Paedagogica Historica: trendsetter or follower?

This article considers the role Paedagogica Historica has played in stimulating new approaches in the history of education within the international community since the emergence of the new series in 1900. Particular focus is placed on the volumes published in the wake of ISCHE (International Standing Conference in the History of Education) conferences and the special issues, which the editors began to promote in 1990 as a way of highlighting innovative scholarship in the field. The article considers a total of 55 issues. In addition to a presentation of the diversity of topics addressed, the article assesses the following: editorial strategies to reach a broader public and connect with specialised networks internationally; efforts to achieve international ranking for the journal; the ways individual scholars or national communities showcase certain approaches or themes in the history of education. Finally, the article will consider the limits to the journal’s efforts to establish trends in our contemporary digital age.     

Appendix: Gender articles in History of Education since 1976

This appendix accompanies Ruth Watts' presidential address for the History of Education Society (UK), published in History of Education, May, 2005, vol.34, no.3, pages 225–241 under the title of ‘Gendering the story: change in the history of education’. The article in vol.34, no.3, looks over the history of women's and gender studies in the history of education from 1976 to the end of 2004 and examines the changes and effects of these studies in order to ask what historians of education can learn from this and where they should go next. The focus of the article is not just the presence of women or papers on them in history of education but whether the greater presence has changed both understanding of gender issues themselves and whether it has affected the whole field and if so, how? The article begins with a brief historiographical review of the field; second, it draws out key issues which represent the present state of affairs; and third, it provides a comparison of what is happening in gender history in a related field, science. It ends with suggestions for future research. The appendix printed below lists the articles published in History of Education from 1976 that formed the basis of the survey on which ‘Gendering the story: change in the history of education’ was based.     

WHO SHOULD GO TO COLLEGE

Empirical research exploring the spiritual lives of young children in Australia is a field in which scholarship is beginning to emerge. This article reports on one particular finding that emerged from an Australian study seeking to identify some characteristics of children's spirituality in Catholic primary schools. The characteristic has been termed spiritual questing, and pertains to the way in which these children were spiritual seekers, finding authentic ways of connecting with self, others, the world, and with God. In the light of the emergence of this characteristic, this article presents some implications for religious education in faith contexts for nurturing children's spirituality.     

Some economic and ideological aspects of the reform of education and training in England and Wales in the last ten years

This paper reviews the changes, which have been introduced to public education in Australia, particularly over the last decade. These changes are analysed against the background of the free, compulsory and secular Education Acts that were implemented in every Australian colony during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. This legislation has formed the cornerstone of public education in Australia since that time. The principles of free, compulsory and secular public education and the underlying social values which underpinned the legislation are re-examined, together with the factors leading to the development of the centralized state education bureaucracies which were set up to administer the Acts. In considering current changes to public education policy in Australia, the paper argues that the principles underlying the establishment of public education have been significantly eroded. In the space of little more than a decade, the social values underpinning the Education Acts have been dramatically changed, leading to a re-invention of what public education means in this country.     

Deploying the post-colonial predicaments of researching on/with ‘Asia’ in education: a standpoint from a rich peripheral country

Against the current infatuation with Asia in Australian education, this article rearticulates the notion of ‘Asia literacy’ to explore new ways of researching on/with/through Asia. Drawing on the post-colonial critique of Western social science knowledge, I first demonstrate the problematic nature of Australian knowledge production on and with Asia in social science and education. And yet, I also highlight the contribution that Australian scholars have made to decolonizing knowledge work, with particular attention to their critique of internationalization of cultural studies in the 1990s. In so doing, I identify the particular epistemic standpoint of Australian scholarship, which has emerged out of its ambivalent location in the global politics of academic knowledge production. Then, I identify three types of engagement by Asian researchers with Western knowledge. Situating Australian education scholarship among them, I explore what ‘Asia literate’ education research might look like from the vantage point of Australia.     

