This article explores the leading ideas of the Ukrainian educators and the reform of school education in the era of the Ukrainian revolution (1917-1921), in the context of the values of both Europe and the wider world. Under Soviet rule (1921-1991), this period was obscured by a false narrative, but with the proclamation of Ukraine's independence…

In this essay, I analyse Egerton Ryerson's proposed curriculum for the first state-led mass public educational system in Ontario. Egerton Ryerson, Chief Superintendent of Schools in Upper Canada during the wide-scale proliferation of state schooling across Turtle Island, produced proposals for "universal" common schools, as well as…

This literature review sketches a landscape of scholarly debates about the curriculum in Catholic primary and secondary schools in the United States and the United Kingdom since 1993. This landscape has three main characteristics. First, scholarly debates about the curriculum in Catholic schools have been few, particularly empirically based…

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the changing pedagogic discourses in China today, using the current wave of English curriculum innovation as a focused case. Given the cross-cultural nature of foreign language education, the change in the English as a foreign language curriculum in China has served as a fertile ground for different pedagogical…

With particular reference to religious education, this article provides an account of the campaigns of Secularists and Humanists in England in the 1960s and 1970s and locates them within their broader religious context. These campaigns, which have been both underplayed and overstated in the existing historiography, failed to garner the levels of…

Irving Babbitt and E.D. Hirsch defended the humanistic curriculum at both the beginning and end of the twentieth century, respectively. Both claimed that a set of specific knowledge needed to be passed from one generation to the next. Both found this knowledge primarily, though certainly not exclusively, through the classical Western tradition.…

In the midst of a curricular debate at Brown University during the Second World War, the faculty's humanists seized the opportunity to pen their views on the nature and purpose of higher education. This investigation reveals humanism as a fragmented force, at once principal and peripheral to the American academy. The central argument of this study…

Elementary social studies was "custom made" to fit progressive era issues and theories, and to "develop" children into good citizens. Social studies has not developed fast enough to keep pace with culture changes since World War II. Assumptions changed in the United States during World War II and elementary social studies…

This report summarizes the historical development of humanism from Petrarch and Boccaccio in the Renaissance to the present. The freedom of thought, self-expression, and creative activity that characterized the humanistic schools are considered to be the fundamental bases of education today. A brief description is given of brutalization and…

Defines humanism as a philosophy based on the worth of human beings. Traces the history of humanistic education from its Renaissance roots in Europe through the rise of progressive education, teacher education, elementary education, vocational education, and curriculum development in the United States. Sees humanism as inextricably related to…

This book examines the American experience in liberal education and demonstrates that there has been a "crisis" surrounding the curriculum of the modern U.S. university for the past two centuries. It points out where and how contemporary critics of the curriculum are wrong, historically speaking, and shows how American ideals of "liberal…

Discusses humanization in contemporary Russian education where it is seen as a key factor influencing social change. Analyzes past educational development and suggests that present trends owe more than may be expected to the past. Argues that the present discussion in Russia focuses too much on individualism and ignores processes of mediation.…

The purpose of this book is to raise the level of awareness and understanding of educators concerning the issues, problems, and efforts in international human rights. Intended for teachers, administrators, and curriculum writers, the book discusses human rights activities of international and regional organizations, principles of international…