The Necessity of Comprehensive Sexuality Education in the Schools∗

The shift in the demographic data highlights the growth in minority, second language learner, and economically disadvantaged student populations that traditionally have been underserved in public schools (Marshall and Oliva 2006 Marshall, C. and Oliva, M. 2006. Leadership for social justice: Making revolutions in education, Boston: Pearson.  [Google Scholar]). The purpose of this discussion is to explore the leadership praxis of four female secondary school leaders faced with challenges of social justice, democracy, and equity in their schools. The principals could be characterized as stewards of social justice in their school communities.     

The Interface between Secondary and Higher Education‐‐The Case of Slovenia: 1989‐1999

Slovenia has introduced the Matura, an external examination taken at the conclusion of higher secondary education. This examination has two distinct purposes: to certify completion of secondary education and to replace all entrance examinations that might be required for selection and matriculation. As Slovenia was the first country in central and eastern Europe to introduce an external examination at the interface of secondary and higher education, its experience might serve as an example to other countries in the region wishing to move in a similar direction. This article describes the new examination that has been successfully administered in Slovenia since 1995, its structure, and the impact it has had on the education system, particularly on higher education, Matura results determining admission to course programmes.     

Secondary Education and Emancipation: Secondary Schools for Freed Slaves in the American South, 1862–1875

Slavery in the United States denied education to the enslaved. Yet within fifteen years of the beginning of the American Civil War and the freeing of four million American slaves, the freed people and their supporters elaborated a full system of universal education in the South, including over 120 secondary and higher institutions. Historians have overlooked black secondary education as a distinctive part of early black schooling. This article documents the competing ends of black secondary education during Reconstruction, the forms of secondary education that emerged during that period, and the curriculum and pedagogy of the schools. An appendix lists the schools of secondary and higher grade known to have been in operation by 1876.     

“The crux and the magic”: The Political History of Boston Magnet Schools, 1968–1989 1

This study analyzes public perceptions of Boston's magnet school program. Typically evaluated in terms of their impact on racial integration, magnet schools also were designed to improve the tarnished image of the Boston school system. While promoting voluntary integration at a handful of schools, the magnet program struggled to change the reputation of public education in the city. Boston's magnet schools found themselves perched precariously between conflicting and equally-problematic perceptions. To the extent that they were perceived to be elite enclaves, Boston magnet schools became potent symbols of inequality. To the extent that magnet schools were not perceived to be academically superior, they could never encourage integration nor become symbols of the potential of Boston public schools. Illustrating the dilemma presented by these contradictory perceptions, the history of Boston magnet schools suggests that efforts towards racial integration must be intertwined with campaigns for increasing educational achievement citywide.     

Science at the Crossroads? The Decline of Science in Australian Higher Education

The Australian Government has stressed the important role universities play in producing knowledge workers to service the needs of the technology-driven new economy. The massification of Australian higher education from 1989 rapidly increased the stock of university-educated people in all disciplines. Although university science enrolments also grew, analysis reveals both that the growth rate has been considerably less than the sector average, and that there has been a serious decline in the number of students being trained in the enabling sciences: chemistry, mathematics and physics. Recent Government policies are unlikely to reverse this critical decline.     

The changing role of the academic journal: the coverage of higher education in History of Education as a case study, 1972–2011

This article briefly reviews the coverage of higher education in the pages of this journal since its inception. It reflects on the changing role of the academic journal during this period, on some of the related changes which have taken place in academia itself as well as changing fashions in the study of history of education. Its central arguments are that the ways in which the history of universities and higher education have been treated in History of Education are, at one and the same time, both a reflection of these developments and a commentary on them. It concludes with a call for new and wider approaches to the study of higher education which go well beyond the narrow institutional and national accounts which have dominated recent writing to reflect contemporary globalisation and the swiftly changing world in which we live now.     

The formation,development and contribution of the New Ideals in Education conferences, 1914–1937

This paper seeks to explore the development, impact and contribution made by the New Ideals in Education conferences, which were held between 1914 and 1937. In particular, it will examine how the group emerged from the English Montessori Society and forged an identity of its own based on the thoughts and ideas of its two major protagonists: Edmond Holmes and the Earl of Lytton. This was especially manifest in its commitment to a form of non-partisanship that sought to be inclusive as possible towards those agitating for liberty within the classroom. The paper will also examine the profound impact played by the First World War, whose events were a catalyst not merely for impelling the group to discuss and showcase practice but also how this could be applied in the reconstruction process. In so doing it will chart the evolution of the New Ideals movement, which fizzled out just prior to the Second World War.     

