This paper revisits and reassesses the intellectual and practical contribution of Caroline Benn (née DeCamp, 1926-2000) to politics, policymaking and practice at a crucial turning point in English education, which I call the 'long comprehensive moment' between 1950 and 1990. It articulates a strong sense that her involvement in significant public…

The paper examines the role of literature set in late 20th-century Kerala, India, at the intersections of class and gender, in establishing and propagating new ideals for children and childhood. During this period, Kerala gained recognition from the UN for its Kerala Model of Development, which positioned the state at the forefront of Human…

This paper examines the choice of the teaching profession in contemporary Japan based on the theory of anticipatory socialization. The study relies on Bourdieu's habitus theory to examine the choice of the teaching profession from a social background perspective, because the rational career choice model, which focuses on working conditions and…

The promotion of equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives has become routine within Anglophone universities in the Global North. However, critical race scholars have demonstrated that these well-intentioned policies are often formulated in ways that transact empty performatives, where discussions of racism are deemed too challenging. Moreover,…

The term ethos is common within schools, describing culture and 'feel' of the institution. Ethos is also a contested term, and one that becomes more problematic the more one tries to understand it. Because ethos is founded within philosophical, structural and geographical aspects of the community and associated power balances, it is argued here…

This article studies the history of playgrounds in Finland and focuses on the emergence and implementation of the objectives of the international playground movement in the early twentieth century. Specifically, it examines the relations between supervised playgrounds, women's emancipation, child welfare policies, and political discussion on…

This article aims to quantitatively analyze the roles of British and American university systems in educating their political elites, specifically their cabinet members, between 1922 and 2021. Employing quantitative indices, the study seeks to provide a comparative assessment of both countries' higher education systems in political elite…

This article analyses the discourse on 'good parenthood' that has emerged in Germany in the context of neoliberal educational reforms in recent decades. The analysis shows that this discourse is structured mainly along the lines of "race", "class" and "gender." It also shapes the parents' responses to racial othering…

This article presents findings from qualitative research on school exclusion. The study was conducted in a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU), part of alternative education provision, in England. Mixed methods used included ethnographic approaches, drama-based group work, focus group discussions and interviews. Research participants were teenage boys (age…

Internships have grown to become a crucial part of the graduate job market. Offering graduates an invaluable opportunity to gain hands-on experience, develop key skills, and build their networks, they can be formative experiences for those trying to kickstart their career. But our previous research has highlighted a persistent and pervasive…

The poverty rate among the Palestinian-Arab minority in Israel is two to three times higher than in the Jewish majority. While Arab schools in Israel have been studied from an unequal national and cultural rights perspective, they have rarely been studied from an unequal economic and social rights perspective, which highlights the role of…

This paper grapples with methodological issues related to ongoing debates on positionality and reflexivity by drawing on the author's experience of conducting research in a culturally familiar field. The paper is based on in-depth qualitative research that examined the lived realities of unemployed young people residing in the township of Daveyton…

No previous study on the interrelation between parental birth order and offspring educational attainment has analysed the first stage of tracking into schools, which in many countries is highly selective of persons who aim for university studies. We do so and examine how parental birth order is associated with attainment of general upper secondary…

In light of the debates on the "feminisation of religion" that have animated historiography, during the Restoration one can distinguish two educational strategies towards the education of women. On the one hand, we can make out a symbolic system in which women, whether religious or married, fulfilled values that the male part of society…

Early school leaving (ESL) is considered one of the most serious problems in the functioning of European education systems. In particular, Spain has traditionally exhibited one of the largest ESL rates in Europe. This study aimed to shed light on the role of the month of birth as a factor conditioning the probability of ESL. Using high-quality…