دانلود کتاب On Education

Why is it that after twenty-one years of Conservative Government
in the last twenty-six years British education is so far behind the
standards of schools in Europe and the Far East?
In the 1930s and the early post-World War II years our
education standards equalled those of our competitors, but we fell behind
from the 1960s. It seemed that two curses fell on our schools. The
first curse was the growth of an egalitarian philosophy which
considered that all children, whatever their other differences, had the
same intellect and should be taught the same curriculum in the same
schools.
The second curse was imported from the USA and threatened the
status of the teacher as a teacher. This philosophy considered that it
was better to find out rather than be taught, however slow the
process. It was in a way the myth of the 'noble savage', that if children
were left alone they would cherish learning, decency and all the
virtues. The status of the teacher as a teacher was undermined. Thus
we had both an egalitarian philosophy and a retreat from structured
learning where each teacher and class and even pupil did their own
thing. The non-graduate teachers also saw a social and professional
advantage to themselves in the comprehensive school and marched
behind its banner.