James Robert Wood
Upward mobility, betrayal, and the Black Papers on education
quarter six morning 16 may 1968 gas oven exploded eighteenth floor ronan point london city council tower block london explosion blew exterior wall one upper flats building leading ministry housing local government called report progressive collapse flats one corner ronan point gave way one one weight floors them1 four people killed seventeen people injured2 less year later former editors critical quarterly cb cox ae dyson chose use disaster frame state education uk first would series five black papers published intermittently 1969 1977 black papers named order set standard government white papers educational policy open letter current mps appended essays first black paper cox dyson wrote seems grim humour progressive collapse asked far witnessing progressive collapse education3 cox dyson would well aware rhetorical uses pun reading william empsons influential seven types ambiguity cox dyson use empson identifies puns ability name two different things two ways judging situation clash single word mirror tension whole situation4 time cox dyson writing progressive education referred strictly speaking promotion discovery methods teaching especially primary school level black papers however phrase progressive education stretched cover wide range practices policies developments including push end practice streaming cohorts students intellectual ability threatened abolition grammar schools favour new comprehensive schools mushrooming student sitins forms protest university campuses cox dyson deploy progressive collapse pun order revise usual associations word progressive making word appear newly proximate decline fall directly challenging implication progressive developments education always better traditional forms would replace pun turns ronan point metaphor project mass education welfarestate britain jeanjacques lecercle observes pun always threatening turn metaphor5 ronan point becomes architectural analogue unfolding collapse entire educational system university way primary school level progressive collapse education pun rhetorically effective became probably designed part first black paper frequently quoted media black papers whole succeeded defining terms debate traditional progressive policies practices education 1970s rhetorical effectiveness pun came price implicit callousness towards victims ronan point disaster pun might dismissed simply insensitive joke made people occupying class position far removed people lived ronan point fact cox well two men coedited instalments black papers ae dyson coeditor black papers 13 rhodes boyson coeditor black papers 45 came lowerclass origins memoir great betrayal cox wrote family existed borders working lower middle classes described two people edited instalments black papers boyson dyson reared comparable backgrounds workingclass determination submit penuries repressions6 certainly none editors black papers came background privilege cox son grimsby coal exporters clerk ladys maid dysons parents worked assistants paddington drapery shop boysons father haslingden cotton spinner editors black papers along good number contributors argued type student harmed comprehensive school movement precisely kind student grammar school education ladder escaping privations lowerclass life threatening grammar schools labour party black papers argued kicking ladder intelligent underprivileged child student anchoring figure black papers various polemics different manifestations progressivism education continually return student figures ten black paper basics shibbolethic list principles appearing beginning black paper 1975 7 reads without selection clever working class child deprived area stands little chance real academic education7 child seeks education means better social status along way adulthood real social type one included black paper editors many contributors figure also archetype centre narratives upward mobility cox dyson familiar teachers literature including david copperfield whose protagonist appears comic mode jude obscure tragic one8 appearing wake period sustained expansion black papers illustrate mass education became source anxiety publicschool educated elite also grammarschool educated upwardly mobile generation came age around time 1944 education act9 mass housing projects became wake ronan point objects anxiety project mass education boyson cox dyson reconstruction education system interests many threatened crush aspirations intelligent time lingering sense betrayal continued haunt black papers project whole malcolm bradbury son railwayman calls attention general sense universityeducated lowerclass person abandoned even betrayed former community essay idea literary lite appeared critical quarterly 1960 observes mobility intellectual breaks away ever cultural roots family background alienations family personal relationships dramatize issue interests capacity discourse usually confine company others like yet make aware necessity wider contact10 great number contributors critical quarterly acutely aware cost upward mobility fact mobility entails distance physical emotional upwardly mobile families friends richard hoggart raymond williams contributed critical quarterly 1960s opposed black papers11 wrestled sense uprootedness bradbury articulates essay uses literacy hoggarts exploration workingclass culture youth deformation forces tabloid media cheap paperback fiction explores plight scholarship boy torn two classes divided left class least spirit certain ways unusual still unusual another class tense overwound12 lecture published critical quarterly autobiographical dimensions uses literacy hoggart reflects length difficulties created sense palpable difference language used workingclass people language must used discuss book like uses literacy intended academics broadly educated public raymond williamss autobiographical novel border country published 1960 three years uses literacy also traces many borders grammarschool educated academic matthew childhood village glynmawr include physical boundary england wales temporal break marked stroke befalls matthews railway signalman father separates past present storylines novel contrast name become accustomed professional life matthew name known glynmawr difference spoken language used glynmawr academic language matthew hears separate language mind13 hoggart williams higher education scores boundary workingclass academic community boundary recapitulated within workingclass academics consciousness sense ambivalence towards educational system enables upward mobility apparent contrast iris murdochs contribution black paper 1975 grammarschool educated murdoch descended onceprominent angloirish family fallen precipitously argues compatibility socialism selection novel published year word child black paper essay murdoch writes aim becoming allround human certainly worthy one clever person become allround clever person