Category Archives: Education

More Archimedes; Less Aristotle

Posted on March 29, 2022 by davidsberry

“Science can amuse and fascinate, but it is engineering that changes the world.” —Isaac Asimov, Much has been made in the two years since Brexit that Britain can forge new trade relations with the world. When asked what form these … Continue reading →

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A Tale of Two Cities

Posted on March 5, 2022 by davidsberry

The present brutal effort by Russia’s Putin to bend another sovereign nation to his will is appalling to witness in the 21st century. Unfortunately, history is strewn with such examples of powerful nations using military might to exert domination over … Continue reading →

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Qui Docet Magistros? *

Posted on April 14, 2021 by davidsberry

(* Who Teaches the Teachers?) The AS Report Despite the cacophony of political hounds baying for Nicola Sturgeon’s blood for “misleading parliament” over Alec Salmond, they did squeeze in a debate about education in Scotland on the last day before … Continue reading →

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Political Pedagogy

Posted on November 24, 2020 by davidsberry

For good or ill, children’s education in Scotland is in the hands of 32 local authorities, who run nurseries, primary and secondary schools under guidance of the Scottish Government, who set out the vision and priorities though vehicles like the … Continue reading →

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Let’s Level Up, not Dumb Down

Posted on October 26, 2020 by davidsberry

The previous blog “Our Private Fount of Inequality argues that a major contributor to inequality of opportunity to become a leader in Scotland stems from a self-reinforcing establishment, based on attendance at private (i.e. ‘fee-paying’ or ‘independent’) schools. The case was … Continue reading →

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Our Private Fount of Inequality

Posted on October 18, 2020 by davidsberry

In 2015 the David Hume Institute (DHI) published Elitist Scotland? in partnership with the Social Mobility Commission, examining the education diversity of the top decision makers in Scotland. Five years on, they increased the scope of analysis to include gender … Continue reading →

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The Preying Fiends of Eton

Posted on July 4, 2020 by davidsberry

The idea of a homogeneous, nation state is a comparatively recent development in history. Originally, mankind organised itself into a few empires, a herd of city statelets and a myriad of tribal lands with simpler cultures sprawling across the globe. … Continue reading →

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Quis Docebit ipsos Doctores?

Posted on June 12, 2016 by davidsberry

Actually, at school, I hated Latin. The relevance of dead languages was even less clear to me than that of calculus. But I was blessed with teachers who knew how to ignite thrawn teenage imagination and instill a heady mix … Continue reading →

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Council Crunch

Posted on January 31, 2016 by davidsberry

Any regular reader will be know I have been a inveterate supporter of Scottish independence since I first became aware of politics as a teenager. For most of that time (38 years to be exact), I was a member of … Continue reading →

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Scottish Learning Festival 2015

Posted on September 23, 2015 by davidsberry

Taking over most of Glasgow’s SECC, this two-day event ticks all the right boxes for who’s involved. Its programme ranges far across the issues associated with school education in Scotland, covering topics that tawse-wielding disciplinarians of the mid-20th century—let alone … Continue reading →

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