Through the Schoolhouse Door

This book presents a multi-faceted approach to a case study of a secondary school, the London Technical and Commercial High School, one of the first vocational secondary schools. The authors make a case for tracing the history of classroom and curriculum, using a variety of ways to examine the history, the institutional structures, and everyday life in the school. A major theme is the importance of viewing teachers and administrators as mediating agencies between government and the "e;outside world"e; on one hand, and students on the other, whilst retaining their own personal and career agendas. Other central themes are gender and class.