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Vision and Leadership in EducationalAdministration: Sir George White ofNorwich (1840–1912)Jill SperandioPublished online: 30 Jun 2006.

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Journal of Educational Administration and HistoryVol. 38, No. 1, April 2006, pp. 73-88

ISSN 0022-0620 (print)/ISSN 1478-7431 (online)/06/010073–16 © 2006 Taylor & FrancisDOI: 10.1080/00220620600552300

Vision and Leadership in Educational Administration: Sir George White of Norwich (1840–1912)Jill SperandioTaylor and Francis LtdCJEH_A_155213.sgm10.1080/00220620600552300Journal of Education Administration and History0020-0620 (print)/1478-7431 (online)Original Article2006Taylor & Francis381000000April 2006JillSperandiojis204@lehigh.edu

This article considers the usefulness of current models of leadership in change situations for an analysis of ahistorical case study of educational leadership. It uses the life of Sir George White (1842–1912) and his lead-ership in the field of education in Norwich and at the national level in the UK to examine the nature ofeffective leadership in a context of social change. The leadership traits of cultivating relationships, leadingwith a clear moral purpose, creating coherence through the communication of a strong vision, sharing knowl-edge and understanding the possibilities offered by change in a specific context, are used to frame the analysisof George White’s leadership style.

Introduction

Jesse Jackson, in an interview about leadership, noted ‘It is important to build consen-sus but leadership must first be bold and have a direction.’1 This comment proves auseful starting point for an analysis of the successes and failures of Sir George White(1842–1912), a man recognised by his contemporaries as an important leader in theindustrial, religious and educational circles of his day. But an analysis of leadership inthe historical context can also draw on, and ultimately inform, current theorising andmodel-building concerning the nature of effective leadership in education. In this arti-cle I will use the lens of ‘ leadership for change’ theories to analyse Sir George White’seffectiveness as a change agent in the educational settings in which he operated inNorwich and at the national government level in the UK between 1860 and 1910.

George White: An Overview

George White’s life history reads like a Victorian novel promoting the rewards ofhigh moral standards and virtuous living coupled with social concern and industrialinventiveness. Not originally a native of the city of Norwich in the UK, he becameone of its leading industrialists, Sheriff and Member of Parliament for the county ofNorfolk, and was knighted in 1910. So respected was he in Norwich that his funeral

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drew over 3000 people, and lengthy obituaries appeared in national as well as localnewspapers after his death in 1912. He was a stalwart of the local Baptist church, anacknowledged leader of the Nonconformist Liberal political group, an activecampaigner in the Temperance Movement and a committed father with a family ofseven daughters and a son whose accomplishments would, in time, rival those of hisfather.

George White’s achievements as an educational leader are the focus of this article.He was deeply involved in the development of a Sunday School and Adult School atthe Baptist chapel that he attended, and in the founding and promoting of the YoungMen’s Christian Association in Norwich. In 1868 he became a member of the localbranch of Joseph Chamberlain’s Birmingham Education League. During the time hewas a member and chairman of the Norwich School Board (1874 to 1902), and laterthe Educational Committee from 1902 until his death in 1912, Norwich moved toestablish universal primary education for children, and the development of secondaryeducation for girls from middle- and working-class homes. White attained nationalprominence through his role in the resistance to the 1902 Education Act while chair-man of the Norwich Citizens League and Member of Parliament (elected in 1900 fornorth-west Norfolk) when he recommended and practised the policy of passive resis-tance. He continued to affect educational policymaking at the national level, and wasa candidate for appointment to the ministerial post of Secretary of the Board ofEducation in 1907, although he was not ultimately selected for this position. In 1910Norwich made him an honorary freeman of the city for his lifelong service to it, andfor his ‘earnest and untiring labour for the upraising of the people, particularly in theadvancement of education.’2

Framing the Case Study

Leadership in Times of Change

Recent research in the field of educational administration and leadership hasfocused on the process of change within organisations. Organisational theoristshave sought out and analysed successful examples of adaptation and transformationin the corporate and public sectors of North American and Britain to define leader-ship and to model leadership practice. Current understandings of effective leader-ship have focused on characteristics demonstrated by leaders to promote innovationand get results in situations of complex change. They seek to describe the skillsneeded to take advantage of the window of opportunity created for innovative ideasand novel solutions to old problems when the status quo is disturbed. They modelthe ways in which leaders steer or guide the change process to achieve desiredgoals.

Current models of leadership in change have been developed from the analysis ofindividual case studies on the one hand, and from the projections of the skills neededto operate effectively given current understandings about the processes involved inorganisational change. Leadership has been defined in terms of recognition accorded

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Vision and Leadership in Educational Administration 75

by contemporaries, and effective leadership by the goals attained by the organisationsbeing led.

