This
is the third annual memorial lecture held in honour of the late David Raffe, Professor of Sociology of Education
and Director of the Centre for Educational Sociology at the University of
Edinburgh. This year, the lecture was given by Rt Hon. Lord Jack McConnell of
Glenscorrodale. The lecture is titled “What
Happened to Excellence?”.
David’s work was underpinned
by a concern with issues of inequality in education and how policy change and
educational reforms might impact on inequalities. This theme is reflected in
this lecture, given by Lord McConnell 20 years after he became Minister for
Education in 2000.