Updated August 2023Neville Scarfe was an influential tutor at the Institute of Education who was connected with several GA Presidents, because of their own association with UCL. Molly Long, President in 1970 was closely connected with the Institute during her career.
A brief biography:
Neville Vincient Scarfe was born in 1909.
From 1935 to 1951 he worked as senior lecturer and head of geography at the University of London Institute of Education. From this last position he took leave of absence on war work (1939-1945), serving as director of press censorship, Ministry of Information, London.
After the war a visiting professorship (1948-1949) at Syracuse University, New York State, and the task of co-ordinating the UNESCO International Seminar at McGill University preluded his five years (1951-1956) as Dean of Education at the University of Manitoba. From the latter position he submitted his application for the corresponding deanship at University of British Columbia.
A brief biography:
Neville Vincient Scarfe was born in 1909.
In 1927 he achieved a first-class honours B.A. in Geography, at age 19 heading the honours list. The following year he acquired a teaching diploma, which from 1928 to 1931 he put to good use as senior geography master at Bemrose Grammar School, Derby. Thence he transferred to the University of Nottingham, where for four years he lectured in geography and earned a master’s degree as well.
The Neville Scarfe Education Building (University of British Columbia)
The University, in Vancouver, has a Neville Scarfe building and Lecture Theatre.
He was Dean of Education there for 18 years and achieved a huge amount.
https://studiohub.ca/on-the-boards/ubc-neville-scrafe-lecture-theatre
He contributed an article on games in geography to 'Geography' in 1971.
His son is an actor.
He died in 1985.
I wonder what he may have made of the current status of Canadian Geography. There is an excellent Royal Canadian Geographical Society, but geography doesn't have a high status in the school curriculum in Canada.
Source:
SCARFE, N. V. “Games, Models and Reality in the Teaching of Geography in School.” Geography, vol. 56, no. 3, 1971, pp. 191–205. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40567554. Accessed 6 July 2020.
Throughout his career, Neville wrote over 100 articles and gave numerous speeches on education around the world. His intuition and progressive understanding of post-war learning instilled in the Faculty the idea that teachers are made, not born. With this spirit in mind, he created rigorous, specialized streams taught by enthusiastic professors to produce dynamic and informed educators. Always an advocate for educational reform, Neville was particularly critical of the findings of the 1960 Report of the Royal Commission on Education (the “Chant Report”), calling it “contradictory and conservative”*. He took particular issue with its recommendations for harsh discipline in classrooms and the assumption that children will behave belligerently unless taught otherwise.
After World War II, Neville Scarfe returned to the Institute of Education of the University of London, where he taught the principles and practices of the teaching of geography. This sparked his interest in the philosophy of education—this was a pursuit he continued for the rest of his life, so it was probably what could be considered his main interest.
https://studiohub.ca/on-the-boards/ubc-neville-scrafe-lecture-theatre
He contributed an article on games in geography to 'Geography' in 1971.
His son is an actor.
He died in 1985.
I wonder what he may have made of the current status of Canadian Geography. There is an excellent Royal Canadian Geographical Society, but geography doesn't have a high status in the school curriculum in Canada.
Source:
SCARFE, N. V. “Games, Models and Reality in the Teaching of Geography in School.” Geography, vol. 56, no. 3, 1971, pp. 191–205. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40567554. Accessed 6 July 2020.
Neville Scarfe and British Columbia
https://educ.ubc.ca/neville-scarfe/ - biography source
Image source:
Further memories of Neville Scarfe welcome - he was an important geographer on both sides of the Atlantic and I am sure there is plenty more to come.
Updated August 2023
https://educ.ubc.ca/neville-scarfe/ - biography source
After World War II, Neville Scarfe returned to the Institute of Education of the University of London, where he taught the principles and practices of the teaching of geography. This sparked his interest in the philosophy of education—this was a pursuit he continued for the rest of his life, so it was probably what could be considered his main interest.
They included James Fairgrieve, who he described as
"a down to earth geographer bent on assisting students to imagine world characteristics accurately, the better to imagine political and social problems"
https://snaccooperative.org/view/64845894
Scarfe was a proponent of play in education.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00094056.1962.10726996
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