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British Association for Early Childhood Education
Editorial and Contents of Summer 2009 Journal
Editorial
Let’s imagine a shiny time-machine travelling back to New Lanark in 1820,
picking up the philanthropist-cum-millowner Robert Owen from his newly
invented workplace nursery/infant school, zooming forward to Deptford in
1914, collecting Rachel and Margaret McMillan from their new nursery, moving
on to London in 1935 and stopping at the Chelsea Open Air Nursery School to
scoop up Susan Isaacs, who is visiting as part of her work at the Department
of Child Development, London University.
Next, the time-machine visits Bolton in the 1970s, and recruits the people
who lead on nursery education in the city, with one last stop in Bermondsey
in 1975 for the headteacher of Kintore Way Nursery School, Barbara Furneaux,
a former student of Margaret McMillan. Where is the machine flying now?
Straight to an intensive weekend conference organised by Early Education, at
which all its passengers will speak to a capacity crowd of early years
educators, parents and politicians.
Well, of course it can’t happen. But this issue of the Early Education
Journal is the next best thing: in the following pages we will meet all
these time-travellers as well as educators from the present day – there are
contributions from two nursery schools and children’s centres – Kate
Greenaway in Islington and Rachel McMillan in Deptford.
By chance, during the week when I was reading this splendid collection of
articles, I attended a conference to celebrate the work of another eminent
educationalist, the great historian of education Brian Simon (1915–2002), a
passionate advocate for the comprehensive ideal and the common school. His
life in education was driven by two core beliefs: in social justice and
human educability.* Brian Simon would therefore be a most welcome surprise
extra speaker at our imaginary conference. And his imaginary presentation
would help us appreciate the urgent need to marry theoretical understanding
with practical activity. It is never enough, Simon maintained, to be a pure
academic; it is also necessary to be politically active, to make a
difference, to change the world.
So as we read about the indomitable thinkers who feature in this issue, let
us remember their capacity for getting things done, for making things
happen.
Finally, I was delighted to see that the incomparable Susan Isaacs appears
more than once in the pages of this issue. Her contribution, indeed her
abiding influence on our present understanding, is, I believe, unique:
different from that of others in our professional community, past and
present. Susan Isaacs changed our ways of seeing children, rather than our
ways of providing for them. She was passionately interested in children and
their learning. She emphasised, throughout her writings and her teaching,
what she had learned from her close, attentive observations of children:
that they too are passionately interested – in the whole world and
everything and everyone in it. From birth, children are committed to their
spontaneous and self-directed project of meeting the world and trying to
understand it. Let us give Susan Isaacs the last word, and go on thinking
about what it means for our own everyday practices in early childhood care
and education:
“The thirst for understanding springs from the child’s deepest emotional
needs ... [it is] a veritable passion.” †
Mary Jane Drummond, Writer and researcher
* For more about Brian Simon, see his short but fascinating autobiography, A
life in education, 1988, London, Lawrence & Wishart.
† Susan Isaacs, The children we teach, 1932, London: University of London
Press, p113.
Features
Barbara Naomi Furneaux – her life and work - Marjorie Ouvry
The spirit of Bolton - Barbara Kenny
Three giants of British early childhood care and education - Linda Pound
Robert Owen 1771–1858: mill owner and educationalist - Tony Bertram and
Chris Pascal
The legacy of the McMillan sisters - Jane Cole and Theresa Lane
Freeing the minds of children - Tina Bruce
An open door for the child - Kathryn Solly
Introducing children to books Kate Greenaway Nursery School and Children’s
Centre
EECERA 2010 conference
Regulars
Editorial Mary Jane Drummond
Training programme
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