Kanter, analysing effective leaders in change situations, refers to them as ‘the rightpeople in the right place at the right time’. She notes they have ideas that movebeyond their organisations established practice and that can be formed into a vision.3

These leaders operate in an environment that supports innovation and encourages thebuilding of coalitions and teams, at moments in the flow of organisational historywhen it is possible to ‘reconstruct reality on the basis of accumulated innovations toshape a more productive and successful future’. Kotter’s eight-stage model of leadingchange also incorporates team-building, forming and communicating a vision, andthe need to attend to the human, political and symbolic elements of an organisation.4

Senge stresses the need for leaders of ‘learning communities’ to understand thecomplexities of the change process and to communicate this understanding through-out the organisation.5

The elements of these models are echoed by researchers more specificallyconcerned with the field of education. Sergiovanni discusses the symbolic role ofeducational leaders.6 Evans stresses relationship building and understanding of theeffects of change on different constituents within educational organisations, togetherwith the need for strong, underlying moral purpose to be apparent throughout theprocess.7 Fullan describes five core competencies for leading in a culture of change –attending to a broader moral purpose; keeping on top of the change process; cultivat-ing relationships; sharing knowledge; and a vision and context for creating coherencein organisations.8 Gardner explores the complex processes involved in moving peopleto change their minds, noting that leaders are, by definition, people who must changeminds.9

Can these models of leadership provide useful tools for the historian of educationaladministration and leadership? Can an analysis of leadership in a historical contextdraw on, and ultimately inform, current theorising and model-building concerningthe nature of effective leadership in a context of societal change?

This article seeks answers to these questions with an analysis of Sir George White’slife and leadership in the field of education. I am appreciative that a number of theo-ries exist which may not be fully compatible, and that some commentators woulddispute the contention that models developed in the corporate field can be applied toeducation organisations. It may also be considered opportunistic to use only certainfeatures of several models for the analysis proposed. However, consensus clearlyexists amongst the models regarding the leadership traits that favour success in situ-ations where society and culture is changing, and organisations must change to beeffective in the new conditions that result. I will use these leadership traits – leadingwith a clear moral purpose, cultivating relationships, creating coherence through thecommunication of a strong vision, sharing knowledge, and understanding thepossibilities offered by change in a particular context or environment – to frame myanalysis of George White’s leadership. I have also sought to identify those aspects ofhis career that differ significantly from the models and which I believe provide anopportunity for further critique of the models.

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Data

White’s contemporaries recognised both his leadership and his unique contributionto his times. One obituary notes ‘… he was so many-sided in his interests and hisinfluence, and had such energy of mind and character, that wherever he touched thelife of his time he made an impact on it.’10 Yet there appears no biography and littlemention of him in histories of the period. However, the speeches, writings, contem-porary interviews and newspaper coverage that are available provide a rich qualitativedata source. These are supplemented by centennial publications of the footwearindustry in the 1940s by Wheldon and Sparks, and in the 1980s by Jones, whichchronicle White’s industrial achievements,11 which I have accessed in the Norwichand Norfolk historical documents archives. More recently, Doyle has examinedWhite’s contributions to politics and industry in the light of his religiousconvictions.12 I have drawn on this material to construct a case study that focusesspecifically on White’s educational achievements.

Sir George White and Leadership

Honing Leadership Skills

The aim of this article is to analyse the leadership traits of George White during histenure on the Norwich school board and education committee, and in nationaleducational circles from 1874 to 1910. However, he first demonstrated his leadershipskills in the industrial and religious spheres. The leadership skills White honed in boththe shoe industry in Norwich and the Baptist community in the city and nationwide,were transferred and applied to his later work in the field of education. A consider-ation of these aspects of his life from the perspective of leadership for change providesa useful introduction to the analysis of White’s achievements as an educational leader.

Leadership in the Shoe Industry

George White was the son of a master shoemaker who employed a dozen men in thevillage of Bourne in Lincolnshire. He joined his father’s labour force at the age of 15after receiving an education in a local grammar school. He started to move up theleadership ladder when he was offered a position as junior clerk in the much largershoe and leather firm of Tillyard and Howlett, which marketed the popular Norvicbrand of women’s shoes. At the age of 35 he was made a partner, and ultimatelyChairman and joint Managing Director of the firm, which was one of three dominat-ing the shoe industry in Norwich during the nineteenth century.13

It is beyond doubt that White’s vision, creativity and innovation, high levels ofenergy, and involvement and empathy with his workforce, who he held to high expec-tations, transformed the footwear firm. Many of his contemporaries regarded him as‘the father of the Norwich industry’.14 White’s vision for the shoe industry encom-passed the elimination of the home-based craft workers and garret-masters of hisfather’s days and the gathering of a well-disciplined workforce into a modern and

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efficient factory environment employing the newest technology and managementstrategies.15 To achieve this change required the cooperation of his employees, whichWhite achieved by offering regular employment and attractive working conditions tothe 1200 workers he employed. Beyond providing these practical means of motivatingpeople to change, White appears to have inspired both respect and loyalty from hisworkforce, which enabled him to demand and get changes to the negative work habitsand expectations that were embedded in the industry. These included strict time-keeping and the disappearance of the ‘St. Monday’ syndrome of heavy drinking onSunday resulting in high absenteeism on Monday. Female workers no longerappeared in the factory wearing curlers or clogs and fines were imposed for failure toobserve rules and regulations. White attributed his empathy with his workforce to therelationships he had developed with his father’s employees as a boy. Contemporaryobservers noted the happy and loyal climate in the factory, and the low turnoveramong the workforce.16

