Education as and for Legitimacy: Developments in West Indian Education Between 1846 and 1895

Ronald N. Harpelle is an assistant professor of history at the
University of Manitoba.

This book examines the development of a colonial education system in the
British West Indies during the latter half of the 19th century, focusing
on the social forces that shaped the expansion and development of
education policy in the region. The book has a thematic structure, which
allows the author to examine issues without the constraints of a rigid
chronology. This is important because educational developments, like
most issues confronting the British West Indies, varied from colony to
colony. The strength of the book is in the author’s understanding of
the diversity of the British West Indies. Education is portrayed as an
ideological tool manipulated by all sectors of society for their own
purposes. The author shows how the era’s changes in educational policy
were shaped by the post-emancipation struggles in West Indian society.
For this reason, Education as and for Legitimacy is a superior study of
a complex subject.