Women's leadership of ‘much needed national work’ in wartime education

While there is a wealth of feminist research on women's educational leadership and policy-making in the interwar years, this article extends the discussion into the Second World War. My focus is the educational leadership of Dorothy Walker, head teacher of St Peter's Infant School and the youngest head teacher in Birmingham, and Lillian de Lissa, longstanding principal of Gipsy Hill Training College (where Walker trained) and national advocate for early childhood education. I highlight Walker and de Lissa's ongoing challenges to patriarchal authority and their continuing commitments to progressive education, as well as many war-related issues they encountered in their lives and work. Working at different levels of policy-making and contrasting in age, Walker and de Lissa invested their leadership with a national significance during the war.     

Gender and hyper-linear history in the representation of the female Australian primary school teacher in Marion (ABCTV, 1974)

Abstract

Building on the author’s previous work on Australian national cinema and schooling, this article explores the representation of the female primary school teacher in the television mini-series entitled Marion (Australian Broadcasting Commission, 1974). Using narrative analysis, it argues that this representation is disruptive of patriarchal gender relations, demonstrating ‘hyper-linear history’ where an exemplary relationship is created between the disrupted gender relations in school leadership in Australia caused by the Second World War and the ongoing disruption of gender relations occasioned by the second-wave women’s movement in the 1970s. This mini-series shows how history, gender and representation are mobilised to create a unique cinematic historical argument about the gendered nature of Australian primary school teaching. Finally, the article reflects briefly on the situatedness of this reading out of the Global South.     

Teacher Education,Evacuation and Community in War-Time Britain: The Women of Avery Hill at Huddersfield 1941–46

The evacuation of civilians during Second World War Britain included the relocation not only of school children and teachers but of whole schools and, in some instances, of teacher training colleges. This paper examines the evacuation of Avery Hill College, a leading teacher training college, from London to Huddersfield between 1941 and 1946. Focusing on issues of gender and community, it provides an account of the circumstances of the move, institutional relations and resources, the social milieu of war-time Huddersfield, the challenges arising from evacuation, the responses of staff and trainees, and the broader institutional and teacher education policy transitions that ensued.     

Art and sonic mining in the archives: methods for investigating the wartime history of Birmingham School of Art

Abstract

Absconditi Viscus (or Hidden Entries) is a series of sound compositions based on the history of Birmingham School of Art during the First World War. Sound artist Justin Wiggan explored the concept of historical sonic information that although lost could still potentially permeate the archival record and the fabric of the school building. Each sound piece has also been synchronised with brainwave frequencies in order to stimulate a listener’s brain activity in an attempt to connect them with the time period, the physical building and the emotional impact of the war. This creative, experimental – and potentially controversial – assertion of phonic excavations and sonic mining as method challenges us to rethink both affect and the archival record in relation to the history of education.     

Education,art, and exile: cultural activists and exhibitions of refugee children’s art in the UK during the Second World War

Abstract

During the 1930s and 1940s art increasingly came to be used as a therapeutic tool with children who were perceived as damaged by their experiences of war or displacement. This article explores two related exhibitions – Children’s Art from All Countries (1941) and The War as Seen by Children (1943) – which provided a platform for children’s impressions and experiences of war as seen through their drawings, whilst also raising money and awareness for refugee children’s causes. Although supported by an influential network of British educators and cultural figures, the exhibitions were conceived and organised by displaced German, Austrian, and Czech artists and cultural educators who were members of the Free German League of Culture in London during the Second World War. The exhibitions are considered as sites of educational and political interventions by adult refugees in the context of therapeutic interventions with refugee children in British educational settings. In so doing, this article argues that the exhibition organisers conceived of cultural and creative learning as a transformative vehicle for supporting and re-forming personal identities, and for the re-imagining of collective democratic futures.     

Distributed leadership: challenging five generally held assumptions

This article reports on a study exploring a distributed perspective on school leadership through three head teacher case studies conducted in Scottish primary schools. Drawing from a sequence of in-depth, semi-structured and narrative style interviews conducted with each head teacher, as well as from a semi-structured questionnaire and sociometric analysis conducted with staff, the article analyses the experiences and the perceptions of head teachers. The paper finds that in practice, distributed leadership is more complex and challenging than often represented, challenging five generally held assumptions in the theoretical, policy and practice frames. Implications are drawn for educational leadership at both school and system levels.     

Fighting for social democracy: R.H. Tawney and educational reconstruction in the Second World War

R.H. Tawney (1880–1962), a leading English economic historian and prominent socialist, was vigorously involved in educational reconstruction during the Second World War. For Tawney, the war was a war for social democracy. His ideals of social democracy formed a basis for his case for Public (independent) School reform and free secondary education for all. Despite this, the connection between Tawney’s ideals and his perspectives on educational issues has not been addressed fully by historians and thus there has been a lack of a proper explanation for his often criticised sympathy for the public schools and his indifference towards the multilateral school. Hence, this paper aims to re-examine the link between them in greater depth. It concludes that, according to Tawney’s ideals of social democracy, the abolition of the public schools was not necessary for the establishment of a democratic educational system. Moreover, Tawney did not launch an attack on the tripartite system proposed by the Norwood Report of 1943 since it was not against his ideal of equality as long as different secondary schools were equal in quality and status. Equality, he believed, must be advanced through the raising of the school leaving age to 16 and the abolition of fees in all secondary schools. Thus, he laid more emphasis on the school leaving age and tuition fees than on the multilateral school. In brief, on various issues pertaining to secondary education, Tawney’s opinions and actions were deeply grounded in his distinctive ideals of social democracy.     