Statements regarding close employer–employee relationships must be viewed withcaution when made in the context of high poverty and unemployment that were regu-lar features of the Victorian industrial period. However, White seems to have gone outof his way to cultivate relationships. One incident in the history of the Norwich foot-wear industry stands out as an extraordinary example of White’s willingness and abil-ity to do this. Many of White’s contemporaries saw the rise of labour unions as athreat to the development of modern industry. George White, who was so obviouslyconcerned with the welfare of those who worked for him, could be forgiven for regard-ing those of his workforce who joined the unions as ungrateful and disloyal. Instead,he actively encouraged the movement as an indicator of his workers’ ability to takeresponsibility for their own well-being and to change society. Addressing the unionsin 1904, he applauded their endeavours, urging ‘… I beg you to continue to cry aloudand spare not – a mistaken message is better than culpable silence, and the ideals youkeep before us are sadly needed in this age of materialism and wealth seeking.’17 Overand beyond this, a story is repeated in several sources about a strike called by theunions that was costing White and his fellow Norwich industrialists considerablesums of money. Due to a miscalculation, the union leaders found themselves withoutthe funds to pay strike money to the workers. One of them approached White, whoreportedly agreed to loan the money rather than see his workers suffer hardship.18

Leadership in Religious Circles

White was also a leader in the interconnected world of Nonconformists at both thelocal and national level. As a member of the deaconate at the Baptist congregation ofSt. Mary’s parish in Norwich, he supported the church’s involvement in educatingthe working classes by teaching in a Sunday school at the chapel. He went on toinitiate further opportunities for men to gain some education through St Mary’sMen’s First Day Adult School, established in 1887 and described by White as ‘one ofthe very best works of my life’.19 White was also instrumental in founding a localYoung Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). Again his ability to empathise and

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inspire is supported by the letters that he continued to receive from those he wasinvolved with, long after they left Norwich. At the national level he was invited tospeak and to write pamphlets for the National Baptist Union, of which he was tobecome President in 1911. He was also the founder and first President of the BaptistColonial Society.

White’s willingness to pour energy and conviction into a situation where he judgedchange to be a necessity was demonstrated by his dedication to the Temperancecause. Determined to tackle the misery caused by the alcoholism widespread amongthe poor, he toured the drinking houses of inner city areas around the country, wroteand published tracts denouncing the evils of drink and took every opportunity tospeak in public to the issue. How effective he was cannot be determined, but as withhis leadership of change in the shoe industry, White demonstrated his social sensitiv-ity and willingness to venture outside his social domain in trying to bring about achange guided, in the perception of his contemporaries, by the strong moral purposeof improving the life of his fellow men.

Educational Leadership

The Political and Educational Environment

The evidence that exists of White’s activities in industry and his church support thecontention that he had an ability to foster and embrace innovation, envision andcommunicate a picture of a better society, and to build relationships with stakehold-ers in a change situation at all levels of society, key leadership traits in current changemodels. Given his leadership characteristics, the political and educational environ-ment in which White operated from the late 1860s until his death in 1912 ideallysuited his leadership style. The literature on change frequently refers to ‘weak’ situa-tions, where the external environment is characterised by crisis and upheaval, uncer-tainty or high demands and opportunities for change; where goals, tasks andtechnology are ambiguous, complex and challenging; where structure is organicrather than mechanistic and where the culture emphasises adaptability.20

The ‘weak situation’ that existed in the late 1800s resulted from the national awak-ening to the need of universal education and for national standards to ensure the qual-ity of that education. Religious rivalry between the Nonconformist groups supportingthe Liberal Party and the Anglicans supporting the Conservative Party in parliamentwas interwoven with the concern for educational reform, together with demands bythe developing Women’s Movement for better education for girls. From the 1830sonwards the national government began to survey existing schooling, most of whichwas operated by private religious organisations and charities, and then move to regu-late and extend it. Attention focused initially on elementary schooling for childrenbetween the ages of five and 13. The Revised Code of 1862 that came into force in1863 introduced government grants to schools for poor children. These were depen-dent on regular attendance. In addition, annual examinations of each child aged sixand over and linked to school attendance of at least 200 days in the school year, were

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required. Legislation at the national level was introduced to limit child labour, with aview to establishing compulsory education, although this was only achieved in 1888.

A review of the state of secondary education paralleled the move to establish univer-sal elementary education. This was initially for boys’ schools (the Public SchoolsCommission 1861; the Schools Inquiry Commission 1867) but was extended to exist-ing schools for girls as a result of pressure from members and supporters of the newlyemerging women’s movement. At this time the universities were closed to women,there were only a few endowed schools for girls and there was no equivalent of theboys’ Public Schools, which educated boys for matriculation into the universities.Private ‘dame’ schools offered middle-class girls a very limited education, and manywere educated at home by foreign governesses. The government commission foundthe state of ‘middle-class female education’ to be unsatisfactory, and recommendedthe setting up in every town large enough to be worthy of a grammar school, a dayschools for girls under public management and with moderate fees, and adopting asolid course of instruction including mathematics and, where possible, Latin.

