Towards a history of e-ducation? Exploring the possibilities of digital humanities for the history of education

In the past few years, worries about decreasing jobs or even the possible disappearance of the history of education as a field of study have frequently surfaced. Hence, the question arises as to whether the history of education, as a field of study, has a future – or is it, as many authors have remarked, in danger? This article starts from the idea that our field of study is definitely not alone in its struggle: many branches of the humanities have fallen victim to similar appeals of economic efficiency and relevance. In response to these developments, digital humanities in particular have been identified as a way out of the impasse. Therefore, this article explores the ways in which digital humanities or digital history can offer valuable contributions to the future of the history of education. This paper advocates that, although digital humanities or digital history cannot magically make our problems disappear, historians of education should further embrace the possibilities digital technology has to offer for the investigation of our educational past. I argue that digital technology not only has the potential to make our lives considerably easier; it can also help in addressing new research questions, give new meaning to existing concepts within the history of education and further enhance the interdisciplinary character of our discipline.     

The gendered boundaries of child‐centred education: Elsie Ripley Clapp and the history of US progressive education

This paper analyses how historical narratives of the 1930s conflict between child‐centred and social reconstructionist factions of US progressive education reinforce gendered constructions of education. The split between these two groups has been drawn along lines of gender with child‐centred education associated with female educators focused on individual development and social reconstructionists comprised of university male faculty working for social justice. The work of Elsie Ripley Clapp, an active proponent of rural progressive education in the 1920s and 1930s, is used to illustrate the limitations of accepted categorisations of progressive education. The focus on Clapp points to new ways of framing the ideological tensions within the progressive education movement and highlights how the politics of gender influence which educators are remembered as leaders and activists. The paper argues that the recent renewal of interest in social reconstructionism should include a critique of its oppositional and hierarchical relation to female progressive educators.     

The response of the Roman Catholic Church to the introduction of vocational education in Ireland 1930–1942

This paper discusses the manner in which the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland attempted to impose denominational control on the system of vocational education introduced by the state in 1930. Considerable research on education has been conducted within the period in question; however, the area addressed in this paper has been largely neglected by scholars in the field. The position of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland is examined in the context of Church–state relations within Europe with particular reference to the issue of control in education. The paper argues that the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland sought denominational control over vocational education through the introduction of various amendments to legislation dealing with the system.     

Shaping up? Three acts of education studies as textual critique

This paper presents a study of dominant educational discourses through textual critique and argues that such an approach enables education studies to preserve an important distinction from teacher training. The texts deconstructed here are specific to English education, but the discourses at work have international relevance as the rhetorics of accountability, performance and measurement (which we call cells of discourse) have global reach. Ward described a national picture in England whereby the great majority, if not all, of education studies undergraduate courses appear to be taught alongside, or within (through shared modules) teacher training programmes. But from a sociological position, these are two increasingly conflicting arenas—the study of education and the training of teachers. In response, Ward called for the subject to radicalize teacher education. The implications of this are significant if education studies is to retain a status as agent of critique. In this paper we return to the theme of education studies as a discrete practice from teacher training and suggest that any acceptance of a proximal relation to teacher education is counter‐productive. In so doing we offer three contemporary examples of the subject at deconstructive work, scrutinizing the published standards for teacher training in England, employer discourse and the Tomlinson report (commissioned by the English government to offer proposals for the reworking of vocational education) and the new curriculum for adult literacy in England. Particular attention is given to analysing the ways in which such texts speak the currently powerful discourse of standards.     

Influences of shadow education on the ecology of education – A review of the literature

Shadow education, also widely known as private tutoring or supplementary education, has attracted increasing research attention in the past two decades. The global expansion of shadow education, as well as its penetration to different educational stages and social classes, are believed to have far-reaching implications for the overall educational landscape. However, despite a steadily growing body of literature, no study to date has systematically reviewed the influences of shadow education from an ecological perspective. Therefore, borrowing Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of how shadow education influences different levels of educational ecosystems (i.e. individuals, micro-, meso-, exo-, and macro-system). Based on 74 empirical studies published between 2000 and 2020, the review reveals complex influences exerted by shadow education on multiple systems (e.g., students, mainstream schooling, families, and larger socioeconomic structures), contributing to a more sophisticated understanding of this phenomenon. The paper then discusses how the rise of shadow education creates significant changes to the ecology of education in which it operates, and concludes with implications for future practice and research.     

