Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Sydney Smith (1771a1845) lived at a time when English institutions were shaken to their foundations by the French and Industrial Revolutions, especially the former. Smith believed, accordingly, that all English institutions, if they were not to suffer the same fate as French institutions, needed to be reformed, and none more than educational institutions. He saw education as the key to social stability and advocated the reform of education for the poor, for women, and for the moral and educational reform of the public schools and the universities. As a reformer, his recommendations for reform were always practical and addressed to specific and concrete issues.