Introduction

Abstract

The introduction sets out a context of early twentieth-century efforts in England and elsewhere in Europe to see that children were educated to be good citizens. For a majority this should be done on a Christian basis. However, a minority of secularists argued that moral and civic training in schools should be based on a common human morality, and Wright argues in Morality and Citizenship in English Schools that they deserve more attention than they have received. Through a series of interconnected case studies, she establishes that secularist campaigners had some, albeit limited, influence on educational policy and practice. They informed wider debates, forcing Christians to think carefully about their own educational programmes. Yet Christian approaches to teaching citizenship remained dominant.