Forthcoming events 

21 September, 5.30pm-7.00pm - Middle Leadership in London

Speaker: Mary Dawe, IOE

Since 2002 when the National College of School Leadership (NCSL) began a national development programme, Leading from the Middle (LFTM), the development of subject and pastoral leaders has been an important part of staff development in many English schools. This has been given new impetus by the current necessity for succession planning, since there is a real possibility that there will be a shortage of head teachers in the near future. This research was an evaluation of the LFTM and was conducted by the London co-ordinator, Mary Dawe. It also aimed to establish whether schools supported the development of middle leaders in other ways.

14 October, 5.30pm-7.00pm - "The 'A' Team: Women and the Comprehensive Experiment in London 1930-1960"

Speaker: Professor Jane Martin, IOE

This paper explores the neglected contribution of the nowadays (virtually) unknown women members of the London County Council Education Committee in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. London’s women councillors were a formidable group that spanned the class spectrum from aristocrat to worker. After 1928, women’s numerical representation never fell below 20 per cent, peaking at 35 per cent in 1952. Long before the speculation that surrounded the 101 Labour women MPs returned in the 1997 general election, 1950s press headlines promised a feminization of local politics, e.g "Is petticoat rule coming to County Hall?"

Drawing on research in progress, this paper will consider women’s place in the making of a radical tradition in London education. It will examine the inherited values and norms of distinctive cohorts of women councillors to consider the influence of location in historical time, socio-political attitudes and geographical and cultural location. In so doing it will provide an account and interpretation of gender and power in the field of urban education policy-making, with particular reference to the history of secondary schooling in London and the post-war experiment with comprehensive schools.   

These events will take place at the IOE, Bedford Place. To book a place please e-mail a.jones@ioe.ac.uk  

Other events:

"Education and Citizenship in a Globalising World", 19-20 November 2010

Hosted by the IOE in London. This is the third International Conference in a series co-sponsored with Beijing Normal University. Previous topics were Leadership in a Learning Society in 2008 and Preparing Teachers for a Changing Context in 2006. Please see the IOE web-page for more information. 

Details of previous events held by LERU can be found here.