Nursery World - Learning & Development: Susan Isaacs

The work of an education pioneer has profound relevance today, says Julian Grenier.

Mention Susan Isaacs, and most people will probably think of the American murder mystery writer rather than the pioneering teacher, agony-aunt and psychoanalyst from Lancashire who is described, in the Dictionary of National Biography, as 'the greatest influence on British education in the 20th century'. So how did she come to be forgotten so soon?

Isaacs was one of those women born in the Victorian era with astonishing gifts and, for many years, little opportunity to use them. But, rather like Florence Nightingale, she eventually found a way out: in her case, after finally being allowed to train as a teacher, she was able to show her academic brilliance and transfer to study for a philosophy degree at Manchester University. Isaacs then worked successfully as an infant school teacher, but almost certainly came into her own when she set up the Malting House School, where she pioneered a radical approach to educating young children.

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