Colleagues,
I have produced a 28 page pamphlet titled: 'Plebs'. The Lost Legacy of Independent Working-Class Education'.
This relates to the centenary of the 'strike' at Ruskin College in Oxford from 26 March to 6th April 1909, and also to the formation of the Plebs League in October 1908 and the opening of the Central Labour College in September 1909.
The pamphlet details how trades union-sponsored students at Ruskin College carried out these actions and thereby initiated a national system of Independent Working-Class Education (IWCE), parts of which survived till the 1960s.
It shows also how this collided with another project - that of the university extension movement and Workers' Educational Association (WEA) which can be traced back to the aftermath of the defeat of Chartism in 1848.
Colleagues who would like further details of the pamphlet could email me on [mailto]colin.waugh@cnwl.ac.uk[/mailto].
Alternatively, if you would like to buy a hard copy, please send a cheque for £3.00 (three pounds), payable to 'Post-16 Educator' to me at 39, Scarle Road, WEMBLEY, Middlesex HA0 4SR, UK.
I would be glad to go anywhere within England and Wales to talk about this.
Colin Waugh