This article traces the functioning of the Commissioners of National Education, outlining salient aspects of their activities in the national school system during Ireland's Great Famine of the 1840s. The role of the commissioners as an agency of government is explored in the context of their annual reports and their general response to the…

As a Social Studies teacher and LGBTQ+ educator, the author has explored and critiqued the shortcomings of inclusion in education, especially by exposing curricular patterns that neglect or oversimplify the identities of queer individuals, if not erase them altogether. Through leading workshops, the author has learned about the challenges faced by…

In this Point of Departure, the idea of authentic assessment is examined and troubled by drawing on Derrida's hauntology. The spectres of higher education invite us to reconsider what is 'real' about past, present, and future assessment practices. Such spectres do not lecture or produce a single, definitive interpretation. Rather, these spectres…

The complicated colonial history of the Philippines impacts notions of gender in the Islands. Specifically, institutions with strong foreign roots, such as universities, maintain and challenge gender relations. The Philippines sees multiple gender issues in universities despite government-mandated gender mainstreaming policies for education…

This article offers some reflections on education in the Portuguese state system, based on family experience. It contextualises the recent emergence of that system and describes characteristic elements of its organisation, culture, curriculum and practices.

This article, which is related to a longer piece to be published in 2023, starts from the point of view that, despite some issues, there may be borrowable ideas in how South Korea and Japan developed their education systems, especially at the outset of their modern periods of educational development. However, in the popular press, and even among…

With the introduction of the Aotearoa New Zealand histories curriculum in 2022 (Ministry of Education, 2022), educators are encouraged to engage students in understanding the bicultural foundations of Aotearoa New Zealand society, shaped by Te Tiriti o Waitangi. This curriculum refresh emphasises Maori history as foundational and ongoing,…

Orff-Schulwerk has become a foundational element of U.S. music education. Often positioned as an open, exploratory, and approachable form of music teaching and learning, it is associated with developing musicianship and, importantly, creativity. This article, drawing from a curriculum studies approach, considers the epistemologies, histories, and…

First published in 1967, "The Foundations of Twentieth-Century Education in England" examines events and decisions which shaped the development of the educational system during the first half of the twentieth century. Professor Eaglesham goes into the background of the controversial Education Act of 1902, in particular the activities of…

Georg Kerschensteiner is often called the 'father of the vocational school' in Germany. Working in the context of the German Empire in the 19th century, his historical achievement was to design a concept of vocational education that dissolved the opposition between general education and vocational education that had existed since Humboldt. He…

This article looks back in imagination from the mid-21st century at the development of education policy and practice in England's school system since 1944.

This concise, digestible book shows how the cultivation of reason became the defining aim of western education, and critiques how this aim has been eclipsed in recent decades by the neoliberal system of mass schooling imposed by the state. Chapters outline succinctly the history of western education and its origins in Ancient Greece, demonstrating…

"Childhood, Philosophy, and Dialogical Education" explores the history and prospects of democratic, dialogical education, and its promise as an engine of social and cultural evolution, especially in the context of the cultural and social site dedicated to the adult-child encounter: the school. Drawing on three historical narratives--of…

This book presents a sociocultural account of logic, or a pedagogy, that governs Cambodian education, from policy-making to classroom practices. In so doing, it seeks to not only provide an introduction to Cambodian education, but also to help readers understand the complexities involved in reforming educational practices by drawing on an…

When Israel, Jewish identity and education are each in a state of profound flux, Israel education for Jews will necessarily be dynamic. In response, an orienting prism is proposed which seeks that Jews inquire appreciatively into Israel with diverse Israelis, whilst using historical thinking. The aim is that there emerge numerous ethical paths to…