ABSTRACT This article re-visits contestation and critique over the nationwide introduction of comprehensive secondary schools in post-war England. In so doing, it considers the contribution of scholar-activist Caroline Benn (1926–2000) and a network of progressive educators who were challenging ideas about fixed ability or potential and aspiring to build a better, more inclusive education system fit for the times. The recent availability of Benn’s personal papers opens an opportunity for a deeper understanding of the politics of comprehensive education, to consider the meaning and significance of the policy as our historical perspective lengthens, notably the question of whether legislation was needed to implement so major a reform and foster cultural change in a society characterized by substantial inequalities in income, status and power. It will be argued that we need to challenge contemporary political narratives that seek to normalize academic selection as a force for social justice and high attainment and maintain a belief in the myth of meritocracy.

中文翻译：

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讲述综合教育的故事：战后英国政治、政策和实践的隐藏历史

摘要 本文重新审视战后英国在全国范围内引入综合中学的争论和批评。在此过程中，它考虑了学术活动家卡罗琳·本 (Caroline Benn，1926-2000 年) 和进步教育工作者网络的贡献，这些教育工作者正在挑战关于固定能力或潜力的想法，并渴望建立一个更适合时代的更好、更具包容性的教育体系。Benn 个人论文的最新可用性为更深入地了解综合教育的政治提供了机会，随着我们的历史视野的延长，考虑该政策的意义和意义，特别是是否需要立法来实施如此重大的改革的问题在收入、地位和权力存在严重不平等的社会中促进文化变革。