Susan Sutherland Isaacs
Encyclopedia
Susan Sutherland Isaacs, CBE
(née Fairhurst; 24 May 1885 – 12 October 1948; also known as Ursula Wise) was a Lancashire
-born educational psychologist
and psychoanalyst. She published studies on the intellectual and social development of children and promoted the nursery school
movement. For Isaacs developing a child’s independence, which is best achieved through play, was the best way for children to learn and the role of adults and early educators was to guide children's play.
, the daughter of William Fairhurst, a journalist and Methodist lay preacher, and his wife, Miriam Sutherland. Isaacs mother died when she was six years old. Shortly afterwards she became alienated from her father after he married the nurse who had attended her mother during her illness. Aged 15, she was removed from Bolton Secondary School by her father because she had converted to atheistic socialism; her father refused to speak to her for 2 years. She stayed at home with her stepmother until she was 22. She was first apprenticed to a photographer and then she began her teaching career as a governess for an English family.
In 1907, Isaacs enrolled to train as a teacher of young children (5 to 7-year-olds) at the University of Manchester
. Isaacs then transferred to a degree course and graduated in 1912 with a first class degree in Philosophy. She was awarded a scholarship at the Psychological Laboratory in Newnham College, Cambridge
and gained a master's degree in 1913.
Thus play should be viewed as children’s work, and social interaction is an important part of play and learning. The emotional needs of children are also very important and symbolic and fantasy play could be a release for a child’s feelings. “What imaginative play does, in the first place is to create practical situations which may often then be pursued for their own sake, and this leads on to actual discovery or to verbal judgment and reasoning”. The role of the adults, then, is to guide children’s play, but on the whole they should have freedom to explore. Her book Intellectual Growth in Young Children explains her perspective.
Training College; in logic
at Manchester University; and psychology at London University. In 1914, she married William Broadhurst Brierley, a botany lecturer. A year later they moved to London where she became tutor to the Workers' Educational Association
(WEA) and, from 1916, lectured in psychology at the University of London
. In 1922, she divorced Brierly and married Nathan Isaacs (1895–1966), a metallurgist who collaborated with his wife in her later work.
in 1921, becoming a full member in 1923. She began her own practice that same year. She later underwent brief analysis with Otto Rank
and in 1927 she submitted herself to further analysis with Joan Riviere
to get personal experience and understanding of Melanie Klein
's new ideas on infancy. Isaacs also helped popularise the works of Klein, as well as the theories of Jean Piaget
and Sigmund Freud
. She was initially enthusiastic for Jean Piaget's theories on the intellectual development of young children, though she later criticised his schemas for stages of cognitive development, which were not based on the observation of the child in their natural environment, unlike her own observations at Malting House School.
Between 1924 and 1927, she was the head of Malting House School
in Cambridge, which is an experimental school founded by Geoffrey Pyke
. The school fostered the individual development of children. Children were given greater freedom and were supported rather than punished. The teachers were seen as observers of the children who were seen as research workers. Her work had a great influence on early education and made play a central part of a child’s education.
Isaacs strongly believed that play was the child's work.
Between 1929 and 1940, she was an 'agony aunt' under the pseudonym
of Ursula Wise, replying to readers' problems in several child care journals, notably The Nursery World and Home and School.
In 1933, she became the first Head of the Child Development Department at the Institute of Education
, University of London, where she established an advanced course in child development for teachers of young children. Her department had a great influence on the teaching profession and encouraged the profession to consider psychodynamic theory with developmental psychology.
and New Zealand
, and after moving to Cambridge
in 1939, she conducted the Cambridge Evacuation Survey which studied the effect of evacuation on children. She was awarded the CBE
in 1948.
's heated wartime "Controversial Discussions
"'. There she maintained that 'Unconscious phantasies exert a continuous influence throughout life, both in normal and neurotic people', and that in the analytic situation "'the patient's relation to his analyst is almost entirely one of unconscious phantasy'". Isaacs was one of the first to review and challenge Jean Piaget's stages of child development. She has been criticized for the way "her sweeping pan-instinctualism - 'There is no impulse, no instinctual urge or response that is not experienced as unconscious phantasy' - risks reducing the protean content and workings of phantasy to an instinctual aim".
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(née Fairhurst; 24 May 1885 – 12 October 1948; also known as Ursula Wise) was a Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
-born educational psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
and psychoanalyst. She published studies on the intellectual and social development of children and promoted the nursery school
Nursery school
A nursery school is a school for children between the ages of one and five years, staffed by suitably qualified and other professionals who encourage and supervise educational play rather than simply providing childcare...
movement. For Isaacs developing a child’s independence, which is best achieved through play, was the best way for children to learn and the role of adults and early educators was to guide children's play.
