An ‘experiment in the wilderness’: Newbattle Abbey College and the idea of residential adult education in Scotland 1931–1955

Newbattle Abbey College, Scotland’s only adult residential college, was founded in the 1930s by Philip Kerr, 11th Marquis of Lothian. This paper traces the debates concerning the college and the rationale for adult residential education until the 1950s, focusing on the difficulties that Newbattle faced in establishing itself as a central part of adult education provision. It explores the ideals that Newbattle was held to represent by its supporters, and the variety of languages (spiritual, humanist, socialist and communitarian) used to defend and advocate the project. It also discusses the arguments posed by those who opposed Newbattle, and relates these to perceptions of the lack of necessity for adult education in the postwar social scene, and to the apparent lack of interest in Scotland in non‐vocational education. It concludes by indicating that the survival of Newbattle demonstrates the existence of persistent if fragile support for the ideals it espoused.     

Cultural internationalism at the Cité Universitaire: international education between the First and Second World Wars

In the 1920s, French scholars and bureaucrats created the Cité Universitaire in Paris. The institution housed university students from around the world. The Cité founders formulated a model for the Cité that reflected ideological concerns in interwar Europe with a focus on pacifism, international education and cultural internationalism. The organisers of the Cité attempted to adhere to these theories to make the organisation viable in the politically strained interwar era while simultaneously demonstrating the continued excellence of French education. The French attempted to combine the goals of international education with the continued hope of national educational superiority. This article describes Germany and France as the earlier ‘national competition’ model of education. It traces the early history of the Cité as it incorporated the new international education model. Finally, it examines sports and social gatherings at the Cité, which was used as a specific venue to show examples of cooperative exchange.     

Too cool for school? Musicians as partners in education

This article addresses the distinctive role that artists play in education. Although there has been a growing body of research internationally into artists involved in teaching and learning processes, the practice of artists in education in Ireland has developed in an uneven and sometimes disjointed manner. The field of ‘arts in education’ and issues surrounding its policy and practice in Ireland are investigated here. This article takes music as a focus in examining musicians' engagement in educational partnerships. Discussions around the role of artists in educational settings, successful partnerships and professional development are presented. Interviews carried out with a purposive sample of eight musicians are thematically analysed to provide meaningful insight into these debates drawn from actual practice. In this way, the article contributes to developing research into arts in education and, more specifically, music in education. In doing so, it hopes to underpin future policy, practice and stimulate further research in this area.     

On the margins or at the center? Distance education in higher education

Abstract

This reflection focuses on the position of distance education in today’s global higher education. Firstly, it identifies three types of convergence of distance and campus-based education – dual mode, add-on/blended, and full convergence – arguing that the last type has yet to be fully realized due to the complexities involved. It then critiques the interplay between the two, concluding that despite being influenced by campus-based instructional delivery in its early days, distance education is now influencing campus-based education. Implications of convergence are also discussed. Arguably, distance education universities should be proud of the increasing presence of distance education in campus-based universities and have confidence in maintaining their advantages. As for campus-based universities, a systems approach is needed if they intend to take advantage of this ‘unorthodox’ mode of education. Finally, it is suggested that both campus-based education and distance education are at the center of higher education because they are now equally conventional.     

The case for mixed methodologies in researching the teacher’s use of humour in adult education

Inconsistencies within the literature result in teachers not having sufficient guidance to develop their humour use in support of learning without risking their professionalism. This article argues for more comprehensive evidence to guide teachers’ use of humour, based on mixed methodological approaches. The case is also made for the Interpersonal Communication Competence Model (ICCM) to be used as a consistent theoretical framework when researching teachers’ use of humour. A methodological literature review design is deployed to explore the conceptualisation, methodologies and situational factors within the selected research. The selected research is analysed in accordance with the ICCM’s five key concepts of motivation, knowledge, skills, outcomes and context. Comparisons are made against a depiction of humour based on the ICCM. The analysis reveals a diversity of conceptualisations of humour and different situational factors influencing teachers’ use of humour, and shows that findings conflict with ‘competent communication’. No research studies linked the various influencing factors together to provide all-embracing guidance for teachers. Studies based on mono-methodologies using qualitative or quantitative research designs only appear to provide the teacher with pieces of the jigsaw pertaining to humour use in teaching. Although mixed methodologies have their own design concerns, the author argues that they offer an opportunity to merge multiple situational factors to produce a more accurate representation of humour use within a teaching context. In conclusion, he proposes that future research utilises a mixed methodological approach along with the ICCM to capture supportive and contradictory perspectives of humour use.     