The ��M�� in SMEC: a short history of the mathematics education presence

In this paper I examine the history of the integration of mathematics education into the Science Education Centre, which had been established by physicist, John de Laeter, within the School of Science and Engineering at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. De Laeter’s vision for science education was that teachers should have access to professional education that allowed them to extend their discipline and pedagogical knowledge using strategies that brought together theory and practice in ways that were meaningful for teachers. This model was expanded when mathematics education was also included, paving the way also for technology education. I present the history of this integration laying out the themes that are important for the continued educational effectiveness of the Science and Mathematics Education Centre (SMEC) and the role that mathematics education has played in this process. As the title suggests, this article focuses on the activities of the group of mathematics educators who have worked within the Science and Mathematics Education Centre of Curtin University since it was established 30 or so years ago and who have contributed to its reputation. The two streams operated then and now more-or-less independently in matters of student thesis topic choice but offered students opportunities for interaction that might not have been available if the “M” had not been incorporated into the Science Education Centre (SEC). This article’s focus is on the mathematics educators who contributed to the Centre’s success and reputation, highlighting the synergistic relationship between mathematics and science that helped to make SMEC a leading center for mathematics and science education.     

The pursuit of belonging in inclusive education – insider perspectives on the meshwork of participation

According to the United Nations Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [UN 2006. Accessed May 7, 2016. https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html], full participation should be premised for everyone with a disability. However, the concept of ‘full participation’ is not clear. In this article, it is argued that the conceptualisation of participation is essential to create a welcoming context for all children in education. In a context characterised by a multiplicity of connections, children with special educational needs participate but at the same time also experience discrimination and exclusion. The aim of this study is to unravel the meaning of full participation, not as a state of being but as a process of becoming. In focus group dialogues, it is demonstrated how full participation is relationally formed inside and between the many connections that pupils seek in order to belong. It is thus a multi-layered concept, closely connected to accessibility and, due to its emergent and entangled nature, also very elusive. It revolves around a sense of belonging, with an important focus on interconnectivity, diminished conditionality and imagination.     

Expanding the traditional role of the adult education teacher – The development of relational competences and actions

The article reports the effect of a competence development programme for adult education teachers. The effect has been assessed using electronic questionnaires completed by the teachers before and after the training programme, and by interviews with the teachers over a period of two years. The study shows that while the teachers' competences and actions develop significantly on some dimensions (e.g. to act upon discovering a student who is not thriving), they remain largely the same on other (e.g. to give appreciative feedback). There is a greater change and development in the teachers' actions than in their competences.     

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.     

The roots and routes of environmental and sustainability education policy research – an introduction to a virtual special issue

This article introduces the themes of a virtual special issue (VSI) of Environmental Education Research (http://explore.tandfonline.com/content/ed/ceer-vsi) focused on policy research in environmental and sustainability education (ESE). The broad purpose behind preparing the VSI was to consider the challenges involved in linking particular concepts of environment and sustainability with key themes in educational policy, and how this remains a heavily contested practice. Examples drawn from two decades of studies published in the journal show how these might be illustrated, addressed, problematized and possibly transcended. The introduction traces how ESE researchers have dealt with key trends, complexities and issues in the policy-practice-research nexus both conceptually and empirically. It also illustrates how researchers within the field might reimagine and reinvigorate policy research on ESE, and how working with researchers from other fields who offer different perspectives, ideas and expertise might aid the cross-fertilisation of a complex terrain of ideas, policy and practice. In so doing, we hope the accompanying VSI inspires renewed interest into the (at times, fickle) relationship between ESE, and the dual worlds of possibility and tension that take place both within, and surrounding, their fields of policy and research.     

Is there something rotten in the state of Denmark? The paradoxical policies of inclusive education – lessons from Denmark

By 2015, 96% of the entire student body in the Danish public school system must receive his or her education within the regular classrooms, and referrals to segregated special education must be reduced radically. This is the consequence of the so-called ‘Inclusion Law' passed in the Danish parliament in April 2012. The law contains a political ambition that at least 80% of the students in the public school should be proficient in reading and math when measured in national tests, and the percentage of the most proficient students must increase every year. Historically, Denmark's inclusive education is informed by the rights and ethics discourse from The Salamanca Statement. However, this article explores the paradoxical policies of inclusive education in Denmark that seem to lie on a continuum that ranges from Salamanca-inspired, equity-focused inclusion to a more US-inspired, accountability-focused inclusion.     

