This is a critical introduction to the educational thought of F. R. Leavis (1895-1978) the
greatest English literary critic of the twentieth century providing the first in-depth
examination of Leavis's ideas in relation to contemporary mass higher education. During the
course of a long prolific and controversial academic career which saw him take issue with
figures such as Wittgenstein T. S. Eliot and C. P. Snow Leavis became one of the most
articulate advocates for the idea of the university as 'a centre of consciousness and human
responsibility' in the face of what he saw as the relentless technological drive of
civilisation. With the journal Scrutiny which he co-founded as well as his critical writings
Leavis became a decisive influence on generations of teachers in Britain and overseas. Widely
misrepresented as narrowly elitist his ideas about 'the creative university' with their
radical student-centred approach to teaching constitute a powerful resource for a higher
education system grappling with the contradictory demands of continuity and change. Based on
original research the study provides an overview of Leavis's life work and heritage and his
educational world view and a comprehensive exploration of Leavis's pedagogy from theoretical
and practical perspectives. It also includes afirst-hand account by the author of being taught
by Leavis in person.
