Papers of Arthur Raymond Sporne, 1913-1977, comprising:
Audio cassette of an interview between Sporne and his daughter Celia, shortly before his death in 1977, consisting of reminiscences of his own school days, his own time as a teacher and the experiences of his siblings including on discipline; interior and exterior of school buildings; teachers and method of teaching; lessons in literature and mathematics; school books and equipment including the arrival of new school books and stationery in 1903; child poverty; school finance; the impact of the 1902 Education Act on sports facilities, medical inspection and treatment, school meals, scholarships and other developments; musical activities and education; teachers' salaries; religious denominationalism in education; school sport; teacher education, including the pupil teacher system and college training.
Photocopy of a typescript draft of a book entitled 'A Voice in the Wilderness' written by Sporne under the name Raymond Morley in the 1950s, including Sporne's views on the education system and teaching methods; his memories of developments within teaching during his own school days and during his time as a teacher; the methods he used when teaching mathematics to 'retarded' boys within a secondary modern school in the 1940s; an account of a visit by schools inspectors to the school. This also includes some original samples of pupil's work.
Essays completed by Sporne's pupils, including 'Does he really like us?' and 'Our teacher's tongue', 1913, in which the pupils, aged 12-13, comment on their teacher; 'The story of my life' , 1914 and 1952 in which pupils aged 13-14 give accounts of their life experiences, including family life, health and sickness, school days, work, play, holidays, outings and friendships; letters written by pupils at Fulham Reformatory School, Dec 1917 about the end of the school term, the Christmas holidays and plans for the following term.
Personalia including swimming and music certificates.
Papers of Ian Michael, including material relating to his time at the University of Malawi and subsequent visits, including correspondence, policy papers, pamphlets, programmes, maps and other printed material, 1964-1990; published and unpublished papers relating to African education, 1966-1981.
Material relating to his research on the history of the teaching of English, including files of notes comprising transcripts from, summaries of, and comments on, a range of works connected with the teaching of English; card indexes forming a working bibliography of books mainly related to the teaching of English up to 1870, but also including some Latin texts, other curriculum subjects and more modern texts.
Records of the Basic English Foundation, including annual reports, minutes, policy, subject and correspondence files, 1948-1965; correspondence with Charles Kay Ogden and the Orthological Institute, 1947-1953; files of Joseph Lauwerys (1902-1981), who was a Trustee of the Foundation from 1951.
Basic English Foundation