William Michael Duane (26 January 1915 – 21 January 1997) was an Irish born, British teacher known for his progressive educational views, his belief in inclusivity and a multi-racial approach, his encouragement of informal relationships between staff and pupils and his opposition to
corporal punishment.
He was also the head of the controversial short-lived
Risinghill School in Islington.
Biography
Early life and education
Duane was born on 26 January 1915 in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
, Ireland to John Joseph Duane (1888–1922) and Mary Ellen Fogarty (1893-1975). When Duane was 7 his father died when he was shot in
Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
, mapsize = 220px
, pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe
, pushpin_relief = 1
, coordinates ...
during the Civil War; three years later Duane and his mother moved to London. He was educated at Dominican School at
Archway, London
Archway is an area of north London, England, in the London Borough of Islington north of Charing Cross. It straddles the A1 and is named after a local landmark, the high, single-arched Archway Bridge which crossed the road in a cutting to th ...
before going to the Jesuits' School,
Stamford Hill
Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about 5.5 miles north-east of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a sub-district of Hackney, the major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the ...
.
He trained as a teacher at the
Institute of Education
IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society (IOE) is the education school of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior to ...
, University of London, before taking up at teaching post at
Dame Alice Owen's School
Dame Alice Owen's School (also known as Dame Alice Owen's or Owen's; referred to by the acronym DAOS) is an 11–18 mixed, partially selective secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, England. It i ...
,
Islington, until he joined
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
in 1940.
War service
During the War he enlisted, and was promoted to
Second Lieutenant(1941),
Captain (1942), Staff Captain (1942) and Major (1945). In 1946 he received medals for bravery including the Chevalier De L'Ordre De Leopold II Avec Palme and the Croix De Guerre Avec Palme. He was
demobilised
Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...
in 1946
Post-War career
After the War he briefly returned to Dame Alice Owen's School before becoming a lecturer at the Institute of Education.
In 1948 Duane was appointed the head teacher of a newly opened school,
Howe Dell Secondary School in
Hatfield, Hertfordshire, and at the time was one of the youngest heads in the country.
Duane was given five years 'with no questioned asked' to establish the school.
Until the school was ready, Duane was temporarily appointed the head of
Beaumont Secondary Modern School in
St. Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman r ...
for one term.
Duane took charge of Howe Dell in 1949, and implemented a democratic multi-racial progressive policy which rejected corporal punishment.
Duane's policies were criticised by the
authoritarian head of the school governors and he was faced with an inadequate building and pupils with varying levels of education. Duane faced further criticisms after he was appointed a
Justice of the Peace and nominate as the
Labour Party candidate in the local elections. The school was accused of lack of discipline and impropriety and failed a
HMI inspection in 1950. The Governors gave a vote of
no confidence
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
and called for Duane's dismissal. The case for dismissal was thrown out by the Hertfordshire County Council Education Committee, but Duane resigned and the school was closed in 1951.
Duane moved onto another headship at
Alderman Woodrow Secondary Boys' School
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...
,
Lowestoft, Suffolk in 1952. His time at this school was less problematic, though he did come into conflict with the
Suffolk Education Authority over the allocation
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 school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
places. After a good inspection report, Duane felt it was time to move on and left in 1959.
Risinghill School
![Michael_Duane_welcomes_pupils_to_the_new_Risinghill_School](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Michael_Duane_welcomes_pupils_to_the_new_Risinghill_School.jpg)
In 1959, Duane became the head of the
comprehensive Risinghill School in
Islington, the post which was to make him a famous figure. The secondary school was an amalgamation of four other local schools and included pupils of nineteen different nationalities from variety of backgrounds and abilities.
He was also faced with shortages of staff and a poorly built building. Duane introduced a
non-authoritarian programme of
pastoral care, pupil democracy, frank
sex education
Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduc ...
, close co-operation with parents, promotion of creativity and
multi-culturalism.
He refused to expel pupils, as he felt it was illegal as secondary education was compulsory. Duane clashed with the
London County Council
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...
and the HM Inspectorate over his policies and in 1962 the school was brought into controversy over an account of Duane's sex education lessons which were published anonymously by Duane. The school received an hostile inspection report which recommended the reintroduction of corporal punishment and expulsion, but Duane refused. In 1965, the newly formed
Inner London Education Authority
The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corp ...
decided to close the school.
The case became well known largely due to the publication of, Risinghill: Death of a Comprehensive School by
Leila Berg in 1968.
Later career
After Risinghill controversy, Duane was never appointed a head teacher again. He became a lecturer at
Garnett College of Education and wrote and lectured on his educational philosophies. In 1977 he received a
MPhil from the
University of Nottingham
, mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom
, established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status
, type = Public
, chancellor ...
for his research on The Terrace, an experimental
ROSLA (raising of the school leaving age) scheme, jointly organised by Royston Lambert head of
Dartington Hall School
Dartington Hall in Dartington, near Totnes, Devon, England, is an historic house and country estate of dating from medieval times. The group of late 14th century buildings are Grade I listed; described in Pevsner's Buildings of England as "on ...
and
Alec Clegg
Sir Alexander Bradshaw Clegg (13 June 1909 – 20 January 1986 in Yorkshire) was an English educationalist. He was the innovative Chief Education Officer of the West Riding of Yorkshire County Council for whom he worked from 1945 to 1974.
The son ...
of the West Riding Education Authority, to provide education for 15-year-olds from
Northcliffe School in Conisbrough who no longer saw relevance in standard education. He later published his research in 1995.
Death
Michael Duane died in Exeter on 21 January 1997, shortly before his 82nd birthday.
Primary sources
The papers of Michael Duane are held in the Archives of the
Institute of Education
IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society (IOE) is the education school of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior to ...
, University of London and a full catalogue is availabl
on-line
Publications and writings
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Writings on Duane
*
*
*
*Risinghill: Death of a Comprehensive School, Leila Berg, Penguin Books
See also
*
Summerhill School - Another, more, progressive education boarding school in
Leiston
Leiston ( ) is an English town in the East Suffolk non-metropolitan district of Suffolk, near Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, about from the North Sea coast, north-east of Ipswich and north-east of London. The town had a population of 5,508 at th ...
,
Suffolk
*
Leila Berg - Journalist and a writer on education and
children's rights
Children's rights are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors.
References
External links
Papers of Michael Duane at the Institute of Education, University of LondonRisinghill School website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duane, Michael
1915 births
1997 deaths
People from County Dublin
Youth empowerment people
Heads of schools in England
Irish schoolteachers
Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom