TY - CHAP
T1 - The 'spirit' of Newbolt
T2 - Education, war and technology
AU - ALDRIDGE, DAVID
PY - 2021/11/30
Y1 - 2021/11/30
N2 - The Newbolt Report speaks to a post-war society grappling with radical class division, philosophies of secularism and loss of shared meaning, and an awareness of the destructive possibilities of technological progress. It identifies a danger threatening the educational system of England—‘that a true instinct for humanism may be smothered by the demand for measurable results, especially the passing of examinations in a variety of subjects…’ (56)—and calls for a re-conception of ‘the full meaning and possibilities of national education as a whole’, advocating the central role of literary education in bridging ‘the social chasms which divide us’. This chapter places Newbolt in relation to some of the other reports commissioned by H.A.L. Fisher as part of a large-scale re-imagining of the post-war English Education system and considers how, with its explicit invocation of theological and evangelical metaphors, Newbolt articulates the hope of a secular redemption of education through literature.
AB - The Newbolt Report speaks to a post-war society grappling with radical class division, philosophies of secularism and loss of shared meaning, and an awareness of the destructive possibilities of technological progress. It identifies a danger threatening the educational system of England—‘that a true instinct for humanism may be smothered by the demand for measurable results, especially the passing of examinations in a variety of subjects…’ (56)—and calls for a re-conception of ‘the full meaning and possibilities of national education as a whole’, advocating the central role of literary education in bridging ‘the social chasms which divide us’. This chapter places Newbolt in relation to some of the other reports commissioned by H.A.L. Fisher as part of a large-scale re-imagining of the post-war English Education system and considers how, with its explicit invocation of theological and evangelical metaphors, Newbolt articulates the hope of a secular redemption of education through literature.
KW - Newbolt report
KW - English Education Reform
KW - Post-war society
KW - Class division
KW - Humanism vs. measurable outcomes
KW - Literary Education
KW - Secularism
KW - Technological progress
KW - National education system
KW - Evangelical metaphors
KW - Secular redemption
KW - H.A.L. Fisher reports
KW - Social cohesion through literature
KW - Examinations and educational outcomes
KW - Philosophy of Education
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/27966e2b-d4fe-3806-8e3c-5d8f5ef57b5b/
U2 - 10.4324/9781003141891-6
DO - 10.4324/9781003141891-6
M3 - Chapter
SN - 9780367694586
T3 - Literature and Education
SP - 59
EP - 68
BT - The New Newbolt Report
A2 - Green, Andrew
PB - Routledge Taylor & Francis Group
CY - London
ER -