In what are often described as modern Western school systems, the supervision of elementary schools generally shifted from the hands of clerical administrators to genuine state officials during the nineteenth century. The Prussian state, like other predominantly Protestant states, relied on clerical personnel and church supervision structures to…

Between 1947 and 1949, state-sanctioned texts on town planning and housing were produced for New Zealand schools. In these publications, ideals of social democratic citizenship intersect with modernist precepts of planning and design. Analysis of the school texts in the discursive context reveals an aim to encourage future citizens to take an…

Existing academic literature on higher education in China tends to promote an argument that current norms of academic freedom and the broader intellectual-state relationship can be attributed primarily to Chinese political and cultural traditions, particularly Confucian political thought, creating a false dichotomy between 'Western' liberal…

This article addresses the inadequacy of the universal approach to academic freedom, which fails to account for the extent to which academic freedom can be exercised. Instead of considering the fixed meaning of academic freedom, the article proposes a relational approach. One that focuses on the relation between academic freedom and the common…

This article explores new nationalisms as part of the conflicting political interactions constituting the post-Cold war governance arrangements in higher education. Drawing on policy documents, archival sources and interviews and against the backdrop of a historical perspective on the university and the EU's role as an education actor, the article…

Traditional accounts of state expansion and of the rise of state schooling in the nineteenth century emphasize economic, political, and social development as well as conflict and domination. These accounts explain the introduction of new state structures, like ministries of education, rules of compulsion, and the general elaboration of…

This article explores the role of teacher unions in shaping teacher professionalism discourses in New Zealand. Through an analysis of organisational documents and mainstream public media reports from recent decades, the article contends that tension and cooperation serve as defining characteristics in the relationship between teacher unions and…

The purpose of this article is to provide a narrative on the historical development of Muslim education with the objective of examining challenges and opportunities to support the strengthening of Muslim education agenda through policy dialogue and stakeholders' engagements. The paper utilizes methods of inquiry such as literature review,…

In the 1830s, England began to see the introduction of schools targeted at the whole population, and soon the first inspectors were appointed. Although they came from privileged backgrounds themselves, the earliest members of the Inspectorate were remarkably quick to recognise and address the challenges faced by teachers in elementary schools.…

The study focuses on matura exams conducted at secondary technical schools in Czechoslovakia during the so-called normalisation period (1969-1989). It describes their form, organisation and course. At the same time, however, it also presents the practice (including the reasons for this practice) that the communist regime in Czechoslovakia used to…

The Meiji Restoration (1868) ended the Tokugawa Shogunate regime (1603-1867) and proclaimed the emperor as the supreme power of Japan. The Meiji emperor's reign began abruptly, requiring restoration leaders to construct an emperor-centred ideology of whole cloth. This ideology posited an eternal imperial Japan: a unique, tight-knit community of…

This article studies the relationship between the authorities of newly independent India and mission schools using the case of (and the perspective/sources from) the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in Chotanagpur (then South Bihar, now Jharkhand). These relationships were marked by much tension in the late 1940s and early 1950s. An abundance of…

This article analyses the social contract formulated between state and university, in the period 1850-1930. Using contemporary records -- for example, legislation, parliamentary debates, university acts, newspaper articles, senate and professorial board minutes, and similar -- this article examines how Australia's early scholarly community…

This article analyses the case of Rosa Sensat teachers' movement in Catalonia during the final years of Francoism and the transition to democracy in Spain (1965-1990). This movement was a key actor in education reform debates in that period. Based on the perspective of political process theory, the article focuses on the contextual, organisational…

As Chamoru scholars with experience working at two universities within the University of California (UC) system, the authors write from institutions deeply implicated in interconnected projects of settler colonialism and militarism. Addressing the UC's historical narrative in the authors' pedagogy is an important way to connect with ongoing calls…