Our guiding thesis in this article is that the recent burgeoning discussion of differentiation in the context of education has to do with critiques of the globalization theories that have been popular since 1990. In doing so, however, these critically motivated discussions run the risk of overlooking the historical roots of differentiation, which…

This article compares the private higher education (HE) systems in Germany and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We examine the historical, political, and demographic contexts of private universities in both countries, as well as the role of the state in regulating and shaping the private HE sector. We then explore the interrelation of the public…

August Heißmeyer was a high-ranking SS officer, a member of Heinrich Himmler's inner circle, husband to Reich women's leader Gertrud Scholtz-Klink, and the driving force behind the pan-European expansion of Nazi elite schools during the Third Reich. In light of Heißmeyer's official pardon by Württemberg state president Dr Gebhard Müller in 1951,…

This paper explores how girls' education developed in Norway and Prussia (and later North Rhine-Westphalia, NRW) during the first and second wave of women's political mobilisation. It analyses how organisations and activists of the women's movement were included in different cross-interest coalitions in education politics. The cases are…

This article problematises the discourse on 'immigrant parents' against the backdrop of a broader transformation of the welfare state in migration societies such as Germany. While studies have shown that post-welfare rationalities play a prominent role in shaping perceptions of what constitutes a 'good parent', little research has been conducted…

The article will discuss some central relations between political authoritarianism and right-wing education in the interwar period. Then it is asked why these concepts and powers are renewed in today' s politics and education. And in the end it shows what research gaps exist and how the articles of this special issue could fill them.

The quote in the title of this paper is taken from the first line of Marc Depaepe's article "An Agenda for the History of Colonial Education", published in "The Colonial Experience in Education" (Ghent, 1995). This presentation takes as its focus the informal learning space of the museum and the art gallery, and the emergence…

It is understood that education being brought under the control of government and educational activities carried out under the name of character and race unity education were tools for the destruction of the individual and masses during the national socialist era in Germany. For this reason, the state's monopolizing and more or less intervening in…

This article introduces the topic of the special issue, 'Public education at the crossroads', by pointing to some of the debates and controversies surrounding the topic of public education and by framing the theme, while explaining the context and some components of the educational systems of the countries under examination -- namely the USA and…

The Popular Front line made the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) a more hospitable place for "brain workers." The emphasis the line placed on mass ideological and cultural struggle against fascism meant that they became important allies to be won for the working class. As the principal transmitters of ideology and culture to the…

In this historical study, the author offers a reading of Dewey's "Democracy and Education" in the context of the two other books Dewey published the year before, German "Philosophy and Politics" and his coauthored "Schools of To-morrow." Having published three books in two years, "Democracy and Education"…

This paper explores comparatively and historically why Nordic and Continental welfare and education regimes differ in the degree of comprehensiveness of their primary and lower secondary school systems. It analyses how school reforms, reform attempts and coalitions in the post-war decades were shaped by different cleavage structures in Norway and…

In 2016 an important anniversary is coming up for "The Beutelsbach consensus". It will have its 40th birthday. This consensus is of vital significance for the German dispute and discussion on teaching civics. "The Beutelsbach consensus" contains, and describes three points: (1) Prohibition against overwhelming the student. It…

The paper gives an overview of FLT in the German-speaking regions of Europe from medieval times to the present day, within a framework of language politics, communicative needs and educational ideologies. The languages addressed are French, Italian, Spanish, English, Russian and Turkish. Basic social and professional data of the various groups of…

As the field of education has become a highly internationalised policy field in the last decade, international organisations such as the OECD play an ever more decisive role in the dissemination of knowledge, monitoring of outcomes, and research in education policy. Although the OECD lacks any binding governance instruments to put coercion on…