Early Involvement in Educational Movements

Thus, George White’s entry into the political and educational forum in Norwichcame at a time of both change and political strife as interested parties tried to controladministrative processes and educational outcomes to their advantage. White’s reli-gious convictions and his own schooling had made him a passionate believer in educa-tion; on his arrival as a youth in Norwich he had undertaken further studies inmathematics, modern languages and Greek. In an interview towards the end of hislife White noted ‘Very early … I learned the value of education for myself, and appre-ciated its importance for others.’21 White’s first move into politics was, at the age of18, to become secretary of a Liberal Party ward organisation. He then became honor-ary secretary of the Norwich Electoral Reform Association, a group committed to theextension of democracy that included votes for women. Nonconformists had longsupported interdenominational and secular schooling as well as a gender-neutralapproach to human rights, and operated an interdenominational elementary schoolin the city. White’s direct involvement in teaching Sunday school at the chapel, theAdult School and the local Young Men’s Christian Association demonstrated hisdeep-rooted belief in the ability of education to improve the lot of the working classand poor of the city. He referred to his involvement with these organisations as ‘oneof the very best works of my life.’22

Not surprisingly then, he joined the local branch of Joseph Chamberlain’sBirmingham (National) Education League. Although initially aligned with theNonconformist desire to see new government educational initiatives kept secular, theLeague became increasingly radical, lobbying for a comprehensive education systemin which elementary education would be compulsory, free and non-sectarian. WhenGladstone’s government proposed instead a ‘fill the gaps’ scheme that required localcouncils to provide, through the building of schools, enough additional places for chil-dren who could not attend local church schools it was opposed by the League on the

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grounds that some children would be forced to attend church schools. However, themeasure was passed in 1870, School Boards were set up to undertake the buildingschemes in 1871, and George White was elected to the Norwich School Board in 1874.

Election to Norwich School Board

Change had been mandated by the national government by its demand that schoolplaces be provided for every child. But the speed and efficiency with which changewould be achieved would vary enormously from district to district, depending onschool board leadership and commitment to the new measures. Both the NorwichSchool Board and city council reflected the tensions that existed at the national levelbetween the political parties that could prove a barrier to rapid action or change. Thistension was demonstrated as early as 1838 in a meeting of Norwich City Council. MrBrightwell, a Nonconformist and Liberal Party supporter, had moved and hadadopted a petition to be presented to the House of Commons requesting that ‘everyindividual in the country in early life, without regard to sect or party, should beafforded the opportunity of obtaining the elements of useful knowledge and anacquaintance with the sacred Scriptures’. An amendment to this motion wasproposed by Mr Seppings, an Anglican and Conservative party supporter. This read‘your petitioners pray that you will not sanction any schemes of education which donot include with the daily reading Holy Scriptures in full measure religious instruc-tion based upon the Word of God, nor any general system of national educationwhich does not secure the careful assistance and superintendence of the nationalChurch.’ The Council rejected the amendment.23

To fulfil his personal vision of providing a quality education for the poor and work-ing class with the utmost speed, White would have to build trust and rapport withConservative board members whose own interests centred on protecting the positionof their existing Anglican church schools and private enterprise schools and keepingthe demands on taxpayers low. The Conservatives represented the landed/commer-cial and professional classes and their Anglican church allegiance and they were todominate every election, including those of the School Board, until the turn of thecentury. The detailed reports of the monthly School Board meetings found in thelocal papers record the battles fought as White, Chairman of the Board for 15 years,pushed to fund and build elementary schools around the city. The handwritten notesin the school board minutes, and architects’ plans and notes, detail the new schoolsconstructed in rapid succession over the course of 30 years, while government inspec-tors recorded developments in the classrooms.24 White had to demonstrate sensitivity– the Anglican church in Norwich had a long and illustrious record with regard toproviding schooling. It operated not only a teacher training college, but also twomodel schools for practice teaching, as well as church and charity endowed schools.What was achieved? Hawkins, reviewing the education system in 1910 noted:

The elementary schools are sometimes criticized because they cost too much and achieveso little. No doubt there is room for criticism, but it is no small thing to have providedclassrooms and books and teachers for 21,000 children, and to turn out every year

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something over 2000 boys and girls … able to read well, write fairly well, and calculatemore or less successfully. More could hardly be expected of a system that is only just fortyyears old.25

The education system at this time also included a technical institute (supplying tech-nical training of an industrial nature but including instruction in subjects such asgeometry and elementary mechanics) and secondary education for 500 children.

It is impossible to say how much of the development of the elementary schoolsystem in Norwich can be directly attributable to George White’s leadership skills ina ‘weak situation’, given that he was chairman of the Board for only 15 of the30 years it was in operation. If we accept that it was his vision and ability to commu-nicate it enthusiastically, his hard work and his willingness to compromise to achievecoherence that gave the Board the unity and momentum to go well beyond the mini-mum required to meet national mandates with regard to primary education, thenWhite clearly fits the leadership in change models. The one area that indisputablybears his mark, the development of educational opportunities beyond the primarylevel to the particular benefit of working- and lower-middle-class girls, gives usstrong evidence of the type and strength of his leadership skills. It seems reasonableto assume that these same skills were being employed throughout the 40 years Whitewas a member of the Board and Education Committee, regardless of whether he hadultimate power as chairman, or was just a voting member and leader of the Non-conformist Liberal group.

