Editorial

This is a special themed issue on the work of child psychotherapists in schools. It begins with two scholarly, informative and fascinating historical articles on the application of psychoanalytic ideas to education in the early part of the 20^th century, and the involvement of two major psychoanalytic figures from the period. Each of these articles discusses an experimental school set up and organised on the basis of psychoanalytic principles and ideas. Both these thoroughly researched articles, rich in historical detail, vividly bring to life the people involved and the ideas underlying their practice. These are followed by a range of articles covering a variety of themes and issues linked to the work of contemporary psychoanalytic child psychotherapists in schools. This edition is a testimony to the longstanding, pioneering and creative tradition of applying psychoanalytic thinking in the field of education.

The opening article, ‘Susan Isaacs and the Malting House School’, is an exemplary guest contribution by Professor Philip Graham, Emeritus Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Institute of Child Health, London. Professor Graham's erudite and captivating article is a comprehensive account of the experimental Malting House School open from 1924–1929 and run by Susan Isaacs, who later became a close associate of Melanie Klein. The article briefly sets the historical context of the progressive school movement in England, and then gives an absorbing description of the setting up, the philosophy, the running and the organisation of the school, concluding with an evaluation of the influence of the school and of Susan Isaacs on the promotion of the theory and practice of child centred education. For those interested in reading further on this subject, a fuller account of the Malting House School and of the life of Susan Isaacs is available in a forthcoming book by Professor Graham, Susan Isaacs: Freeing the Minds of Children (in press, Karnac).

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