From the FORUM archive: ‘Alex Bloom, pioneer of radical state education’ by Michael Fielding. Introduced by Patrick Yarker
FORUM - Print ISSN 1474-7685 - Online ISSN 2047-7171
Volume 68 Number 1 (2026)
From the FORUM archive: ‘Alex Bloom, pioneer of radical state education’ by Michael Fielding. Introduced by Patrick Yarker
Michael Fielding pages 35‑53
DOI: 10.3898/forum.2026.68.1.04
Abstract
In ‘Alex Bloom, pioneer of radical state education’, Michael Fielding offers an introductory overview of the work of head teacher Alex Bloom, who led St George-in-the-East secondary modern school for a decade immediately after World War II. The school was located in a highly impoverished and ethnically mixed district close to London’s docks. Given these circumstances, and driven by his own principled commitments, Bloom embarked on perhaps the most radical sustained initiative yet undertaken in English state education.
Michael Fielding served for many years on FORUM’s editorial board. His forthcoming book about Bloom’s work restores to public memory an inspirational adventure in education and honours the person behind it. Bloom’s example reminds us that approaches rooted in caring relationships and sustained belief in the educability of all young people will garner a rich educational harvest.
To cite this article
Michael Fielding (2026) From the FORUM archive: ‘Alex Bloom, pioneer of radical state education’ by Michael Fielding. Introduced by Patrick Yarker, FORUM, 68(1), 35-53 . https://doi.org/10.3898/forum.2026.68.1.04