Pub Date : 2018-06-04DOI: 10.1108/HER-04-2017-0008
Stephanie Spencer
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to set out three dilemmas that challenge historians of education who write for both professional and academic audiences. It focuses on the example of using fiction as a source for understanding the informal education of girls in the twentieth century. It contributes to the debate over the purpose of history of education and the possibilities that intersecting and contested analytical frameworks might contribute to the development of the discipline. Design/methodology/approach The paper discusses the rules of engagement and the duties of a historian of education. It reforms current concerns into three dilemmas: audience, method and writing. It gives examples drawn from research into girls’ school stories between 1910 and 1960. It highlights three authors and stories set in Australia, England and an international school in order to explore what fiction offers in getting “inside” the classroom. Findings Developed from a conference keynote that explored intersecting and contested histories of education, the paper sets up as many questions as it provides answers but re-frames them to include the use of a genre that has been explored by historians of childhood and literature but less so by historians of education. Research limitations/implications The vast quantity of stories set in girls’ schools between 1910 and 1960 necessarily demands a selective reading. Authors may specialise in the genre or be general young people’s fiction authors. Reading such stories must necessarily be set against changing social, cultural and political contexts. This paper uses examples from the genre in order to explore ways forward but cannot include an exhaustive methodology for reasons of space. Practical implications This paper suggests fiction as a way of broadening the remit of history of education and acting as a bridge between related sub-disciplines such as history of childhood and youth, history and education. It raises practical implications for historians of education as they seek new approaches and understanding of the process of informal education outside the classroom. Social implications This paper suggests that the authors should take more seriously the impact of children’s reading for pleasure. Reception studies offer an insight into recognising the interaction that children have with their chosen reading. While the authors cannot research how children interacted historically with these stories in the mid-twentieth century, the authors can draw implications from the popularity of the genre and the significance of the legacy of the closed school community that has made series such as Harry Potter so successful with the current generation. Originality/value The marginal place of history of education within the disciplines of history and education is both challenging and full of possibilities. The paper draws on existing international debates and discusses future directions as well as the potential that girls
{"title":"Learning the rules: writing and researching school stories in history of education","authors":"Stephanie Spencer","doi":"10.1108/HER-04-2017-0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/HER-04-2017-0008","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to set out three dilemmas that challenge historians of education who write for both professional and academic audiences. It focuses on the example of using fiction as a source for understanding the informal education of girls in the twentieth century. It contributes to the debate over the purpose of history of education and the possibilities that intersecting and contested analytical frameworks might contribute to the development of the discipline.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The paper discusses the rules of engagement and the duties of a historian of education. It reforms current concerns into three dilemmas: audience, method and writing. It gives examples drawn from research into girls’ school stories between 1910 and 1960. It highlights three authors and stories set in Australia, England and an international school in order to explore what fiction offers in getting “inside” the classroom.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Developed from a conference keynote that explored intersecting and contested histories of education, the paper sets up as many questions as it provides answers but re-frames them to include the use of a genre that has been explored by historians of childhood and literature but less so by historians of education.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000The vast quantity of stories set in girls’ schools between 1910 and 1960 necessarily demands a selective reading. Authors may specialise in the genre or be general young people’s fiction authors. Reading such stories must necessarily be set against changing social, cultural and political contexts. This paper uses examples from the genre in order to explore ways forward but cannot include an exhaustive methodology for reasons of space.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000This paper suggests fiction as a way of broadening the remit of history of education and acting as a bridge between related sub-disciplines such as history of childhood and youth, history and education. It raises practical implications for historians of education as they seek new approaches and understanding of the process of informal education outside the classroom.\u0000\u0000\u0000Social implications\u0000This paper suggests that the authors should take more seriously the impact of children’s reading for pleasure. Reception studies offer an insight into recognising the interaction that children have with their chosen reading. While the authors cannot research how children interacted historically with these stories in the mid-twentieth century, the authors can draw implications from the popularity of the genre and the significance of the legacy of the closed school community that has made series such as Harry Potter so successful with the current generation.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The marginal place of history of education within the disciplines of history and education is both challenging and full of possibilities. The paper draws on existing international debates and discusses future directions as well as the potential that girls","PeriodicalId":43049,"journal":{"name":"History of Education Review","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2018-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83385242","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-06-04DOI: 10.1108/HER-05-2016-0021
Jennifer Baldwin
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the teaching of Arabic language has had a distinctive and important history in Australian universities from the middle of the twentieth century through to the twenty-first century.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the author draws on a range of sources, government reports and surveys (both general and specific to Arabic), newspaper articles and published literature to give a comprehensive picture of the teaching of Arabic language in Australian universities over the last 60 or so years.FindingsThis paper has demonstrated that Arabic language teaching has moved through a number of phases as a scholarly, migrant and trade language. However, although the Middle East has become strategically important for Australia in defence and foreign affairs, and many people from the Middle East have migrated to Australia, Arabic (the major language of the Middle East) has never been given high priority by governments in Australia.Originality/valueThis paper, in taking an historical perspective, has demonstrated how Arabic has never commanded the attention of governments for funding to the same extent as Asian languages have.
{"title":"The place of Arabic language teaching in Australian universities","authors":"Jennifer Baldwin","doi":"10.1108/HER-05-2016-0021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/HER-05-2016-0021","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the teaching of Arabic language has had a distinctive and important history in Australian universities from the middle of the twentieth century through to the twenty-first century.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the author draws on a range of sources, government reports and surveys (both general and specific to Arabic), newspaper articles and published literature to give a comprehensive picture of the teaching of Arabic language in Australian universities over the last 60 or so years.FindingsThis paper has demonstrated that Arabic language teaching has moved through a number of phases as a scholarly, migrant and trade language. However, although the Middle East has become strategically important for Australia in defence and foreign affairs, and many people from the Middle East have migrated to Australia, Arabic (the major language of the Middle East) has never been given high priority by governments in Australia.Originality/valueThis paper, in taking an historical perspective, has demonstrated how Arabic has never commanded the attention of governments for funding to the same extent as Asian languages have.","PeriodicalId":43049,"journal":{"name":"History of Education Review","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2018-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85172658","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-07-22DOI: 10.1108/HER-03-2018-0007
Helen May
{"title":"Lillian de Lissa: Women Teachers and Teacher Education in the Twentieth Century a Transnational History","authors":"Helen May","doi":"10.1108/HER-03-2018-0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/HER-03-2018-0007","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43049,"journal":{"name":"History of Education Review","volume":"56 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2016-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74616393","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}