Jump to content

Clotilde von Wyss

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clotilde Rosalie Regina von Wyss (1871 – 7 November 1938) was a Swiss-born English school teacher, pedagogue, and nature educator. She was one of the founding members of the School Nature Study Union in 1903 and edited its journal until her death.

Life and work

[edit]

Von Wyss was born in Switzerland and after education in Zurich she studied at North London Collegiate School from 1884 to 1891. She went to Maria Grey College, Brondesbury and received a Cambridge Teachers' Certificate with distinction. She then taught at St. George's High School from 1894 to 1897 where one of her favorite students was Marie Stopes.[1] While teaching, she also studied at Heriot-Watt College where she was influenced by Sir J. A. Thomson. She taught at biology from 1897 at the North London Collegiate School and in 1903 she joined the London Day Training College where she spent the next thirty years in using novel educational approaches to teach biology.[2] Starting part-time under the vice principal Margaret Punnett, she taught biology, hygiene, nature study and art.[3] She gave lessons on BBC which influenced science teachers. She helped found the School Nature Study Union in 1903 which began after Claude Hinscliff gave a call to teachers interested in nature education. Supporters of the Union included Lord Avebury, Patrick Geddes, J. Arthur Thomson, Lloyd Morgan, L.C. Miall and J.H. Cowham. Other teachers included Kate Hall and Lilian Clark.[4] The union organized Saturday excursions for teachers to collect specimens to use in their teaching. Von Wyss became the editor of the School Nature Study Journal.[5][6][7] In 1914 she was elected Fellow of the Linnean Society. She was also a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn from 1897 with the German pseudonym Mehr Licht. She advised the Gaumont British Film Corporation in 1936 when they were making a film on the life of Formica rufa ants as part of the Secrets of Nature series.[8][9][10]

  • Teaching illustrations by Von Wyss (1934)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Hall, Lesley (2016). "'Sentimental Follies' or 'Instruments of Tremendous Uplift'? reconsidering women's same-sex relationships in interwar Britain". Women's History Review. 25 (1): 124–142. doi:10.1080/09612025.2015.1047243. ISSN 0961-2025.
  2. ^ Aldrich, Richard; Woodin, Tom (2021-06-08). The UCL Institute of Education (2nd ed.). London: UCL Press. pp. 20–21. doi:10.14324/111.9781787359512. ISBN 978-1-78735-951-2.
  3. ^ Aldrich, Richard (2004). "The training of teachers and educational studies: the London Day Training College, 1902–1932". Paedagogica Historica. 40 (5–6): 617–631. doi:10.1080/0030923042000293689. ISSN 0030-9230.
  4. ^ Webb, Wilfred Mark (1904-06-16). "Educational Conference at the Horticultural Exhibition". Nature. 70 (1807): 163–164. doi:10.1038/070163a0. ISSN 0028-0836.
  5. ^ Jenkins, E.W.; Swinnerton, B.J. (1996). "The School Nature Study Union 1903‐94". History of Education. 25 (2): 181–198. doi:10.1080/0046760960250204. ISSN 0046-760X.
  6. ^ Jenkins, E. W. (1981). "Science, Sentimentalism or Social Control? The Nature Study Movement in England and Wales, 1899‐1914". History of Education. 10 (1): 33–43. doi:10.1080/0046760810100104. ISSN 0046-760X.
  7. ^ "School Nature Study". Nature. 138 (3481): 110–110. 1936-07-18. doi:10.1038/138110b0. ISSN 0028-0836.
  8. ^ Long, Max (2020). "The ciné-biologists: natural history film and the co-production of knowledge in interwar Britain". The British Journal for the History of Science. 53 (4): 527–551. doi:10.1017/S0007087420000370. ISSN 0007-0874.
  9. ^ S., R. F. (1938). "Miss Clotilde von Wyss". Nature. 142 (3604): 944–945. doi:10.1038/142944a0. ISSN 0028-0836.
  10. ^ Bhimani, Nazlin (10 August 2018). "An eminent female academic at the IOE: Clotilde von Wyss (1871-1938) | UCL UCL Special Collections". blogs.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Clotilde_von_Wyss&oldid=1298951985"