Teacher education as a field of historical research: retrospect and prospect

UK-based teacher educators formed the core membership of the History of Education Society when it was founded in 1967, and they were frequent early contributors to the Society’s journals. Given these origins, one might imagine that the history of teacher education would have featured more prominently in the pages of the first 40 volumes of the journal than it has. This article identifies and discusses examples of research into teacher education that have featured in History of Education since 1972, making connections with the contexts of political, social and educational change. The influence of feminist scholarship is particularly noted and it is argued that work relating to teacher education, which peaked in the 1990s, has both reflected and shaped new methodological approaches to studying the history of education. Notwithstanding the journal’s publication of some important work, it is argued that the theme remains under-researched and, in the period ahead, it is to be hoped that interest can be re-invigorated.     

Universities,Technology and Academic Work: A Reconsideration of the Murray Committee on Australian Universities (1957) in the light of Dawkins (1987‐1988)

This is a revised version of a paper given at the Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society, University of Newcastle, 6‐9 July 1989, by John O'Brien, School of Management, University of Canberra.     

Mapping participation in situated language learning

Research on the international student experience in Australia has highlighted the challenges that international students face when obtaining tertiary qualifications in an Australian university [AEI. (2012). Student voices: Enhancing the experience of international students in Australia. Canberra, Australia: Australian Education International]. Specifically, international students are reported to have difficulties achieving their stated goals of making connections, forming friendships and improving their oral English language skills during their sojourn [AEI. (2013). International student survey 2012 overview report. Canberra, Australia: Australian Education International; Yates, L., & Wahid, R. (2013). Challenges to Brand Australia: International students and the problem with speaking. Higher Education Research & Development, 32(6), 1037–1050]. This paper investigates the interactions of five male Saudi Arabian international students in the local English-speaking community and considers how they participate in it. Diary records and interview conversations are used to examine the nature and extent of participation, drawing on the linguistic concept of register or analysis of situation. The findings indicate that quality interactions for the purpose of language learning are derived from casual conversations and those without pre-defined social roles which afford opportunities for identity negotiation and interactional benefits.     

The end of modernist approaches to school funding policy in Australia: a new rationale for funding with inclusive implications for all Australian schools?

The Australian Senate Employment, Workplace Relations and Education References Committee has been asked to examine the principles of Commonwealth Funding for schools, with particular emphasis on how these principles apply in meeting the current future needs of government and non‐government schools and whether they ensure efficiency in the allocation of school funding. The Committee will also investigate accountability arrangements including and through the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. This paper provides a critical discourse analysis of recent developments, tracking two themes: the construction of ‘efficiency and effectiveness’ in the allocation of school funding in Australia, and the impact of such a construction on a discourse of inclusive education for all schools in Australia. Through this analysis, it is argued that the current enquiry creates an opportunity for a substantial shift in focus — from funding government and non‐government schools in relation to government schools, to both government and non‐government schools — within a framework of presumptive equality and inclusion. It is also argued that extant policy, removing the substantial Catholic sector from its hitherto hybridized and separate funding position and bringing government and non‐government schools into sector‐specific funding competition with each other, realigns and rearticulates federal involvement in school funding policy areas that have been the traditional preserve of state governments and territories. In the process, responsibility for instilling and supporting inclusive educational practices is currently solely that of the states and territories where, in many cases, funding as well as inclusive education policies and programmes have been determined at local levels. The endorsement by the federal government of new principles in funding, as proposed here, linked with renewed requirements in relation to school access and participation, creates a space that potentially enables new strategies for inclusive education to be conjoined with funding allocation policy in Australian schools, to the economic and social benefits of all schools as well as the polity.     

