Building underground and protected schools to survive nuclear war and desegregation in the 1960s

Conference paper


Preston, J. 2014. Building underground and protected schools to survive nuclear war and desegregation in the 1960s. BERA. Institute of Education, London 25 Sep 2014
AuthorsPreston, J.
TypeConference paper
Abstract

In the 1960s federal agencies in the United States encouraged the building of protected schools designed to survive a nuclear attack. A number of designs, including underground schools, were constructed. In order to promote the building of protected schools, the US government produced a number of propaganda films for school boards and governors. In addition to promoting post-nuclear survival, these films considered that protected schools were beneficial in terms of progressive and child-centred education as well as racial assimilation. Given the conflation of progressive education with Communism in the ‘red scares’ of the 1950s this approach by the US government initially appears to be contradictory. This paper considers how securitisation and progressive education found a common purpose at this time and considers the implications of this for race equality.
The two research questions are to consider how conceptions of security and progressive education are related, and to examine the implications of this for race equality.
The data is based upon rare, archival film from the US National Archives in College Park, Maryland on school protection during the Cold War. These films, intended for wider public consumption, were intended as promotional shorts for schools boards and other decision makers to show the advantages of adding fallout protection to school design. The method involved an archival search to scope the range of films produced at this time. Each film was viewed multiple times at the archive, transcribing text and making still photographs. This dual data was then used to form a narrative account of the argument structure of the films to identify how securitisation and progressive education were used as distinct, and complimentary, discourses.
The discussion uses conceptions of ‘flexible whiteness’ to examine how securitisation, a discourse identified with white hegemony, can additionally contain conceptions of race equality and progressivism. The paper also discusses historical understandings of progressive education and security.
The primary finding is that there is a complimentary relationship between progressive education and the protected school in official discourses in the 1960s. This includes both elements of interest convergence and divergence.

KeywordsEducation; Nuclear War; Historical
Year2014
ConferenceBERA
Accepted author manuscript
License
CC BY-ND
Publication process dates
Deposited24 Mar 2015
Completed25 Sep 2014
Accepted25 Sep 2014
FunderEconomic and Social Research Council
Economic and Social Research Council
LicenseCC BY-ND 4.0
Permalink -

https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/858x7

Download files


Accepted author manuscript
BERA201418SEPT.docx
License: CC BY-ND

  • 192
    total views
  • 75
    total downloads
  • 0
    views this month
  • 1
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

Competence Based Education and Training (CBET) and the End of Human Learning: The Existential Threat of Competency
Preston, J. 2017. Competence Based Education and Training (CBET) and the End of Human Learning: The Existential Threat of Competency. Palgrave Macmillan.
Community response in disasters: an ecological learning framework
Preston, J., Chadderton, C., Kitagawa, K. and Edmonds, C. 2015. Community response in disasters: an ecological learning framework. International Journal of Lifelong Education. 34 (6), pp. 727-753.
Zombie pedagogies: the problems with using the undead in public pedagogies for emergencies
Preston, J. 2016. Zombie pedagogies: the problems with using the undead in public pedagogies for emergencies. Jahrbuch für Pädagogik 2016. 16 (1), pp. 211-224. https://doi.org/10.3726/1404_211
Preparing for disaster: a comparative analysis of education for critical infrastructurecollapse
Kitagawa, K., Preston, J. and Chadderton, C. 2016. Preparing for disaster: a comparative analysis of education for critical infrastructurecollapse. Journal of Risk Research. 20 (11), pp. 1450-1465. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2016.1178661
A Golden Age of Security and Education? Adult Education for Civil Defence in the United States 1950–1970
Preston, J. 2015. A Golden Age of Security and Education? Adult Education for Civil Defence in the United States 1950–1970. British Journal of Educational Studies. 63 (3), pp. 387-411. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2015.1076565
City Evacuations: Their Pedagogy and the Need for an Inter-disciplinary Approach
Preston, J. and Kolokitha, M. 2015. City Evacuations: Their Pedagogy and the Need for an Inter-disciplinary Approach. in: Preston, John, Binner, Jane M, Branicki, Layla, Galla, Tobias, Jones, Nick, King, James, Kolokitha, Magdalini and Smyrnakis, Michalis (ed.) City Evacuations: An Interdisciplinary Approach Springer. pp. 1-20
Conclusion: evacuations and transmedia vulnerability
Preston, J. 2015. Conclusion: evacuations and transmedia vulnerability. in: Preston, John, Binner, Jane M, Branicki, Layla, Galla, Tobias, Jones, Nick, King, James, Kolokitha, Magdalini and Smyrnakis, Michalis (ed.) City Evacuations: An Interdisciplinary Approach Springer. pp. 117-128
Two nations underground: building schools to survive nuclear war and desegregation in the 1960s
Preston, J. 2015. Two nations underground: building schools to survive nuclear war and desegregation in the 1960s. Race Ethnicity and Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2015.1095174
The strange death of UK civil defence education in the 1980s
Preston, J. 2015. The strange death of UK civil defence education in the 1980s. History of Education. 44 (2), pp. 225-242. https://doi.org/10.1080/0046760X.2014.979253
From Aberfan to the ‘Canvey Factor’: schools, children and industrial disasters
Preston, J. 2014. From Aberfan to the ‘Canvey Factor’: schools, children and industrial disasters. British Journal of Sociology of Education. 37 (4), pp. 607-622. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2014.961596
The ‘state of exception’ and disaster education: a multilevel conceptual framework with implications for social justice
Preston, J., Chadderton, C. and Kitagawa, K. 2014. The ‘state of exception’ and disaster education: a multilevel conceptual framework with implications for social justice. Globalisation, Societies and Education. 12 (4), pp. 437-456.
Critical Infrastructure Failure and Mass Population Response: what is the nature of collaboration in this field? Sandcastle report
Preston, J. 2014. Critical Infrastructure Failure and Mass Population Response: what is the nature of collaboration in this field? Sandcastle report. University of East London.
White Trash Vocationalism? Formations of Class and Race in an Essex Further Education College
Preston, J. 2003. White Trash Vocationalism? Formations of Class and Race in an Essex Further Education College. Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning. 5 (2), pp. 6-17.
Concrete and Abstract Racial Domination
Preston, J. 2010. Concrete and Abstract Racial Domination. Power and Education. 2 (2), pp. 115-125.