Early life and education
Isaacs was born in 1885 in Turton, LancashireLancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, the daughter of William Fairhurst, a journalist and Methodist lay preacher, and his wife, Miriam Sutherland. Isaacs mother died when she was six years old. Shortly afterwards she became alienated from her father after he married the nurse who had attended her mother during her illness. Aged 15, she was removed from Bolton Secondary School by her father because she had converted to atheistic socialism; her father refused to speak to her for 2 years. She stayed at home with her stepmother until she was 22. She was first apprenticed to a photographer and then she began her teaching career as a governess for an English family.
In 1907, Isaacs enrolled to train as a teacher of young children (5 to 7-year-olds) at the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
. Isaacs then transferred to a degree course and graduated in 1912 with a first class degree in Philosophy. She was awarded a scholarship at the Psychological Laboratory in Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1871 by Henry Sidgwick, and was the second Cambridge college to admit women after Girton College...
and gained a master's degree in 1913.
Approach
Isaacs argued that it is important to develop children's skills to think clearly and exercise independent judgement. Developing a child’s independence is beneficial to their development as an individual. Parents were viewed as the main educators of their children with institutionalised care for children before the age 7 being potential damaging. Children learned best through their own play. For Isaacs, play involves a perpetual form of experiment..."at any moment, a new line of inquiry or argumemt might flash out, a new step in understanding be taken".Thus play should be viewed as children’s work, and social interaction is an important part of play and learning. The emotional needs of children are also very important and symbolic and fantasy play could be a release for a child’s feelings. “What imaginative play does, in the first place is to create practical situations which may often then be pursued for their own sake, and this leads on to actual discovery or to verbal judgment and reasoning”. The role of the adults, then, is to guide children’s play, but on the whole they should have freedom to explore. Her book Intellectual Growth in Young Children explains her perspective.
Marriages
Isaacs embarked upon a series of lectures in infant school education at DarlingtonDarlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...
Training College; in logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
at Manchester University; and psychology at London University. In 1914, she married William Broadhurst Brierley, a botany lecturer. A year later they moved to London where she became tutor to the Workers' Educational Association
Workers' Educational Association
The Workers’ Educational Association seeks to provide access to education and lifelong learning for adults from all backgrounds, and in particular those who have previously missed out on education. The International Federation of Workers Education Associations has consultative status to UNESCO...
(WEA) and, from 1916, lectured in psychology at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. In 1922, she divorced Brierly and married Nathan Isaacs (1895–1966), a metallurgist who collaborated with his wife in her later work.
Career
Isaacs also trained and practiced as a psychoanalyst after analysis by the psychoanalyst John Carl Flugel (1884–1955). She became an associate member of the newly formed British Psychoanalytical SocietyBritish Psychoanalytical Society
The British Psychoanalytical Society was founded by the British psychiatrist Ernest Jones as the London Psychoanalytical Society on October 30, 1913....
in 1921, becoming a full member in 1923. She began her own practice that same year. She later underwent brief analysis with Otto Rank
Otto Rank
Otto Rank was an Austrian psychoanalyst, writer, teacher and therapist. Born in Vienna as Otto Rosenfeld, he was one of Sigmund Freud's closest colleagues for 20 years, a prolific writer on psychoanalytic themes, an editor of the two most important analytic journals, managing director of Freud's...
and in 1927 she submitted herself to further analysis with Joan Riviere
Joan Riviere
Joan Hodgson Riviere was a British psychoanalyst, who was both Freud's earliest translator and an influential writer on her own account.-Life and career:...
to get personal experience and understanding of Melanie Klein
Melanie Klein
Melanie Reizes Klein was an Austrian-born British psychoanalyst who devised novel therapeutic techniques for children that had an impact on child psychology and contemporary psychoanalysis...
's new ideas on infancy. Isaacs also helped popularise the works of Klein, as well as the theories of Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget was a French-speaking Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher known for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology"....
and Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
. She was initially enthusiastic for Jean Piaget's theories on the intellectual development of young children, though she later criticised his schemas for stages of cognitive development, which were not based on the observation of the child in their natural environment, unlike her own observations at Malting House School.
Between 1924 and 1927, she was the head of Malting House School
Malting House School
The Malting House School was an experimental educational institution that operated from 1924 to 1929. It was set up by the eccentric and, at the time, wealthy Geoffrey Pyke in his family home in Cambridge and it was run by Susan Sutherland Isaacs...
in Cambridge, which is an experimental school founded by Geoffrey Pyke
Geoffrey Pyke
Geoffrey Nathaniel Joseph Pyke was an English journalist, educationalist, and later an inventor whose clever, but unorthodox, ideas could be difficult to implement...
. The school fostered the individual development of children. Children were given greater freedom and were supported rather than punished. The teachers were seen as observers of the children who were seen as research workers. Her work had a great influence on early education and made play a central part of a child’s education.
Isaacs strongly believed that play was the child's work.
