Professor John B Thomas

  • Emeritus Professor of Educational Studies

John B. Thomas is Emeritus Professor of Educational Studies at º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ and formerly Director of º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ Summer School. He has published widely in both the history and psychology of education. 

Before joining º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ, Professor Thomas lectured at Redland College, Bristol (now the University of the West of England), and as a recognised teacher of education and psychology in the University of Bristol School of Education after teaching history and economics in schools. He has also served as a part-time tutor for the Open University in Wales.

Professor Thomas is an authority on the history of teacher education and the academic study of education. He has been a Fellow of the British Psychological Society since 1986.

Qualifications

BA History, Nottingham University, 1962
Dip.Ed. Swansea, 1963,
Academic Dip.Ed. London, 1968
M.Ed. Swansea, 1972
PhD º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ, 1993

Professor Thomas has published research papers in psychology of education on self-concept, anorexia, and emotional and behavioural disorders. See 

  • Educational Research and Development in Britain 1970-1980 (LondonNFER 1980 jointly edited with Louis Cohen and Lawrence Manion) and 
  • British Universities and Teacher Education: a Century of Change (London, Falmer Press 1990) as well as
  • research papers and reviews in various educational and psychological international journals. 

See also entries in the 

  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004)
  • the Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales (2008) 
  • Routledge International Encyclopaedia of Education (2008)

Featured publications

Books – Authored

  • 1973 Self-Concept in Psychology and Education. Windsor: NFER Publishing Company.
  • 1977 (with G T Page) International Dictionary of Education. London & New York: Kogan Page (paperback edition in 1978].
  • 1979a (with G T Page) International Dictionary of Education. Cambridge Massachusetts: MIT Press.
  • 1979b with G T Page) International Dictionary of Education. London, Pitman.
  • 1980 The Self in Education. Windsor: NFER Publishing Company.

Books – Edited

  • 1982 (with Louis Cohen & Laurence Manion) Educational Research and Development in Britain 1970-1980. Windsor: NFER Publishing Company (48 commissioned reviews of research and development).
  • 1990 (Editor) British Universities and Teacher Education: A Century of Change. London: Falmer Press (11 commissioned essays).

Departmental Working Papers

  • 1985 º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ of Technology Department of Education: Bibliography of Staff Publications and Student Theses and Dissertations. 34 p.
  • 1993 (with Bill Morley) Pastoral Care, Counselling and Personal and Social Education. 26 pp.
  • 1993b (with Bill Morley) Special Educational Needs. 26 pp.
  • 1994a Studying Education: a guide for new students. 26 pp.
  • 1994b (with Bill Morley) “Pastoral Care, Counselling and Personal and Social Education” in Busher, H (Ed). Pupils in the Classroom, chapter 4, pp 68-90.
  • 1994c (with Bill Morley) “Special Educational Needs and Support Services” in Busher, H (Ed). Pupils in the classroom, chapter 5, pp 90-112.

Edited works – Contributions

  • 1982 “Teacher Education in England and Wales” in Thomas, J B (1982) above pp 227-241.
  • 1990 “Victorian Beginnings” in Thomas, J B (1990) above pp 1-18.
  • 1990b “Day Training College to Department of Education” in Thomas, J B (1990) above pp 19-38.
  • 1990c “Professors of Education in the United Kingdom” in Thomas, J B (1990) above pp 193-204.
  • 2004a “Hilda Cashmore”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford. Oxford University Press.
  • 2004b “Geraldine Hodgson”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford. Oxford University Press.
  • 2004c “Marion Fry Pease”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford. Oxford University Press.
  • 2004d “Dame Olive Wheeler”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford. Oxford University Press. 58, pp 439-440.
  • 2008a “Dame Olive Wheeler” Academic Encyclopaedia of Wales, p 947.
  • 2008b “Psychology of Education”, Routledge International Encyclopaedia of Education, pp 466-468. London. Routledge.
  • 2008c “Emotional and Behavioural Disturbance”, International Encyclopaedia of Education, pp 223-224. London. Routledge.

Journal Letters

  • 1981 “Letter: balance sheet on Burt”, Bulletin of the British Psychological Society, 34, pp 40-41.
  • 1999 “Knighted Psychologists – a letter”, The Psychologist, 13, 11, p 506.
  • 2006 “Appreciating early women psychologists”, The Psychologist, 19, 12, p 72.
  • 2013 “Educational Psychology Origins”, The Psychologist, 26, 11, p 780.

