The Role of Education Redefined: 18th century British and French educational thought and the rise of the Baconian conception of the study of nature

The idea that science teaching in schools should prepare the ground for society's future technical and scientific progress has played an important role in shaping modern education. This idea, however, was not always present. In this article, I examine how this idea first emerged in educational thought. Early in the 17th century, Francis Bacon asserted that the study of nature should serve to improve living conditions for all members of society. Although influential, Bacon's idea was not easily assimilated by educational thinkers who remained committed to the traditional aims of teaching about nature. Yet in the second half of the 18th century a change has occurred; educational thinkers started to embrace Baconian ideas and therefore argued that science teaching should be oriented towards generating future scientific progress. Analysing the work of 18th century French and British educational thinkers, this article links the emergence of this new view to developments in the understanding of natural philosophy and to a rising interest in it. It is argued, however, that in themselves, these developments could not adequately explain why Baconian ideas started to influence educational theory in the time in which they did. It is maintained that the incorporation of Baconian ideas into educational thought resulted from a fundamental theoretical shift in the understanding of the role of education itself.     

The Travels of Democracy and Education: A Cross‐Cultural Reception History

After its publication in 1916, Democracy and Education opened up a global debate about educational thought that is still ongoing. Various translations of Dewey's work, appearing at different times, have aided in introducing his ideas within different conversations and across different cultures. The introduction of Dewey's masterwork through academic, institutional, or political avenues has influenced its reception within contemporary educational scenarios; these avenues need to be taken into account when analyzing the book's reception as well as its impact on the reconstruction of educational discourse.     

Young Children's Ideas about the Earth in Space

Children's ideas about the Earth in space, at least in terms of its shape and gravitational attraction, have been of interest to science education researchers and cognitive psychologists for some time. Focusing on shape and gravity alone, however, may have resulted in an underestimation of children's other abilities and learning potential in this field. Details from a recent survey of children's ideas arc presented which suggest that this might be the case. The findings highlight a need for care at a time when classroom expectations are increasingly driven and constrained by ‘educational guidelines’ and ‘science curricula’ which remain to be fully informed.     

教师与学生的理想学生观念研究--兼论开放型问卷数据的定量分析

学生的理想学生观念反映了学生作为学习者的自我认识,并对其受教育动机和愿望有重要影响,而教师的理想学生观念与教室内主流的教育教学模式紧密相关。研究采用半结构式问卷的方法,让教师和学生罗列出他们认为理想学生应具备的最重要的五项特征。研究结果表明,小学教师和学生的理想学生观念主要体现在学习、道德、行为和身心发展四个类别上,其中学生的理想学生观念中成绩好非常重要,但对学习动机、学习能力和学习习惯的重视程度不高;而教师的理想学生观念中最重要的是学生的品德,教师对学习成绩、学习动机和学习能力的重视程度较高,对学习习惯的重视程度较低。教师与学生的理想学生观念存在差异,且他们的观念与国家课程改革提出的教育目标也存在差异。     

Barker's ecology of disadvantage and educational equity: issues of redistribution and recognition

As Barker notes, the link between disadvantage and poor educational attainments is an enduring one. Educational policy over the last 40 years or so has tended to respond to educational inequality in predominately one of two ways – attempts to raise standards across the system as a whole and attempts to redistribute resources to families, schools and neighbourhoods in mainly poor urban contexts to help improve educational outcomes. Over time these later compensatory educational policies and interventions have become known as area-based initiatives (ABIs). This article categorises and documents these important initiatives and provides evidence of impact. The key finding is that although there have been improvements in attainments linked to these interventions, there continues to be an enduring link between disadvantage and educational outcomes. In an attempt to conceptualise why this is the case, this article utilises Barker's ecological macro, meso and micro perspective on educational disadvantage and Fraser's social justice ideas of redistribution and recognition.     

