Educational Considerations - Volume 45 - Number 2 - Intersectionality and the History of Article 8 - Wartime Teachers: Stories from the Front

Oct 15, 2026

“Wartime Teachers: Stories from the Front” examines teacher evacuees’ schooling and education experiences during England’s evacuations in the Second World War (1939–1945). Nearly fifty years after WWII, Professor O. L. Davis gathered accounts from former students and teachers through public advertisements, requesting recollections and related documents. The article centers on the identified teacher evacuees and analyzes how wartime conditions shaped curriculum-making and educational implementation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Invisible Teachers

Educational Considerations Volume 45 Number 2 Intersectionality and the History of Article 8 Education March 2020 Wartime Teachers: Stories from the Front Rachel K. Turner Texas A&M University, [rkt002@tamu.edu](rkt002@tamu.edu) Eliel Hinojosa Jr. Texas A&M University, [elielhinojosajr@tamu.edu](elielhinojosajr@tamu.edu) Follow this and additional works at: [https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations](https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations) Part of the Cultural History Commons, European History Commons, Other History Commons, and the Social History Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Turner, Rachel K. and Hinojosa, Eliel Jr. (2020) "Wartime Teachers: Stories from the Front," Educational Considerations: Vol. 45: No. 2. [https://doi.org/10.4148/0146-9282.2191](https://doi.org/10.4148/0146-9282.2191) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Considerations by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please [contact](contact cads@k-state.edu)[ cads@k-state.edu](contact cads@k-state.edu). Wartime Teachers: Stories from the Front Cover Page Footnote The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. O. L. Davis, Professor Emeritus at The University of Texas at Austin for his initial work and inspiring this endeavor. This article is available in Educational Considerations: [https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations/vol45/iss2/8](https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations/vol45/iss2/8) Wartime Teachers: Stories from the Front Rachel K. Turner and Eliel Hinojosa, Jr. Introduction Nearly fifty years after the end of World War II, Professor O.L. Davis began research related to school aged children evacuee education in England. His interest in curriculum history along with time spent living in England spurred his curiosity. In order to collect information, Davis let space in no less than eight publications. Saga Magazine, the Wirral Globe, the Bristol Evening Post, the East Anglian Daily Times, Home and Country Magazine, the 1940 Association Newsletter, The Christchurch Press, and the Jewish Chronicle. All elicited experiences from student and teacher evacuees from mainland England. Davis also reached beyond mainland England and into parts of the British Commonwealth. His goal was to broadcast his query to an audience whose experiences extended back almost half a century; his purpose was to engage in dialogue that uncovered schooling experiences during evacuations in England between 1939 and 1945. While the advertisement was simple, it yielded significant correspondence from both students and teachers, whose individual stories of education and schooling during evacuation amass a collection of several hundred folders. An example of an advertisement is seen in Figure 1. Though the majority of the correspondence came from former students, approximately eighty former teachers answered his call for information. Figure 1. Advertisement from The Jewish Chronicle. In the early 1990s, when Dr. Davis sought evacuee teacher and student recollections of schooling and education, the body of knowledge on this subject was sparse. Though the scholarship on the subject of wartime evacuations in England has expanded in the 28 years since Davis’ active correspondence, the knowledge of schooling experiences remains wanting. Even less scholarship exists regarding teacher experiences as evacuee educators. It is important to understand that Davis’ correspondence was not attenuated by his thirty-five question guide (Appendix A). Instead, he allowed the conversation to develop organically. Upon receiving a letter from a respondent, Davis read it and, in most cases, provided a poignant response aimed at digging deeper into their lives. In several cases both former students and former teac

FAQs

Who initiated the research and how were participants recruited?

Professor O. L. Davis began research on evacuee education and used public advertisements across multiple publications. He requested recollections from student and teacher evacuees and received correspondence and supporting documents.

What time period and historical context does the article focus on?

The study focuses on schooling and education experiences during evacuations in England between 1939 and 1945, after England officially declared war with Germany.

What is the article’s main research focus regarding teachers?

The article focuses on teacher evacuees, highlighting their experiences and examining how wartime conditions and evacuation affected curriculum and its implementation.

Oct 15, 2026

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