things agonizing anxiousmaking childhood later feel one academic advantages one deserved word child orphaned protagonist hilary burde makes precipitous ascent impoverished youth fellowship oxford college part assistance grammarschool teacher recognises intelligence burdes life prospects destroyed falls love wife young publicschooleducated supported fellowship embarks affair kills unborn child extent accidentally remains unclear reckless driving directly breaks affair burde gives academic career settles squalid life minor public servant word child makes clear burde least agonising anxiousmaking sense academic potential achieved unfulfillable desire erase social difference separates upperclass word child read parody upward mobility story story linear ascent suggested protagonists punning last name burde turned back upon trapping protagonist within cycles repetition obviously manifested burdes habit riding circle line round round london underground one burdes dreams appears merge examination hall facilitated initial rise society14 murdochs novel makes plain ways upward mobility story genre shadowed lingering sense betraying others people upwardly mobile protagonists class shown burdes shabby treatment sister crystal fianc arthur also one friend social class aspires reach namely upperclass whose wife falls love kills repeat process twenty years later novels climax large part remedy sense deracination alienation create conditions bradbury calls wider contact people outside academic caste would become possible cox dyson founded critical quarterly society intentionally set include schoolteachers schoolchildren interested study literature together academics black papers would work expose divisions within intellectual community cox dyson nurtured critical quarterly society political division intellectual community black papers laid bare reflected fundamental division within lowerclass intellectuals mind hoggart williams murdoch articulate cox dysons activities society need examined first help contextualise would otherwise seem editors abrupt conversion conservative politics black papers education heart critical quarterly society friendship cox dyson met undergraduates cambridge university great betrayal cox recounts alienation many students public schools viscerally experienced first dinner pembroke college realised one eating pudding spoon15 sense alienation began recede encounters ae tony dyson waiting seminar cox describing ensuing friendship platonic nevertheless intimate bond cox recounts meeting dyson almost every day walks tea discovering common passion brahms mahler16 looking back long friendship perspective forty years cox tells us tony dyson believes completely happy marriages exception proves rule credits fact career academia become friend would never succeeded tripos examinations become university teacher17 intense intellectual friendship two men cox describes providing alternative official cambridge education supplement would come define cox dysons careers academia friendship lynchpin cox dysons flurry collaborative activity beginning late 1950s service growing literary community would embrace schoolteachers well university teachers 1959 cox early career lecturer university hull dyson lecturer university bangor two men founded journal critical quarterly aim cox described later promote understanding literature within called expanding lite18 1962 cox dyson introduced journal critical survey addressed especially schoolteachers featuring essays texts frequently taught secondaryschool level surveys recent criticism essays state education uk19 new journal complemented critical quarterly positioned journal primarily intended academic audience focusing new interpretations literary classics essays current debates literary criticism critical evaluations contemporary literature schoolteachers sent copies critical quarterly critical survey part membership critical quarterly society cox dyson founded 1962 order provide common point organisation editorial conference work20 know many people think lecturers english scrutiny tradition morally arrogant teaching students feel contemptuous towards larger sections english literature last years powerful opposition attitudes emerged like think critical quarterly assisting movement restore sanity magnanimity teaching english22 first issue critical survey cox drew attention problem drives plot alan bennetts play history boys unequal distribution insider knowledge required gain entrance elite university among secondary schools cox lamented fact lack knowledge causes great injustice university entrance system many brilliant students never even think applying cambridge oxford london went give advice well cambridge scholarship examination particular noting example distinctive feature cambridge examinations emphasis practical criticism dating prose verse passages26 beginning coxs analysis edwin muirs horses issues critical survey included examples practical criticism whose main purpose provide model short analysis poem might called scholarship examination last day sixth form conferences organised critical quarterly society featured game tutors lecturers attempted date unseen passages chosen attendees conference implicit rationale game students perform well task longer game question cambridge scholarship examination might make difference winning place college shut cox dyson however subscribe idea possible gain education study literature oxbridge early editorial critical quarterly dyson explicitly rejected opposition cambridge oxford universities founded nineteenth twentieth centuries hull bangor cox dyson began careers protested join younger universities together label redbrick defined oxbridge largely negative ways less tradition less money less prestige less qualified staff less careers opportunities demoralising misses creative emphases ought come first27 primary aim critical survey help schoolteachers sixth formers navigate expanding network uk universities regular series essays reflecting teaching practices curricula across uk sometimes beyond appeared 1960s including ian watts essay newly created literature department university east anglia founded 1963 served briefly dean decamping stanford university28 critical quarterly society cox dyson also helped younger critics often similar backgrounds establish careers academia one many young critics benefit association critical quarterly society early days david lodge first contribution critical quarterly essay kingsley amis lodge wrote im lowermiddleclass origins brought south london read english university teach english provincial university write novels like jazz believe literature fundamentally untranslatable feel unhappy abroad know im less educated oldfashioned scholar less cultured oldfashioned aesthete dont particularly mind next sentence attributes exactly characteristics amis cox first reached letter lodge addressing mr lodge 10 july 1963 asking would act tutor critical quarterly conference