Susannah Wright | Oxford Brookes University (original) (raw)

Papers by Susannah Wright

In this chapter, Wright explores secularist activities within an international context. Ethical M... more In this chapter, Wright explores secularist activities within an international context. Ethical Movement proposals and organisational channels enabled ideas and people to influence a wide, international audience of educators. Three examples of international activity are considered: first, Felix Adler’s American-based proposals influencing Ethical Movement educators in England; secondly, the publication of an international inquiry and the First International Moral Education Congress in 1908; and finally F. J. Gould’s demonstration tours in America and India on behalf of the Moral Instruction League between 1911 and 1914. Wright shows that Ethical Movement channels provided secularists with a broad, international influence among educators, including Christian ones. But the transfer of its proposals between different cultural and linguistic contexts was not straightforward; the universality that activists desired proved elusive.

History of education researcher, 2006

Journal of Beliefs & Values, 2019

Her research interests centre on the sociology and philosophy of education, and the ways in which... more Her research interests centre on the sociology and philosophy of education, and the ways in which debates in the sphere of education reflect and illuminate aspects of wider culture and society.

Springer International Handbooks of Education, 2019

Morality and Citizenship in English Schools, 2016

In ‘Religion, Secularism and Education’ Wright offers a contextual discussion that situates the c... more In ‘Religion, Secularism and Education’ Wright offers a contextual discussion that situates the case studies of secularist activism that follow. She outlines historians’ current understanding of the organisational strength and cultural influence of Christianity before 1944. A cultural script of Christian citizenship remained significant until after this date, but there has been considerable debate over whether this meant high levels of individual commitment or a more passive acquiescence. Wright also introduces the key secularist groups—the National Secular Society, the Positivists and the Ethical Movement—and the many individual agnostics who adopted a humanist moral code without affiliating to an organisation. The chapter outlines Christian and secularist educational programmes as a basis for the specific focus on moral and civic instruction in the rest of the book.

Morality and Citizenship in English Schools, 2016

aimed to promote non-theological moral instruction in the nation's schools. The MIL has been desc... more aimed to promote non-theological moral instruction in the nation's schools. The MIL has been described by later historians as 'an odd collectivity of teachers, writers, politicians, and freelance intellectuals', and, more positively, as 'the socially responsible, advanced thinkers of their day'. 2 Although by no means the only organisation during these years to promote moral teaching of some form or another in English schools, the MIL was distinctive for its nationwide focus, and the breadth and ambition of its educational programme, compared with other bodies which focused on narrower interests such as sex education or loyalty to empire. It was, moreover, dominated by secularists who used it as a vehicle to promote, within English schools, their own views on morality and citizenship. The MIL tried to convince national and local government, training colleges, teachers in schools, and a broader public, of the benefits of the educational programme it proposed. It presented itself as being open to people of 'all theologies and of none' who wanted to ensure more effective provision for moral education in the country's schools. 3 However, secularists, and the Ethical Movement in particular, shaped the MIL's ideas and pedagogical approach and provided ideological and organisational resources.

History of education researcher, 2011

The research presented in this book arose out of the investigations into the history of the local... more The research presented in this book arose out of the investigations into the history of the local area by the Bellingham WEA group and their tutor, Dr Ian Robert.

History of education & children's literature, 2009

This article examines the teaching of values in English elementary schools in the late 19th and e... more This article examines the teaching of values in English elementary schools in the late 19th and early 20th century through an analysis of the content of moral instruction handbooks, a hitherto neglected but valuable source for looking at the social content of the curriculum in this period. It draws on a detailed reading of nineteen moral instruction handbooks written between 1882 and 1913. This article starts with a broad discussion of research on values in the elementary school, and about moral instruction handbooks as a source. Next, three themes identified from the handbooks are analysed in detail: obedience, patriotism and tolerance, and the ways in which different authors defined and articulated these themes are examined. This study therefore challenges assumptions about a golden age of homogenous moral values in the period examined. It raises important questions about the challenges of teaching shared values in the school, then and now.

In this chapter, Wright considers the Association for Education in Citizenship (AEC), a pressure ... more In this chapter, Wright considers the Association for Education in Citizenship (AEC), a pressure group that aimed, through educational means, to protect parliamentary democracy against the perceived threat of totalitarianism overseas. The AEC’s founders, Ernest Simon and Eva Hubback, were agnostics but not attached to secularist organisations. They outlined a ‘humanist’ approach to education for democratic citizenship. Nevertheless, in an organisation containing many Christians, their position was stated alongside a Christian one. Christian versions of democratic citizenship won through in the form of the 1944 Education Act and its provisions for compulsory acts of worship and religious instruction, the cultural climate of the Second World War encouraging apparently widespread support for these proposals. Wright shows that secularists, by this time organisationally depleted, failed to coordinate a major opposition campaign.