教育史研究国际学术动态与趋势

以5个英语国家的教育史学会和1个国际专业团体为研究对象,系统地阐述了这些国家和国际专业团体的性质、结构、宗旨以及年会、刊物、奖励、对外交流等方面的情况,概括了其特点,并结合我国教育史研究的具体情况,提出了若干建议,主张加强教育史学科的国际交流,让我国教育史研究走向世界,让世界了解中国。     

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act at Fifty: A Changing Federal Role in American Education

For this first History of Education Quarterly Policy Forum, we invited participants in the special Plenary Session at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the History of Education Society (HES) in St. Louis to publish their remarks on the historical significance of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) at fifty. Organized and introduced by HES vice‐president and program chair Adam R. Nelson, the session consisted of presentations by three expert panelists from the fields of History and African American Studies, American Law and Politics, and Political Science and Public Policy: Crystal Sanders of Penn State University, Doug Reed of Georgetown University, and Susan Moffitt of Brown University, respectively. What follows are the texts of Adam Nelson's introductory remarks—including his introduction of the three panelists—followed by the panelists' remarks.     

《历史与社会》课程结构：问题与对策

我国初中《历史与社会》课程结构存在的问题有：两部《历史与社会》课程标准同时颁行,与《思想品德》内容重复,与小学和高中缺乏合理的衔接。《历史与社会》课程结构的优化,需要确立核心概念,统合两个课程标准,实现社会科课程一体化和＂一贯化＂。     

National gender equity and schooling policy in Australia: Struggles for a non-identitarian feminist politics

This paper tracks the development of gender equity and schooling policy in Australia from theNational Policy on the Education of Girls in 1987, to current policy concerns with boys’ educational underperformance. The paper’s key focus is on the ways in which feminist informed equity policy has been undermined by broader imperatives of economic rationalism and anti-feminist discourses. Drawing on Nancy Fraser’s understandings of distributive and cultural gender justice and her notion of a nonidentitarian feminist politics, the paper critically examines the ways in which such imperatives have re-articulated equity and schooling concerns. Through these lenses, the limitations of the affirmative gender binary politics and remedies that have dominated gender and schooling reform in Australia are highlighted. The paper concludes with an illumination of the gender justice spaces currently being mobilised in Australian schools. Such spaces, it is argued, fostered within a context of increasing autonomy and self-management for schools, are providing avenues for creative and disruptive (pro)feminist activism.     

National and international disability rights legislation: a qualitative account of its enactment in Australia

In this paper, a detailed analysis based on the lived experiences of the study participants and the researcher (each with vision impairment) in education, post school and in the pursuit for employment is developed. The policy discourses of disability legislation – both at national and international levels – are explored with particular reference to their enactment in Australia. The analysis focuses on the collective indifference to detached others, which is evident in the linguistic construction of people with disabilities in the United Nations [(2006). Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. New York: United Nations] and the Australian Standards for Education 2005 [Australian Department of Education, Science and Training. 2006. Disability Standards for Education 2005 Plus Guidance Notes. Accessed March 12, 2012. http://nla.gov.au/nla.arc-7692.]. Together, these elements reflect the neoliberal principles that cast a shadow over the discourses of the disability policies.     

Leaning too far? PISA,policy and Australia's ‘top five’ ambitions

Australia has declared its ambition to be within the ‘top five’ in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) by 2025. So serious is it about this ambition, that the Australian Government has incorporated it into the Australian Education Act, 2013. Given this focus on PISA results and rankings, we go beyond average scores to take a close look at Australia's performance in PISA, examining rankings by different geographical units, by item content and by test completion. Based on this analysis and using data from interviews with measurement and policy experts, we show how uninformative and even misleading the ‘average performance scores’, on which the rankings are based, can be. We explore how a more nuanced understanding would point to quite different policy actions. After considering the PISA data and Australia's ‘top five’ ambition closely, we argue that neither the rankings nor such ambitions should be given much credence.     