First‐rate Courses for Second‐rate Pupils: the demand for technical education, 1918–1939

Abstract

This paper analyses the expansion of technical education in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, in the 1920s and 1930s. It argues that the rapid industrial and commercial growth in this southern county at a time of chronic economic uncertainty nationally brought particular pressures to bear upon the Local Education Authority to provide an increasing range of courses to better equip local children for local Jobs. With government approval and, indeed, eventual direction the technical education initiative increasingly pervaded the elementary schools, with vocationally orientated courses becoming available to children aged 13, 12 and even 11 years. An important Incentive In most county councillors’ eyes was the fact that these developments deflected attention away from any great expansion of secondary education. As a result of these pressures and policies by 1938 technical education was well established, well planned and well funded but never more than second prize for the aspiring elementary‐school child or booby prize for the failing secondary one.     

Wellbeing in school gardens – the case of the Gardens for Bellies food and environmental education program

The article explores the role of the outdoor environment in the Gardens for Bellies Danish school garden program in relation to student wellbeing. It is based on exploratory multiple case study research. The study indicates that the school garden program promotes students’ wellbeing through their positive emotions about being outside in the outdoor environment. Garden activities and their relations with peers, garden educators, and teachers seemed to positively affect students’ self-esteem. Over and above the positive social environment, students’ relations with the natural environment seem also to affect their wellbeing as they develop empathy for animals, insects, and plants. Whether this influences their wellbeing, interpersonal relations, and planetary care in the long run after the program is not, however, documented. Not all students thrive in the open, free, and sometimes chaotic space of the garden. However, the majority of students in the program seem to experience a sense of wellbeing.     

‘We didn't cover that at school’: education against pleasure or education for pleasure?

This paper considers the common criteria by which school‐based sex and relationship programmes are evaluated, and argues that the domination of public health outcomes serves to make invisible other aspects of courses that warrant attention. In particular, the role of pleasure in sexual development and relations is normally not acknowledged. While it may be unacceptable in most cultures to suggest that teaching young people how to achieve sexual pleasure is valuable, there are increasing indications—from developing as well as developed countries—that public health outcomes may benefit from a greater acceptance of positive sexual experiences. It is suggested that greater comfort with one's own body will enable greater ability to communicate wishes to others, and to be less ‘pressured’ into unwanted sexual relationships.     

Embracing Jewish day school education in England, 1965–1979

Between 1965 and 1979 the demand for places at Jewish day schools in England rose dramatically. In the preceding decades, most parents sent their children to state non‐denominational schools, showing little interest in providing their children with a solid Jewish education. Sunday or after‐school Hebrew classes, rarely extending beyond Bar/Bat Mitzvah age, sufficed. Yet beginning in the mid‐1960s, parents evinced increasing enthusiasm for Jewish day schools, both primary and secondary. This phenomenon has been attributed to various factors, such as the changing ethnic mix at state schools and Anglo‐Jewry’s communal pride after the Six‐Day War. It is argued in this article that the major concern of Jewish parents was academic achievement. Upon the introduction of the non‐selective comprehensive schools, parents fled the non‐denominational state system, preferring voluntary aided Jewish day schools, or, for those who could afford them, private schools.     

Learning at every age? Life cycle dynamics of adult education in Europe

Adult learning is seen as a key factor for enhancing employment, innovation and growth. The aim of this paper is to understand the points in the life cycle at which adult learning takes place and whether it leads to reaching a medium or high level of educational attainment. We perform a synthetic panel analysis of adult learning for cohorts aged 25–64 in 27 European countries using the European Union Labour Force Survey. We find that investment across the life cycle by cohorts older than 25 still occurs: participation in education and training as well as educational attainment increase observably across all cohorts. We also find that the decline with age slows down, or is even reversed for older cohorts, for both participation in education and educational attainment. Finally, we can identify cross-country differences in approach. In Nordic countries, adult learning is achieved primarily through participation in education and training without adding to formal educational attainment. In central Europe, adult learning occurs primarily in the form of increasing educational attainment. In Ireland and the UK, a combination of both approaches to adult learning is observable.     

