Introduction: Themes in Arts Education, 1890–1950 -- Chapter 1: Cecil Sharp (1859–1924): Advocate for Folk Song and Folk Dance Education in Schools and the Community -- Chapter 2: Stewart Macpherson (1865–1941): The Rise of the Musical Appreciation Movement in Britain -- Chapter 3: Walter Carroll (1869–1955): Setting the Tone for Local Education Authority Advisers -- Chapter 4: Alice Gomme (1853–1938): Conserving a Nation Through Children’s Games -- Chapter 5: Harriet Finlay-Johnson (1871–1956): The Drama of Education -- Chapter 6: Henry Caldwell Cook (1886–1939): Play, Performance and the Perse -- Chapter 7: Harry Peach (1874–1936): The Materiality of Arts and Crafts Education -- Chapter 8: Marion Richardson (1892–1946): When Idea and Expression are One -- Chapter 9: Seonaid Robertson (1912–2008): The Transformation of ‘Chaotic Experience’ Through Arts Education -- Conclusion: Arts Education Today.

This book presents a selection of case studies of pioneers in arts education who were working in the United Kingdom in the period 1890 to 1950. Focusing on music, drama, and visual arts and crafts, the editors and contributors examine the impact these individuals had on developing innovative approaches to these subject areas and how they drew on perspectives that emphasised the need for children’s self-expression. The chapters offer an analysis of the pioneers’ beliefs and values, with a particular emphasis on their ideological positions about identity, nation, and what constituted ‘good taste’. The book further examines how their ideas were disseminated, in so doing interrogating the concept of ‘influence’ in educational theory and practice. John Howlett is Lecturer in Education at Keele University, UK, where he is also Programme Director for undergraduate education. He is the author of Progressive Education: A Critical Introduction (Bloomsbury, 2013) and Edmond Holmes and Progressive Education (Routledge, 2017). Amy Palmer is Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies at the University of Roehampton, UK. She co-edited, with Jane Read, British Froebelian Women from the Mid-Ninetieth to the Twenty-First Century (Routledge, 2021).