Disabled Learners in South Asia: lessons from the past for educational exporters

South Asia's historical heritage of ideas and practices for educating children with special needs contains many of the approaches that western teachers discovered independently in the past 150 years. These include close observation of children's current abilities, adjusting the curriculum to individual needs, valuing the social benefits even where intellectual progress is weak, allowing more time for learning, using specially designed materials, educating children with disabilities in ordinary schools, and providing role models of adult achievers who have disabilities. These approaches are here illustrated with stories from ancient India and educational documents from the British Raj. The cultural heritage has largely been ignored during the inflow of western educational ideas to South Asia. Some of the simpler approaches were displaced by the growing professionalisation of special education in the late 19th century. Casual integration of children with mild and moderate disabilities is still obscured in modern integration debates. To facilitate exchanges on a basis of mutual respect and reciprocity, the cultural and conceptual riches of South Asia's educational history must be rediscovered.     

Hans Freudenthal: A mathematician on didactics and curriculum theory

The main ideas in the work of Hans Freudenthal (1905-1990), the Dutch mathematician and mathematics educator, related to curriculum theory and didactics are described. Freudenthal's educational credo, 'mathematics as a human activity', is explored. From this pedagogical point of departure, Freudenthal's criticism of educational research and educational theories is sketched and fleshed out. Freudenthal's approaches to mathematics education, developmental research and curriculum development can be seen as alternatives to the mainstream 'Anglo-Saxon' approaches to curriculum theory.     

Hermeneutic Haunting: E. D. Hirsch,Jr. and the Ghost of Interpretive Validity

This article applies criteria for validity in interpretation to Eric Donald Hirsch, Jr.'s interpretations of John Dewey. Specifically, three criteria that Hirsch, himself, established in his earlier work are used to evaluate Hirsch's interpretation of John Dewey as a member of a class (romantics) who embraced a naive naturalism (trait) more often than not (instances within a class) to the great detriment of other salient aspects of education. Hirsch calls his K–8 Core Knowledge sequence revolutionary. His revolution's justification rests, in part, on his rejection of an educational tradition that he attributes to John Dewey and his disciples. Hirsch uses his interpretation of Dewey to portray those who continue to take Dewey's ideas seriously as naive, dogmatic obstructionists who are blocking positive educational reform. Because Hirsch falls short of his own standards for validity in his interpretation of John Dewey, this article suggests that professors of education who continue to rework Dewey's ideas may be sources of potential insight in addressing educational challenges rather than intransigent obstructionists.     

Ideas for Teachers: Russell's legacy

2001 marked the 75th anniversary of the publication of Bertrand Russell's first book about education, entitled On Education: Especially in Early Childhood, which appeared in 1926. This year is the centenary of Russell's earliest essays dealing with educational issues written in 1902. This is an appropriate occasion, therefore, to review Russell's thoughts on teaching and education. This paper examines three central ideas, kindliness, knowledge and courage, which Russell thought necessary for a good world and for good teaching, and explores his numerous remarks and suggestions about these ideas with a particular focus on their application in an educational context with a view to improving teaching. In good Russellian fashion, the discussion centres on which of Russell's ideas have helped teachers in their work.     

Contesting the Limond thesis on British influence in Irish education since 1922: a comparative perspective

This paper is a response to David Limond's exposition, “[An] historical culture … rapidly, universally, and thoroughly restored”? British influence on Irish education since 1922', which appeared in Comparative Education, Vol. 46, No. 4, November 2010, pp. 449–462. Limond's overall thesis is that ‘a post-colonial overhang affects Irish policy-makers and bureaucrats in their educational policies and practices’. This paper contests three main aspects of Limond's exposition. First, in his analysis of the period 1831–1922, he fails to place sufficient emphasis on the extent to which the educational system was favoured by the Catholic Church, which operated in a manner which served not only its own interests, but also those of the middle classes of Irish Catholic farmers, merchants and business people. Secondly, he does not sufficiently indicate the extent to which the structure of Irish education from the early years of independence until the mid-1960s, and associated curriculum changes, were very different from the situation in Britain at the time. Thirdly, while he is correct in stating that, since the 1960s, Ireland has imported certain ideas on educational policy and practice from Britain, he neglects to demonstrate that there were also other sources, and that they were probably more dominant than the British ones. Hopefully, as a rejoinder, the paper will be read in a positive light by indicating how the historical study of Irish education within a comparative context is a neglected area of scholarship, and thus stimulate researchers to address the situation.     

