This paper explores the process of negotiation, lobbying and parliamentary debate that brought the Irish universities legislation into being in the early 1900s against a backdrop of political and religious conflict. The complex interaction between British ministers and Catholic bishops before and throughout the legislative process dictated the…

This article examines the lived experiences of teachers who were either lay volunteers or Sister missionaries, working in education and health care. The research draws on oral histories, examining the responses of participants under a series of thematic headings that unpack the influence of family life, schooling and faith, while also exploring…

In Ireland primary RE is a fractured, contested, complex and changing territory devoid of a common language and characterised by a proliferation of syllabi and curricula generated for increasingly diverse school types. For centuries the dynamic decolonising process has led to a questioning of former orthodoxies and an attempted de-linking of the…

Catholic schools have multiplied since 1843 until now in Sudan, an Islamic majority country where Arab and African cultures intertwine in a particular way. The research aims at identifying the characteristics that define the identity and the concept of quality of these schools. With this purpose, the article reviews their history and the…

This article reflects on the place of RE in a pillarised education context, taking into account the fact of religious diversity and pluralisation among the school population on the one hand, and the freedom of religion and education of faith-based schools on the other. Particular attention will be given to Belgium and the Netherlands, which do not…

The aim of this article is to interact with Anita Gracie and Andrew W Brown's recent account of the historical development and nature of Controlled schools and of religious education in Northern Ireland in this journal. A complementary perspective is used to illustrate how the relationship between the Protestant churches and Controlled schools has…

One strand in the scholarship of Catholic school identity perceives that it has deteriorated since Vatican II (1962-1965) and therefore needs restoration. Unfortunately, this perception is based on an assumption that there is a "singular" Catholic identity. This article demonstrates a basis in theology, social theory, and educational…

The article deals with the revitalisation of Catholic education in Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet system and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church's emergence from the underground. It speaks of the reinstitution and the 25 year work of the Ukrainian Catholic University -- the easternmost Catholic university in Europe, and the only Catholic…

'Christian pyrexia' and 'education fever' have contributed greatly to the empowerment of women in Korea and helped with the transformation of Korean society more broadly. This article begins with an overview of the Confucian gender constructs and delimiting social expectations of women in the pre-modern period. It then focuses on the changing…

The author explicates the life story of Anne Smyth, a deaf teacher in 19th-century Ireland. The story was written and published in 1858 by another deaf teacher, Charlotte Mary Kelly, who traced Anne Smyth's life trajectory from her birth to the day she began life in a deaf school until her untimely death at the age of 18 years. The study examines…

This article presents an historical and critical review of the Declaration on Christian Education "Gravissimum Educationis," promulgated on October 28, 1965, during the fourth and last session of Vatican II. By considering the history and context of this document, and after evaluating the three socio-ecclesial factors that were behind…

This article sketches the emergence, institutionalisation and emergent issues and challenges in the scholarly field of history of education in Latin America. It argues that these processes have been closely linked with nation-building and the decisive role of national politics. The impact of national politics is herein called a 'beneficial…

This paper attempts to look at the Colombian case of secularisation, touching on the current state of religion and Religious Education from three perspectives: the law, the Catholic Church, and the wider society, to determine the challenges acquired by the gap developed between religion, religiosity and secular legislation. With this in mind, the…

Established in the 1920s, Furen University was a private Catholic university in China. Just as in the case of other Christian colleges in modern China, Furen was taken over by the communist government soon after the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 and incorporated into the new state-controlled higher education system.…

This paper seeks to address a gap in the literature regarding lay teachers and their role and status within Catholic schools, studies have been carried out investigating this from the perspective of teaching religious and the Catholic Church but have yet to fully investigate this from the lay teachers' perspectives themselves. The period 1940-1980…