This article has a dual purpose. The first is to pay tribute to the work of Richard Selleck and Geoffrey Sherington; the second to argue that historians of education can make substantial contributions to current and future educational policy and practice by identifying what Ravitch has called "time-tested truths". The nature and purpose…

Following a short introduction this article is divided into three main sections. The first provides definitions and brief histories of the nature-nurture debate and of neuroscience. The second section shows how in recent decades neuroscientific research has impacted on the debate with particular reference to our understanding of human intelligence…

Focuses on the contexts of current debates about the nature and the state of history of education, and the subject of history. States that educational historians are needed to define the truth about history by focusing on human existence and values, and to evaluate questionable facts espoused by those who may have ulterior motives. (KDR)