This chapter examines the educational activities of two Positivists, F. J. Gould and the Oxford-e... more This chapter examines the educational activities of two Positivists, F. J. Gould and the Oxford-educated Inspector of Schools, F. S. Marvin, within the League of Nations Union (LNU) between 1919 and 1939. This was a period when, wanting to avoid a repeat of the horrors of the First World War, both Christians and secularists focused on educating citizens of the world. Wright considers Marvin’s and Gould’s promotion of their Positivist-flavoured versions of world citizenship within this major pressure group, Marvin through his suggestions for internationalist history teaching, and Gould through his League lessons and his periodical for pupils, League News. Through the LNU’s influential channels their proposals reached many teachers and pupils. But Marvin and Gould were a minority within a predominantly Christian organisation.

History of education researcher, 2007

Cultural and Social History, 2018

None of the major English secularist organisations1 in the early twentieth century could boast ab... more None of the major English secularist organisations1 in the early twentieth century could boast about membership figures as an indicator of their strength and influence. Compared with most Christian churches, and as a proportion of the general population, they were small. They did, however, claim to have achieved a diffuse impact on wider societal thinking and debate. National Secular Society (NSS) leaders, for example, asserted that the ideals and ideas that they stood for had gained "a hold on the public mind". Oxford classicist Professor Gilbert Murray stated that the "spirit" of Positivism had "got abroad" at a time when only remnants of Positivist organisations remained.2 These were outcomes that secularists strove, actively, to achieve. Energetic and canny publicists, they disseminated their ideas in letters and personal conversation, on the platform, and in print. Their influence in scientific, literary and left-leaning political circles has been noted; by the early twentieth century, a growing scientific and social-scientific elite, influential in governance and welfare movements, might not have joined secularist bodies, but sympathised with some of their arguments.3 Secularists also targeted the captive audience of young people who were compelled to spend five days a week, over much of the year, in schools. Through pressure groups, they lobbied educational authorities, and produced teaching aids, aiming to shape the teaching in schools in ways that would promote their interests. Not least among these interests was the desire to instil the knowledge, values and behaviours that would prepare pupils for their future lives as adult citizens, but outside of a Christian framework. This desire sat within a broad discourse about the purposes of schooling in England, one of longstanding which pre-and postdates the timeframe of the analysis here. As well as imparting academic knowledge, schools, it was argued, should develop in pupils the knowledge, values, and behaviours that they would require as adult citizens. These were concerns which appear to have taken on a particular urgency in the early twentieth century, owing to widespread perceptions of intense, and unprecedented, social, cultural, political, and ideological change.4 Secularists sought to shape the civic morality that would be taught in schools in their own image. Through influencing policy-makers, teachers and pupils, secularist campaigners, some of whom were or had been teachers or inspectors themselves, challenged assumptions that England was inherently, and inevitably, Christian.5 But the process of shaping a non-Christian civic morality was a complex one, involving shifting alliances, dialogue, and compromises between different secularists, and between secularists and Christians.6

Childhoods in Peace and Conflict, 2021

The front page of the League of Nations Union (LNU) News Sheet in November 1938 contains a striki... more The front page of the League of Nations Union (LNU) News Sheet in November 1938 contains a striking photographic image of the national British armistice commemoration ceremony at the Cenotaph memorial in London (LNU News Sheet, November 1938: 1). In black and white the Portland stone of Edwin Lutyen’s famous memorial appears vast and gleaming against the poppy wreaths and rows of smaller, darker figures. Many of those standing close to the memorial were royalty and state dignitaries from Britain and the wider Empire (or Commonwealth—both terms were popular at the time).

British Journal of Educational Studies, 2015

Ricerche Pedagogiche, 2007

History of Education, 2015

History of Education, 2013

Morality and Citizenship in English Schools, 2016

In this chapter Wright examines the activities of F. J. Gould in Leicester from 1899 to 1910. Whi... more In this chapter Wright examines the activities of F. J. Gould in Leicester from 1899 to 1910. While employed as Organiser at the Leicester Secular Society (LSS), Gould was elected to Leicester’s School Board and Town Council. He promoted a programme of non-theological moral instruction in the town’s elementary schools, drawing on support from secularists, Labour allies, and a few liberal Christians. Gould’s proposals for moral instruction lessons were adopted. He also aimed to reform the educational activities of LSS itself. But teachers and many local Christians were critical, while Gould’s increasing sympathy for the Positivism of Auguste Comte alienated fellow LSS members. Wright’s analysis thus reveals both alliances and divisions between secularists and Christians, and within secularism and Christianity too.