The Development of Secondary Level Schooling

The development of opportunities for a secondary level of education in Norwichoccurred as a result of George White’s exploitation of a ‘weak’ situation, where devel-opments in education at the national level allowed innovative school boards theopportunity to provide educational services not envisioned by the national govern-ment. In 1853 the government had set up a Science and Art Department for thepurpose of ‘supplying scientific and artistic instruction to the industrial classes.’ Thedepartment was empowered to bestow grants of money for the setting up at the locallevel of courses of instruction in art and science for the working classes. Then in 1867and again in 1871 the original legislation requiring the provision of elementary educa-tion to all children between five and 13 years of age was modified to allow schoolboards to provide a range of subjects including mathematics, science and languages– above and beyond the three R’s of writing, reading and arithmetic (and needleworkfor girls) – that were all the elementary schools were required to deliver. The govern-ment made available additional grant money for the provision of these subjects.26

These two initially unrelated developments created a window of opportunity forthose school boards leaders committed to bringing about change in any way thatwould facilitate the educational facilities available to the working classes. By applyingfor grants from the Department of Science and Art and using the money available foradditional subject offerings, school boards could offer a range of subjects to studentswho were able to stay on beyond the age of 13 to form ‘higher grades’ in some of the

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elementary schools directly operated by the boards. By using the grants available, theboards could do this without having to raise taxes or charge high fees.

As more children chose to take the opportunities offered by these higher grades inthe elementary schools, some school boards took the logical step of centralising theminto a separate school for the older and more advanced students whose parents wishedthem to stay at school, as no upper age limit was imposed. If this separate schooladopted the science curriculum developed by the Science and Art Department, itcould assume the title of an Organised Science School. Ultimately it would be provid-ing a level of education that prepared working- and lower-middle-class boys foruniversity matriculation (the universities were still closed to women at this time), arole traditionally undertaken by grammar and the Public Schools for boys from themiddle and upper classes. These developments were never the intention of thegovernment, and it would ultimately attempt to curb them by abolishing the electedSchool Boards and instituting Education Committees.

Thus, George White, chairman of a school board whose members’ opinionsranged from radicals demanding free education for all to those wishing to limit thework of the board to the provision of a basic education to ‘gutter children’, foundhimself with the opportunity to provide more and higher quality education to theworking class. The opportunity would also make a significant change in the optionsopen to working-class girls. There is nothing in White’s recorded statements thatshows him to be anything but gender neutral when distributing the educationalassets at his disposal. However, his work on the Electoral Reform Association’s plat-form for female franchise, the opportunities he made for the female workforce in hisfactories and his church’s commitment to education as a religious obligation regard-less of gender, as well as being father to seven daughters, must have sensitised him tothe disadvantaged position of girls with regard to education. In addition, he wouldhave been cognoscente of the role played by his fellow nonconformist and Norwichindustrialist, Jeremiah Colman, who had been instrumental in helping the Girl’s DaySchool Trust set up a High School for middle- and upper-class girls in Norwich in1875, an important step forward in furthering the cause of equal opportunities forgirls.27 White’s interests lay with the working class, and this would be his chance totake a similar step forward in female education.

The Higher Grade School

In 1885 he introduced a proposal to the Board for the establishment of a HigherGrade School for both girls and boys, to extend the educational opportunitiescurrently offered to Norwich children past the basic elementary level mandated by thegovernment. The resolution put forward for debate read ‘That there be an instructionto the General Purposes Committee, in considering the question of further elemen-tary school accommodation, to make provision for a central higher grade school, fornot less than 750 children.’28 As indicated by the resolution, the Board had been inthe process of approving, raising funds for and constructing a number of handsomeand well-designed elementary schools around the city since the mid 1870s, to ‘fill the

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gaps’ in the provision of schooling left by church, private and charity schools asmandated by the government. If the resolution passed, the General PurposesCommittee would have to find an existing building, or build new premises to housethe proposed new Higher Grade School.

We are provided with further evidence of White’s leadership style and his ability toguide change both in his decision to launch the proposal, and the manner with whichhe steered the project to fruition. Judging from the newspaper report of the debatethat followed the proposal, there were a number of issues to be addressed. WhileWhite could count on the support of the Nonconformist and Liberal party memberson the committee, he would also face demands from the more radical members thatthe school should be ‘free’, which would mean additional taxes being raised to fundit. This would be unacceptable to the Conservatives on the Board. The Conservativeswould have issue with who would attend the school, attentive to the competition thatit might provide to the private schools that were supplying education to the middleclass at the time. Other members would need to be convinced that this was the bestuse of funds available for building, given that additional elementary schools were stillrequired. There would be a need to provide precedents to the Conservatives, whowould see no reason for Norwich taking a radical initiative if there was no governmentmandate to do so. There was also a strong political element to school board discus-sions – elections for the Board were hard-fought and being elected could be a first stepto other positions, so members would be unwilling to support schemes likely to makethem unpopular at the polls.

