Seeking A Social and Urban History of Education

Abstract

British historian and philosopher R. G. Collingwood once suggested that biography should not be considered a branch of history, largely because he considered it preoccupied with matters of “gossip-value” rather than more important issues in the past. The biographer, he argued, begins from a standpoint of sympathy with a subject, rendering critical judgment difficult—if not impossible—to achieve.1 If Collingwood was scornful of biography as a genre, we can scarcely imagine how he would describe autobiography, even an exercise as brief and professionally motivated as this. On this cautionary note I undertake the task of outlining the major steps in my own academic experience. While admittedly well-disposed to its subject, if not necessarily flattering, this account dwells on events and circumstances that have affected my development as a historian.