Page "Correlli Barnett" Paragraph 13

Roger Scruton has claimed that whilst Barnett's thesis against public schools was set forth in " a series of brilliant books ", his view of education is mistaken: " Relevance in education is a chimerical objective and the English knew this.

Who is to guess what will be relevant to a student's interests in ten years ' time?

Even in the applied sciences, it is not relevance that forms and transforms the curriculum, but knowledge ".

Scruton goes on to say: " And for what life of the mind would Correlli Barnett have us prepared?

Certainly not one that offers what has been offered to him: namely a synoptic vision of a national identity.

If we examine the complaints made by Barnett, we cannot fail to be struck by the fact that they contain no comparative judgement.

Set beside which élite did the English fail so badly?

In which country of the modern world do we find the educational system which compares so favourably with the English college?

Which European nations, unhampered by the code of the gentleman, have shown us the way to successful empire building and retreated with credit from their colonies?

All such comparisons point to the amazing success of the English.

By devoting their formative years to useless things, they made themselves supremely useful.

And by internalising the code of honour they did not, as Barnett supposes, make themselves defenceless in a world of chicanery and crime, but endowed themselves with the only real defence that human life can offer – the instinctive trust between strangers, which enables them in whatever dangerous circumstances to act together as a team ".