In the UK, in 1999 something is about to happen that seemed impossible 25 years ago. We are about to enter the next century with the same basic learning system with which we entered this century. A previous Chief Inspector of Schools, Edmond Holmes, wrote off this kind of system, based on imposed uniformity, as ‘The Tragedy of Education’ in 1911. It was both anti-educational and unchristian, he explained. Bertrand Russell in 1935 gave his verdict: “We are faced with the paradoxical fact that education has become one of the chief obstacles to intelligence and freedom of thought.” But since 1977 UK has gone back to just such a system. In this situation there is an urgent need to try to establish some principles of reconstruction if we are to cope with the challenges of the next century.
