In this Point of Departure, the idea of authentic assessment is examined and troubled by drawing on Derrida's hauntology. The spectres of higher education invite us to reconsider what is 'real' about past, present, and future assessment practices. Such spectres do not lecture or produce a single, definitive interpretation. Rather, these spectres…

In 1928 the Yugoslav journal "Radna Škola" put forward the perplexing claim that James Liberty Tadd (1853-1917) was one of the most significant and influential American educators. Why was this otherwise unknown art educator put into transnational circulation as responsible for the perceived success of education in the United States?…

The idea of phenomenon-based learning (PhBL) was introduced into the Finnish core curriculum for basic education in 2014. The Finnish approach has raised interest in many other countries. In Finland, the idea of PhBL is often linked to the traditions of educational psychology, constructivism, problem-based learning (PBL) and inquiry-based learning…

This article, which is related to a longer piece to be published in 2023, starts from the point of view that, despite some issues, there may be borrowable ideas in how South Korea and Japan developed their education systems, especially at the outset of their modern periods of educational development. However, in the popular press, and even among…

This article offers some reflections on education in the Portuguese state system, based on family experience. It contextualises the recent emergence of that system and describes characteristic elements of its organisation, culture, curriculum and practices.

Although research conducted worldwide has pinpointed the importance of the cultivation of worldviews in citizenship education, little is known of how worldviews are constructed in the civics curriculum. In this study, we adopted a comparative historical approach to examine how China's civics curriculum has interpreted the meaning of life for young…

For decades the American School Counselor Association has recommended that schools employ one counselor for every 250 students, but there is limited evidence the policy promotes student success. This article investigates the origins of the 60-year-old recommendation, examining how and why it has persisted. Drawing on historical documents, it…

Orff-Schulwerk has become a foundational element of U.S. music education. Often positioned as an open, exploratory, and approachable form of music teaching and learning, it is associated with developing musicianship and, importantly, creativity. This article, drawing from a curriculum studies approach, considers the epistemologies, histories, and…

As the story is often told, P4C was established after Matthew Lipman, then a professor of education at Columbia University, observed a deficiency in reasoning skills among his students and colleagues during the student protest of April 1968. Lipman pondered whether there might be a way to enhance the critical thinking skills of individuals through…

Georg Kerschensteiner is often called the 'father of the vocational school' in Germany. Working in the context of the German Empire in the 19th century, his historical achievement was to design a concept of vocational education that dissolved the opposition between general education and vocational education that had existed since Humboldt. He…

This article looks back in imagination from the mid-21st century at the development of education policy and practice in England's school system since 1944.

"Childhood, Philosophy, and Dialogical Education" explores the history and prospects of democratic, dialogical education, and its promise as an engine of social and cultural evolution, especially in the context of the cultural and social site dedicated to the adult-child encounter: the school. Drawing on three historical narratives--of…

Over 2015-2016, high school students in Brazil occupied hundreds of schools across the country. Students fought to keep public schools open, funded, and functional, against outsourcing and privatisation, and in solidarity with teachers' trade unions and strikes. The 'primavera secundarista' ('student spring') was the most significant school…

This article traces the functioning of the Commissioners of National Education, outlining salient aspects of their activities in the national school system during Ireland's Great Famine of the 1840s. The role of the commissioners as an agency of government is explored in the context of their annual reports and their general response to the…

The author analyses the education of aristocracy in Croatia and Slavonia from the late 18th century until 1918. Education played a vital role in the mindset and lifestyle of aristocracy, and in retaining its elite position in the political, social, cultural, economic and military aspect, to name just some. Aristocrats were trained to become the…