Perspectives from the brink of extinction: the fate of history of education study in Wales

Abstract

Widespread academic study of education history in Wales was a phenomenon of a few decades in post-1950s higher education, arising from a confluence of developments in social and educational historiography, and in concepts of Welsh nationhood. While it lasted, in a context of expanded university provision, history of education was treated as part of wider social history, with critical reappraisal developing alongside an unprecedented emphasis on Welsh identity, accompanied by increasing national self-confidence. Creeping educational devolution was part of this process, while there could hardly have been a greater indication of growing self-esteem than the Welsh schools movement that accelerated from the late 1950s. A paradox remains that throughout the twentieth century, because of state involvement rather than in spite of it, educational devolution increased. Yet decline in the study of education history has correlated with increased independence and sense of identity of the Welsh educational system. While the history of education in Wales seemed central to debates about Welsh history and the nation before devolution, devolution itself led to highly distinctive policies that coincided with an academic downturn in our subject. Globalisation and its impact on the university structure in Wales threatens historical awareness and clearly demonstrates the need for continuing study of history as a critical perspective on policy.