Trends in the Mincerian Rates of Return to Education in Urban China: 1989–2009

This study examines the trends in the Mincerian rates of return (MRRs) to education in urban China between 1989 and 2009 using two sources of data: the China Urban Household Survey and the China Health and Nutrition Survey, and attempts to explain the underlying causes of the trends. The authors find that while the rates of return to education had been rising steadily since 1992 in urban China, a trend consistent with earlier studies, they have stagnated and even shown a statistically insignificant and very small decline between 2004 and 2009. Using the conceptual framework of supply, demand and institution in labor economics, the authors show evidence that the rapid rise in MRRs since 1992 has been driven by the strong relative demand for skills and productivity unleashed by the market-oriented economic reforms of the late 1980s and 1990s when relative supply of skilled labor was by and large stable. However, the “great leap forward” in senior secondary and tertiary education since the late 1990s produced huge numbers of graduates by the mid-2000s, outpacing the growth of relative demand for skilled labor due to the economy’s overdependence on low value-added industries such as manufacturing and construction. The apparent slowdown in the deepening of marketization since the mid-2000s may have also contributed to the stagnation or slight decline in the returns to education in urban China.     

Collective Identity and the Burden of “Acting White” in Black History,Community, and Education

After more than 15 years of comparative study of minority education, I concluded that I would have to study two additional factors, namely collective identity and cultural frame of reference to more fully explain the variability in minority school performance. In 1986, I published an article with Signithia Fordham on how oppositional collective identity and cultural frame of reference or oppositional culture contributed to Black students' school performance. Many critics have misinterpreted the joint article and even constructed a different thesis of oppositional culture than the one we proposed in the joint article. The thesis is that Black students do not aspire to or strive to get good grades because it is perceived as acting White. Furthermore, they have translated my cultural–ecological theory into an oppositional culture theory. I am writing this paper to correct the misinterpretations of the joint article in order to advance scholarship on the subject. I begin by explaining the meaning of collective identity and distinguishing it from other concepts of identity. Specifically, I summarize the evolution of oppositional collective identity and cultural frame of reference or oppositional culture among Black Americans and discuss the Black experience with the burden of acting White in the contemporary United States. Finally, I suggest some continuity between Black historical and community experiences with the burden of acting White, as experienced by Black students.     

Different Strategies,Different Outcomes? The History and Trends of the Inclusive and Special Education in Alberta (Canada) and in Finland

This study compares the strategies and delivery of education for students with special educational needs in the province of Alberta, Canada, and in the country of Finland, in the European Union. The rationale for comparing these two jurisdictions is grounded by the idea that both of these areas have high general standards of living, a well-developed public education system, and top results in international school achievement tests. The data consists of available educational policy papers, previous research papers, and educational statistics. This article first describes the special education system development and the current situation, followed by the funding system and discussion about the implications and outcomes of different policies. The historical analysis shows that while many similarities exist between Alberta and Finland, there are also some culturally-bound elements present that have strongly affected the progress and the decision-making process related to the organization of the education for students with special needs.     

‘I Saw Angry People and Broken Statues’: Historical Empathy in Secondary History Education

Tasks which invite students to identify with historical actors and describe their perspectives are a common phenomenon in history education. The aim of this study is to explore the differences in students’ answers when completing a writing task in first person (‘imagine you are in the past’) or in third person (‘imagine someone in the past’), or a task in which such imagination is not explicitly asked. Furthermore we investigated the effects of the type of task on topic knowledge and situational interest. Students in Dutch secondary education (N = 254) participated by completing a task on the Dutch Iconoclasm. Our analysis of student answers focused on aspects of historical empathy: historical contextualization, affective elements and perspective taking.

Results were that all students gained some knowledge from the task, regardless of the type of task they completed. Students’ situational interest also did not differ between the three tasks. However, students’ written work showed that the first- and third-person writing tasks stimulated students to imagine concrete details of the past and emotions of historical actors. Students who were not explicitly asked to imagine themselves or someone in the past included more perspectives into their writings. Students who completed the task in first person tended to show more presentism and moral judgements of the past than students who completed a task in third person.     

Walking the Line: Canadian Federalism,the Council of Ministers of Education,and the Case of International Education, 1970–1984

This article will examine Canadian politicians’ and administrators’ leadership in the realm of education‐related international activities. In the era between the 1960s and the 1980s, it became increasingly difficult for educational leaders to walk the line dividing federal and provincial responsibility in this field. Educational authorities at the federal and provincial levels were collectively ill‐prepared to address the question of ‘diplomacy’ in a field of provincial responsibility. Instead, there were a whole series of mis‐steps on one or other sides of the line. Moreover, the executive level interaction that characterized this period was marked by developing federal authority, a federal government increasingly focused on power, and one which wanted greater control over the issue. Additionally, as is the case when having difficulty with ‘walking the line’ and passing a sobriety test, this was a federalism characterized by misunderstandings, provisional accords, and last minute compromises.