Journal Papers: Academic Journals

  • 1971a “Leadership in the School”, Education for Development, 1, 5, pp 30-40.
  • 1971b “Leadership in the School”, Education Today (October), 4-7 (republished with permission in the College of Preceptors journal).
  • 1971c “Group Teaching in Advanced Level History”, Teaching History, 2, 5, pp 66-69.
  • 1971d “The role of the history teacher in the secondary school”, The New Era, 10, 52, pp 729-732.
  • 1971c (with D A Watkins) “General Studies at Croesyceiliog Grammar School: a survey of pupil attitudes and interests”, General Education, 16, pp 58-66.
  • 1972 (with C F Palfrey) “Adolescent interest in adult education in community colleges”, Adult Education, 42, 2, pp 97-102.
  • 1974a “The self pictures of children in primary school: some qualitative data”, Froebel Journal, 30, pp 31-38.
  • 1974b “Study of self-concepts of pupils in their final year at a streamed junior school”, Education for Development, 3, 1, pp 50-51.
  • 1974c “School organisation and self-concept”, Durham Research Review, 7, 33, pp 929-937.
  • 1975a (with P R King) “Theory of Education in PGCE courses: some key questions and proposed model”, Education for Development, 3, 4, pp 20-29.
  • 1975b “The concept of self in teaching”, The New Era, 4, 56, pp 86-90.
  • 1975c “A literature guide to the day training colleges”, 1837-1901 Journal of the º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ Victorian Studies Group, 3, pp 68-80.
  • 1976 “The College Principal Revisited: a survey of Principals of Colleges of Education”, Vocational Aspect of Education, 28, 69, pp 1-6.
  • 1977 “Self-concept studies in historical perspective”, Durham Research Review, 38, pp 47-55.
  • 1978a “Self-concept and the teacher of physical education”, Health Education Journal, 37, 1, pp 140-142.
  • 1978b (with J C Hall) “Research report: mathematics department headship in secondary schools”, Educational Administration, 5, 2, pp 30-37.
  • 1978c (with J C Hall) “Role specification for applicants for heads of mathematics department in schools”, Educational Review, 30, 11, pp 35-40.
  • 1978d “The Day Training College: a Victorian innovation in Teacher Training”, British Journal of Teacher Education, 4, 3, pp 183-195.
  • 1978c (with K Hodgkinson) “Teaching History: content analysis numbers 1 to 20”, Teaching History, 22, pp 1-5.
  • 1980a “The logbooks of J W Adamson: the curriculum of a day training college”, Journal of Educational Administration and History, 11, pp 29-34.
  • 1980b “Scholarly productivity in psychology: a criticism of citation count research”, British Educational Research Journal, 6, 1, pp 91-95.
  • 1980c (with C V Simmons) “Subsidiary courses in Education: provision and response”, Journal of Further and Higher Education, 4, 2, pp 34-42.
  • 1982a “J A Green, Educational Psychology and the Journal of Experimental Pedagogy”, History of Education Society Bulletin, 29, pp 41-45.
  • 1982b “A note on Masters of Method in the universities of England and Wales”, History of Education Society Bulletin, 30, pp 27-29.
  • 1983a “Teacher Training in Bedford College, London 1891-1922”, Durham and Newcastle Research Review, 10, 50, pp 59-64.
  • 1983b (with J Murfitt) “The effects of peer counselling on the self-concept and reading attainment of secondary aged slow learning pupils”, Remedial Education, 18, 2, pp 73-74.
  • 1983c “The beginnings of teacher training at University College, Bangor”, Transactions of the Caernarvonshire Historical Society, 44, pp 123-154.
  • 1984 “The origins of teacher training at University College, Cardiff”, Journal of Educational Administration and History, 16, 1, pp 10-16.
  • 1985b “Psychologists, psychiatrists and special educational needs in Britain since 1944”, The Exceptional Child, 32, 2, pp 69-80.
  • 1985c (with T Elston) “Anorexia Nervosa: incidence, causation, and prognosis”, Child Care, Health and Development, 11, 6, pp 355-373.
  • 1986a “Amos Henderson and the Nottingham Day Training College”, Journal of Educational Administration and History, 18, 2, pp 24-33.
  • 1986b “University College: London and the training of teachers”, History of Education Society Bulletin, 37, pp 44-49.
  • 1986c “Students, Staff and Curriculum in a Day Training College”, Collected Original Sources in Education, 10, 3, fiche 1 a4.
  • 1988a “University College, Bristol: pioneering teacher training for women”, History of Education, 17, 1, pp 55-70.
  • 1991 “Educational Research in the University of Wales: the half century to 1940”, Welsh Journal of Education, 3, 1, pp 10-20.
  • 1992a “Birmingham University and teacher training: day training college to department of education”, History of Education, 21, 3, pp 307-321.
  • 1992b (with A J Smith) “A Survey of Therapeutic Support for Children with Emotional and Behavioural Disturbance (EBD) in Special Schools in the United Kingdom”, School Psychology International, 13, 4, pp 323-339.
  • 1992c (with A J Smith) “A Survey of Supportive Work with the Families of Pupils in School for Emotionally and Behaviourally Disturbed Children”, Therapeutic Care and Education, 1, 3, pp 135-150.
  • 1993a (with A J Smith) “A Survey of Psychological Support for Children with Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties in Special Schools in Great Britain”, Educational Psychology, 13, 2, pp 119-131.
  • 1993b (with A J Smith) “What’s in a Name: some problems of description and intervention in work with emotionally and behaviourally disordered children”, Pastoral Care in Education, 11, 3, pp 3-8.
  • 1993c (with A J Smith) “The Psychological Support of Children with Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties”, Support for Learning, 8, 3, pp 104-106.
  • 1993d (with C F Kaufman) “The Education System or Argentina”, Collected Original Resources in Education, 17, 3.
  • 1994 “Students, staff and curriculum in a Day Training College: a case study of University College, Cardiff 1890-1914”, Paedagogica Historica, 25, 1, pp 281-299.
  • 1995 (with C F Kaufman) “Antecedents of teacher training in Argentina: Rivadavia and the monitorial schools of James Thomson”, Collected Original Resources in Education, 19, 2, A04.
  • 1996 “The beginnings of Educational Psychology in the Universities of England and Wales”, Educational Psychology, 16, 3, pp 229-244.
  • 1997 “Our Mistresses of Method: Women academics in the day training colleges 1890-1914”, Journal of Educational Administration and History, 29, pp 293-107.
  • 2000 “The Private Papers of Professor C.W. Valentine in the Archives of the British Psychological Society at the University of Liverpool”, Collected Original Resources in Education, 25, 1.
  • 2005 “British adolescence: a history in textbooks”, Educational Studies, 31, 1, pp 55-63.
  • 2007 “Psychology of Education in the United Kingdom: development in the 1960s”, Educational Studies, p31, 1, pp 51-61.