Alexander Kapp – the first known user of the andragogy concept

The German gymnasium teacher Alexander Kapp (1800–1869) was to all appearances the first one to use the andragogy concept as a term for adult learning. In 1833 he published the book Platon’s Erziehungslehre, als Pädagogik für die Einzelnen und als Staatspädagogik. Oder dessen praktische Philosophie. This book takes all Plato’s writings about education as a starting point. While working on these papers, Kapp noted they involved not only young people and their education, but also adults and their education. Thus, Kapp’s book contains a separate part that deals with adult education, which he calls andragogy. This is not a theory of adult learning. He justifies the necessity of education for adults, and elaborates on what qualities it is important to develop – in general and in different occupations. The emphasis on inner qualities rather than outer, objective competence is central in Kapp’s andragogy. The forming of character is the foremost value for human beings, Kapp claims. This article gives a presentation of his andragogy, its similarities to contemporary movements and a comparison to later approaches in the field. Unfortunately, Kapp’s andragogy seems to have been forgotten. Possible reasons for this are also presented.     

Just one of the boys? A life history case study of a male physical education teacher

Studies of physical education teacher training have already established that hegemonic forms of masculinity are reinforced and reproduced both in the hidden curriculum (Flintoff, 1997 Flintoff A (1997) Gender relations in physical education initial teacher education in: G. Clarke & B. Humberstone (Eds) Researching women and sport Basingstoke Macmillan  [Google Scholar]) and the informal student culture (Skelton, 1993 Skelton, A. (1993). On becoming a male physical education teacher: the informal culture of students and the construction of hegemonic masculinity. Gender and Education, 5(3): 289–303. [Taylor & Francis Online] [Google Scholar]). Given this, an important feminist concern is whether male PE teachers whose own masculine identities are anchored in their athletic prowess simply ‘teach’ their young male charges to construct hegemonic forms of masculinity through PE and school sport and/or whether they necessarily marginalize and inferiorize female students. This paper provides a life history case study of a male PE teacher’s role both in reproducing and challenging gendered norms in his capacity as coach of a schoolboy and schoolgirl Australian Rules football team.     

The return of the repressed?: the gender politics of emergent forms of professionalism in education

Three distinct discourses frame this paper: ‘new public managerialism’, new modes of governmentality, and new masculinities and femininities. This paper considers the changing forms of governance in projects of educational professionalism emerging in the nested contexts of teaching, teacher training, and academic research within departments of education. It takes the production of the subject position of the manager/wo‐manager as central to managerialist regimes theorized as provoking and potentiating modes of recruitment, refusal, and mis/recognition. It illustrates this through a heuristic relational schemata constituted by the dominance of the managerialist—audit gaze. Taking a theoretically similar but methodologically different (i.e. non‐empirical) approach (or liberty?), one understands subject positions like Prichard and Deem, as produced ‘through a series of discursive or communicative practices’ realized in different ‘conditions of possibility’. The notion of ‘communicative practice’ was also put under scrutiny, given the monovocal as opposed to the dialogic nature of audit: ‘Audit is essentially a relationship of power between scrutinizer and observed: the latter are rendered objects of information, never subjects in communication’.1 This paper was originally given as part of a symposium on gender and teacher training in higher education at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference Leeds, 13–15 September 2001. The paper has been subsequently revised as a result of conversations with other colleagues in the Professional Education Research and Reading Group, Cathy Aymer and Toyin Okitikipi. It has also been significantly reworked in the light of reviews and we thank our reviewers for their insights. One is, thus, interested in the ubiquity of the ‘managerialist subject position’ as a limit condition for the professional self and how gender gets reworked within this. One is aware that the paper slides across the domains of teaching, teacher training, and academic and professional work identities. It is not presented as an orthodox ‘labour process’ account, neither is it a conventional sociological reading of ‘professionalism’. The authors wish to deliberately keep open the possibilities provided by this lack of specificity through exercising the sociological imagination. The following is best considered an experiment in social critique deriving from a post‐structuralist methodological stance. The aim is to capture through metaphorical means the temperature and tempo of some experiential dimensions of the gendered regulation of educational subjectivities, thought as a central psychosocial feature of the ‘domaining effect’ of audit.     

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.     

The formation of the willing citizen – Tracing reactive nihilism in late capitalist adult education

The role of education in citizen training has been well mapped out in youth education. What has been less studied is how this role comes into being in adult education. By providing illustrative empirical examples from a recently completed study of adult students enrolled in adult education, this article aims to offer a theoretical response to the question of the role of adult education in adult student citizen subjectivity formation. Taking on Diken’s concept of ‘reactive nihilism’, we wish to make the following arguments. First, that citizen formation in adult education, when students are asked about it, is actualised as processes of re(dis)covery of will in order to be(come) a successful and happy citizen in society. Secondly, that these processes point towards a role of adult education as one where these formation processes work in tandem with those of the reactive nihilists. This means that the citizen formation processes made possible in this educational site are those marked out by the desire to mobilise one’s will formation so that it adapts to the prevailing societal situation—that of late capitalism, which is a situation not considered by the adult students as possible to change.