Feyerabend on Science and Education

This article offers a sympathetic interpretation of Paul Feyerabend's remarks on science and education. I present a formative episode in the development of his educational ideas—the ‘Berkeley experience'—and describe how it affected his views on the place of science within modern education. It emerges that Feyerabend arrived at a conception of education closely related to that of Michael Oakeshott and Martin Heidegger—that of education as ‘releasement’. Each of those three figures argued that the purpose of education was not to induct students into prevailing norms and convictions, but rather to initiate them into the ‘civilized inheritance of mankind’. I conclude that interpreting Feyerabend's educational ideas within this conception of education as releasement lends a new coherence to his remarks on science and education, in a way that renders certain of his political proposals—such as the ‘separation of science and the state'—both more coherent and more compelling.     

ROUSSEAU,HAPPINESS, AND THE ECONOMIC APPROACH TO EDUCATION

Since the 1960s, the influence of economic thought on education has been steadily increasing. Taking Jean‐Jacques Rousseau's educational thought as a point of departure, Tal Gilead critically inquires into the philosophical foundations of what can be termed the economic approach to education. Gilead's focus in this essay is on happiness and the role that education should play in promoting it. The first two parts of the essay provide an introduction to Rousseau's conception of happiness, followed by an examination of the economic approach to education and the notion of human capital. In the course of this discussion, Gilead shows that increasing happiness is one of the economic approach's major aims. In the third part of the essay, he uses Rousseau's views to interrogate significant aspects of the economic approach to education. He then continues by highlighting some of the educational implications that stem from Rousseau's critique. Gilead maintains that Rousseau's ideas can provide valuable suggestions regarding how education might contribute to the promotion of happiness. The article concludes by proposing that while Rousseau's ideas on the matter should not necessarily be embraced, contemporary policymakers can learn some important lessons from them.     

Dewey's Participatory Educational Democracy

In this essay, Emil Višňovský and Štefan Zolcer outline John Dewey's contribution to democratic theory as presented in his 1916 classic Democracy and Education. The authors begin with a review of the general context of Dewey's conception of democracy, and then focus on particular democratic ideas and concepts as presented in Democracy and Education. This analysis emphasizes not so much the technical elaboration of these ideas and concepts as their philosophical framework and the meanings of democracy for education and education for democracy elaborated by Dewey. Apart from other aspects of Deweyan educational democracy, Višňovský and Zolcer focus on participation as one of its key characteristics, ultimately claiming that the notion of educational democracy Dewey developed in this work is participatory.     

A study on the application of laozi ’s thoughts on educational leadership and management

This paper attempts to apply historical methods to help understand the relationship between the philosophy espoused in the works of Laozi or Tao De Ching and educational leadership. The objective is to study the thought of Laozi regarding leadership, to identify ideas and solutions that can be applied in modern educational management, as well as to provide a new definition and values to the ideas of Laozi. Laozi lived in ancient times, meaning that the works describing his thought are difficult to understand. The present study is primarily based on English sources written on Laozi by Ju-Chou Yang and on the commentary on Laozi by Bi Wang. Additionally, this article also refers to and compares other comments on the ideas of Laozi regarding management. This study finds that Laozi had varied ideas on management and philosophy. Laozi ’s views regarding organization are still relevant today. He stressed flexibility and the importance of adapting to the environment. As regards leadership, Laozi emphasized non-action, softness, humility, calmness and the elimination of desire. Furthermore, in his art of employment, Laozi insisted that leaders must overcome their personal likes and dislikes in relation to individuals to ensure the full utilization of their potential.     

Mind the gap: Dewey on educational bridge‐building

This is the first of four commentaries discussing John Dewey's short essay, ‘Education as engineering’. The essay provides a fascinating model of how the example of engineering could guide the interaction between educational research and practice. It has much in common with Herbart's ideas on how ‘pedagogical tact’ bridges the gap between theory and practice. Re‐introducing both Dewey and Herbart's ideas could help to overcome the current naivity of ‘evidence‐based’ school improvement.     