 Journal Papers – Professional Journals

  • 1970 “The case for teaching psychology to sixth formers”, Teacher in Wales, 11, 7, 3.
  • 1975 “Psychology teaching and the cinema: an annotated checklist of feature films”, Psychology Teaching, 3, 2, pp 181-184.
  • 1976 “The study problems of students”, Welsh Secondary Schools Review, 63, 2, pp 43-45.
  • 1978 “Structured seminars in the teaching of educational psychology”, Psychology Teaching, 6, 2, pp 137-141.
  • 1983a “Some thoughts on the history of educational psychology”, Education Section Review of the British Psychological Society, 7, 1, pp 17-20.
  • 1983b “Selected bibliography for the history of educational psychology in Britain”, Education Libraries Bulletin, 26, 3, pp 16-30.
  • 1985 “Articles on teaching psychology published in other journals since 1970”, Psychology Teaching. (August) pp 2-6.

Reviews of Single Academic Books

  • 1974 Review of Pronay, N. et al “The use of Film in History Teaching”, The New Era, 55, 5, pp 131-132.
  • 1975a Review of Perls, F, Hefferline, R and Goodman, P “Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth in Human Personality”, The New Era, 56, 3, pp 83-84.
  • 1975b Review of Duval and Wickland “A Theory of Objective Self Awareness”; Young, T R “New Sources of Self”; Rogers, Carl “Person to Person”; and Rowan, J “The Science of You”, British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 14, pp 102-103.
  • 1975c Review of Lefebre, G “The Thermidorians” and “The Directory”, Teaching History, 4, 13, pp 75-76.
  • 1975d Review of Hawkins, F “From Ypres to Cambrai”; Young, P “Commando”; Macksey, K “Tank Force” (Pan and Ballantyne Illustrated History of the Second Word War), Teaching History, 4, 13, p 77.
  • 1975e Composite reviews of history textbooks, Teaching History, 4, 14, pp 161-164.
  • 1976a Review of Boorer, D R “When Children Learn”, Psychology Teaching, 3, pp 105-106.
  • 1976b Composite reviews of history textbooks for schools, Teaching History, 4, 15, p 270, p 272.
  • 1977a Review of Kamenka, E “Nationalism: the nature and evolution of an idea”, Teaching History, 17, p 29.
  • 1977b Composite reviews of school history textbooks, Teaching History, 17, p 35.
  • 1977c Composite review of O’Callahan, B “The struggle for Women’s Rights”; Stephenson, N “Scotland and the Act of Union”; Warner, P “Famous Battles of the Midlands”; Warner, P “Famous Scottish Battles”; Seymour, W “Battles in Britain, 1066-1547”; Terraine, J “Trafalgar”, Teaching History, 18, pp 38-39.
  • 1977d Review of Halliday, R J “John Stuart Mill”, Teaching History, 19, p 42.
  • 1977e Review of Conger, J J “adolescence and Youth: Psychological Development in a Changing World”, Psychology Teaching, 5, 2, p 2.
  • 1978 Review of Ruffle, J “History of the Pharoahs” and also Whitehouse, R “The First Cities”, Teaching History, 22, p 42.
  • 1979a Review of Dent, Harold C “The Training of Teachers in England and Wales, 1975-1800” and Fletcher, L “The Teachers Press in Britain” in 1837-1901, Journal of the º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ Victorian Studies Group, 4, 108.
  • 1979b Review of Holland, R “Self and Social Context”, Educational Studies, 5, 3, pp 277-278.
  • 1979c Review of Waterston, N and Snow, L “The development of Communication”, Psychology Teaching, 6, 2, p 213.
  • 1979d Composite reviews of history books for schools, Teaching History, 23, p 27 and p 30.
  • 1980a Composite review of history schools textbooks, Teaching History, 26, p 39.
  • 1980b Review of Burns, R B “The Self Concept”, Educational Studies, 6, 2, p 179.
