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History of EDA
In (the) Service (of) Education (for over) 100 Years
Educational Development Association
Established 1888
The Teachers’ Association for In-Service Training, run by Teachers for Teachers.
Towards the end of the 19th Century, not long after school attendance had been made a legal right for children in England, the narrow range of subjects taught in elementary schools widened and became more practical.
Pioneer work in Scandinavia attracted much attention, and educationists from Great Britain visited Naas where Otto Solomon preached the educational aims of a form of handwork known as SLOJD. As a result, groups were then formed in England to foster the idea that instruction in practical subjects was both an important way of arousing the interest of children and a stimulus to learning.
In 1888, the British SLOJD Association was established in London. Leeds and Manchester followed in quick succession, and in 1892 the three Associations were re-established as the Educational Handwork Union.
In 1905, these three groups combined to form the Educational Handwork Association, until, in 1946, recognising the Association’s increased curriculum and classroom responsibilities, the national executive adopted the title of the Educational Development Association.
By the third quarter of the 20th Century, the EDA had built up branches in Birmingham, Humberside, Manchester, Rotherham, Sunderland & the North East and West Norfolk, and was hosting three regional summer schools – Western School (Chester), Eastern School (Lincoln) and Southern School (Portsmouth).
However, in the 1990’s, with the introduction of the National Curriculum and the ‘blanket’ provision of in-service training by local education authorities, teachers from schools in England were less inclined to seek extra professional development during their holidays. Coupled with the recognition of a heightened interest in the EDA from teachers in British and International Schools, the E.D.A. decided to put all of its time and resources into one – now international - Summer School, culminating, in 2006, with the move from Chester to its new home at Homerton College, Cambridge.
Ever since its inception, the EDA has acted as a forum for teachers to meet and share ideas. Many of the principles and practices which the original Association advocated became accepted as the rule rather than the exception. Today, the EDA continues its work of introducing teachers to the best modern thinking and classroom practice.
Mike Smith
12.06.06