Between 1929 and 1940, she was an 'agony aunt' under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of Ursula Wise, replying to readers' problems in several child care journals, notably The Nursery World and Home and School.
In 1933, she became the first Head of the Child Development Department at the Institute of Education
Institute of Education
The Institute of Education is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom specialised in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It is the largest education research body in the United Kingdom, with...
, University of London, where she established an advanced course in child development for teachers of young children. Her department had a great influence on the teaching profession and encouraged the profession to consider psychodynamic theory with developmental psychology.
Cancer
Isaacs developed cancer in 1935 and struggled with ill health for the rest of her life.After all even with cancer,she showed courage to go for a tour.In 1937 she toured AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and after moving to Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
in 1939, she conducted the Cambridge Evacuation Survey which studied the effect of evacuation on children. She was awarded the CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1948.
Death
She died from cancer on 12 October 1948, aged 63. There are several portraits of her in the National Portrait Gallery in London.Psychoanalytic controversy
'Isaacs is best known outside educational circles for her strategic statement of the Kleinian position on phantasy...presented in 1943 during the British Psycho-Analytical SocietyBritish Psychoanalytical Society
The British Psychoanalytical Society was founded by the British psychiatrist Ernest Jones as the London Psychoanalytical Society on October 30, 1913....
's heated wartime "Controversial Discussions
Controversial discussions
The Controversial discussions were a protracted series of 'Scientific Meetings' of the British Psychoanalytical Society which took place between October 1942 and February 1944 between the Viennese school and the supporters of Melanie Klein...
"'. There she maintained that 'Unconscious phantasies exert a continuous influence throughout life, both in normal and neurotic people', and that in the analytic situation "'the patient's relation to his analyst is almost entirely one of unconscious phantasy'". Isaacs was one of the first to review and challenge Jean Piaget's stages of child development. She has been criticized for the way "her sweeping pan-instinctualism - 'There is no impulse, no instinctual urge or response that is not experienced as unconscious phantasy' - risks reducing the protean content and workings of phantasy to an instinctual aim".
See also
- PsychoanalysisPsychoanalysisPsychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
- PsychologyPsychologyPsychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
- PsychodynamicsPsychodynamicsPsychodynamics is the theory and systematic study of the psychological forces that underlie human behavior, especially the dynamic relations between conscious motivation and unconscious motivation...
- Early childhood educationEarly childhood educationEarly childhood education is the formal teaching and care of young children by people other than their family or in settings outside of the home. 'Early childhood' is usually defined as before the age of normal schooling - five years in most nations, though the U.S...
- ParentingParentingParenting is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood...
- PedagogyPedagogyPedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
Publications
- Introduction to Psychology, Methuen Press, (London, 1921)
- Nursery Years, Routledge, (London, 1929).
- The biological interests of young children, (1929)
- The Intellectual Growth of Young Children, Routledge and Kegan Paul, (London, 1930)
- Behaviour of Young Children, Routledge & Sons (London, 1930)
- The psychological aspects of child development, Evans with the University of London, Institute of Education, (London [1930]) (First published as Section II of the 1935 volume of the Year Book of Education).
- The children we teach: seven to eleven years, University of London, Institute of Education, (London, 1932)
- The Social Development of Young Children: A Study of Beginnings, Routledge and Kegan Paul, (London, 1933).
- Child Guidance. Suggestions for a clinic playroom, Child Guidance Council (London, 1936)
- The Cambridge Evacuation Survey. A wartime study in social welfare and education. Edited by Susan Isaacs with the co-operation of Sibyl Clement Brown & Robert H. Thouless. Written by Georgina Bathurst, Sibyl Clement Brown [and others], etc., Methuen Press (London, 1941).
- Childhood & After. Some essays and clinical studies, Routledge & Kegan Paul (London, 1948).
- Troubles of children and parents, Methuen Press, (London, 1948)
- "The Nature and Function of Phantasy", in Joan RiviereJoan RiviereJoan Hodgson Riviere was a British psychoanalyst, who was both Freud's earliest translator and an influential writer on her own account.-Life and career:...
ed., Developments in Psycho-Analysis Hogarth Press (London 1952)
Personal papers
Collections of Isaacs personal papers can be found in the Archives of the Institute of Education, University of London, (Ref: DC/SI) http://www.ioe.ac.uk/services/705.html (online catalogue); the Archives of the British Psychoanalytical Society (Ref PE/ISA) http://www.psychoanalysis.org.uk/archives.htm, (online catalogue); and the British and Foreign School Society (BFSS) Archive Centre http://www.bfss.org.uk/archive/archive_isaacs.html.External links
- Susan Isaacs papers at the Institute of Education, University of London Archives.
- Archives of the British Psychoanalytical Society.
- British and Foreign School Society (BFSS) Archive Centre .
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- Likenesses of Susan Sutherland Isaacs, National portrait gallery.
- list of notable women from Bolton.