Robin Harris – författare

Margaret Thatcher is one of the most iconic politicians of the twentieth century. With the possible exception of Winston Churchill, no other Prime Minister has had such an impact on modern British history. Like it or not, her radical social and economic policies have made Britain the country it is today. Without Margaret Thatcher there could have been no New Labour, no Tony Blair and no David Cameron.Now Robin Harris, for many years Thatcher''s speechwriter, trusted adviser and the draftsman of two volumes of her autobiography, has written the defining book about this indomitable woman. He tells her extraordinary life story, from humble beginnings above her father''s grocer''s shop in Grantham, her early days as one of the first women in Westminster who became known as ''Thatcher milk-snatcher'' during her days in the Ministry for Education and then as Prime Minister. We follow her through the ''Winter of Discontent'', the tribulations of the miners'' strike and the Falklands War. And Harris writes a stunning account of her exit from power and tells of her life after number 10.

During the past few years there have been several changes in the educational system of Ontario: a reorganization of the Department of Education, the abolition of the school section, the establishment of post-secondary institutions of applied arts and technology, and the reform of Grade 13. Others are in prospect: the abolition of Grade 13 departmental examinations, the requirement that all elementary school teachers must have a university degree, and the establishment of an educational television network. These changes are evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Representing less a break with tradition than a logical expansion of it, they are developments that are consistent with the rationale of the system as it has evolved in the course of one hundred and fifty years.

This study is concerned with the nature and significance of these changes in relation to the dimensions and organization of the system itself. It describes the system as it exists today, identifies those features of it which are either unique or distinctive, and explains by reference to their historical development how these unusual features have come to occupy their present position.

The author also investigates the disadvantages as well as the advantages of the present approach to education in Ontario, pointing out that the system has become such a vast complex that it is exposed to the dangers of fragmentation and compartmentalization. The basic problem is one of co-ordination, which could be remedied by closer liaison between government departments and by the establishment of improved communications between educational institutions.

This account is a valuable contribution to the public debate on education in Ontario.

This bibliography is the first of a series of studies about higher education in Canada sponsored by the committee on the History of Higher Education in Canada established by the National Conference of Canadian Universities. Among its nearly 4,000 entries are included the books, pamphlets, theses, dissertations, and articles in journals and magazines which supply the context and commentary on the history of Canadian higher education.

Part I of the Bibliography provides the context; our universities do not exist in a vacuum—they are part of the economic, political, religious and social life of the community. Part I, therefore, includes a section on Canadian Culture, listing histories of Canada and its provinces, of its religious and social institutions, of its art, its economy, racial groups, relations with other countries. In order to study higher education in relation to other levels of education, another section lists works concerned with educational developments and problems at all levels.

Part II lists the works bearing directly on higher education in Canada, and includes sections on History and Organization, Curriculum and Teaching, The Professor, The Student.

Entries are arranged in chronological order in all sections in order to present the progressive development of each topic, and a full Index enables easy reference by author. No distinction has been drawn between English- and French-language publications: Chemistry and Chimie are one subject. The relative proportion of English and French entries in a section is often significant as indicating differences in the frequency and importance of particular fields of study in our colleges.

The 1971 Supplement adds some 3,500 entries to the approximately 7,000 listed in the original volume and the 1965 Supplement. Like its predecessors this volume provides a full list of the secondary sources related to Canadian higher education – books, articles, theses, dissertations, and reports published from 1964 to 1969. The reporting and arrangement of entries remains the same in the Supplement, but changes have been made in the overall organization of the material. New divisions have been created, more than a dozen sections have been subdivided, and a substantial number of new sections have been added.

(Studies in Higher Education 5)

This book traces the development of higher education in Canada, through a detailed description and analysis of what was being taught and of the research opportunities available to professors in the years from 1860 to 1960. Background is provided in the opening chapters of Part I, which outline the origins of post-secondary education in both French and English Canada from 1635 to 1860, and in the parallel chapters of Parts II to V which describe the establishment of new and the growth of existing institutions during the period 1861-90, 1891-1920, 1921-40, and 1941-60. The remaining chapters of each of the book''s main divisions present an examination of the curricula in arts and science, professional education, and graduate studies in 1860, 1890, 1920, 1940, and 1960, as well as the conditions pertaining to scholarship and research in these years. The concluding chapter identifies the characteristics which differentiate Canadian higher education from that of other countries. The book includes a full bibliography, an extensive index, and statistical appendices providing data on enrolment and degrees granted. A History of Higher Education in Canada 1663-1960 will be the definitive work in its field, valuable both for the wealth of information and the historical insights it contains.