The Buddhist Institute at Phnom Penh,the International Council of Women,and the Rome International Institute for Educational Cinematography: intersections of internationalism and imperialism, 1931–1934

This article explores the intersection of aspects of imperialism and internationalism in discussion of cinematography at the League of Nations, at the International Council of Women (ICW), and as they played out in the imperial, national and local flows around educational cinematography in the work of Suzanne Karpelès at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It focuses on the 1931 ICW cinematograph conference organised by Laura Dreyfus-Barney at the League’s Rome International Institute for Educational Cinematography (IIEC) and on the IIEC’s 1934 cinematography congress, when Dreyfus-Barney fed Karpelès’ ideas about educational film into the congress. The article looks at the notion of rapprochement (of nations) within internationalism as this became articulated at both the League and the ICW with notions about mentalities within imperialism. It also traces the intersection of rapprochement and mentalities in Karpelès’ promotion of educational cinematography from her base in Phnom Penh. The article concludes that various elements around the cinematic at the League, the ICW and at Phnom Penh illustrate articulations of internationalism in the domains of nationalism and imperialism as well as articulations of the national and imperial in the domain of the international.     

The history of education in non‐education periodicals, 1939–1967: A bibliography

Abstract

Children with special educational needs form a substantial minority of the school population. The mechanisms and associated resources in the 1981 Education Act were oriented towards children with statements of special educational needs and neglected children with special needs but without statements. This paper examines the recent shift in policy emphasis away from the former, and towards the latter, group. The precursors to this position, notably the unmanageable rise (for LEAs) in numbers of children with statements and the broadening of the basis on which children were given statements, are examined. Both the 1994 Code of Practice concerning children with special needs and the proposed changes to the National Curriculum can be seen in part as, by redefining non statemented special needs provision, mechanisms to tackle the inexorable increase in statements. Four major repercussions of this shift are discussed. Finally some longer term implications are examined.     

Teacher leadership in university–school collaboration for school improvement (USCSI) on the Chinese Mainland

Educational Research for Policy and Practice - This article presents the findings of a qualitative study on teacher leadership in the context of university–school collaboration for school...     

Making a positive impact in rural places: Change agency in the context of school–university–community collaboration in education

International Review of Education -     

The vocational turn of adult education in Denmark – an analysis of adult education policy from the late 1990s

ABSTRACT

Denmark has a strong and versatile tradition of adult education. Over a long historical period, adult education for public enlightenment and leisure, for continuing study and for vocational and professional competence have been developed, been made part of state policy and been used by citizens. But in recent years the public and political presence of Danish adult education has changed. While education policy issues generally abound in public and political debates, adult education is given much less attention than earlier. In this article, we trace the causes of this and conclude that it reflects a turn towards focusing on vocational types of adult education and a relocation of adult education policy to networks linking the state and the social partners. Drawing on theories of policy streams, policy networks and the competition state, we provide a historical analysis of Danish adult education reforms during the past two decades and document how the vocational turn has manifested itself.     

Searching for the public: school funding and shifting meanings of ‘the public’ in Australian education

School funding is a principal site of policy reform and contestation in the context of broad global shifts towards private- and market-based funding models. These shifts are transforming not only how schools are funded but also the meanings and practices of public education: that is, shifts in what is ‘public’ about schooling. In this paper, we examine the ways in which different articulations of ‘the public’ are brought to bear in contemporary debates surrounding school funding. Taking the Australian Review of Funding for Schooling (the Gonski Report) as our case, we analyse the policy report and its subsequent media coverage to consider what meanings are made concerning the ‘publicness’ of schooling. Our analysis reveals three broad themes of debate in the report and related media coverage: (1) the primacy of ‘procedural politics’ (i.e. the political imperatives and processes associated with public policy negotiations in the Australian federation); (2) changing relations between what is considered public and private; and (3) a connection of government schooling to concerns surrounding equity and a ‘public in need’. We suggest these three themes contour the debates and understandings that surround the ‘publicness’ of education generally, and school funding more specifically.