
The UCL Institute of Education
From training college to global institution
Richard Aldrich (Author), Tom Woodin (Author)
The history of the UCL Institute of Education is one of persistent renewal. Since its founding in 1902 as the London Day Training College, through its establishment as a university institute and merger with UCL, the IOE has constantly grown into new areas of learning and social research. As a locus for leadership, it has exerted influence upon the nature and direction of education nationally and internationally.
Drawing upon a wide range of sources, the connections between internal history and external historical developments are sensitively teased out. The result is an elegantly written history, characterised by substantial scholarship and analysis, and enlivened by illustrations and anecdote. The pages of this book are peopled with some of the most influential, and at times controversial, figures of education, including Sidney Webb, Cyril Burt, Susan Isaacs, Sophie Bryant, Richard Peters, Basil Bernstein, Ann Oakley, Celia Hoyles and Stephen Ball.
Two new chapters extend Richard Aldrich’s text to 2020. These examine the extraordinary years of growth in the early 2000s, followed by a period of consolidation, merger with UCL and subsequent expansion. The IOE is unique in successfully pursuing a world-leading research agenda while also supporting a wide range of teacher education, having an impact in London, across Britain and the world.
Praise for The UCL Institute of Education
‘The strengths of this UCL history are multiple… This is an excellent book and will give the reader a greater understanding how not only the IOE, UCL, but education in the widest sense has evolved over the last 120 years. Both authors should be praised for their work.’
British Journal of Educational Studies
Acknowledgements (1st edition) Acknowledgements for the 2nd edition
Note on the text
Abbreviations
1 Foundation
2 From Clare Market to Southampton Row 1902-1907
3 A clash of cultures 1907-1922
4 From Day Training College to University Institute 1922-1932
5 New directions 1932-1939
6 War and reconstruction 1939-1949
7 New identities 1949-1963
8 Expansion and stalemate 1963-1973
9 The turbulent years 1973-1983
10 Survival of the fittest 1983-1994
11 Into a new century 1994-2002
12 The Institute on a world stage 2002-2014
13 Merger and after 2014-2020
Notes
References
Illustrations: Sources and acknowledgements Index
DOI: 10.14324/111.9781787359512
Number of illustrations: 101
Publication date: 08 June 2021
PDF ISBN: 9781787359512
Hardback ISBN: 9781787359536
Paperback ISBN: 9781787359529
Richard Aldrich (Author)
Richard Aldrich (1937-2014) was a distinguished scholar and Professor of History of Education who worked at the Institute of Education from 1973 until his retirement 30 years later. He was the author of some 15 books and monographs and president of the International Standing Conference for the History of Education and of the UK History of Education Society.
Tom Woodin (Author) 
Tom Woodin is a Reader in the Social History of Education at the UCL Institute of Education. He has published widely on the history of learning including compulsory schooling, adult education, co-operation and working class culture, most recently Working Class Writing and Publishing in the Late Twentieth Century (MUP, 2018) and, with Linda Shaw, Learning for a Co-operative World (Trentham, 2019).
‘The strengths of this UCL history are multiple… This is an excellent book and will give the reader a greater understanding how not only the IOE, UCL, but education in the widest sense has evolved over the last 120 years. Both authors should be praised for their work.’
British Journal of Educational Studies
Related titles

Social Research for our Times
Claire Cameron, Alison Koslowski, Alison Lamont, Peter Moss,
06 November 2023
Sign up to our newsletter
Don't miss out!
Subscribe to the UCL Press newsletter for the latest open access books,
journal CfPs, news and views from our authors and much more!