The Elementary Education Act of 1870: And the Nineteenth-Century Foundations of Modern Schooling in Britain

Posted on 18th Sep 2019 by Aidan Thompson

This new Virtual Issue is available to view online via the Routledge Taylor & Francis Journal pages, and is edited by Prof. Gary McCulloch.

The British Journal of Educational Studies is probably the best single journal-based source on the 1870 Elementary Education Act (EEA 1870), with a large number of key papers published in the Journal before and after the centenary of the Act in 1970.  These include three papers on Scottish education leading to the Education (Scotland) Act of 1872, by Stenhouse, Cruickshank and Scotland (ESA 1872).  A special issue of the Journal on the 1870 Act was published for the centenary (BJES, 18/2, 1970).

This Virtual Issue brings key articles from the Journal together on the occasion of the sesquicentenary of the Act, which is marked in 2020.  It also coincides with the SES colloquium held in September 2019 on ‘Educational legislation in a changing society’ and prepares the way for a special issue of the BJES based on this colloquium in 2020.

An earlier virtual issue of the Journal on the theme of educational reform legislation in the 20^th century, covering the Education Acts of 1902, 1944 and 1988 was published as Educational Reform Legislation in the 20^th Century, edited by Gary McCulloch (McCulloch, 2018).  The present collection complements this previous virtual issue to form a complete set of classic articles on educational legislation in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

The Virtual Issue is free to view until 31st March 2020.