The BBC School Broadcasting Council and the Education System 1935–1971

Abstract

This article seeks to establish connections between histories of education and media by examining long-term institutional and structural factors. In order to establish a role for broadcasting in schools, the BBC formed a relationship with the educational world through advisory machinery called the Central Council for School Broadcasting (CCSB), later reconstituted as the School Broadcasting Council (SBC). In the key period of school broadcasting’s development, between 1935 and 1971, the CCSB/SBC was unable to forge a strong relationship with the educational world. Internally, the BBC assumed control of school broadcasting at the expense of the CCSB/SBC. Developments in the early 1960s raised the possibility of fundamental reform. However this was prevented by factors including government policy on both school curricula and broadcasting, and indifference on the part of educationists. This article is largely based on unpublished archive documents.