Robin Pedley (11 August 1914 – 20 November 1988) was a British

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

ist whose publication laid much of the foundations of

comprehensive education Comprehensive may refer to: * Comprehensive layout, the page layout of a proposed design as initially presented by the designer to a client. *Comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, th ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Early life

He was born Robert Pedley to Edward Pedley,

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with mortar and even the ancient lime mortar ...

, and wife Martha, a

postmistress A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

; he was the third of four sons and a daughter. He was raised in

Grinton Grinton is a small village and civil parish in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire, England. Close to Reeth and Fremington, North Yorkshire, Fremington, it lies west of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond on the B6270 road. On 5 July 2014, t ...

, near

Reeth Reeth is a village west of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond in North Yorkshire, England, in the civil parish of Reeth, Fremington and Healaugh. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is the p ...

, in the then

North Riding The North Riding of Yorkshire was a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point was at Mickle Fell at . From the Restoration it was used as a lieutenancy area, having b ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, and went to the local Fremington School. and then Reeth Friends School under head teacher Reginald Place. He was a

pupil teacher Pupil teacher was a training program in wide use before the twentieth century, as an apprentice system for teachers. With the emergence in the beginning of the nineteenth century of education for the masses, demand for teachers increased. By 1840, ...

until the system was abolished in 1928. Pedley won an Ellerton Scholarship to

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, where he graduated with an upper-second in History and Economics in 1935. He gained his teaching certificate the following year, followed by a doctorate in 1939 - which he wrote on the political and economic history of the northern

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...

Career

From 1936 to 1938 he was a Research Fellow at the University of Durham. In 1937 he won the Gladstone Prize for Modern History and, in the same year, the Gibson Prize for Archaeology. From 1938 to 1942 he taught History at Great Ayton Friends' School, a Quaker independent boarding school. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

. From 1946 to 1947 he taught Education at the College of St Mark & St John in London, now the

University of St Mark & St John Plymouth Marjon University, commonly referred to as Marjon, is the trading name of the University of St Mark and St John, a university based primarily on a single campus on the northern edge of Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom. Formerly named Un ...

University of Leicester

From 1947 to 1963 he worked in the Department of Education at the

University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...

. At the University he began to develop his ideas on comprehensive schools, which he had visited from the early 1950s. By 1963 there were 175 comprehensive schools in England; around 5% of secondary schools. He believed, as did some others later on, that comprehensive schools helped social integration, and helped underprivileged children. He believed the

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

system led to segregated education. He believed in small schools in intimate communities, and did not like ''all-through'' schools from ages 11 to 19. He preferred two stages of secondary schools, from ages 11 to 15, then ages 15 to 19.

University of Exeter

From 1963 to 1971 he was Director of the Institute of Education at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

, becoming a Professor in 1970.

University of Southampton

From 1971 to 1975 he was Head (Professor) of the School of Education and Dean of the Faculty of Education at the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

Publications

* ''Comprehensive Schools Today'', 1955 * ''Comprehensive Education: a new approach'', 1956 * ''The Comprehensive School'', 1963 (3rd edition, 1978),

Pelican Books Pelican Books is a non-fiction imprint of Penguin Books founded by Allen Lane and V. K. Krishna Menon. It publishes inexpensive paperbacks of academic topics intended to reach a broader audience. The imprint originally operated from 1937 to 198 ...

; his most influential book, greatly popularising the idea of comprehensive schools. * ''The Comprehensive School'', 1966 * ''Towards the Comprehensive University'', 1977

Personal life

He married in Leicester in 1951 and had a son, William (born 1953) and a daughter (born 1955). His son worked as a teacher, for Pearson Education, and later became a college Principal both in the UK and overseas. In his later life Robin Pedley lived at

Brockenhurst Brockenhurst is the largest village by population within the New Forest in Hampshire, England. The nearest city is Southampton some to the north-east, while Bournemouth is also nearby, south-west. Surrounding towns and villages include Beaul ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. He died aged 74 in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

. His daughter married in March 1984 in the

New Forest District New Forest is a local government district in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Lyndhurst, although the largest town is Totton. The district also includes the towns of Fordingbridge, Lymington, New Milton and Ringwood. The district ...

. His son married in July 1998 in the New Forest District. His son had a daughter in June 1998, and a son in December 2001 (named after his father). His son married a Dutch woman, and lived at Wellingborough in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

.His son - Companies House
/ref>

References

External links

Comprehensive pioneer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedley, Robin 1914 births 1988 deaths Academics of the University of Exeter Academics of the University of Leicester Academics of the University of Southampton Alumni of University College, Durham British conscientious objectors Comprehensive education Deaths from dementia in England Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in England English educational theorists Schoolteachers from Yorkshire British schoolteachers People associated with Plymouth Marjon University People from Brockenhurst