This article examines some of the legacy of the Irish education pioneer Nano Nagle, foundress of the Presentation congregation of nuns. The congregation spread rapidly in the nineteenth century, not only in Ireland but also in Newfoundland, India, England, Tasmania, Australia and continental North America. This year, Presentation schools globally…

In 2016, Britain voted to leave the European Union: over-65s were more than twice as likely to vote for Brexit as under-25s, amidst campaign rhetoric steeped in colonial nostalgia. This article explores how this generation was taught in many English state schools to imagine Britain's place in the world during a period of rapid decolonisation from…

This article traces the uses of and attacks on shame in classroom discipline, in the United States, from the nineteenth century to the present. Shame was once routinely used in the classroom. In American society generally, the emotion came under new attack from the early nineteenth century onwards, as demeaning and contrary to human dignity; the…

Investigating the stories behind the makers of 3D models of crystals has proved unexpectedly unstraightforward. Drawing on actor-network theory (ANT), this article investigates the references behind a set of models of mineralogical crystals made of pasteboard held by National Museums Scotland (NMS), to uncover the history and tradition of such…

Issues associated with school absenteeism have attracted considerable attention and have long been one of the focal points of government strategies for school improvement. Pupil non-attendance is not a new phenomenon and featured prominently in Her Majesty's Inspectors' reports from 1839. This paper outlines the patterns of and influences on…

After the partition of Ireland, the newly established parliament in Belfast was given control over education. The unionist government, mainly representing the majoritarian Protestant population, embarked on a reform of the pre-existing denominational education system and tried to persuade all the churches to transfer their schools to state control…

During the activity of the Interim Treasury Committee for Polish Questions from 7 July 1945 to 31 March 1947, several thousand Polish citizens were given the opportunity to study abroad. Despite their difficult financial situation, they strove to continue studying, where this had been disrupted before the war, or started studying anew. Such an…

Contemporary Australian curricula require teachers to promote reconciliation through the teaching of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages. Engaging with First Nations knowledges and histories in education comes with a very complex and historically layered legacy. This paper examines the role of education in the…

Between 1946 and 1956, the Swedish Psychological and Pedagogical Institute (SPPI) organised several summer courses for the purpose of training teachers in intelligence testing. The aim of the courses was to make these teachers the first gatekeepers who would meet and direct the youngest pupils into ordinary classes or into special classes. This…

This paper considers gender and social class in relation to teacher education through an episodic study of the development of adult educational institutions in Huddersfield. It briefly discusses nineteenth-century mechanics' institutes in the town before moving to a consideration of school teacher training college students in the twentieth…

This article explores the intersection of aspects of imperialism and internationalism in discussion of cinematography at the League of Nations, at the International Council of Women (ICW), and as they played out in the imperial, national and local flows around educational cinematography in the work of Suzanne Karpelès at the Institute of Buddhist…

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…

During the first third of the twentieth century, Barcelona turned into a metropolis with emerging industry. To confront the growing social problems, Barcelona City Council undertook a renovating educational programme focused on hygienic and natural principles as well as on new active teaching methodologies and progressive education. Thus, a…

This paper unveils the body_machine as a key element of dynamic mental maps that have come to shape both educational praxis and research. It traces and analyses instances in which the human and the mechanical encountered each other in metaphorical, material and visual forms, thereby blurring to some extent the boundaries between them while…

Since the turn of the century large groups of former institutionalised children have exercised their right to see their "personal files", and this has drawn widespread attention to these documents and their potential in scholarly research. This article explores the meanings of personal files from the period 1945-1984 as sources for both…