Alice Woods

Alice Woods or Alice Augusta Woods (6 August 1849 – 7 January 1941) was a British educationist and college head. She was an advocate for co-education.

For the footballer, see Alice Woods (footballer).

Alice Woods
by Annie Swynnerton
Born6 August 1849
Walthamstow
Died7 January 1941
Radlett
NationalityBritish

Life

Woods was born in Walthamstow on 6 August 1849 and she was brought up as a Quaker. Her parents were Emma (born King) and Samuel Woods. Her cousin Mary Woods was a headmistress.[1] Woods went to Girton College before joining teaching herself in Scotland for two years at St Leonards School in St Andrews.[2]

Her first headship was at a school in Bedford Park, Chiswick.[2] She head hunted Kindergarte expert Esther Lawrence in 1884 to lead the preparatory department of Chiswick High School. Alice became her lifelong friend - even after she left in 1893 to work with Emilie Michaelis.[3]

In 1892, the Maria Grey Training College attracted Woods as its new head. This was the first college to train women teachers and it had just had new buildings. The college was in the same grounds as a high school. The college and high school were erected in 1892, designed by architect J. Osborne Smith, at a cost of £11,500 (£1.33 million as of 2023).[4]

She was not a great administrator but she focused on raising the quality of the student's work. The students hoping to teach in Kindergartens learnt about the teaching methods developed by Maria Montessori and Froebel[5][6] and every other student was taught by teachers who all had their own degrees.

Woods was recognised as an expert on teaching and she was invited to speak abroad. She also served on leading committees to improve education.[2]

Woods died in Radlett in 1941.[2]

Works
  • Advance in Co-Education (1919),
  • Educational Experiments in England (1920),
  • George Meredith as Champion of Women and of Progressive Education (1937)[7]
  • On How to Grow Old(1940)[8]

References
  1. Bryant, Margaret (23 September 2004). "Woods, Alice Augusta (1849–1941), educationist and college head". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 1 (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/48574. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. Bryant, Margaret (2004). "Woods, Alice Augusta (1849â€"1941), educationist and college head". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/48574. Retrieved 26 January 2019. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004). "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. ref:odnb/56327. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/56327. Retrieved 19 February 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. "The". St James's Gazette. 12 November 1892. p. 10. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  5. "News from the Archives | Brunel University London". www.brunel.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  6. "Brunel's Teacher Training Background". 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  7. Alice Woods (1937). George Meredith as Champion of Women and of Progressive Education. B. Blackwell.
  8. "Alice Woods: Bedford Park & Co-Education | Brentford & Chiswick Local History Society". brentfordandchiswicklhs.org.uk. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
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