1st Edition

Stories of Adolescence, Counselling and English State Schools From To Sir, with Love to Waterloo Road From To Sir, with Love to Waterloo Road

By Angela Keane Copyright 2026
224 Pages
by Routledge

224 Pages
by Routledge

224 Pages
by Routledge

Spanning from the end of the Second World War to the present day, this book discusses theories of adolescent development and case studies of child-centredness from novels, television and film to interrogate English secondary state schools’ approaches to the ‘good’ development of their students. The author weaves discussion of the development of schools-based counselling, beginning in the 1960s,... Read more

Foundations Introduction: adolescence in the state school story  1. Stories of development and change: theories and practice in schools  Part 1: Rebuilding  2. The ordinary devoted teacher and the secondary modern in the 1950s  3. The natural child: the Newsom Report and progressive ideals in the 1960s  Part 2: Backlash  4. Comps and delinquents: declining school standards in the 1970s  5. ‘There’s No Such Thing as Society’: dysfunctional families and the 1980s’ comprehensive  6. Stress in the system: opting out and aspiring up in the 1990s  Part 3: Fragmentation  7. ‘Every Child Matters’: the 2000s’ school as a holding and shaming environment  8. Splits and mergers: the academy stories of the 2010s  9. Individuation, trauma and identity: stories of resistance and school utopias  Afterword: The COVID reset that didn’t begin

 

Biography

Angela Keane is a BACP-accredited counsellor and psychotherapist who works with adults and adolescents. She has been involved in state secondary schools as a governor, counsellor, parent and pupil. Earlier in her career she was a lecturer in English Literature at a number of universities.