SIXTEENTH‐CENTURY HUMANISM AND THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN

Until now Dutch historical youth studies have not focussed on the family as an educational environment. However, since World War I pedagogues have had high hopes of parents as educators of their teenage sons and daughters. On the basis of research into advice literature the author shows how family educationalists contributed to curtailing the ‘dangers’ of adolescence. Parents were recommended to loosen the reins on their adolescent children. This advice was based on different psychological theories. At first a physiological interpretation dominated educational thinking. During the twenties Adler's Individual‐psychology shifted attention to the relational aspect of the parent‐child interaction as well as to continuity in the educational relationship. In the thirties new psychological development theories gave birth to the concept of a ‘negative phase’ at the start of adolescence, followed by a neutral and even a positive phase concerning individual mental growth. This brought about a less negative appreciation of adolescence, regarding it as just one of the ‘troublesome phases’ in childhood. Only after World War II psychoanalysis made family educationalists shift their attention more exclusively to young children. Adolescence was no longer regarded as pathogenetic.

     

RECOMMENDATION ON THE RECOGNITION OF STUDIES AND QUALIFICATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION∗

The text reproduced below is that of an official Recommendation of the General Conference of UNESCO regarding the worldwide international recognition of higher education studies and qualifications. It suggests steps that the Member States should take to harmonize their policies with regard to mobility in higher education and the mutual recognition of diplomas, degrees, periods of study, and professional qualifications and practice. Evoking the six existing UNESCO Regional Conventions on the recognition of studies and qualifications in higher education, this Recommendation serves as a step toward the eventual creation and ratification of a Universal Convention on the recognition of studies and qualifications in higher education.

     

“DOING AND UNDOING GENDER”: FEMALE HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

International Review of Education - Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic, female higher education has been characterised by a paradoxical combination of discrimination and exclusion, on...     

“DOING AND UNDOING GENDER”: FEMALE HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic, female higher education has been characterised by a paradoxical combination of discrimination and exclusion, on the one hand, and increasing equality and empowerment, on the other. This study focuses on the triangle of education, equality and empowerment, using Sara Longwe’s women’s empowerment framework to analyse the interplay between the three. State policies to Islamise the universities during the 1980–1983 Cultural Revolution determined the “gender appropriateness” of each specialisation and led to the exclusion of women from “masculine” fields of study during the early years of the revolution. Despite such discriminatory measures, women today represent the majority of students in all fields, except engineering. Women, however, remain underrepresented at graduate levels of education and as faculty members. An important challenge is to understand why men are not entering different specialisations and whether there is a possibility of “re-doing gender” – this time in addressing male inequality and disempowerment at undergraduate levels.     

CITIZENSHIP,EDUCATION AND THE NATION‐STATE. THE INCLUSIVENESS OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE NETHERLANDS

The aim of the author is to estimate the heuristic value of Meyer's (et al., 1985) social theory on citizenship, education and the nation‐state, in relation to F. Ringer's three dimensions of educational systems (i.e. ‘inclusiveness’, ‘segmentation’, and ‘progressiveness'). Rupp's thesis is that the inclusiveness and expansion of educational systems is related to the processes of the formation of nation‐state and citizenship institutions; their progressiveness and segmentation, however, to other socio‐political developments. It is suggested that national differences correspond to differences in centralized or decentralized polities.     

THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF CHURCH LEADERSHIP IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION FROM THE SUNDAY‐SCHOOL VIEWPOINT

Dorothy Day's love of the poor originated from reading novels that portrayed the poor as persons worthy of respect. This article explores how Day's reading novels opened her mind and heart to the realities of poverty. The methodology is literature-based. Dorothy Day's autobiography reveals the novelists who captivated her mind and cultivated a religious heart: Charles Dickens, Upton Sinclair, Jack London, and the Russian authors Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy. As a journalist and writer, Day described how the poor struggled to survive and how love is needed to counter the challenges that poverty presents. Finally, two novels by authors favored by Day will serve as examples for educating young adults religiously and encouraging love for the poor.     

PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON HIGHER EDUCATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN THE EC‐MEMBER STATES, 1975‐1990

This article is an exercise in cross‐national comparative research on the financing of higher education, the countries involved being the EC countries. Before relevant comparisons could be made, agreement had to be reached as to what “higher education” is and what “students” are. It was then necessary to find some way of making accurate comparisons of monetary units and of dealing with contradictory ways in which educational statistics were and still are collected and collated. A research strategy was developed using existing sources, a specially developed questionnaire, and consultation with national experts. The results displayed biases for which corrections had to be made. They also, however, displayed a wide variety in the level of higher education expenditure in the EC countries. The project gave rise to the creation of the first comprehensive database that covers public expenditure on higher education in the twelve member states of the EC. It can be regarded as the first step in the creation of the “perfect database” on higher education expenditure which in turn would be a most valuable tool for higher education policy‐makers.

     

AN EVALUATION OF NEW FUNDING MECHANISMS IN BRITISH HIGHER EDUCATION: SOME MICRO‐ECONOMIC AND INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT ISSUES

This paper summarizes some results of a programme of study of recent and proposed changes in the methods of funding higher education in the United Kingdom and in a number of other OECD countries. It considers the advantages and disadvantages for institutional efficiency of alternative models of funding, the extent of changes in the patterns of finance, and the management and academic responses of the institutions affected by these changes, and in doing so, it examines a set of higher education establishments in transition from an elite university led system towards the much more varied array of institutions and activities that constitute mass higher education.

     

A RESPONSE TO UNCERTAINTY: THE INCREASED UTILIZATION OF PART‐TIME INSTRUCTORS IN AMERICAN COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Financial uncertainty and projections of changing enrollment patterns of students are forcing community colleges into positions of maximum flexibility. As a result, they continue a trend of increased reliance on part‐time instructors to deliver their services. This trend is noted by full‐time faculty as cause for alarm. Allegations of poorer quality instruction provided by part‐time instructors cannot be documented. However, it is clear that part‐time employee practices in the areas of selection, orientation, evaluation, and development need dramatic improvement. Implications of this research point to the need for college administrators to reexamine management procedures with regard to part‐time faculty.