The three-hour debate that followed the presentation of the proposal was both longand heated by school board standards.29 If the initial proposal indicates White’svision, innovation and commitment to long term goals, the debate as recorded clearlyindicates his determination to win consensus by defining the need for change andpersuading the members of the board to put aside individual interests in the pursuitof the long term betterment of the population and the city. He was regarded as a verycompetent public speaker by his contemporaries, of the type who would win supportthrough a clear and logical presentation rather than by inciting high emotion (anumber of commentators note his inability to incorporate jokes or humour into hisspeeches until almost the end of his life), and this logic and clarity comes acrossstrongly in the Higher Grade School debate.

White called on the experiences of fellow board members to verify that other coun-cils around Britain had already moved to establish similar schools, and had been ableto do so successfully. The Nonconformists were linked by strong national ties stem-ming both from religious affiliations and marriage, and the need to keep abreast oftechnical innovation.30 Several board members had visited higher grade schools in thecourse of their travels to Manchester, Burton-on-Trent and Sheffield, the largerindustrial cities at this time, and were encouraged to testify to their efficacy. One ofthe two women on the Board, Miss Bignold, concerned with the high attrition ratesin the elementary school as children left to enter paid employment, was encouragedby White to think about the possibility that a low-cost higher grade school wouldprovide an incentive for children to complete their education.

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White attempted to confront the fears of competition with existing private andchurch schools by suggesting that it would offer a much needed service to lower-middle-class families who would not be able to afford the fees of the private schoolsin the city. To the radicals, he suggested the possibility of free scholarships for theworking-class children unable to afford the fees. White noted:

The very poorest of the population who completed the fifth standard, might, with theconsent of their parents, be passed on to the Higher Grade School without any extra feewhatever being charged. That would be a sort of scholarship to these children. The pick ofthe elementary schools would thus get a higher education and it would be an inducementto parents, for the future success and advantage of their children, to allow them to remainat school another year or two, in the hope that they might fit themselves for a higher posi-tion in life.31

Thus the funding issue was defused – the government and science and arts depart-ment grants in addition to the fees of these able to pay a modest school fee wouldfinance the education of those unable to do so, limiting the call on the rate payers toproduce more money.

Above all, White appealed to civic pride to move members beyond political partyconsiderations. He noted that they were close to completing their work in providingthe government mandated elementary school places, and acknowledged the argu-ment that the Board was not required to extend its responsibilities beyond doingthis. But he laid out to his colleagues what he knew would be a far harder argumentto counter: that Norwich was ‘the lowest of all large towns in England with respectto the number of children in their schools above the third standard’32 and thatprovision of the higher grade school would raise the expectations of working-classparents that education could provide a means of social mobility by opening newopportunities to their children beyond those offered by basic literacy. These oppor-tunities would encourage them to keep their children in school beyond the thirdgrade and so address the citywide attendance problem. Norwich was a proud citywith a long history and its Victorian notables would be hard pressed to accept a situ-ation where they were lowest in anything. When the motion went to the vote it wascarried, with only one member dissenting. The General Purposes Committee wasrequested to draw up plans for girls’ and boys’ higher grade schools, with equalplaces in each.33

School Reform at the National Level

White’s leadership in education at the national level failed to achieve such positiveresults, prompting a consideration of whether leaders successful in ‘weak’ situationmay prove much less powerful as change agents once the environment in which theyare working becomes more rigidly structured. This was the situation in which Whitewas placed as the national Conservative government sought to regain the control ofthe developing education system, control that the local boards had usurped. As aMember of Parliament, and as Chairman of the Nonconformist Committee inparliament, he fought against a new Education Act introduced by the Conservative

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government in 1902. The Act abolished all 2500 school boards with their electedmembers around the country and handed over their duties to local borough orcounty councils, to be called Local Education Authorities (LEAs). A non-electedEducation Committee, on which George White served until his death, replaced theelected School Board in Norwich. Nonconformists, Liberal and Labour partymembers objected that the monies raised from tax payers which had previously goneto support the non-denominational Board schools (Provided schools), would now beused to support denominational schools (Non-provided) as well, schools whichwere not under public control. One of the aims of the Act was indeed to protect theAnglican schools, which the nonconformists had hoped would gradually disappearfor lack of funds. Instead, these schools would now be supported and recognised asoffering a valid education, and where no other school existed, non-Anglican childrenwould be forced to attend them (elementary education now being both free andcompulsory) as the LEA would not be expected to provide alternative schooling.Additionally, teachers in sectarian schools would be subjected to religious tests.34

John Clifford, a prominent Baptist leader at the time, formed the National PassiveResistance Movement that encouraged Nonconformists to refuse to pay the educa-tion rate. George White, now President of the National Baptist Union, led the localbranch of the movement and was frequently called to appear in court and have goodsconfiscated for auction for his non-payment of the education rate. When it wassuggested to him that all Nonconformists should refrain from administering theEducation Act and his membership of the education committee in Norwich was inap-propriate, he is reported to have said, ‘No, when matters are being discussed I shallhave more influence on the committee than I should have off it.’35

