By the time political independence was achieved in the 1920s in Ireland, its national education system over the previous century had been underpinned by imperial ideology and values. In the early 1920s, curriculum planning was influenced by the post-revolutionary and post-war context and, unsurprisingly, placed an emphasis on building nationhood…

This article offers the first modern explication of the educational writings of Charles Hoole (1610-1667), arguing that his writings offer significant insight into the educational aims and methods of school instructors in seventeenth-century England. From attending to the needs of slow learners, to promoting learning games, to emphasising that…

The Belgian Constitution holds an obligation for governmental schools to organise RE in the recognised religions and in non-confessional ethics for all children of school age. While neither the Flemish nor the French Community legislator can thus abandon RE altogether, both legislators have recently taken initiatives, moving beyond the opt-out…

In the mid to late nineteenth century, many missionary women from Western countries arrived in Japan to engage in educational work. They made a significant impact not only on the establishment of Christian kindergartens and kindergarten teacher training schools but also on the dissemination of Friedrich Froebel's theory of kindergarten education…

This article investigates policy and provision of music in initial teacher education (ITE) in Ireland and Northern Ireland through a novel approach to comparative music education in ITE. Employing literature reviews and a survey of music ITE policy and provision in the two jurisdictions, it draws on a range of primary and secondary sources and…

This paper examines the memories of Japanese teachers who worked in Korea during the colonial period. By focusing on the autobiographical narratives of three Japanese primary school teachers who worked in rural Korea between 1931 and 1945, this study aims to unpack the relatively under-studied aspects of colonialism. Their narratives carried…

Ofsted has claimed on many occasions to be a force for improvement. This book, written by a former HMI and Ofsted inspector, tests this assertion by exploring how Ofsted has influenced the quality of teaching in English primary schools. Helena McVeigh draws on extensive practice as an inspector and consultant to chart the development of Ofsted and…

This work examines the private education sector in the Caucasus in the prerevolutionary period. Consideration is given to the distinctive characteristics of the development of secondary, lower, and primary private education in the region. The key sources used in putting this work together are the annual Reports on Educational Institutions in the…

One of the major contemporary topics in education is teaching issues of race in K-12 social studies classrooms. Over the last several years, at least 35 states have passed or proposed legislation to prohibit or restrict conversations about race in K-12 schools. Most supporters of this legislation argue that teachers are indoctrinating students and…

The process of reform of the education system of the Ottoman Empire during the nineteenth century was central for the establishment of new institutes for the less advantaged members of the society. Among these, special schools for D/deaf students stand out, not least because all the communities that were part of the Empire could be enrolled in…

Friedrich Fröbel is known as the founder of the modern kindergarten and for his development of novel learning materials called Gifts and Occupations. One of the foci of Fröbel's programme was mathematical education, which he addressed and taught through various activities that encouraged the largely implicit transmission of mathematical…

This article addresses the ways in which education systems responded to the aftermath of World War I with respect to education for nationalism and internationalism. It does so by drawing on theories of internationalism and through an analysis of the writings of Daniel Prescott, an American scholar who toured European schools in the middle of the…

Georg Kerschensteiner (1854-1932) was a world-renowned proponent of the work school concept ("die Arbeitsschule"). His educational philosophy was adopted not only in Europe but also in other parts of the world, both in the fields of primary school and vocational education. This study aims to analyse how Georg Kerschensteiner's views on…

The question about the degree of development of primary education in the Don in the XIX century remains controversial among historians. Archival documents and testimonies of contemporaries allow us to cover this question in completely different ways (both quotes in the title are taken from them). The article attempts to summarize statistical…

This article is concerned with an early phase in the history of educational comparisons in which international exhibitions played a major role as spaces for comparison. It looks at the educational exhibits at the Exposition Universelle in Paris 1900, and more specifically its exhibitions on drawing instruction. By following a central Swedish…