Sir Alexander Bradshaw Clegg (13 June 1909 – 20 January 1986 in
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
) was an English educationalist. He was the innovative Chief Education Officer of the
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
County Council for whom he worked from 1945 to 1974.
The son of a schoolmaster, Clegg was born in
Long Eaton
Long Eaton is a town in the Erewash district of Derbyshire, England, just north of the River Trent, about south-west of Nottingham and some 8½ miles (13.7 km) south-east of Derby. The town population was 37,760 at the 2011 census. It has ...
,
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
, and was educated at
Long Eaton Grammar School and
Bootham School
Bootham School is an independent Quaker boarding school, on Bootham in the city of York in England. It accepts boys and girls ages 3–19, and had an enrolment of 605 pupils in 2016. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England.
The schoo ...
before attending
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...
, where he took a degree in modern languages. When he completed his degree he attended the
London Day Training College. He then got a job at St Clement Danes' Holborn Estate Grammar School, where he taught French and games between 1932 and 1937.
Between 1939 and 1945, Clegg worked for
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
,
Cheshire, and
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
education authorities before being appointed, in 1945, to the post of Deputy Chief Education Officer of the West Riding at the age of 34. The West Riding started on the road to becoming a pioneering and innovative authority when later that year he was appointed Chief Education Officer.
During his tenure at the West Riding, Clegg was instrumental in introducing the first of thousands of
Middle schools to the United Kingdom as part of a change to
three-tier education
Three-tier education refers to those structures of schooling, which exist in some parts of England, where pupils are taught in three distinct school types as they progress through the education system.
Terminology
In a three-tier local educa ...
initially in
Hemsworth
Hemsworth is a town and civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire and had a population of 13,311 at the 2001 census, with it increasing to 13,533 at the 2011 Census.
Hist ...
.
He was instrumental in founding
Bretton Hall College
Bretton Hall College of Education was a higher education college in West Bretton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It opened as a teacher training college in 1949 with awards from the University of Leeds. The college merged with the Univ ...
which opened in 1949. His focus was always on children as learners.
Clegg was
knighted in the
birthday honours list of June 1965.
Papers of Sir Alec Clegg are held a
West Yorkshire Archive Servicein Wakefield.
His nephew is
David Attenborough.
Bibliography
* ''The Excitement of Writing'' (1964)
* ''Children in Distress'' (1969)
* ''Excitement of Writing'' (1970)
* ''Changing Primary School'' (1972)
* "Recipe for Failure" (National Children's Home convocation lecture, 1972)
* ''Changing Primary School: Its Problems and Priorities'' (1972)
* ''Enjoying Writing: Further Collection of Children's Poetry and Prose'' (1973)
References
External links
Talk given by Sir Alec Clegg at Bingley College of Education in 1974
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clegg, Alec
People educated at Bootham School
Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge
People associated with the University of Leeds
Fellows of King's College London
People from Long Eaton
1909 births
1986 deaths
Knights Bachelor