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| AdminHistory | In 1949 the University of London established an Area Training Organisation (ATO) in response to the recommendations of the McNair Committee (see IE/1/MCN), which had reported in 1944. Based at the existing Institute of Education, a University Training Department (UTD) providing teacher training courses, the ATO was responsible for overseeing the development of teacher training provision in London and the South East. The Institute's Director G B Jeffery was adament that the London's ATO should be part of the existing Institute. To ensure the new organisation benefitted from the standing of the original Institute, the newly created ATO was also called the Institute of Education. Both the original 'Central' function of the Institute, and the new 'Wider' ATO, were run from one building, with one central administration service, under a new constitution. It was to become the largest of all the ATO's overseeing teacher education in London and large areas of the South of England.
The major committee of the Wider Institute was the Academic Board (IE/2/ABD), which was served by a large number of standing sub-committees for education and the various subjects taught at the institute (IE/2/ABS). Teachers of the Wider Institute were allocated to the membership of the standing sub-committee for his/her area.The Academic Board came under the Council and ultimate approval of the University's Senate. It controlled almost all of the work of the training colleges excluding Goldsmith's College and (at first) Froebel College. All recommendations regarding syllabuses and schemes of examination from the Standing Committees were submitted to the Academic Board for approval to ensure uniformity between the colleges and subjects
By 1952 the ATO comprised 34 constituent colleges, the Central Institute, and two university departments (Kings College London and Goldsmiths). Academic policy and validation was managed by the Wider Institute - funding was either from the Local Education Authority or from religious organisations and independent colleges direct grants from the Ministrt of Education. Financial control and management, including of buildings, rested with the maintaining bodies
The Ministry of Education sent annual instructions regarding the balance of training i.e. how many trainee teachers were needed and for each age group. The Wider Institute was then responsible for negotiation with the constituent colleges. Inspections of colleges were carried out by HMIs who produced unofficial reports.
The late 1950s and 1960s was a period of massive expansion in teacher training and higher education more generally. In September 1958 the Ministry of Education called for there to be 12 000 more student teacher places by 1962. Such calls for more student teacher places (particularly for primary schools) continued into the 1960s, and in 1963 the Robbins Committee reported calling for a huge expansion to higher education. The government's opposition to the Report led to the 1966 Weaver Report.
By the end of the decade a falling school population led to a need for fewer teachers. This, in addition to the economic situation of the 1970s, led to a massive cut in the need to student teachers.
THE ABOLITION OF THE AREA TRAINING ORGANISATION:
On 19th February 1970 the Secretary of State for Education wrote to the Lord Fulton, Chairman of the Council, asking the Institute to carry out a survey on teacher training within the wider Institute (Area Training Organisation), from the point ot view of the weaknesses in the links between schools and teacher training establishments. He also wanted a review of the content and structure of college courses, to be carried out by committees with representation from teachers, local education authorities and students. The Institute received a grant of £7000 from the Department for Education and Science to carry out the work. The different areas of the survey were carried out by separate working parties. (The papers of this huge survey are full catalogued at IE/2/TTE). In April 1971, the Institute submitted an interim report which was - overall - was in favour of the ATO system.
Whilst this survey was being completed the election took place and there was a new Conservative Government. One of their election pledges was an enquiry into teacher training. The new Secretary of State for Education (Margaret Thatcher) nominated a committee under the Chairmanship of Lord James. The James Committee forwarded its report to Thatcher in December 1971. It defined the personal and professional education of intending teachers in 3 cycles:
1 - a university or CNAA (Council of National Academic Awards) degree (3 years) for students who were going to teach 1 or 2 subjects to a high level OR a Diploma in Higher Education (2 year course) which could be offered to students other than those who were intending to teach.
2 -preparation for work appropriate to a teacher at the beginning of his/her career (rather than on formal courses in educational theory which would be introduced towards the end of the year). This would last two years; the first year focusing on the subject the teacher was going to teach. It would take place at a university or a polytechnic department of education. The second year of this stage would take place in a school, where the student worked as a 'licenced teacher'. One fifth of the year would be spent at a professional centre. Those students who satisfactorily completed the courses would become a registered teacher sna dbe awarded a BA (Education) from the regional awarding body
3 - the final stage was continued professional development (one term every 7 years, to be changed to one term over 5 years - as soon as possible)
Explicit support was given to the CNAA as the body to make the academic awards. The Area Training Organisations were to be replaced by 15 regional councils with representation form the professional institutions, local education authorities, teachers, CNAA, Open University, assessors appointed by the Secretary of State, and another two members nominated by the Secretary of State. The regional councils would report to a National Council for Teacher Education and Training, constituted with approx. 20 members nominated by the Secretary of State. The report was met with uproar at the proposed changes, with only the in-service training (i.e. stage three) gaining support.
In December 1972 the government issued its White Paper 'Education: a framework for expansion'. The ATOs were to be abolished - this formally took place from 1975. However regional councils were not established for validation, which would remain with the universities, polytechnics and CNAA. The regional councils would provide in-service support, induction, professional centres, allocation of teacher practice places, and the distribution of teacher places and subjects. To manage the fall in the number of teachers required colleges of education were encouraged to amalgamate or develop into institutions of higher education. Support was given to the three year BEd, with a fourth year for honours, and the 2 year Diploma in Higher Education, which could be arranged to be part of a unit based degree.
The following year the government issued Circular 7/73 'Development of Higher Education in the Non-University Sector' which set out the framework for the reorganisation of teacher education, cutting the number of student teachers by half. It also set out plans to increase the number of students who completed the PGCE.
The University of London sought the views of the colleges on whether the University should continue to validate courses. The colleges agreed they wished for the University to continue this area of work. However this was soon abandoned and validation for courses was sought from the CNAA - a natural step for colleges that were now part of polytechnics whose degrees were granted by the CNAA. However for those colleges who continued to see validation from the University, new degrees courses were established from 1975. They were based on the course unit structure and led to the award of the BA, BSc, BHun and BEd (3 year courses) with a fourth year of study for the Bed Honours degree. The three year certificate and the old BEd were phased out.
During this period a new committee structure was established to replace the Academic Sub Committees (see IE/2/ABS) to validate the new Bachelor, BEd Honours and Diploma of Higher Education courses. There were to be two types of committees in this structure - Joint Degree Committees (responsible for determining combinations of courses for a degree as a whole - see IE/2/JDC) and Joint Subject Committees (responsible for determining combinations of courses in the areas of study with which they were concerned - see IE/2/JSC). Several Joint Interim Committees were in place between 1974 and 1976 to provide a link between the old and new committee system - see IE/2/JIC. .
Once the ATO was formally abolished, the work of the Institute associated with validation was carried out by a new Collegiate Division. In December 1979 the University of London Academic Council decided the University would formally stop validating courses in colleges associated with the Institute. The final date for entry to full time courses would be 1983, with final examinations taking place in 1988 |