In memory of Denis Lawton (1931-2022)

Alongside Jean Floud and Basil Bernstein, Lawton was a key figure in building IOE’s work in the sociology of education. It was a research grant held by Bernstein that initially brought him to the then University of London, Institute of Education, in 1963. The topic for investigation was ‘interrelationships between language usage in working-class family environment and responsiveness to education in school’, and Lawton was seconded from his school teaching post to the Institute’s Sociological Research Unit (SRU) to work as a researcher on the project. Lawton himself had been educated at St Ignatius College and University of London Goldsmiths’ College, and taught, as assistant master, at Erith Grammar School (1958-61) and, as head of English/housemaster, at Bacon’s School (1961-63).

Lawton’s work with the SRU would lead to a PhD from the Institute. From there, his promotion was swift: in 1964 he was appointed as a lecturer, in 1967 as senior lecturer in curriculum studies, in 1972 as reader, and in 1974 as professor of education. In 1972 Lawton established the Institute’s Department of Curriculum Studies, which he built into a highly respected centre in this field. By 1978, he had been appointed deputy director of the Institute. By 1982 Lawton had actually decided he wanted to step down from senior management to return to full-time teaching and research, but circumstances meant he was encouraged to stay on. When the post of director became available, he did not apply. But when no appointment was made, he was convinced by the chair of the Institute’s Committee of Management that it was his duty to do the job, which he did, from 1983 to 1989.

As IOE’s history (Aldrich and Woodin, 2021) notes: “Though fully sensible of the honour and importance of his position as Director, Lawton had always made it clear that his real interests were academic rather than administrative.” Nevertheless, as director, Lawton brought many strengths, including intimate knowledge of the Institute and the respect of the staff, and showed great skill in steering it through a series of political and financial difficulties.

Lawton is described as having a large presence and mellifluous voice and was known for his urbane conduct of meetings. His aim, following several years of financial and staffing cutbacks, was to introduce a period of stability and consolidation. In practice, that was not so easy as financial pressures and turbulence in education policy continued. Among his main influences, Lawton brought greater democracy to the Institute, even introducing secret ballots to decide between competing departmental proposals for investment. In the face of apparent political opposition, he also secured a Royal Charter for the Institute, which would guarantee its status as an independent school of the University of London. After such achievements, Lawton’s decision to stand down as director at the end of the 1988/89 session and return to the Department of Curriculum Studies was both respected and understood. He would retire in 2003 and continue as professor emeritus.

Lawton’s academic contributions were widely respected, at home and internationally, especially his work on the politics of the curriculum. To quote IOE’s history: “His several publications on social class, language, culture and the curriculum were eminently readable. Indeed, the clarity of his teaching and of his published work was legendary.” Colleagues also recall Lawton’s outstanding skill as a supervisor of doctoral students, with a positive, sensitive and determined approach to bringing out the best in scholars’ work.

Lawton’s inaugural professorial lecture at the Institute in 1978, 'The end of the secret garden?: A study in the politics of the curriculum', ends with the memorable statement: “We need to open up the secret garden [of the curriculum] but we must also be sure to plan very carefully where the paths should lie. We also need to make sure that we can keep out the elephants.” His many other publications included: Social Class, Language and Education (1968); Social Change, Education Theory and Curriculum Planning (1973); Class, Culture and the Curriculum (1975); Social Justice and Education (1977); The Politics of the School Curriculum (1980); An Introduction to Teaching and Learning (1981); Curriculum Studies and Educational Planning (1983, with P. Gordon); HMI (1987); Education, Culture and the National Curriculum (1989); Education and Politics in the 1990s (1992); The Tory Mind on Education (1994); Beyond the National Curriculum (1996); Royal Education Past, Present and Future (1999, with P. Gordon); A History of Western Educational Ideas (2002); and Education and Labour Party Ideologies 1900–2001 and Beyond (2004).

Across this work, Lawton was unafraid to critique government policy on the curriculum. He also served on several boards and examinations and curriculum bodies, including as chair of the University of London School Examinations Board, subsequently Schools Examinations and Assessment Council (1984-96), the Consortium for Assessment and Testing in Schools (1989-91), and the Joint Council for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (1996-99), and as Academic Secretary of the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers (2000-02). In 1983, Lawton was made an honorary fellow of the College of Preceptors, and, in 2005, a festschrift was published in his honour, Educational Commonplaces: Essays to Honour Denis Lawton (Halpin and Walsh, eds).

But what of Lawton as an individual? His entry in Who’s Who notes the pastimes of ‘walking German Shepherd dogs, photographing bench-ends, sampling real ale, music’. His former PhD supervisor, Basil Bernstein, said of his company: “tremendously stimulating and challenging, and a splendid companion when we found time for an off-duty drink at the Marlborough.” Fittingly, perhaps, the main meeting place for IOE staff, the cafeteria on the sixth floor of IOE’s main building, 20 Bedford Way, was subsequently named the Lawton Room. Lawton’s beloved wife, Joan, whom he married in 1953, was a source of support throughout his academic career, until her untimely death in 2014. They had two sons, Mark and Ralph, who survive them.

Lawton was an Institute person, through and through: “I have never been tempted to go elsewhere”, he said. IOE, and the wider education community, has much to thank him for, as a senior leader, researcher and teacher.

Dr Emma Wisby, Professors Gary McCulloch and Tom Woodin, and Emeritus Professor Peter Mortimore.
IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society 

Links

• Department of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment

Image: UCL IOE Library and Archives.