Doors of Possibility: The Life of Emmeline Tanner 1876-1955 By Susan Major The absorbing story of Emmeline Tanner, headmistress of Roedean School, whose professional career as a teacher and reformer spanned a period of intense change in girls' secondary education. ISBN-13: 9780718829223 Specifications: 234x156mm, 416pp, Hardback with b&w illustrations Price: £50.00 • US$102.50 Publication: April 1995 Order this Title Now

About this Book

Relying chiefly on unpublished material, Doors of Possibility examines the significant changes to girls’ secondary education between the 1880s and the 1940s, through the life of a lady who, born into the lower middle-classes, made her own way working in schools to become head of Roedean and a leader of headmistresses, articulating and defining the hopes and needs of her time. She epitomised the values and attitudes which formed developments in girls’ education in England.

Dame Emmeline Tanner started teaching at the age of 13 years, and the book examines the problems faced by a late-Victorian girl without money or the right connections. She was very interested in the new educational modes of the time, and the book tells of how she first experimented with ways and means, and the shaped one of the new secondary schools under the 1902 Education Act, guided it throughout her career, including chairing the Joint Four which dealt with problems arising from evacuation during the Second World War.

By the time she became Headmistress of Roedean School, she was recognised as an influential leader of headmistresses and a champion of broadening the path.

This book will appeal to both the general and professional educationalist. The detailed biographical detail gives a glimpse into women’s educational history during the late and post-Victorian eras.

Reviews and Comments

"This book is not only about a woman, but about the history of girls’ education over eighty crucial years, important reading for anyone interested in the evolution of girls’ education."
Prep School

About the Author

Susan Major describes herself as an accidental author. Educated at Oxford University, she has worked as a teacher, a copy-editor and for charities, until she was asked to look through her great-aunt's papers. The great-aunt happened to be Emmeline Tanner. Susan Major says that she immediately "saw possibilities, and was allowed complete freedom to write whatever emerged. So I did."