The Smith Conversations 5 of 5 – Smith on Education

On 9th March 1776, Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations was published in London.

When he was writing, he was one of many brilliant people in Scotland whose arguments and debates shaped the progress of knowledge. He could test his ideas in conversations at supper clubs across Edinburgh.

In that spirit, the Library of Mistakes is holding five conversations between 9th and 13th March, all of them starting at 6.30 p.m. They’ll be on topics which mattered to Smith, but there’ll be no looking back. These conversations will be about why Smith’s concerns still matter. And they’ll look forward, exploring what we should be doing now.

Smith on Education

To finish: a true Scottish Enlightenment conversation about improving society.

A university professor and public intellectual, Smith saw education as being important for sustained wealth creation. That’s also an essential part of today’s ways of thinking about economic and social development.

That means that our education system has a key role to play in creating a prosperous future. Scottish post-16 education has many structural weaknesses, which need to be addressed urgently. Yet there is no political will to do this.

We convene a conversation between experts on the education system as one step in changing that.

Chair - TBD

Participants – Hannah Garrow, Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland
David Bell, Royal Society of Edinburgh
Lindsay Paterson, Professor Emeritus of Education Policy, University of Edinburgh
Ray Perman, Trustee of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland

Info: Please ensure you arrive no later than 18:25 as latecomers may not be admitted once the event has commenced.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Library of Mistakes, 33A Melville Street Lane, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

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