educationalist Professor of Education
Wragg was born in Sheffield and attended Hunters Bar Primary School and then King Edward VII School (photo Archived 30 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine), followed by Hatfield College, Durham University where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in German, awarded with first class honours.
In 1966 he went to the University of Leicester where he obtained a Master of Education degree.
He was Professor of Education at the University of Exeter from 1978 to 2003, serving as Emeritus Professor of Education from 2003 till his death, and a regular columnist in the Times Educational Supplement and The Guardian
He taught at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield from 1960 to 1964 when he moved to be Head of German at Wyggeston Boys" School in Leicester. His long association with the University of Exeter began in the late 1960s when he went there to lecture on Education, principally the methodology of teaching Modern Languages, and to study for a Doctor of Philosophy, which he was awarded in 1972. In 1978 he returned to Exeter as a Professor where he headed the amalgamation of the Exeter Education department with Street Luke"s College.
While at Exeter he directed numerous research projects on such topics as classroom processes, teaching strategies, curriculum evaluation, appraising competence and incompetence, and performance-related pay.
He also studied education in numerous countries around the world. Throughout his academic career he would always make time to teach a class of children for one or two days a week so that he would remain in touch with the profession at the "chalkface".
He wrote more than 50 books on a wide range of educational topics, as well as producing a 120-book reading scheme, two Civil Defense-ROMs, a Digital Video Disc on teachers" questions, and many videos and audiotapes. Shortly before his death he was elected as an Academician of the Social Sciences.
He was a frequent broadcaster on radio and television and wrote regularly in newspapers including the Times Educational Supplement and The Guardian.
He had a ready and sharp wit, which worked well with his savage indignation at politically inspired educational reforms. Wragg was a prolific writer The following list of some of his books is freely adapted from the material posted on his University of Exeter Curriculum Vitae.
In the United Kingdom, the Ted Wragg Teaching Award for Lifetime Achievement honours his memory, and is given out annually to educators who are considered to have shown excellent devotion to teaching throughout their careers. As Professor of Education at the University of Nottingham from 1973 to 1978, he created the University"s Post Graduate Certificate of Education course (he also acted as Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Select Committee on the attainments of school-leavers in 1976-1977).
Wragg was an advocate of warmth, humour and humanity in the classroom and defended these ideals with passion against a narrowly utilitarian approach to learning. He was vociferous in opposing attempts to roll back the education changes of the 1960s.
Wragg was president of the British Educational Research Association in 1981-1982, Chairman of the Educational Broadcasting Council of the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1986 as well as a member of the board of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority from 1997 to 2003. Although initially his beliefs were reflected by the government of Tony Blair, he later fell out with it and attacked it, nicknaming Ruth Kelly "Ruth Dalek" and "The Duchess of Drivel". He also coined the nickname "Tony Zoffis" (Tony"s office) for Andrew Adonis, then a member of the Downing Street policy unit but subsequently ennobled and appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education.