Weaving the threads of meaning: a characteristic of children's spirituality and its implications for religious education

Although well documented from a British perspective, empirical research exploring the spiritual lives of primary school children in the Australian context is a field in which scholarship is beginning to emerge. This article reports on one particular finding which emerged from an Australian study seeking to identify some characteristics of children's spirituality in Catholic primary schools. The characteristic has been termed weaving the threads of meaning. It describes the way in which the children who participated in this study appeared to use their sense of wonder as a means of expressing their spirituality by piecing together a worldview based around their attempts at meaning making. This article argues that the existence of this characteristic presents a challenge for religious education, in particular for those programmes which operate within faith schools where the Christian narrative forms a source of the authoritative wisdom to be handed on to its students.     

A history of learning difficulties Australia: Part three‐the journal

Abstract

Part three in this series continues the story of the Australian Journal of Remedial Education, which had by the early 1970s become one of the most important ‐ and certainly the most publicly visible ‐ activity of AREA. It concludes in the early 1980s, soon after publication of the 50th issue. During this time the journal expanded its print run to 2000, and distribution was extended to every Australian state and more than 20 overseas countries. It attracted a wide range of articles from within Australia and overseas, becoming more focused on the reading process, but still including a great variety of approaches to the remediation of learning difficulties.     

Supply issues for science academics in Australia: now and in the future

Australia, like the rest of the developed world, is in the midst of dealing with notable issues related to the age structure of its academic workforce. These issues are widespread and have been articulated in the Australian context most comprehensively by Hugo (2008). This paper investigates issues with demographic change and other key factors related to the desirability of a science or mathematics academic career within Australian universities. It draws on the findings of a research project undertaken in 2008 for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. The findings show that while demographic issues are not as dire for science academics compared to the entire sector, issues relating to tenure, workload and retaining young science academics in Australia are a threat to the long-term sustainability of science faculties in Australian universities.     

Private higher education: challenges for Australia and beyond

Among the chief characteristics of the post‐industrial society are ambiguity and paradox. In Australian higher education, as in other sectors of Australian Society, these have found expression in individualism, private initiative and entrepreneuship.

The ‘privatization’ of higher education now includes the imposition on enrolment charges, the re‐introduction of ‘full cost’ fees, especially for private overseas students, moves towards the deregulation of salaries and conditions of employment of academic staff and the establishment of new ‘self‐contained’ and ‘hybrid’ private higher education institutions.

In response to these developments, debate has tended to centre upon a number of mythologies which inter alia assert that private higher education is new to Australia, that it is foreign to the Western academic tradition and that such education avoids the employment of public funds. Moreover, it is claimed that while private higher education is ipso facto elitist, it will, through competition, result in a more effective and efficient public sector.

The above mythologies are examined in the light of past, present and proposed developments in Australian higher education, with particular note being taken of the establishment of the Bond University in Queensland.     

The limits of cultural competence: an Indigenous Studies perspective

Taking the Universities Australia report, National best practice framework for Indigenous cultural competency in Australian universities (2011) as the starting point for its discussion, this paper examines the applicability of cultural competence in the design and delivery of Australian Indigenous Studies. It argues that both the conceptual underpinnings and the operationalisation of cultural competence necessitate an over-reliance on essentialised notions of Indigeneity, cast in radical opposition to non-Indigeneity, which negate multiple and diverse expressions of Indigenous identity and lived experience. Thus, this approach perpetuates the very colonialist logics Indigenous Studies should endeavour to overcome. Secondly, it argues that cultural competency's emphasis on non-Indigenous self-reflexivity, broadly consistent as it is with both scholarship and praxis in Indigenous Studies, is represented in some of the literature as uncritical deference to an always-unified Indigeneity, thereby exacerbating the original essentialising impulse evident in the cultural competence paradigm. Therefore, this paper proposes that Indigenous Studies should explore the limits of self-reflexivity, with a view to establishing a genuinely anti-colonial/decolonising praxis that incorporates the capacity to negotiate Indigenous intracultural diversity along with other markers for identity.