Testaments of Change? (DOMUS Seminar and book launch)

Case studies of comprehensive schooling and the politics of the archive

In this seminar and book launch, two education academics will reflect on their own experiences of comprehensive education and relate them to the wider picture of reform, reaction and uneven development since the late 1950s.

Bernard Barker was the first comprehensively educated student to become the head of a comprehensive school; and to become a Professor of Education.

Jane Martin studied history with Bernard at a Hertfordshire comprehensive and has become a professor of education and former president of the History of Education Society. She is the official biographer of Caroline Benn, the great campaigner for comprehensive schools.

The stimulus for the seminar comes from Bernard's autobiography, Busking Latin: A Memoir, due out from The Stamford Press on 21st October. He describes his life from 1946 to 1976 and provides a lively portrait of his own comprehensive education at Eltham Green School in south London; the transition to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge; and his early career as a history teacher in Hertfordshire. What made him the teacher he became?

Discounted copies of the book will be available on the day.

All welcome.