The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth

In this chapter, Wright explores secularist activities within an international context. Ethical M... more In this chapter, Wright explores secularist activities within an international context. Ethical Movement proposals and organisational channels enabled ideas and people to influence a wide, international audience of educators. Three examples of international activity are considered: first, Felix Adler’s American-based proposals influencing Ethical Movement educators in England; secondly, the publication of an international inquiry and the First International Moral Education Congress in 1908; and finally F. J. Gould’s demonstration tours in America and India on behalf of the Moral Instruction League between 1911 and 1914. Wright shows that Ethical Movement channels provided secularists with a broad, international influence among educators, including Christian ones. But the transfer of its proposals between different cultural and linguistic contexts was not straightforward; the universality that activists desired proved elusive.

History of education researcher, 2006

Journal of Beliefs & Values, 2019

Her research interests centre on the sociology and philosophy of education, and the ways in which... more Her research interests centre on the sociology and philosophy of education, and the ways in which debates in the sphere of education reflect and illuminate aspects of wider culture and society.

Springer International Handbooks of Education, 2019

Morality and Citizenship in English Schools, 2016

In ‘Religion, Secularism and Education’ Wright offers a contextual discussion that situates the c... more In ‘Religion, Secularism and Education’ Wright offers a contextual discussion that situates the case studies of secularist activism that follow. She outlines historians’ current understanding of the organisational strength and cultural influence of Christianity before 1944. A cultural script of Christian citizenship remained significant until after this date, but there has been considerable debate over whether this meant high levels of individual commitment or a more passive acquiescence. Wright also introduces the key secularist groups—the National Secular Society, the Positivists and the Ethical Movement—and the many individual agnostics who adopted a humanist moral code without affiliating to an organisation. The chapter outlines Christian and secularist educational programmes as a basis for the specific focus on moral and civic instruction in the rest of the book.

Morality and Citizenship in English Schools, 2016

aimed to promote non-theological moral instruction in the nation's schools. The MIL has been desc... more aimed to promote non-theological moral instruction in the nation's schools. The MIL has been described by later historians as 'an odd collectivity of teachers, writers, politicians, and freelance intellectuals', and, more positively, as 'the socially responsible, advanced thinkers of their day'. 2 Although by no means the only organisation during these years to promote moral teaching of some form or another in English schools, the MIL was distinctive for its nationwide focus, and the breadth and ambition of its educational programme, compared with other bodies which focused on narrower interests such as sex education or loyalty to empire. It was, moreover, dominated by secularists who used it as a vehicle to promote, within English schools, their own views on morality and citizenship. The MIL tried to convince national and local government, training colleges, teachers in schools, and a broader public, of the benefits of the educational programme it proposed. It presented itself as being open to people of 'all theologies and of none' who wanted to ensure more effective provision for moral education in the country's schools. 3 However, secularists, and the Ethical Movement in particular, shaped the MIL's ideas and pedagogical approach and provided ideological and organisational resources.

History of education researcher, 2011

The research presented in this book arose out of the investigations into the history of the local... more The research presented in this book arose out of the investigations into the history of the local area by the Bellingham WEA group and their tutor, Dr Ian Robert.

History of education & children's literature, 2009

This article examines the teaching of values in English elementary schools in the late 19th and e... more This article examines the teaching of values in English elementary schools in the late 19th and early 20th century through an analysis of the content of moral instruction handbooks, a hitherto neglected but valuable source for looking at the social content of the curriculum in this period. It draws on a detailed reading of nineteen moral instruction handbooks written between 1882 and 1913. This article starts with a broad discussion of research on values in the elementary school, and about moral instruction handbooks as a source. Next, three themes identified from the handbooks are analysed in detail: obedience, patriotism and tolerance, and the ways in which different authors defined and articulated these themes are examined. This study therefore challenges assumptions about a golden age of homogenous moral values in the period examined. It raises important questions about the challenges of teaching shared values in the school, then and now.

In this chapter, Wright considers the Association for Education in Citizenship (AEC), a pressure ... more In this chapter, Wright considers the Association for Education in Citizenship (AEC), a pressure group that aimed, through educational means, to protect parliamentary democracy against the perceived threat of totalitarianism overseas. The AEC’s founders, Ernest Simon and Eva Hubback, were agnostics but not attached to secularist organisations. They outlined a ‘humanist’ approach to education for democratic citizenship. Nevertheless, in an organisation containing many Christians, their position was stated alongside a Christian one. Christian versions of democratic citizenship won through in the form of the 1944 Education Act and its provisions for compulsory acts of worship and religious instruction, the cultural climate of the Second World War encouraging apparently widespread support for these proposals. Wright shows that secularists, by this time organisationally depleted, failed to coordinate a major opposition campaign.

