practice, the work shows educational innovations not to be just a modern phenomenon but one with historical roots going back to the eighteenth century. The first volume traces the many currents of thought on education during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Examining the state of education in the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution, the volume takes into account the social and economic changes of the nineteenth century and looks at the role of the school as agent of historical reform. As well as documenting the writings of theorists, teachers, social reformers, philanthropists and continental educational thinkers, the study deals with the contributions made by a number of British pioneers and innovative educational institutions which hitherto had not received full recognition. Volume two reviews three waves of progressive schools, from pre World War I up to the outbreak of World War II, before following the changing position of the progressive schools up to 1967. Although primarily concerned with England, the author discusses some progressive international movements, including key European developments.