  • 1982a Review of Leach, K “Sixteenth Century Europe: Documents and Debates”, Teaching History, 32, p 43.
  • 1982b Review of Fontana, D “Psychology for the Teacher”, Child, D “Psychology and the Teacher”, Educational Studies, 8, 1, pp 81-82.
  • 1982c Review of Burns, R B “Self Concept Development and Education”, Educational Studies, 8, 3, p 239.
  • 1983 Review of Gammage, P “Children and Schooling”, Educational Studies, 9, 1, p 65.
  • 1990 Review of Wisniewski, R and Ducharme, E R “The Professors of Teaching”, Higher Education, 20, pp 123-124.
  • 1994 Review of Williams, J Gwynne “The University Movement in Wales”, Welsh Journal of Education, 4, 2, 45.
  • 1995a Review of Wooldridge, A “Measuring the Mind: Education and Psychology I England 1860-1990”, British Journal of Educational Studies, 43, 3, pp 351-353.
  • 1995b Review of Jones, R A “The Child-School Interface: Environment and Behaviour”, British Journal of Educational Studies, 43, 4, pp 486-4.
  • 1997 Review of Jones, G E “The Education of a Nation”, Welsh Journal of Education, 6, 2, pp 116-118.
  • 1998a Review of Gorard, S “School Choice in an Established Market”, Welsh Journal of Education, 7, 1, pp 110-112.
  • 1998b Review of Morgan, P “The University of Wales 1939-1993” and Williams, J Gwynne “The University of Wales 1893-1939”, Welsh Journal of Education, 7, 2, pp 111-113.
  • 1999a Review of Delamont, S, Atkinson, P and Parry, O “Supervising the PhD: a guide to success”, Education Today, 49, 2, pp 44-45.
  • 1999b Review of Simon, B “A Life in Education”, Welsh Journal of Education, 8, 1, pp 107-109.
  • 2001a Review of Daugherty, R, Phillips, R and Rees, G “Education Policy Making in Wales: Explorations in Devolved Governance”, School Leadership and Management, 21, 4, 486-487.
  • 2001b Review of Smith, R “Schools, Politics and Society: Elementary Education in Wales 1870-1902”, Welsh Journal of Education, 10, 2, pp 111-112.
  • 2004 Review of Jones, G E and Roderick, G W “A History of Education in Wales”, Welsh Journal of Education, 12, 2, pp 113-115.
  • 2005 Review of Creese, A and Martin, P “Multilingual Classroom Ecologies: interrelationships, interactions and ideologies”, Journal of Research in International Education, 4, 2, pp 233-235.
  • 2007 Review of Hayden, M, Levy, J and Thompson, J “The Sage Handbook of Research n International Education”, Journal of Research in International Education, 6, 3, pp 377-380.
  • 2008 Review of Evans, W. Gareth, Smith, Robert and Jones, Gareth Elwyn “Examining in the Secondary Schools of Wales 1896-2000”, Welsh Journal of Education, 13, 1m p 110-111.
  • 2009 Review of J Wesley Null and Diane Ravish “ Forgotten Heroes of American Education: the Great Tradition of Teaching Teachers”, History of Education, 38, pp 710-712.
  • 2010 Review of Wendy Robinson “Pupil teachers and their professional training in pupil-teacher centres in England and Wales 1870-1914”, History of Education, 39, 1, pp 139-140.
  • 2010 Reviews of Pam Hirsch and Mark McBeth “Teacher Training at Cambridge: the initiatives of Oscar Browning and Elizabeth Hughes” and Peter Cunningham and Philip Gardner “Becoming Teachers: texts and testimonies 1907-1950”, History of Education, 39, 3, pp 423-427.

Staff Thesis

  • 1993 Studies in the History and Organisation of Teacher Education in England and Wales. Unpublished PhD thesis of º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ, 331 pp.
  • 1997 (with D Blease, K Hodgkinson, P R King and P Wild) “Post-Conference Report”, Conference for Headteachers in the New Leicestershire LEA, 3 pp,