Histories of the past and histories of the future: Pandemics and historians of education

in Paedagogica Historica (2022)

The COVID-19 outbreak at the beginning of the 2020s not only marked a dramatic moment in world health, but also the start of manifold and entangled global crises that seem to define a watershed moment ... [more ▼]

The COVID-19 outbreak at the beginning of the 2020s not only marked a dramatic moment in world health, but also the start of manifold and entangled global crises that seem to define a watershed moment with severe effects on education. Pandemics we know are recurrent events. Faced with COVID-19 some historians have looked to previous pandemics to understand the nature of the disease and its trajectory, and how previous generations have dealt with similar health crises. This special issue intends not to reinforce narratives of the past but rather to question them. The histories that have been written for this special issue Histories of the Past and Histories of the Future: Pandemics and Historians of Education offer insights that refer to past and future research agendas. They look at the mediation and circulation of knowledge during past pandemics, trace unheard voices and emotions of pandemics, analyse national policies and emerging discourses, and underline the entangled histories of education and pandemics. Collectively the articles brought together in this issue forcibly suggest that the most fruitful and rewarding way forward to studying past pandemics lies in thinking ecologically. By asses- sing the myriad consequences of living in ” pandemic times,” of confronting exposure, transmission, transmutation, disruption, and loss, and looking to community and collective futures we believe we cannot study pandemics and their impact on education and children's lives without widening the aperture of our research. Adopting an ecological approach will help us to not only actively engage with histories of the present and contemporary collecting, but also offer the possibility of new understandings and new insights into the dynamics and consequences of past pandemics. [less ▲]

Emerging ecologies and changing relations: a brief manifesto for histories of education after COVID-19

in Paedagogica Historica (2022)

he paper draws upon photography as an active intervention into compromised environments and uses it to discover and develop new perspectives on past and future histories of education after COVID-19. These ... [more ▼]

he paper draws upon photography as an active intervention into compromised environments and uses it to discover and develop new perspectives on past and future histories of education after COVID-19. These perspectives become particularly clear when seen against the backdrop of recent discussions on planetary responsibility and shared ecologies. The paper suggests that we shift our research agendas away from anthropocentric world views that have placed great emphasis on human sovereignty, modernisation, progress and/or decline, nation states and global governance, and the stratifying effects of education systems, without reflecting their ecological consequences. It argues that anthropocentric approaches to history of education have neglected the openness and vulnerability of the human body and its ethical, cultural and social proximity to other living creatures and the material world. The paper therefore focuses on what it means for historians of education to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, what it means to change research perspectives, and what it means to look at photographs that were produced in a state of exception. The paper sets out to propose a manifesto for a post-anthropocentric research agenda that anchors history of education and the history of pandemics in intertwined ecologies of the living and material worlds. The paper suggests that future histories of education cannot be written without considering the COVID-19 crisis as both a challenge and an encouragement to further develop our understanding of education. [less ▲]

Learning How to See and Feel: Alfred Lichtwark and His Concept of Artistic and Aesthetic Education

in Paedagogica Historica (2017)

The Visual in Histories of Education: A Reappraisal

in Paedagogica Historica (2017), 53(6),

This introduction to the special issue on Images and Films as Objects to Think With presents a historiographical reflection on how images are being approached in the field of educational history. In ... [more ▼]

This introduction to the special issue on Images and Films as Objects to Think With presents a historiographical reflection on how images are being approached in the field of educational history. In recent years, much of the work has been situated at the intersection of visual and material studies; images are considered objects with which humans interact, carrying affects and particular materialities that condition their experience; they are taken as historical artefacts that bring out a plurality of meanings, which continue to grow with each new reading or approach. This introduction presents the articles that are included in this special issue as well as a final commentary written by Lynn Fendler that engages in a dialogue with them. The articles move away from considering the visual as a transparent source with a stable meaning, and open up different possibilities for working with and through it. They also problematise and expand the archives in which historians work; by looking at various surfaces in which images are exhibited and circulate, such as books, reports, art shows, films, magazines, and collective memories, these studies point to the “affective and effective histories” that images tell, and invite new research agendas for a visual history of education. [less ▲]

