IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0366 PE
Held at: Institute of Education
Title: PETERS, Richard Stanley (b 1919)
Date(s): 1940s-1990s
Level of description: collection
Extent: 14 boxes; loose unsorted material
Name of creator(s): Peters | Richard Stanley | b 1919 | Professor of Philosophy of Education
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Richard Stanley Peters was born in India in 1919. As a child he was sent to live with his grandmother in England where he attended boarding school. From 1933-1938 Peters attended Clifton College, Bristol, and then proceeded to study for an Arts Degree at Queen's College, Oxford University from 1938-1940 (he was awarded a war degree in 1942). In 1940 he joined the Friends Ambulance Service and was drafted to London during the Blitz. From 1944 to 1946 he was Classics Master at Sidcot Grammar School, Somerset.
In 1946 he was granted a Studentship (to study Philosophy and Psychology) at Birkbeck College, where he also worked as a part-time Lecturer. Peters graduated with a BA in 1946 and a PhD in 1949. He was then subsequently a Lecturer (1949-1958) and Reader (1958-1962) in Philosophy at Birkbeck. In 1962 he was appointed Professor of Philosophy of Education, Institute of Education, a post that he held until his retirement in 1982.
Among other roles, Peters was Visiting Professor of Education, Harvard University, 1961; Visiting Professor, Australian National University, 1962; Dean of the Faculty of Education, University of London, 1971-1974; Member of the American National Academy of Education, 1966; Chair, Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers of Richard Stanley Peters, 1940s-1990s, including notebooks, chiefly containing drafts of essays and notes about books read; press cuttings; project proposals; lecture notes for public lectures by Peters, 1957-1976; papers on the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course, 1966-1967; papers concerning examinations and assessment; papers concerning programmes for the BBC, 1960s-1970s; papers relating to conferences; letters to politicians, including Shirley Williams, Keith Joseph, Harold Wilson and Jack Straw; printed syllabi for courses given by Peters on philosophy, mainly for the Council of Extra-Mural Studies, University of London, 1946-1959; loose material, including papers on South Place Ethical Society, Philosophical Psychology seminars; copies of articles and notes; BA philosophy notes, Sidcot School; biographical material relating to Peters and correspondence with the Institute of Education regarding Peters' employment. Papers relating to the Institute of Education (IOE) including correspondence with Sir William Taylor on IOE business, 1972-1977; papers relating to IOE courses; correspondence with IOE staff while on sabbatical at the Australian National University, 1969; IOE course handouts, containing seminar topics and reading lists, 1977-1981; papers relating to the Initial Courses Sub-Committee of the Central Academic Board, 1965-1968 and minutes of the Sub-Committee for Funded Research, 1974-1978. Correspondence with societies including the Royal Institute of Philosophy, 1972-1979, the American National Academy of Education, 1975-1981 and the Philosophy of Education Society, 1964-1980 and correspondence on topics including PhD supervision, conferences, publications and Peters' trips to Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Awaiting Arrangement.
Conditions governing access:
Open, subject to signature of Reader Application Form. Notice will be needed for access.
Conditions governing reproduction:
A reader wishing to publish any quotation of information, including pictorial, derived from any archive material must apply in writing for prior permission from the Archivist or other appropriate person(s) as indicated by the Archivist. A limited number of photocopies may be supplied at the discretion of the Archivist.
Finding aids:
Collection level description available on-line at the Institute of Education website
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Accruals:
Archival history:
A large amount of material was probably collected from Peters' office when he retired in the 1980s. Several large boxes were transferred from the Philosophy of Education Department in 2003-1005. Most of these were catalogued as IE/POE, but some form part of the Peters Archive. The third tranche of material was deposited by Peters in April 2004.
Immediate source of acquisition:
ALLIED MATERIALS
Related material:
IE/POE; Institute annual reports.
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: Feb 2008