Liberal Education & the National Curriculum
Acta Instituti Atheniensis Regni Sueciae No. 8, XX
By David Conway
April 2010
Civitas
Distributed by
ISBN: 9781906837112
127 pages
$22.50 Paper original
A free and democratic society demands much of its citizens, which is why universal education has been the foremost concern of every genuine liberal. In a remarkable piece of detective work, Professor David Conway traces the history of proposed school curricula from the liberal reformers of the 1860s to modern times. The common thread has been the idea that all children, whatever their backgrounds, should be introduced to "the best that has been thought and said."
The reactionary and anti-progressive demands from the contemporary educationists to abandon the attempt to provide a liberal education for children from less advantaged backgrounds is both unjust and unwise. To limit the enjoyment of the riches of culture to a small elite who attend independent schools would be to create a divided society, with negative consqeunces for all.