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The IOE archive collections cover all levels of education from pre-school through to further, higher, teacher and adult education, in formal, informal and experimental settings.
The IOE archive collections date from 1797 to the present day. They cover all levels of education from pre-school and school through to further, higher, teacher and adult education, in formal, informal and experimental settings. We have collections on research, practice, policy and thought in education and related areas. They provide a rich resource for the study of education and wider social policy worldwide.
We have over 130 deposited collections, which have been donated by individuals and organisations related in some way to education, as well as the Institute Archive, comprising the records of the IOE, from its creation in 1902 to the present day.
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Collection Descriptons
- The College of Preceptors
'The Educational Times' is the journal of the College of Preceptors which was founded in 1846, as the Society of Teachers, by a group of private schoolmasters concerned about standards within their profession. Three years later it was incorporated by Royal Charter as the College of Preceptors and occupied premises at 28 Bloomsbury Square. The College pioneered a system for the formal examination and qualification of secondary school teachers (mainly in private schools) and many teachers have acquired the qualifications of the College: ACP (Associate); LCP (Licentiate); and FCP (Fellow). It was also one of the first bodies to examine and provide certificates for secondary school pupils of both sexes, from all over England and Wales, at different levels, and in a wide variety of subjects.
Many influential educationists have been associated with the College, either as members of Council or as lecturers or advisers, including Joseph Payne (1808-1876), Frances Mary Buss (1827-1894), and Sir John Adams (1857-1934).
The College of Preceptors archive contains a near complete set of its journal 'The Educational Times' which was published monthly from 1847-1923. Individual issues generally contain notes and articles on education and movements in education, reviews of meetings of the College and text of some of the lectures given at the College, book reviews, general notices, sample mathematical questions and answers, class lists of all pupils who passed the midwinter and midsummer pupil exams, including prize winners and schools attended by the pupils and general news regarding members. Early Times also included lists of successful diploma candidates and some lists of members of the College. The majority of the volumes are indexed.
This digitisation project was funded by the London Mathematical Society.
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- Institute of Education Handbooks and Calendars
The 'Institute of Education Handbooks and Calendars' were pre-cursors to the prospectuses, providing information on both the Wider and Central Institute. The handbooks were published annually from 1948/9-1964/5 and the calendars 1965/6-1980/1. They tend to include information on courses, constituent colleges, term dates, staff, committee membership, general activities of the Institute and regulations.
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- National Union of Women Teachers
'The Woman Teacher' is the journal of the National Union of Women Teachers (NUWT), which was formed to campaign for equal pay and conditions of service for women teachers but also took an active interest in a wide range of social, professional and educational issues including the peace movement.
The NUWT archive contains a full run of the journal from September 1919 until the Union was wound up in 1961 and most of the volumes are indexed. As well as keeping members informed on the issues of women teachers' pay and conditions and of womens' employment in general, the journal contains articles on wider educational issues, detailed reports of conferences, news of branch activities and book reviews. A recurring topic was the unfairness of the marriage bar which affected teachers in many areas. Advertising space was sold to help with production costs and attracted notices about accommodation, holiday hotels and guest houses, courses and various medical services.
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- The New Era
'The New Era' was an international quarterly magazine for the promotion of reconstruction in education. It was adopted as a journal by the New Education Fellowship, which later became the World Education Fellowship.
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- Oral Histories: Student lives at the IOE
The interviews were conducted as a project funded by the Friends of the Newsam Library and Archives, now defunct. The aim was to capture voices of people who studied at the IOE, an area which is lacking in our collection.
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- Jack Kitching Archive: Board of Education Inspectors' Association
The Jack Kitching Archive originally comprised the papers of the Board of Education Inspectors’ Association, which was mainly concerned with the working conditions of HMIs (Her/His Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools). The collection has since grown to incorporate the papers and reminiscences of Inspectors, and other historical papers relating to the Inspectorate, which have either been donated directly to the archive, or collated as part of research for the publication 'The Inspectors' Calling - HMI and the Shaping of Educational Policy, England and Wales, 1945-1992' by Stuart Maclure (2000).
A small collection of papers donated by Henry Price, Junior HMI from 1901-1933, have been digitised. They provide an insight to the life and work of a Schools’ Inspector working mainly in Wales during the early twentieth century, with correspondence from the Board of Education and memoirs written during Price’s retirement. A printed history of the Inspectorate covering the period 1800-1923, collated by HE Boothroyd, is also included.
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- Records of the National Union of Women Teachers (NUWT)
Extensive collection of records of the National Union of Women Teachers, 1904-1961, including minutes of the Council and various committees, conference reports, branch records, correspondence, press cuttings, handbills, pamphlets, posters and photographs. There is a large series of subject files on particular issues, individuals, organisations and campaigns documenting the wide range of the Union's interests. These include, for example, papers concerning women's organisations such as the Six Point Group, the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship, the Women's Freedom League, the Open Door Council, the Association of Women Clerks and Secretaries and others and educational groups such as the English New Education Fellowship and the Workers Educational Association.
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