The true story behind a school that pioneered progressive education in post-Second World War Britain and inspired the famous film To Sir, With Love.

Alex Bloom (1895–1955) was a remarkable school leader whose reputation in his lifetime extended far beyond the UK. Against all odds, in the bomb-damaged remains of London’s East End immediately after the Second World War, he established a school that championed equality, democracy, diversity, and creativity. That school—St George-in-the-East Secondary Modern on Cable Street—is known to many as the inspiration for the novel and film To Sir, With Love, but its significance for education goes far deeper. An explicit affirmation of Bloom’s progressive values and aspirations, it had no punishments or rewards, no prizes or failures, and no set curriculum. It became a beacon for radical democratic schooling, achieving an astonishing international reputation and a lasting legacy.

Based on primary research with former teachers and pupils of St George-in-the-East, How Alex Bloom Built Radical Democratic Secondary Education in Post-war London recounts the story of the school’s founding, pedagogy, and democratic inclusivity. Through the book’s own narrative, and in short contributions from some of today’s leading educators, it examines Bloom’s contemporary and subsequent influence on education in the UK and further afield. Most of all, this book reveals Bloom’s extraordinary dedication and commitment to his staff, his pupils, and their community, exemplifying the importance of engaging with the school’s contemporary realities.

Michael Fielding is Emeritus Professor of Education at University College London's Institute of Education. He was a secondary school teacher for more than two decades, focused on practicing radical democratic education. He was deputy head teacher (1984–89) of Stantonbury Campus, Milton Keynes, a leading progressive comprehensive secondary school, then taught at Cambridge University, the University of Sussex, and the Institute of Education. Mark Erickson is Honorary Reader in Sociology at the University of Sussex. He was formerly director of Brighton Doctoral College, University of Brighton. 

List of figures
List of contributors
Foreword – David Bridges
Preface and acknowledgements
Editor’s note on language and usage

1 Renewal from the rubble

Reflection 1 Alex Bloom: thinking and acting differently
Melissa Benn

2 Secondary education in post-war London
Jane Martin

Reflection 2 Future learning from the past
Alison Peacock

3 Alex Bloom: his life and work

Reflection 3 Alex Bloom: the promise of a better future
Mike Davies

4 Radical democratic pedagogy: ‘they learn what they live’

Reflection 4 Radical equality and radical collegiality in the work of Alex Bloom and Michael Fielding: distributed knowing and ignorance
Sara Bragg

5 Radical democratic curriculum in action: on teaching, learning and living democracy together

Reflection 5 Elective echoes: reviving Bloom’s ‘elective activities’ in modern schooling
Andrew B. Jones

6 On the democratic necessity of radical inclusion

Reflection 6 Interventions
Patrick Yarker

7 Networks, integrity and the ongoing need for progressive education

Reflection 7 Why we need Alex Bloom today
Peter Moss

Appendix: selected articles by Alex Bloom References
Index