Expressionist Education

Abstract

The Plowden Report appealed as much for its underlying ideology as for its practical suggestions. This ideology was one of ‘expressionist egalitarianism‘—involving the belief that the purpose of education is to realise the potential of each child, that the potential is, in some deep sense, equal, and that the way to realise it is not through discipline or instruction, but through a process of free expression. Such ideas are inherently implausible. Nevertheless, they offered a convenient justification for the teacher, in his new and difficult role as child‐minder to the nation, and seemed to promise a solution to problems that were otherwise wholly intractable. Hence they were accepted with far less criticism than they merited. To some extent the blame for this uncritical attitude must be placed on the educationists—those who preach to the classroom from a point of view outside it, and whose careers and reputations depend upon advancing theories about matters which are still not understood. But to some extent the Plowden Report was too close to the spirit of its times to elicit criticism from those who were immersed in them.