10. Teaching the Teachers

During the 1930s, Susan and Nathan took led active social lives and took full advantage of the cultural opportunities London provided. They played a significant part in the upbringing of Karina, the daughter of Mallie, Nathan’s sister, who was an erratic, temperamental mother. Susan continued to write for teachers and, in 1932, published The Children We Teach, an inspiring book for teachers, encouraging them to give their pupils ample opportunity to appreciate the natural world around them. Her attachment to the ideas of Melanie Klein persisted and were given full rein in her second book, The Social Development of Young Children which was again based on the notes she had made at the Malting House School.

In late 1932, Susan was asked by Sir Percy Nunn, the Director of the London Institute pf Education, if she would consider becoming Head of a new Department of Child Development he was proposing to establish at the Institute. After initial reluctance, on realising she would be able to continue with part-time psychoanalytic practice, Susan agreed to take up the position in 1933. Her main task was the running of an Advanced Course in Child Development. There were two major interruptions to her work, one when she suffered a period of serious illness in mid-1937 and another, shortly afterwards, when she went as part of a group to lecture on educational topics in Australia and New Zealand.