Books

Way back in the early 1960s when I had been talking and writing about American counsellors and their work, the then editor of The Times Educational Supplement took me to task by saying that people in English education did not really want to know about American comprehensive high schools and their counsellors. We have travelled a long way since then; though there are still plenty of people in educational circles who believe that teenagers and young adults can normally pursue their education and enter a vocation without much more than the occasional chat to a housemaster or tutor, and a riffle through a few college prospectuses and careers pamphlets. At this stage, then, it is particularly useful for those who are engaged in further education to be prompted to consider some of the principles pertaining to counselling by taking a look at the development of this particular skill within the secondary schools. CRAC, in their recent series Aspects of Guidance, have persuaded Peter Daws to undertake what is described as ‘a personal review of the beginnings of counselling in English education during the decade 1964–74’. This little paperback entitled Early Days may be thought wildly expensive at £4 for 64 pages; but any lecturer or training officer who can persuade the librarian of his institution to buy a copy will be well rewarded by the interest and illumination which Peter Daws gives to his subject.