This chapter examines the educational activities of two Positivists, F. J. Gould and the Oxford-e... more This chapter examines the educational activities of two Positivists, F. J. Gould and the Oxford-educated Inspector of Schools, F. S. Marvin, within the League of Nations Union (LNU) between 1919 and 1939. This was a period when, wanting to avoid a repeat of the horrors of the First World War, both Christians and secularists focused on educating citizens of the world. Wright considers Marvin’s and Gould’s promotion of their Positivist-flavoured versions of world citizenship within this major pressure group, Marvin through his suggestions for internationalist history teaching, and Gould through his League lessons and his periodical for pupils, League News. Through the LNU’s influential channels their proposals reached many teachers and pupils. But Marvin and Gould were a minority within a predominantly Christian organisation.

History of education researcher, 2007

Cultural and Social History, 2018

None of the major English secularist organisations1 in the early twentieth century could boast ab... more None of the major English secularist organisations1 in the early twentieth century could boast about membership figures as an indicator of their strength and influence. Compared with most Christian churches, and as a proportion of the general population, they were small. They did, however, claim to have achieved a diffuse impact on wider societal thinking and debate. National Secular Society (NSS) leaders, for example, asserted that the ideals and ideas that they stood for had gained "a hold on the public mind". Oxford classicist Professor Gilbert Murray stated that the "spirit" of Positivism had "got abroad" at a time when only remnants of Positivist organisations remained.2 These were outcomes that secularists strove, actively, to achieve. Energetic and canny publicists, they disseminated their ideas in letters and personal conversation, on the platform, and in print. Their influence in scientific, literary and left-leaning political circles has been noted; by the early twentieth century, a growing scientific and social-scientific elite, influential in governance and welfare movements, might not have joined secularist bodies, but sympathised with some of their arguments.3 Secularists also targeted the captive audience of young people who were compelled to spend five days a week, over much of the year, in schools. Through pressure groups, they lobbied educational authorities, and produced teaching aids, aiming to shape the teaching in schools in ways that would promote their interests. Not least among these interests was the desire to instil the knowledge, values and behaviours that would prepare pupils for their future lives as adult citizens, but outside of a Christian framework. This desire sat within a broad discourse about the purposes of schooling in England, one of longstanding which pre-and postdates the timeframe of the analysis here. As well as imparting academic knowledge, schools, it was argued, should develop in pupils the knowledge, values, and behaviours that they would require as adult citizens. These were concerns which appear to have taken on a particular urgency in the early twentieth century, owing to widespread perceptions of intense, and unprecedented, social, cultural, political, and ideological change.4 Secularists sought to shape the civic morality that would be taught in schools in their own image. Through influencing policy-makers, teachers and pupils, secularist campaigners, some of whom were or had been teachers or inspectors themselves, challenged assumptions that England was inherently, and inevitably, Christian.5 But the process of shaping a non-Christian civic morality was a complex one, involving shifting alliances, dialogue, and compromises between different secularists, and between secularists and Christians.6

Childhoods in Peace and Conflict, 2021

The front page of the League of Nations Union (LNU) News Sheet in November 1938 contains a striki... more The front page of the League of Nations Union (LNU) News Sheet in November 1938 contains a striking photographic image of the national British armistice commemoration ceremony at the Cenotaph memorial in London (LNU News Sheet, November 1938: 1). In black and white the Portland stone of Edwin Lutyen’s famous memorial appears vast and gleaming against the poppy wreaths and rows of smaller, darker figures. Many of those standing close to the memorial were royalty and state dignitaries from Britain and the wider Empire (or Commonwealth—both terms were popular at the time).

British Journal of Educational Studies, 2015

Ricerche Pedagogiche, 2007

History of Education, 2015

History of Education, 2013

Morality and Citizenship in English Schools, 2016

In this chapter Wright examines the activities of F. J. Gould in Leicester from 1899 to 1910. Whi... more In this chapter Wright examines the activities of F. J. Gould in Leicester from 1899 to 1910. While employed as Organiser at the Leicester Secular Society (LSS), Gould was elected to Leicester’s School Board and Town Council. He promoted a programme of non-theological moral instruction in the town’s elementary schools, drawing on support from secularists, Labour allies, and a few liberal Christians. Gould’s proposals for moral instruction lessons were adopted. He also aimed to reform the educational activities of LSS itself. But teachers and many local Christians were critical, while Gould’s increasing sympathy for the Positivism of Auguste Comte alienated fellow LSS members. Wright’s analysis thus reveals both alliances and divisions between secularists and Christians, and within secularism and Christianity too.

The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth