Educational History: The Democratic Intellect; Scotland’s Pedagogical Tradition

Scotland’s history in education is much tied to it’s culture. The methodical and logical approach of Scotland’s Parliament House looked to Roman and Continental law which was out of line with the inherited English practice. Even more alien to England was an education system which combined the democracy of the Kirk elders with the intellectualism of the advocates. This made expertise in metaphysics a condition of the open door of social advancement. Read more…

Facilitating Rather Than Prescribing: The Outcome Of Measuring

Nobody is talking about the problems associated with funding – in particular the effects of the outcomes of measuring. In trying to get support and resources for the activities which the Ragged project is about, and in trying to find a formal structure so the organisation itself can apply for traditional means of funding, there have been a number of problems encountered.  This blog post is touches on some of the themes which recur.  Along the road, there have been crossroads where the questions get raised – “What Now ?” – Do we change the direction or way we do things to fit the prevailing culture, or do we stick to the principles we designed the initiative around ?
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Bands Brought Together To Play At The Peartree Stage July 2014

In July 2014 Ragged Uni teamed up with Edinburgh Fringe Live and the Peartree to put on a small music festival where bands played, got live streamed and the crowd put what money they could into a hat.  It was all done on a voluntary basis and the idea was to explore what could be done for zero budget to promote local bands and hopefully put a few quid into their hands.  It was a success and many bands played, people enjoyed themselves and reached into their pockets to give a few quid, also they were live streamed.
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Development as Freedom: The Human Capabilities Approach

Development as Freedom: The Human Capabilities Approach by Amartya Sen has been very influential in clarifying what the terms of wellbeing are for humans. Development can be seen as a process of expanding the freedoms that people enjoy. Focusing on freedoms contrasts with narrower views of development, such as identifying development with the growth of gross national product, or with the rise in personal incomes, or with industrialization, or with technological advance, or with social modernization.

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