held london offered 25 plus expenses services cox mentioned mutual friend malcolm bradbury recommended lodge job bradbury previously taught alongside cox hull acted tutor july 1962 conference bangor lodges colleague birmingham lodge took cox offer must impressed conference since less year later cox wrote lodge addressed david offer opportunity write review article three recent books literary criticism ended appearing critical quarterly following year29 lodge became one critical quarterlys regular contributors publishing ten essays magazine 1964 1987 colin maccabe took editor finally critical quarterly critical survey also provided means postwar writers many lowerclass backgrounds could represent ways moved beyond clichs enabling situate within wider literary critical traditions ambitious example programme john wains long essay published across two concurrent issues critical quarterly first arguing new theatre rediscovering origins drama ritual second tracing link news media novel eighteenth century ending call writers generation push back journalistic angry young man straitjacket writing publishing critical evaluations contemporary literature dyson cox contributors setting squarely leavis dyson wrote early editorial adopted towards contemporary literature unfortunately negative approach standards excellence writers century could hope come them30 liberating respect leavis younger generations critics published critical quarterly critical survey also clearing space scholars teachers literature black papers series whose first instalments would come critical survey 1969 contrast much backwardlooking project cox dyson attempted preserve educational system enabled social ascent first black paper published march 1969 critical survey went influence beyond wildest fantasies typical editor academic journal black papers read debated politicians parliament reported excerpted newspapers discussed editorials television talk shows edward short secretary state education lent black papers much free publicity called pamphlets appearance one blackest days education past century annual conference national union teachers going say indeed blind see wider context massive lurch society towards reaction reaction racism demands capital corporal punishment ending welfare state reaction education31 even actually read black papers operated kind polemical brand name helped define traditional position educational policy minds public cox dyson deliberately set black papers stoke public controversy letter dyson cox shows dyson strategising keep black papers news publication second black paper october 1969 seems important keep present debate going articles letters long possible dyson wrote time prepare effective possible pamphlet autumn32 energies cox dyson channelled towards fostering literary community critical quarterly society directed towards influencing debates around educational policy national stage life depends upon passing exams fail football drop reserves fail business go bankrupt fail politics forced resign countries get shot exams measure people standards distilled human traditions achievements inclinations spun lazily self create education system without examinations fail prepare children students realities adult life33 difference cox dysons pronouncements purpose education black papers former pronouncements subject journals striking essay english younger universities published second issue critical quarterly 1959 dyson written political awakening suez crisis argued disciplined study literature simply end something could help sensitise readers injustice literature intense respect concern people constitutes permanent challenge insensitivities inhumanities civilisation whether perpetrated teddyboys flickknives statesmen bishops full approval powersthat be35 dyson founded homosexual reform society 1958 year launch critical quarterly work academic 1960s conducted alongside political work leading figure gay rights movement cox part published 1965 essay critical survey provided generally sympathetic account observation student protests year visiting professor university california berkeley explained students protesting exploitation neighbouring oaklands mainly poor minority population cheap labour calling attention racially discriminatory hiring practices businesses berkeley criticised rightwing commentators media pilloried students unprincipled agitators made reference main issue behind controversy36 five years later however cox organising signatories letter academic freedom opposing sitins forms protest uk universities printing rightwing denunciations student protesters black papers grammar school always many school gave working class child chance compete product public school made principle scheme reorganization give good academic choice chance talented child working class home misguided evil 37 cartoon richard wilson observer 13 april 1969 10 amis friend robert conquest poet historian became regular contributors black papers writing straightforward contributions single authors humorous parodies satires together update gustav flauberts dictionary received wisdom entitled educational dictionary appeared third black paper gave mock definitions buzzwords mouths student activists progressive educationalists amis conquest defined elitism example theory people better things others education specifically idea children high intelligence learnt lot higher claim education lacking actively resistant qualities title contribution second black paper antisex croquetplaying statisticsnubbing boylebaiting black fascist paper much vein taking aim chorus critics condemning black papers amiss conquests contributions black papers drew mens fondness parody satire conquest earlier published interpretation amiss lucky jim christian allegory critical quarterly full knowledge editors hoax satirising earnest overinterpretations literary texts amiss humour lucky jim lodge notes critical quarterly essay amis leans heavily way jim picks phrase usually clich another persons mentally subjects sceptical scrutiny42 amiss carefully crafted voice political commentator drew rhetorical techniques hero first novel helped inform editorial style black papers style reflects situation parvenu alienated language class finds one point continuity black papers previous issues cox dysons journals dominance male voices amis first black paper particularly egregious respect sole female contributor gf browne contributed notes junior school headmistress bottom page 50 receiving advertisement first black paper margaret higginson headteacher bolton school lancashire wrote cox tell warmly welcome initiative producing pamphlet fight education order four copies went chastise cox fact usual fifteen men one woman among contributors concluded letter commenting doubt venture attacked reactionary oldfashioned isnt pity one respect charge wellfounded43 although cox dyson would include women black paper contributors including iris murdoch june wedgwood benn