The CBA and Education: A Short History
Education of the public in archaeology has been a concern of the CBA since its foundation in 1944. This was given a boost in 1977 with the appointment of Mike Corbishley as the CBA’s first Education Officer, with sponsorship from Lloyd’s Bank. There were three areas of education covered by the CBA: higher education, further education (covering O and A levels) and schools.
The CBA’s role included:
- enabling university archaeology departments to meet together and agree common action and mutual support;
- supporting tutors of archaeology in O level (now replaced by GCSEs) and A level archaeology;
- producing publications for school teachers;
- organising conferences on archaeology education;
- attempting to influence the content and nature of the school curriculum;
- running a Diploma in Archaeological Practice;
- supporting the use of audio-visual materials in education.
The CBA Education staff have been:
Education Officer
Mike Corbishley 1977 to 1984
Gareth Binns 1988 to 1991
Peter Halkon 1992 to 1994
Donald Henson 1994 to 2005
(becoming Head of Education and Outreach 2005 to present)
Education Assistant
Ruth Green 1999 to 2001
Engaging with the Historic Environment Project Officers (funded by English Heritage)
Andy Holland 2008 to present
Richard Lee 2008 to present
From 1975 to 2005, the CBA’s education work was supported by various committee, whose advice was invaluable in the early years of its work. The chairs of the main committee were John Evans, Dennis Harding, John Alexander, Peter Ucko, Tim Copeland, Peter Stone, Matthew Johnson.
