ERIC Number: EJ1312198
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0620
EISSN: N/A
Power, Policy and Personality in Scottish Education 1885-1928
Journal of Educational Administration and History, v53 n3-4 p233-248 2021
This paper examines a period in Scottish educational history when civil servants, not politicians, were in the ascendancy in the initiation of policy. The first three Secretaries of the Scotch/Scottish Education Department (SED) -- Henry Craik (1846-1927), John Struthers (1857-1925) and George Macdonald (1862-1940) -- enjoyed considerable authority, which enabled them to set the tone of the Department's relations with schools and local authorities. This was possible for a number of reasons: the administrative challenges following the Education (Scotland) Act of 1872; the growing strength of the civil service; weak political leadership; the location of the SED in London, not Edinburgh. The paper examines the Department's reaction to criticism, including demands for an Advisory Council on Education. It is argued that while some of the policies pursued by Craik, Struthers and Macdonald represented sensible pragmatic responses to rapidly developing circumstances, their management style established a pattern that had unfortunate longer-term consequences.
Descriptors: Educational Policy, Educational History, Policy Formation, Public Officials, Educational Administration, Decision Making, Administrative Organization, Educational Legislation, Government Employees, Leadership, Political Power, Criticism, Public Agencies, Advisory Committees, Foreign Countries, Biographies, Personality Traits, Elementary Secondary Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (Scotland); United Kingdom (London)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A