Isaacs, Susan Brierley (1885–1948)

English educationist. A disciple of Sigmund Freud and believer in the enduring effects of early childhood experience, she was a powerful influence in the education of young children between the wars. In her experimental progressive school, Malting House, Cambridge (1924–27), she practised self-learning rather than direct instruction, and allowed emotional expression rather than imposing restrictive discipline. She was head of child development at the Institute of Education, London 1933–44.

In her written works Intellectual Growth in Young Children (1930) and Social Development of Young Children (1933), some of her conclusions concerning the stages of children's intellectual development challenged the theories of the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, before it was considered acceptable to question his work.

Isaacs was born in Bromley Cross, Lancashire. She studied philosophy and psychology at Manchester and Cambridge, and lectured in Manchester and London.