At the national level the debate continued to rage, and when the Liberals came topower in 1906 they attempted to repeal the Act. White had by this time beenknighted. The House of Lords, still strongly Conservative, was to curb attemptedreform in both 1906 and 1908, before finally being reformed itself in 1909 afterrejecting the budget proposals of Lloyd George. When it was clear that the Birrel Bill(1906), which would have banned religious teaching from schools, was doomed torejection by the House of Lords, White actively supported a compromise positionallowing the use of the bible in schools, while regulating the way in which it would betaught. For this he was strongly criticised in the local Norwich newspapers by theNonconformists, and replied with a summary of his rationale that included thefollowing:

Rather than wait I have risked the education reputation of a lifetime in the belief that thiscompromise would bring us considerably nearer to the national ideal than we are to-day… I have been a passive resister from the first and am still one. Passive resistance has prob-ably cost me more personally than any of those who now denounce me. I care nothing forhard words, but I do care that the question should be looked at dispassionately and fromboth sides, and that it should not be hastily concluded that many of us, including men likeDr. Clifford and Sylvester Horne, could rightly, or without solid reason, advise anycompromise on a question for which we have fought so long and ardently.36

In a private interview, he further elaborated his position:

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I hold myself strongly that no system of education is complete which does not include reli-gious training. The training of the child is the most important of all Christian work. TheBible is the oldest book in the world. It is a book which touches human life on all sidesexcept its sectarian side and must, therefore, be a great educator. In the hands of trainedteachers it can be made the vehicle of teaching, in the best possible way, those moral truthswhich every citizen desires the child to learn, without inflicting the smallest wrong uponany man’s conscience.37

The failure of both attempts to reform the Bill and the compromise championed byWhite can be interpreted as a failure of leadership. Perhaps this was a situation whereWhite’s loyalty to religious beliefs and the organisation that supported them was atodds with the political pragmatism needed to produce an acceptable compromise. Ifso, the contention that a match is needed between leadership styles and specific situ-ations would hold true. The characteristics that enabled White to be effective in onesituation appear to have worked to limit his effectiveness in another. He was,however, stoic about his lack of success, noting ‘I have aspired to some things inwhich I have failed, but I do not regret I did so aspire, for the disposition of this hasbrought its own rewards.’38

Conclusion

Effective or otherwise, White’s stand over the 1902 Education Act was anotherdemonstration of his integrity and resolution as a leader at both the local andnational level. But it is his achievements in developing elementary and secondaryeducation in Norwich and of maintaining a clear vision that united Conservativesand Liberals, Nonconformists and Anglicans in the development of an educationsystem for the city that would benefit all levels of society and girls as well as boys,which must be his monument as an educational administrator. In 1904 he articu-lated this vision once again:

As citizens we should strive to have the best things common to all. This is not a questionof dividing money or property, but of equality of opportunity, of destroying privilege, andplacing within the reach of the people ‘without money and without price’ the advantageof moderate leisure, recreation, education, social advancement, and the best spiritualinfluence.39

His vision was clearly recognised by his peers. The final act of the Norwich SchoolBoard, as it gave way to the LEA, was to decide unanimously that the last of the newschools that the Board had built would be called after George White. It was a schoolfor girls. The writer of his obituary in the Norfolk Chronicle noted:

What more appropriate, what grander memorial, could any man ask for than the answerwhich will be given to future generations of children who ask ‘what mean ye by thesestones?’ than that they were built to perpetuate the name of one who, many years ago,made the education of the children of the working classes possible, and even popular?40

In the context of current theories of leading effectively in conditions of complexchange, George White’s ability to recognise or create a situation in which change waspossible and to guide the change process successfully in a potentially hostile political

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climate lends support to many aspects of current leadership models. In change situa-tions, even those he did not directly control, he was able to apply the same processeswith equal effect in a number of very different contexts, guided by a clear moralpurpose. That he was less successful as conditions became more controlled, evengiven a demonstrated willingness to compromise, suggests that self knowledge, integ-rity and loyalty to particular social organisations may ultimately prove a barrier toeffective leadership when the situational factors change and the willingness tocompromise personal beliefs is put to the test.

Notes

1. Jackson, Jesse. “Interview with Jesse Jackson.” Parade 5 (28 January 1990): p. 5.2. Eastern Daily Press, 6 July 1910, p. 6.3. Kanter, Rosabeth. M. The Change Masters, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1983, 306.4. Kotter, John P. The Leadership Factor. Free Press, 1988; Cohen, Dan S. The Heart of Change:

Real Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations. Boston: Harvard Business SchoolPress, 2002.

5. Senge, Peter M. The Fifth Dimension: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. NewYork: Doubleday, 1990.

6. Sergiovanni, Thomas J. Moral Leadership: Getting to the Heart of School Improvement. San Fran-cisco: Jossey Bass, 1992.

7. Evans, Robert. The Human Side of Change. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 1996.8. Fullan, Michael. Leading in a Culture of Change. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2001.9. Gardner, Howard. Changing Minds. Harvard Business School, 2003.

