The 'Conservative educationalists', with particular reference to the making of education policy in the postwar Conservative Party, 1950-1986
[Thesis]
Knight, C. N.
Polytechnic of the South Bank
1988
Ph.D.
Polytechnic of the South Bank
1988
The Conservative Educationalists made their firstappearance on the British political stage in 1950. Aftertwenty-five years of vigorous political activity they werewell on their way to becoming the most important body ofindividuals seeking to influence Conservative educationpolicy.The thesis seeks to examine and explain the progressof the views of the Conservative Educationalists over theformation and formulation of education policy in the postwarConservative Party. An historical analysis was employedto answer the main research question and the subsidiaryhypotheses. Whenever possible, primary sources were usedincluding the private papers of Lord Boyle, Professor BrianCox and Sir Gilbert Longden, and papers held in the officialConservative Party Archive.The thesis establishes that prior to 1970 there wasa vacuum in Conservative Party thinking on the aims ofeducation (Chapters 2-3). It shows how the ideas of a bodyof individuals (termed the conservative Educationalistsby Lord Maude in an interview with the author) came to fillthis vacuum between 1970 and 1974 (Chapter 4). This bodywas strongly critical of the Party's existing treatmentof education and pressed the Party to fashion a conservativeeducational policy more in line with Conservative philosophy(Chapter 5). This loose-nexus of individuals changed overa period of time but its intellectual base (preservationist/excellence in education) became firmly rooted. Between1975 and 1979 the actions and prescriptions of theconservative Educationalists were instrumental in the constructionof a conservative educational policy premised onthe notion of excellence in education (Chapters 5-6).Elements of this policy were adopted by the ConservativeGovernment after 1979 (Chapters 7-10).The thesis demonstrates that the contribution of theConservative Educationalists (notably the preservationists)to the making of Conservative education policy was fargreater than has previously been acknowledged.