Europe's knowledge economies need high-level skills, the capacity to innovate and to support democratic societies. In this perspective, the main objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the relevance of higher education and how this is promoted in various countries in Europe and beyond. The evidence, conclusions and…

Europe's knowledge economies need high-level skills, the capacity to innovate and to support democratic societies. In this perspective, the main objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the relevance of higher education and how this is promoted in various countries in Europe and beyond. The evidence, conclusions and…

Citizenship education is a popular and contested phenomenon in liberal democratic societies. It is difficult to imagine a school system that does not contribute to the preservation and improvement of society through education of democratic, responsible and tolerant citizens. On the contrary, the execution of such education is full of caveats,…

This paper explores two new perspectives for the research on higher education. Building on the case of Europe with a special focus on France, it first addresses the trend toward more competition and more differentiation that can be observed in countries that traditionally were more egalitarian and the strong implication of European states in…

Recent enlargement of the European Union (EU) has created debate as to the suitability of current structures and policies for effectively engaging citizens and developing social cohesion. Education and specifically modern foreign language (MFL) teaching are argued by the literature to play a key role in equipping young people to interact and…

This article sheds light on the European Union's policy on citizenship; on the collective dimension of this policy, its "we". It is argued that the inclusive, identity-constituting forces prominent in EU policy on European citizenship serve as a basis for the exclusion of people, which is illustrated by the recent expulsion of Romani…

The first comparative study of the spread of mass education around the world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this unique new book uses a bottom-up focus and demonstrates, to an extent not appreciated hitherto, the gulf between the intentions of the government and the reality on the ground. This book is divided into four…

This student survey was a response to the French youth unrest in 2005 and 2006. It considers the degree to which French higher and secondary education institutions create social cohesion. Focusing on three distinct higher-education institutions: "L'institut d'etudes politiques de Paris" (Sciences Po), "Ecole Normale…

In constructing a framework for the participation and inclusion in political life of subjects, the Enlightenment also produced a series of systematic exclusions for those who did not qualify: including "idiots" and "primitive races". "Idiocy" emerged as part of wider strategies of governance in Europe and its…

Educators and policymakers who share the goal of equal opportunity in schools often hold differing notions of what entails a just school in multicultural America. Some emphasize the importance of integration and uniform treatment for all, while others point to the benefits of honoring cultural diversity in ways that make minority students feel at…

Jean Jacques Rousseau in France and Johann Gottfied Herder in Germany both emphasized the role of education in building the nation-state. However, Rousseau focused on shaping the national character through citizenship education and political socialization in public schools, while Herder saw a national identity evolving from a common culture and…

Around the world, schools are central to the social and cultural shaping of the young. They inculcate the skills, subjectivities, and disciplines that undergird the modern nation-state. The case studies in this volume demonstrate a new direction for critical educational research as they demonstrate social reproduction and cultural production and…

History of education emerges during the course of the nineteenth century in Germany and is marked by four features. It is educational, and not scientific in nature, because it was written primarily for teacher education and training; it is national, or even nationalistic; it is oriented almost exclusively towards German philosophy; and it is…

The best expression of a people's ideals is to be found in their literature, and there is no better or more effective means of disseminating these ideals among the masses of the people than through the right use of the best of the literature in the schools and elsewhere. The great struggle in which the United States is now engaged for the…

In this bulletin, the author describes the various efforts, conditions, and tasks of kindergarten educators during wartime. The document makes particular note of the International Kindergarten Union's work with the American Red Cross in providing service to the children of France who have been severely affected by the war. Further, the author…