Investigating teachers' educational beliefs in Chinese primary schools: socioeconomic and geographical perspectives

This empirical study explores the nature of and profiles in primary teachers' educational beliefs in the Chinese educational settings. A survey of 820 primary school teachers was conducted using a questionnaire focusing on teachers' traditional and constructivist beliefs about teaching and learning. Analysis of variance and cluster analysis were applied. Results show that gender and subject domain affect traditional educational beliefs. Significant differences appear considering economic and geographical context variables. Cluster analysis helps to delineate four teacher belief profiles: a constructivist profile, a mixed constructivist/traditional profile, a traditional profile, and a mixed low constructivist/traditional profile. Inter-relation between teacher belief profiles and school categories are discussed.     

The Influence of Education and Family Background on Women's Earnings in Midlife: evidence from a British national birth cohort study

Studies which have investigated the influence of education on adult earnings are almost exclusively concerned with men and take little account of family influences on either education or later earnings. Those studies which have information on women's earnings focus on gender differentials rather than differences between women in opportunities and outcomes. This paper which examines the influence of education and family background on the midlife earnings of a national cohort of British women born immediately after the Second World War is an attempt to redress this situation. It shows that the few women who were able to take full advantage of the expansion in educational opportunities and achieve high educational qualifications earned significantly more in adult life than less educated females. Family background played an important role, both through its effect on early educational achievement and attitude to school work, which in turn influenced the type of secondary school attended and the achievement of educational qualifications, and also by well‐educated mothers raising their daughter's career expectations or providing successful role models. In adult life, employment characteristics which indicated a long‐term commitment to full‐time work and the decision not to have children, or to delay childbearing, were also important predictors of later economic success in this cohort, but did not explain the prior effects of education and family background. Advanced educational qualifications were the key to economic success for women bom in the early post‐war period.     

Expanding higher education: institutional responses in Australia from the post-war era to the 1970s

The history of universities in the twentieth century is, at least from the perspective of growth, a massive success. Australian higher education is no exception. Prior to the Second World War, Australia had six universities and approximately 10,500 students. Now there are in excess of one million students attending 39 institutions. In each phase of student expansion, governments have sought to make universities accessible to new segments of the community, a pattern that informs contemporary social inclusion initiatives. This paper focuses on two successive periods – the 1940s/1950s and the 1960s/1970s – during which university participation expanded. Comparing two universities which were at that time very different from one another – the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales – I consider the ways both universities approached admissions to understand what each institution hoped to achieve in attracting students beyond the traditional elite. This helps move beyond government strategy and rhetoric to consider what universities believed was at stake as they enabled new students to enter their communities.     

The Convitti Scuola della Rinascita (the Boarding Schools of Rebirth): an innovative pedagogy for democracy in post-war Italy (1945–1955)

Abstract

In 1945, Italian society was in crisis. Twenty years of fascism and the aerial bombing and military offensives of the Second World War had left the civilian population suffering and the nation in need of reinvention. In this difficult context, certain anti-fascist intellectuals devised the interesting pedagogical experiment of the 11 Convitti Scuola della Rinascita (Boarding Schools of Rebirth) for adult learners, mainly those who had been partisans engaged in the Italian resistance during the war. This article reconstructs the birth of the Convitti within the general framework of education, war and reconstruction. It investigates the arduous search for and development of an adult education curriculum – outside the traditional models – suited to the ethical and political reconstruction of students. Finally, it situates the Convitti and their demise amidst the dilemmas that affected both the ruling classes and the teachers called to redefine their role in a newly democratic Italy.     

Reification of instructional materials as part of the process of developing problem‐based practices in mathematics education

This teacher development study closely examined a teacher's practice for the purpose of understanding how she selected and implemented instructional materials, and correspondingly how these processes changed as she developed her problem‐based practice throughout a school year. Data sources included over 20 hours of planning and analysis meetings with the teacher and 27 video‐taped lessons with discussions before and after each lesson. Through qualitative analysis we examined the data for: students' cognitive demand for curricular materials the teacher selected and implemented; teacher's beliefs and practices for students' engagement in mathematical thinking; and teacher's and students' communication about mathematics during instruction. We found that the teacher shifted her views and use of instructional materials as she changed her practice towards more problem‐based approaches. The teacher moved from closely following her traditional, district‐adopted textbook to selecting problem‐based tasks from outside resources to build a curriculum. Simultaneously, she changed her practice to focus more on students' engagement in mathematical thinking and their communication about mathematics as part of learning. During this shift in practice, the teacher began to reify instructional materials, viewing them as instruments of her practice to meet students' needs. The process of shifting her views was gradual over the school year and involved substantial analysis and reflection on practice from the teacher. Implications include that teachers and teacher educators may need to devote more attention and support for teachers to use instructional materials to support instruction, rather than materials to prescribe instruction. This use of instructional materials may be an important part of transforming practice overall.     