Envisioning the Industrial Present: Pathways of Cultural Learning in Luxembourg (1880s-1920s).

in Paedagogica Historica (2016)

This paper examines how and to what extent Luxembourg society was “exposed” to visual representations of the prospering steel industries and labour and working-class culture(s) from the 1880s until the ... [more ▼]

This paper examines how and to what extent Luxembourg society was “exposed” to visual representations of the prospering steel industries and labour and working-class culture(s) from the 1880s until the 1920s – a period of massive industrialisation – and how it thus gradually “learned to labour”. Indeed, modern visual media were seen as ideal catalysts for the circulation, transmission and production of meaning, since they were considered to be appealing, objective, direct and capable of inspiring the imagination. The paper takes the reader through various mundane moments and events of industrial enculturation (annual funfair, slide lecture, vocational school, etc.) and engages with different “technologies of display” (photographs, fair albums, postcards, scale models, etc.) that subtly calibrated, conveyed and inculcated the new industrial reality “through the eye” and, in the process, (re)produced national identifications. By zooming in on these different “visual encounters” with industry and by bringing these isolated encounters together in one story, the paper (re)constructs a “learning route” – one among many possible pathways through this huge dynamic field of learning resources (or, “cultural ecology”) – and thus suggests how (informal) “cultural learning” might have taken place at the time. While accompanying us on this journey, the reader gains insights into how this field of resources evolved and how the industrial present was (re)framed, visually performed and (re)configured over time. [less ▲]

The Beginnings of Modern Education in Korea, 1883-1910

in Paedagogica Historica (2014), 50(3), 265-284

Korea opened up to foreign intercourse in 1876, when the country concluded its first international treaty with Japan. Similar treaties with European and American nations followed during the 1880s. The ... [more ▼]

Korea opened up to foreign intercourse in 1876, when the country concluded its first international treaty with Japan. Similar treaties with European and American nations followed during the 1880s. The period until 1910, when Korea was annexed to the Japanese Empire, saw manifold attempts to reform as well as resistance to these reforms. Against the background of research on the world institutionalisation of education, this contribution analyses the changes that the opening of Korea entailed in the field of education, especially focusing on newly established forms of education. First, modern education was characterised by newly created institutions and curricula. These institutions can be classified according to the actors engaged in their creation, private Korean citizens, foreign missionary actors and the Korean government. Second, new educational discourses and practices characterised modern education in Korea. These new discourses played a central role in negotiating Korean nationalism and in culturally positioning Korea between China and the “West”. Bodily practices were radically changed through uniforms, new hairstyles and military drills. A new system of classroom interaction was introduced to Korea. [less ▲]

The Stranger within: Luxembourg’s Early School System as a European Prototype of Nationally Legitimized International Blends (ca. 1794-1844)

in Paedagogica Historica (2013), 49(5), 625-644

Mobilizing Meaning: Multimodality, Translocation, Technology, and Heritage

in Paedagogica Historica (2013), 49(6), 735-744

The "Trotter" Open-Air School, Milan (1922-1977): A City of Youth or Risky Business?

in Paedagogica Historica (2009), 45(1-2), 157-170

The Discourse of German Geisteswissenschaftliche Pädagogik - A Contextual Reconstruction

in Paedagogica Historica (2003), XXXIX(6), 759-778

The framework of German educational discourse of the twentieth century is so-called geisteswissenschaftliche Pädagogik, or education as one of the humanities or arts rather than as a science. It triumphed ... [more ▼]

The framework of German educational discourse of the twentieth century is so-called geisteswissenschaftliche Pädagogik, or education as one of the humanities or arts rather than as a science. It triumphed around 1925 in the second half of the Weimar Republic. This article outlines in three steps the core elements of this educational discourse. [less ▲]