Holding the Line?

Abstract

Following the end of World War I, and throughout the 1920s, the Board of Education was involved in a number of debates that centered on the character and ideals of secondary education. These included issues around the secondary school curriculum, including the role of the board itself, the position of teachers, and the extent of gender differentiation. At the same time, the further development of secondary education became increasingly controversial, especially in the light of a pamphlet published by the Labour Party that argued in favor of extending secondary education to the whole age range.¹ Cyril Norwood played a significant role in these policy debates, for he was by now a national figure in education. His position was consolidated even before the end of the war when he was appointed master of Marlborough College, one of the leading public boarding schools in the country. He was also invited to be a member of the new Secondary Schools Examinations Council (SSEC), which reported to the Board of Education. Norwood’s influence, while it supported reform in some areas, tended to favor the maintenance of existing structures and values in the face of real and imagined threats to established traditions.