Scottish Education in the Twentieth Century

Lindsay Paterson is Emeritus Professor of Education Policy, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh. His main academic interests are in education, civic engagement and political attitudes. He has contributed to many debates in Scotland since the early 1990s on education, on social change, and on politics. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

In this ambitious book Lindsay Paterson provides an incisive analysis of the key features of Scottish education as the system evolved! The author's historical analysis sheds welcome light on whether claims of the distinctiveness of Scottish education are indeed sustainable. It is refreshing that, wherever possible, Scottish education is set against wider international perspectives rather than being examined solely within the more customary British context. An important contribution to our understanding of a relatively under-researched area, which affected many levels of Scottish society ! This book should be essential reading for all those interested in Scottish education since it explains how the system has arrived at the present stage of its development. This outstanding and meticulously researched book is essentially an overview of the history of 20th century Scottish Education dealing not just with schools but with the entire gamut of post compulsory education ! It is without doubt a major contribution to the history fo Scottish education and essential reading for all who claim an interest in the subject. One can only hope that those who shape education policy in twenty-first-century Scotland pay attention to it. Paterson can certainly be relied upon to produce a lively, concise and scholarly work. -- Professor Robert Anderson, University of Edinburgh In this ambitious book Lindsay Paterson provides an incisive analysis of the key features of Scottish education as the system evolved! The author's historical analysis sheds welcome light on whether claims of the distinctiveness of Scottish education are indeed sustainable. It is refreshing that, wherever possible, Scottish education is set against wider international perspectives rather than being examined solely within the more customary British context. An important contribution to our understanding of a relatively under-researched area, which affected many levels of Scottish society ! This book should be essential reading for all those interested in Scottish education since it explains how the system has arrived at the present stage of its development. This outstanding and meticulously researched book is essentially an overview of the history of 20th century Scottish Education dealing not just with schools but with the entire gamut of post compulsory education ! It is without doubt a major contribution to the history fo Scottish education and essential reading for all who claim an interest in the subject. One can only hope that those who shape education policy in twenty-first-century Scotland pay attention to it. Paterson can certainly be relied upon to produce a lively, concise and scholarly work.

• Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. Expansion and Democracy; Part I: Competition and Opportunity, 1880s-1930s; Introduction; 3. Elementary Education; 4. Post-Elementary Education; 5. University Education; 6. Technical and Adult Education; Part II: Welfare and Individualism, 1940s-1990s; Introduction: Effects of War; 7. Primary Education; 8. Secondary Education; 9. Higher Education; 10. Further and Community Education; 11. Conclusions; Bibliography.