In this special issue of "English in Australia" dedicated to Annette Patterson, Bronwyn Mellor reflects on this "gentle dissenter". Annette Patterson published articles, book chapters, and school textbooks in Australia, the USA, and the UK. Her incisive intellect and commitment to education probably meant that she was not ever…

This article is a revised version of the keynote presented at LAK '16 in Edinburgh. The article investigates some of the assumptions of learning analytics, notably those related to behaviourism. Building on the work of Ivan Pavlov, Herbert Simon, and James Gibson as ways of "learning as a machine," the article then develops two levels of…

Establishing Publication Services in the library at the University of Graz did more than broaden the service portfolio of the library. A convergence of expertise at the library, needs of researchers at the university, and ongoing changes in scholarly communication also contributed to the evolution of the library's role and profile. The new…

Charles Wheatstone was a British scientist who is most often remembered for his association with the Wheatstone bridge for measuring electrical resistance. A painfully shy man in public, Wheatstone, in reality, possessed a vibrant personality and a wide array of personal interests from acoustics to electricity to optics and parlour tricks. In this…

Although the French Renaissance sceptic Michel de Montaigne (1533-92) is a much-admired thinker among many literary historians and some philosophical ones, his oeuvre hardly features in critical surveys of ideas in education. This is strange given that Montaigne offers modern educators an exemplary form of communicative discourse which anticipates…

This article traces the historical development of Digital Libraries (DLs), examines some DL initiatives in developed and developing countries and uses 5S Theory as a lens for analyzing the focused DLs. The analysis shows that present-day systems, in both developed and developing nations, are essentially content and user centric, with low level…

In 1795 America's premier scholarly association, the American Philosophical Society (APS), posed the following question: [Write] an essay on a system of liberal education, and literary instruction, adapted to the genius of the government, and best calculated to promote the general welfare of the United States; comprehending, also, a plan for…

After an accomplished military career leading up to and during World War II, Truman Smith (1893-1970) was seemingly forgotten. His name was seldom mentioned after the war until his memoirs were published posthumously in 1984. History shows Smith to be an astoundingly successful figure in military intelligence. This article provides a biography on…

Here is a brief history of the work of two of Australia's most famous scientists, Sir William Bragg and his son Sir Lawrence Bragg. Jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in 1915 for their groundbreaking research into the use of X-rays to study the chemical structure and function of molecules, they have contributed to our heritage and to science at an…

The authors show ways in which Jarl Bengtsson, a Swedish social scientist and policy analyst, has influenced international policy making. As a member and later director of the OECD's Centre for Educational Research and Innovation from the beginning of the 1970s to the end of the twentieth century, he has contributed to the international discussion…

The movement towards the use of the history of science and problem-based approaches in teaching serves as the impetus for this paper. This treatise aims to present and examine episodes in the lives of prominent scientists that can be used as resources by teachers in relation to enhancing students' interest in learning, fostering skills about…

Death is often a time of reappraisal for those left behind: of gifts a person may have given, and of lessons that might be learned from their struggles. A number of distinguished adult educators, whose lives were shaped by twentieth-century wars and fragilities, have recently died. They include Roy Shaw, one-time Director of Adult Education at the…

The Evolving Systems approach to case studies due initially to Piaget-contemporary Howard Gruber, and complemented by subsequent work on sociocultural factors developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and others, provides an inroad for examining creative achievements in a variety of domains. This paper provides a proof of concept for how one might…

In this paper an attempt is made to prove how Jullien's ideas and concerns about education - especially about teachers and teachers education--written in his "Esquisse" still apply. Interpretations concerning Jullien's writings remain open and encourage a fertile dialogue in Comparative and International Education and Teachers Education…

This article pays tribute to one of Europe's foremost critical pedagogues, the Tuscan Don Lorenzo Milani, on the ninetieth anniversary of his birth. It highlights the key moments in his life as priest and educator as well as his pedagogical approach directed at challenging the class-conditioned status quo in Italian society and at achieving…