Frederick II: Tyrant or Benefactor of the Latin East?

Recent historians have suggested that the involvement of the western emperor, Frederick II, in the kingdom of Jerusalem during the 1220s was regarded with concern by the Latin Christian inhabitants of the Holy Land. However, this study seeks to review the evidence pertaining specifically to that decade and to suggest that our understanding of the Franks' image of the emperor at that time has been largely coloured by hostile assessments made by contemporaries after the crusade of 1228–1229. First, Philip of Novara's account of the emperor trying to leave Acre secretly, but being spotted and ldquo;pelted... with tripe and with bits of meat”, has created an enduring impression of Frankish animosity towards Frederick. This has been compounded by patriarch Gerold of Jerusalem's vitriolic condemnation of Frederick made after the conclusion of the Treaty of Jaffa in February 1229. The effect of these attacks has been to skew modern perceptions of Frederick's reception in the Holy Land in 1228. However, an examination of the evidence for relations between the Latin East and the western empire before Frederick's arrival in the Holy Land suggests that such a negative interpretation of the Franks' attitude towards Frederick needs to be dramatically revised. The traditional view of Frederick's marriage to the heiress of the kingdom of Jerusalem, Isabella, is that it was a western initiative foisted on the Latins in the East to encourage the emperor's fulfilment of his crusade vow and that the Frankish barons then had to endure imperial attempts to assert alien rights and privileges in their territories. In other words, he was deeply unwelcome. However, it is plain that a significant body of the Franks strenuously sought to encourage Frederick's active participation in the politics of the Latin East during the 1220s in the interests of the survival of the kingdom of Jerusalem. The Frankish leaders then established a unique relationship with the western emperor. Even during the fraught period of Frederick's stay in the Latin East, a number of the Syrian barons continued to recognise the emperor's authority and supported his rule in the kingdom.     

LONGITUDINAL STUDIES OF TEST-WISENESS

Longitudinal studies were conducted to examine test-wiseness (tw) with respect to (a) grade differences, (b) grade by sex interaction, and (c) stability. Included in the tw measure were stem-option, absurd-options, similar-options, and specific-determiners. Ss were students in grades 5 through 11; 539 Ss were observed twice with a 2 year interval between observations.
Results indicated (a) significant increases on tw in four of five cases, (b) no sex by grade interaction, and (c) tw as a stable characteristic over the grade levels studied.     

Guest Editors' Introduction

The Ch'ao-yang Agricultural Institute is located in two valleys several li from the town of Ch'ao-yang. In this institute we have specialties in agronomy, pomiculture, animal husbandry and veterinary science, irrigation and water conservancy, and so forth. Guided by Chairman Mao's proletarian line in education, we run the school in the countryside and persistently enroll students who "come from the commune and go back to the commune," training new peasants who have socialist awareness as well as knowledge of modern science and agricultural technology. Since the founding of the institute in 1970, we have trained through short-term courses nearly 10,000 agricultural production technicians for communes and brigades. We have also turned out 167 graduates from our regular course, most of whom have returned to their respective communes and brigades to be peasants. Our schooling has won approval from the poor and lower-middle peasants. They say, "Graduates from the Agricultural Institute return to be peasants, which is what we desire."     

GRADE LEVEL,SEX, AND SELECTED ASPECTS OF TEST-WISENESS1

Measures of four selected aspects of test-wiseness (TW) were constructed for use in grades 5 through 11, and administered to students in two school systems. In each case the grade effects were significant at the .05 level, with a linear trend indicated. There was no evidence of sex, or sex by grade interaction effects.     

Inter-Ethnic Relations among Children at School: the perspectives of young people in Scotland

In the UK, policies and academic writings about inter-ethnic relations have witnessed many changes in recent decades, with a growing focus on the effects of different forms of racism and anti-racism. Opinions have been diverse on the extent to which both the majority and minority populations should respect and adapt to each other's traditions. Relatively little research has been undertaken on the experiences and perceptions of children. This article reports on findings from three linked studies which highlight the viewpoints of white and minority ethnic children as they made the transition to secondary schools. With a few exceptions, the children felt that their schools respected their religious practices and other customs. Most children of minority backgrounds had mixed friendship groups and the range of achievements, experiences and attitudes in relation to school were largely unrelated to ethnic background. Hardly any young people saw teachers as overtly racist, though small numbers believed teachers discriminated in favour of other groups. Peer racism was endemic and reported to be more frequent in secondary school than primary school. Teacher responses were often seen as inadequate.     

A Fragile Dialogue? Research and Primary Education Policy Formation in Bangladesh, 1971-2001

This paper considers the relationship between knowledge production and primary education policy making in Bangladesh. It investigates the form of discussions and dialogues that have taken place between policy makers and researchers and considers how these have shaped the nature of the evidence policy makers have used in different periods. The paper also attempts to assess the implications of the shifting forms of relationship between policy and knowledge production for strategies to introduce universal primary education and improve its quality. The paper itself is an example of some of the themes it examines. It has emerged out of discussions taking place in the research committee of the Bangladesh Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) and Primary and Mass Education Division (PMED). (See Figure 1.) This committee, established as part of the DFID funded ESTEEM project [1], brings together officials from DPE and PMED with education researchers from Bangladesh's universities and consultants appointed by ESTEEM. An aspect of the work of the research committee has been to consider what kinds of knowledge are useful in the implementation of policy. In summary we argue that, except for an early period after the War of Independence, there has been little open dialogue between researchers and policy makers in Bangladesh. Policy has been much more closely shaped by the changing forms and values of educational administration in central government and in large NGOs than by 'scientific' forms of research and knowledge production or by the debates these might provoke. Research and education policy development have been the preserve of elite groups closely connected to central government. Very little research has been undertaken independent of government or commissions from large NGOs. However, in different periods researchers have participated in policy formation in different ways and there are indications in the present period that the views of researchers and policy makers are beginning to diverge somewhat with some more critical commentary being published. We map the history of these changing forms of participation in order to reveal aspects of the context in which successive policies have been formed.