In the early nineteenth century, the ideas of reform pedagogues gave rise to a didactic turn towards the visual that criticised an exclusive textual mediation of knowledge through books and lectures. To raise educational effectualness, teachers came under increasing pressure to incorporate high-profile media technologies into their lessons. Yet,…

This paper focuses on teachers' written memories of Finland's comprehensive school reform in the 1970s and examines teachers' reminiscences of this major change, when elementary (primary) schools and lower secondary (grammar) schools were transformed into comprehensive schools, thereby guaranteeing nine-year basic education with a unified…

Educational equality has been a central tenet framing educational policy in Nordic welfare states and stimulating school reforms in the 1960s and 1970s. However, the conceptualisation of equality has fluctuated, reflecting the changing economic and political climate within which policy statements have been made. In this article, we analyse policy…

The paper investigates the history of instrumental music programs in Victorian Government secondary schools over a 50-year period. These programs were researched using archival materials, State government documents and curriculum changes. Factors which impacted the transformation were government policy, societal trends, developments in the…

This study aimed to analyse the text and context of history textbooks that established Dutch colonialism as a determinant factor in the New Order era and later. Two research questions were postulated: (1) Why was the discourse of colonisation maintained in textbooks after the proclamation of independence in 1945? (2) How was the colonial discourse…

Education and training board (ETB) schools, previously called Vocational schools, were established in the Republic of Ireland in 1930. At the time of their genesis, these schools were initially prevented from offering students a pathway to upper secondary/university, leading to them being viewed as 'second-rate'. Drawing on interviews with school…

Against a background of public management reform strengthening managerialism, this study examines the professional identity of secondary school teachers in the Netherlands. It uses the Good Work framework of "excellence," "ethics" and "engagement" to explore what teachers think they should do -- self-image -- versus…

In this article we present the results of a qualitative investigation into the teaching and learning of Taylor series and local approximations. In order to perform a comparative analysis, two investigations are conducted: the first is historical and epistemological, concerned with the pedagogical evolution of semantics, syntax and semiotics; the…

This article problematizes the way of thinking schooling in discourse of sign system, which involves opposition, and double gesture of inclusion/exclusion. Drawing on two fundamental texts of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching and Chuang Tzu, this article puts forward the seemingly passive Non-Word and Non-Self to resist the hierarchy ordering of…

Colleges and universities have become increasingly concerned that requiring standardized test scores for admission is an impediment to campus diversity, and these objections have grown with the recent focus on societal inequities. In addition, the pandemic led to the cancellation of test administrations, which, in turn, caused many institutions to…

It is just over 50 years since the government circulars in Scotland, England, and Wales which signalled an intention to abolish selection and reform secondary schooling along comprehensive lines. Each country's policy trajectories since then have been quite different. In this article the authors reflect on more than 50 years of comprehensive…

This study was conducted at an important chronological turning point with regard to the structure of the Greek community and Greek supplementary schools in the UK. This paper, following a mixed-methods methodology, aims to examine whether pedagogic practices and norms of the past that took place in Greek supplementary schools continue to exist…

The article seeks to answer four questions: (1) How different are the value worlds in the Estonian- and German-language songbooks used in Estonia 1860-1914? (2) To what extent do the value worlds of songbooks express the ideals of the Wandervogel movement? (3) What is the position of wandering among other values? (4) Is the representation of…

This toolkit that can empower state leaders to transform their vocational-technical schools for the better. It builds on "Hands-On Achievement," a book detailing the Massachusetts model that Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research published earlier in 2022. The toolkit describes three keys to success, provides a brief history of…

'School league tables' summarising the performance of secondary schools in England have been published annually since 1992. Although now a firmly established feature of the educational landscape, they have attracted criticism from those who point to their unintended negative consequences. These include 'teaching to the test', entering pupils for…