ABSTRACT
The TUCEC enjoyed good relationships with the CBI, successive education ministries, teachers’ unions, the University Grants Committee and WEA. Their strength lay partly in the fact that they were not seen to be making a special plea for self-interest which might be an accusation aimed at professional bodies. They recognised that within the government for most of the time the Board of Education and its successors were not in a very powerful position. This meant they tended to be reactive and cautious over certain issues although on other occasions, such as the manoeuvrings at the Board of Education (BOE) during the Second World War, this had been far from true. The Board were slow to become involved with crucial areas such as the curriculum, examinations and teaching methods until late in the day when the Schools Council was established in 1964. The Council had a balance of politicians and professional members, including a representative from the TUC. Later the Council’s work began to be seen as an irritant by Conservative administrations and it was duly abolished by Sir Keith Joseph in 1984.
