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The Origins of NIACE
Fusion Not Fission: The BIAE Secretary Remembers
| David Wiseman
David Wiseman was Secretary of the British Institute (BIAE) until 1949 when it ‘fused’ with the National Foundation for Adult Education to form NIACE, with Edward Hutchinson at its head. On his return from the Gold Coast, David went to teach and became headmaster in Cornwall. He writes books for children and is now retired. This marks his first contact with the Institute since he left in 1950. |
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I was appointed Secretary of the BIAE at the end of 1946. I'd had a couple of years' experience in adult education after coming down from University in 1938 and had served six years in the army in Africa, the Middle East and Germany. This hardly fitted me to take over the reins of the British Institute or to follow in the steps of my predecessor, W.E. Williams.
It became obvious to me very quickly - and must have been obvious to my Council - that the NFAE was filling many of the purposes for which the Institute was founded. The Foundation was soundly based financially, the Institute less so.
One of the Institute's (BIAE) main activities was the publication of Adult Education, which made a significant contribution to the movement's thinking. It had had a succession of notable men as its editor. Editing it became one of my responsibilities, a part of my work, which was close to my heart.
Perhaps the Institute's most popular activity was the holding of a conference at an Oxford College each summer. To these conferences came many Directors of Education and others active in the service. They were drawn partly by the opportunity to relax in the quiet of academe, but mainly to participate in discussions of important themes free of administrative pressures and the nuts and bolts of management. Some of the liveliest minds of the time were invited to address the conference, Lord David Cecil, Elizabeth Bowen, A.J.P. Taylor, among others. And I remember, with singular pleasure, the skilled and modest chairing of one conference by Jack Longland, Director of Education for Derbyshire. These were rare and satisfying occasions and nothing comparable has succeeded it.
Another function the Institute performed was a consequence of one of W.E. William's innovations. I'm not sure what part he played in the establishment of CEMA, (which later became the Arts Council) but at the Institute we had responsibility for the compilation and distribution of exhibitions: Arts for the People. As a result museum directors and artists were frequent visitors to Tavistock Square, where we had our headquarters.
The Institute had the nucleus of a good library of material on the history of adult education. This was transferred to the National Institute.
However interesting the work of the BIAE, it lacked the financial backing to remain an independent body. I was impatient for it to join forces with the National Federation. I knew that Edward Hutchinson, the hard-headed, ambitious and capable Secretary of the Federation, had a far better claim than I to be in charge of whatever body came into being as a result of the fusion. In the event, I became Deputy Secretary and Publications Officer of the new National Institute, but had no intention of remaining and began looking for other openings. I resigned in September 1950 on my appointment as a Lecturer at the University College of the Gold Coast. But that's another story.
