The Relation between Science and Craftwork in the Selective School Available to Purchase

The relationship between science and craftwork in selective schools is a rapidly changing one. The position before World War Two was bad — very few grammar schools bothered with crafts save in junior forms and C and D streams. In the junior technical schools a generous allocation of time was made — in 1934 out of 30 hours teaching time per week, four hours 20 minutes were spent on science, four hours 20 minutes on engineering and drawing, three hours on woodwork, and three hours on metalwork. Unemployment in the teaching profession and elsewhere was so severe that graduates with 1st and 2nd class honours degrees eagerly sought appointments on the staff. Moreover, the economic depression deprived many able boys of the chance of an extended grammar school education and these were attracted to the shorter intensive courses in the junior technical schools. In consequence the schools achieved high standards in both written and practical work.