| Arrangement | The tapes are arranged as follows:
MS 4000/5/2/4/1 Actuality inserts for NATE Annual Apr 1965 Conference, 1965
MS 4000/5/2/4/2 Actuality inserts for NATE lecture at Hull Mar 1967
MS 4000/5/2/4/3 Actuality inserts for NATE lecture at Offley Place, Hitchin, Herts Nov 1967
MS 4000/5/2/4/4 Actuality inserts collected for NATE project at Annual
Conference, Exeter University, Apr 1970
MS 4000/5/2/4/5 [School] boys talking about football and playing games for Leicester NATE [actuality]; dictation of letters by Charles Parker about
travellers and the disbandment of regional posts at the BBC Mar 1972
MS 4000/5/2/4/6-7 Actuality inserts for NATE lectures at Exeter [University] Apr 1976 |
| AdminHistory | Charles Parker worked as a freelance lecturer in the 1960s and 1970s and this included lectures and group work with the National Association for Teaching English (NATE). NATE runs on a voluntary basis and is a UK association for teachers for all areas of teaching English. The association benefits teachers by keeping them informed of current developments, supports teaching and learning and provides a national forum for the exchange of ideas.
Charles Parker's lecturing work is of enormous significance and national importance. He used 'actuality' recordings (voices and songs of ordinary people) to illustrate his belief that vernacular speech is the key to communication and that people, and particularly those in education, needed to learn from this in order to communicate effectively in the future. Another central theme of his lecturing was his belief that capitalist industrial society was in danger of losing touch with its historical and social traditions which are essential for establishing and maintaining a social identity.
The recordings in this series comprise examples of the 'actuality' used by Charles Parker in the NATE lectures rather than recordings of the lectures themselves.
The written documentation at MS 4000/1/3/1/20 provides detail on the lectures and actuality used at Hull and Hitchin and written documentation at MS 4000/1/3/1/24 provides detail on the Annual Conference lecture at Exeter University in 1970. Other written documentation on Charles Parker's work with NATE is at MS 4000/1/3/1/13, MS 4000/1/3/1/31 and MS 4000/1/3/1/36. |