MÄDCHENBILDUNG IN DER SCHWEIZ. DIE KONZEPTE ZUR MÄDCHENBILDUNG BEI ROSETTE NIEDERER‐KASTHOFER UND JOSEPHINE STADLIN,ZWEI “SCHÜLERINNEN” PESTALOZZIS

This article deals with Rosette Niederer‐Kasthofer and Josephine Stadlin, two nineteenth century Swiss pedagogues, who have rarely been studied so far. Being followers of Pestalozzi, they tried, both in their own way, to establish a concept of girl's education, on the one hand putting forward female consciousness as the primer aim of education and instruction, on the other hand taking into account the contemporary religious ideas which were based on God's (and man's) predominance.

The text looks at the lives and the ideas of Niederer‐ Kasthof er and Stadlin, placing them in their own time and in the historiography of Swiss education. References are made–as far as they exist–to women educational writers in other countries. The author also points out the necessity of a thoroughgoing, international “Rezeptionsgeschichte” of these pioneers of female education.     

Power/Knowledge for Educational Theory: Stephen Ball and the Reception of Foucault

This paper explores the significance of the concept of power/knowledge in educational theory. The argument proceeds in two main parts. In the first, I consider aspects of Stephen J. Ball's highly influential work in educational theory. I examine his reception of Foucault's concept of power/knowledge and suggest that there are problems in his adoption of Foucault's thought. These problems arise from the way that he settles interpretations into received ideas. Foucault's thought, I try to show, is not to be seen in a confined way. In the second part, I seek a different reading of Foucault's notion of power/knowledge in order to break with this tendency to confine, referring to the work of Gilles Deleuze. I draw particularly on Deleuze's thought of the outside as a means of manifesting the significance of power/knowledge in relation to processes of subjectification. At the end of the paper, I suggest how educational theory might be reconceived in the light of potencies of power/knowledge that the paper has demonstrated.     

Romanticism and Romantic Science: Their Contribution to Science Education

The unique contributions of romanticism and romantic science have been generally ignored or undervalued in history and philosophy of science studies and science education. Although more recent research in history of science has come to delineate the value of both topics for the development of modern science, their merit for the educational field has not been explored. Romanticism was not only an obvious historical period, but a particular state of mind with its own extraordinary emotional sensitivity towards nature. It is especially the latter which we hope to revisit and reclaim for science education. After discussing several key historical contributions, we describe nine characteristics of ‘Romantic Science’ in order to focus on six ideas/possibilities that we believe hold much value for transforming current science education: (1) the emotional sensitivity toward nature, (2) the centrality of sense experience, (3) the importance of “holistic experience”, (4) the importance of the notions of mystery and wonder, (5) the power of science to transform people’s outlook on the natural world, and (6) the importance of the relationship between science and philosophy. It is argued that in view of a pragmatist/utilitarian conception of school science prevalent today the aforementioned ideas (especially the notion of wonder and the poetic/non-analytical mode of knowledge), can provide food for thought for both science teachers and researchers seeking to work out an aesthetic conception, one that complements current approaches such as inquiry science and conceptual change.     

Peters Redux: The Motivational Power of Inherently Valuable Learning

The dominant focus of national education systems today is on children's future employment prospects and economic productivity, yet the collapsing market value of educational credentials compels students to devote ever longer and more intense expanses of their lives to formal education in order to reap such instrumental rewards. In these circumstances, it is more important than ever to be clear about why we are educating children and what could possibly sustain their engagement in a process that too often treats their present wellbeing as an expendable frill. Fifty years ago, R.S. Peters defended the inherent and direct formative value of education, and his ideas are no less relevant today. This essay will revisit and substantially vindicate these ideas, focusing on the importance for student wellbeing and motivation of schools being communities devoted to things of value beyond self-serving attainment.     

Das Pädagogische Konzept Maria Montessoris: Die Permanente Diskussion

This article emphasises the internal consistency of Maria Montessori's work by identifying her main educational ideas and clarifying the interrelationships between the individual experimental schools and her writings. An elucidation of the vital part played by the anthropological basis of Maria Montessori's work shows that her entire efforts were directed towards illuminating childhood as the foundation of human development. Within this framework her relationship to Rousseau on the one hand, and to educational reform trends on the other is brought out. It is in this connection that her relations with the World Education Fellowship in general and with Decroly in particular find their significance.