How Oxfam became ‘inevitably involved in education’ in England by the 1970s

• Don Harrison ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Bristol

     University of Bristol

     Reino Unido

     
• Localización: History of education researcher, ISSN 1740-2433, Nº. 94, 2014, págs. 65-73
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • This article explores Oxfam’s policy making decisions over its educational role in Britain (most specifically in England) during the late 1960s to early 1970s, drawing on research from Oxfam papers at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The history traces the policy changes brought about by Oxfam’s controversial position on providing aid to Biafra during the 1967 to 1970 civil war in Nigeria. The internal conflict provoked a rethink from Oxfam’s Deputy Director about the scope of the organisation’s awareness-raising and educational work at home. This led to staff resignations during 1970, including the Deputy himself and the Head of the Education Department. When the latter returned to Oxfam four years later, he was in a position to help launch an Oxfam- supported nationwide programme to promote Development Education in schools and teacher training colleges. The hypothesis here is that Oxfam’s decision in 1970 against any form of political education in favour of continuing with promotional education closely linked to Oxfam’s work, resulted in the emergence of more proactive Development Education during the 1970s. This article thereby presents a case study of internal processes in a major British aid organisation in relation to its involvement in state education in England.