10. Eastern Daily Press, 13 May 1912, p. 5.11. Wheldon, F. W. A Norvic Century and the Men Who Make It, 1864–1946. Norwich: Jarrod and

Sons Ltd, 1946, p. 39, 86, 93–103; Sparkes, L. W. The Story of Shoemaking in Norwich.Northampton: The National Institute of Bookmaking, 1948; Jones, David. “Business, Tactand Thoroughness: A History of the Norvic Shoe Company Ltd.” Journal of the NorfolkIndustrial Archaeology Society 4, no. 1 (1986): 20–21. Also Hale, R. W. “Nonconformity inNineteenth Century Norwich.” In Nineteenth Century Norwich, edited by C. Barringer.Norwich: Jarrards Press, 1982, 179–198.

12. Doyle, Barry M. “Business, Liberalism and Dissent in Norwich, 1900–1930.” BaptistQuarterly, 35, no. 5 (1994): 247–248; “Through the Windows of a Baptist Meeting House.”Baptist Quarterly 36, no. 6 (1996): 294–305; “White, Sir George, 1840–1912.” In OxfordDictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and B. Harrison. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, 2004; “Urban Liberalism and the ‘Lost Generation’: Politics and MiddleClass Culture in Norwich, 1900–1935.” Historical Journal 38, no. 3 (1995): 617–634.

13. Wheldon, A Norvic Century, 38–39.14. Brooker, Keith. “White, Sir George, (1940–1912).” In Dictionary of Business Biography. Vol. 5,

S–Z, edited by D. J. Jeremy. Butterworths, 1986, 776–779.15. Wheldon, A Norvic Century, 38–39.16. Wheldon, A Norvic Century, 38.17. White, George. “The Nonconformist Conscience and its Relation to our National Life.”

Presidential Address to the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland, 27 April, 1903.18. Eastern Daily Press, 13 May 1912, p. 5; Wheldon, A Norvic Century, 38.19. Cooper, A. B. “Sir George White of Norwich, The Sunday at Home” May 1909, 483–487.20. Shami, B., and J. M. Howell “Organizational and Contextual Influences on the Emergence and

Effectiveness of Charismatic Leadership.” Leadership Quarterly 10, no. 2 (1999): 257–283.21. British Weekly, 486.

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22. White, George. History of the Norwich Young Men’s Christian Association. Norwich: Jarrod andSons Ltd, 1886, 4.

23. Mackie, Charles. Norfolk Annals 1802–1850. Norwich, 1910, 373.24. See School Board Records, General Purposes Committee Books, Norwich School Board Year

Books, in Norfolk Archives Centre, Norwich. Reports of the monthly Norwich School BoardMeetings in the Norfolk Chronicle and Norwich Gazette, and Eastern Daily Press, microfichein the Local Studies Centre, Norwich Central Library.

25. Hawkins, C. B. Norwich: A Social Study. London, 1910, 118–131.26. Useful analysis of the higher grade school developments can be found in Dalglish, Neil D. “The

Politics of Educational Change: The Case of the English Higher Grade Schools.” Journal ofEducational Administration and History XIX (1987): 36–50; Jenkins, Edgar W. A MagnificientPile: A Centenary History of the Leeds Central High School. Leeds: University of Leeds, 1985;Vlaeminke, Mel. “The English Higher Grade Schools – A Reassessment”. Unpublished PhDthesis, University of Leicester, 1987.

27. The issue of girls’ access to post-primary education is discussed in Pedersen, Joyce S. TheReform of Girls’ Secondary and Higher Education in Victorian England: A Study of Elites and Educa-tional Change. New York: Garland, 1987; Robinson, W. “Breaking the Elementary Mold: AStudy of Nine Higher Grade Girls’ Schools Under the London School Board, 1882–1904.”Unpublished MA thesis, University of London, 1990; Sperandio, Jill. “Secondary Schools forNorwich Girls, 1850–1910: Demanded or Benevolently Supplied?” Gender and Education 14,no. 4 (2002): 391–410.

28. Norfolk Chronicle and Norwich Gazette, 31 January 1885, p. 2.29. Ibid.30. Doyle, “Business, Liberalism and Dissent in Norwich, 1900–1930.”31. Norwich School Board Meeting report, Norfolk Chronicle and Norwich Gazette, 31 January

1885, p. 2.32. Norfolk Chronicle and Norwich Gazette, 1885.33. For the development of the Norwich girls’ higher grade school, see Sperandio, “Secondary

Schools for Norwich Girls.”34. Useful discussions of the 1902 Education Act include Auspos, Patricia. “Radicalism, Pressure

Groups, and Party Politics: From the National Education League to the National LiberalFederation.” Journal of British Studies 20, no. 1 (1980): 184–204; Richards, N. J. “ReligiousControversy and the School Boards 1870–1902.” British Journal of Educational Studies 18, no.2 (1970): 180–196.

35. George White, quoted in Wheldon, A Norvic Century, 52.36. George White, quoted in the Eastern Daily Press 13 May 1912, p. 5.37. George White, quoted in British Weekly 1909, p. 487.38. George White, speech on being made an Honorary Freeman of the city of Norwich in 1910,

quoted in Wheldon, A Norvic Century, p. 54.39. White, George. “The Nonconformist Conscience and its Relation to our National Life.”40. Norfolk Chronicle and Norwich Gazette, 18 May 1912.

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