科学主义视野中的教师教育理念——科南特的教师教育思想

二战后,科南特站在科学主义立场,突破了传统教师教育模式的束缚,对教育学科进行了理性分析,对教育学科课程进行了实证研究,主张在学术专家和教育学教授共同培养教师的模式中,教育学教授作为“教育临床教授”,其主要价值是在学科教育和教育实习中起中介作用。     

试析德国"闪电战"在二战初大行其道的原因

二战初期，法西斯德国用“闪电战”突袭其他国家，屡屡获胜，本文从四个方面阐述其暂时取胜的原因。     

论20世纪四五十年代美国生活适应运动

生活适应运动是第二次世界大战之后在美国出现的旨在中等教育领域进一步实践进步主义教育理念的教育改革运动,其中课程改革是其核心环节——“伊利诺伊中等学校课程计划”与巴特克里中学的“基本生活”计划是其最为著名的两项改革措施。它强调“社会效率”,强调“中等教育要满足青少适应生活之需求”,是进步主义运动中“效率中心”在第二次世界大战之后的重要表现;最终实现了美国中学的大众化,完成了中学运动;是美国教育史上“知识民主化”的一次重要尝试。     

试论中美英三国在第一次缅甸战役期间的合作与分歧

缅甸战役是中美英三国结成军事同盟后第一个共同的军事行动,同时也是二战时期中国军队唯一一次走出国门抗击日本帝国主义的重大战役。但是由于中美英三国具体利益的不同,这导致了三国在缅甸战役期间存在着严重的分歧,本文主要就这个问题进行了论述。     

Gendered educational leadership: beneath the monoglossic façade

Recent gender retheorisation has drawn on Mikhail Bakhtin's literary and linguistic theories of monoglossia and heteroglossia to reconcile seemingly contradictory gender discourses. Thus, girls/women and boys/men as they are biologically sexed might be discussed within a poststructural gender theory discourse that disconnects gender from the body. The concepts of gender monoglossia, gender heteroglossia and polyglossia have been applied here to empirical research into the construction of gendered leadership as it was seen to be done by one woman head teacher. The accounts of members of staff expose heteroglossia in the articulation of their understandings of gendered leadership beneath the construction of a monoglossic façade. They also reveal an understanding of polyglossic simultaneity as the head teacher is observed to ‘switch’ seamlessly between modes of doing gendered leadership depending on context and circumstances. There is also evidence of polyglossic simultaneity in the reports that might lead to the rejection and/or redefinition of gender theory discourses.     

《退伍士兵权利法案》的颁布对战后美国成人教育的影响

美国联邦政府为了有效地解决战后退伍士兵面临的就业、培训、医疗保障等方面的问题,于1944年颁布了《退伍士兵权利法案》。该法案奠定了美国战后退伍士兵安置的法律基础,促使联邦政府大量的资金源源不断地流入到对退伍士兵的教育训练中去,有力地推动了战后美国各州教育尤其是成人教育的改革与发展进程。     

War and children in Finland during the Second World War

This article focuses on Finnish children during the Second World War, looking at children from two different points of view. First, it provides information on around 70,000 children who were transferred to Sweden and Denmark; so‐called “war children”. Second, it discusses the results of a survey of Finns born between 1927 and 1938 who stayed in Finland during the war years.

The majority of “war children” lived in private homes and many of them forgot their Finnish roots; around 15,000 emigrated permanently. Many of these transferred children do not feel at home in either country. Their educational level is lower than the average Finn’s, but their health is better owing to good medical care and nutrition during the war. The Finns who spent their childhood in Finland during the war suffered from hunger. Those in the countryside had better lives than those in cities or evacuees from the war zone. The children’s nightmares faded away with time and only a minority still see tanks and bombings in their dreams.

Compared with those from other European countries, Finnish children lived well and avoided seeing the horrors of war. However, they had to work and assist non‐governmental organisations more than did English children.     

五十年代中国援助越南发展高等教育的历史考察——以中央学舍区为例

二战之后至抗法独立战争期间,越南避开战火,在中国广西壮族自治区内建立起所谓的"中央学舍区",以期为独立战争和战后国家建设培养骨干人才。"中央学舍区"从1951年10月1日成立到1958年结束,虽只存在短短几年,但其培养的大批人才,为越南高等教育的奠基和发展作出了突出贡献。本文作者通过大量查阅中越两国联合办学的有关历史文献和访谈资料,梳理了中央学舍区学校成立的艰难历程和办学情况,为研究战争期间或者其他关键时期如何进行教育实践活动提供了生动有趣的例子。而对于中国来说,由于当时刚刚建立新的国家政权,并且面临着抗美援朝战争的严峻形势,其对于越南的援助更彰显了一种大国风范,意义重大。