26 November 2013

Governing Through the Arts

The most recent published edition of European Education was the first part of a double issue on the topic of governmentality. Catarina Silva Martins has written a paper that looks at the way that current practice in arts education might actually be used to govern students. Catarina Silva Martins is an assistant professor in the faculty of fine arts at Oporto University in Portugal. She notes that "the way in which art education was incorporated into the schools was not totally independent from the emergence of new cultural practices that combined the government of all with the concerns of individuals' self-development." Catarina Silva Martins makes some interesting connections as she looks at the ingredients for "making the soul through art practices in school. We have reproduced the abstract of this paper below. If it piques your interest and you would like to read the entire paper or any other content from our journal, you can find out more about subscriptions at this page.
This paper aims to provide a platform for thinking about the presence of the arts in education at the present as a practice of governing. Through an analysis of the incorporation of the arts in the school curriculum we can see how this was a subject able to promote a political subjectivation of each child as citizen of the future. I focus on the arts in education as police technologies in the government of the child's soul. Police technologies give attention to the ways in which the child is fabricated as a moral, autonomous citizen.

05 November 2013

Religion, Governmentality, and Citizenship

Is religion a cultural practice, or can it be a technology used by government to control its citizen? This is the question explored by Ezequiel Gomez Caride in his paper "Governmentality and Religion in the Construction of the Argentinean Citizen" that was published in the first part of the European Education governmentality double issue. Gomez Caride is a doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his research interests include issues of national identity, religion, and educational policy. In this paper, he argues that "it is not possible to understand citizenship historically without exploring its religious principles ... these religious elements became a part of republican notions of citizenship and ideas of the nation ..." The abstract of the paper is reproduced below. If you would like to read the entire paper or any other content from our journal, you can find out more about subscriptions here.
Numerous studies regarding citizens' identity and nation-building issues have relegated the analysis of religion, understood as a cultural practice, and its role in the governing of the citizen. However, this article states that religious narrative is still a crucial technology of government to conduct the conduct of citizens. Through the Foucauldian notion of governmentality, I draw together the roles of religious discourses in three historical educational events from Argentinean history. In contrast to the secularization theory that ignores the power of religion in shaping the modern republican citizen, this study demonstrates the extent to which Catholic narratives are still a central technology in governing the Argentinean republican citizen.

23 October 2013

Table of Contents Volume 45 Number 3 (Fall 2013)

Governmentality (1): Governing in Curriculum and Making People

Editors' Preface to Special Guest-Edited Issue
Noah W. Sobe and Iveta Silova

Guest Editors' Introduction
Engaging in Foucault's Governmentality and Styles of Reasoning
Kenneth Petersson, Thomas S. Popkewitz, Ulf Olsson, and John B. Krejsler

One Kind of Human Being
MACOS, the Human Sciences, and Governmentality
John P. Ivens

Governing Equality
Mathematics for All?
Jennifer D. Diaz

Examining "The Police"
On Inclusion and "Investmentality" in Swedish Schooling
Martin Harling

The Arts in Education as Police Technologies
Governing the Child's Soul
Catarina Silva Martins

Governmentality and Religion in the Construction of the Argentinean Citizen
Ezequiel Gomez Caride

CESE News
XXVI Conference 2014, Freiburg, Germany 10-13 June 2014

10 October 2013

Governing in Curriculum and Making People

The most recent edition of European Education is the first part of a double issue dealing with governmentality. The contributions arose from a research seminar held in April 2011 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. According to the organizers, this "seminar was organized around the notion of governmentality so as to direct attention to research that historicizes the conditions that make possible the objects of reflection and action related to schooling." Coming out of that seminar, this special double issue approaches research through playing with Michel Foucault's notion of governmentality. Guest editors Kenneth Petersson, Thomas S. Popkewitz, Ulf Olsson, and John B. Krejsler have just completed the first part which is titled "Govermentality (1): Governing in Curriculum and Making People." It contains a number of excellent papers with topics as diverse as the 1960s MACOS curriculum, the equal sign as a form of governmentality, "investmentality" in Swedish schooling, and the arts as governing children's souls. We certainly look forward to part two which will be published soon.

25 September 2013

Wide Variety of Articles in New Issue

The newest edition of European Education has a number of great new articles on a wide variety of educational issues in Europe. Geographically, the issue contains papers that deal with the Baltic countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, and the Russian Federation. It addresses such topics as internationalization, corruption, language policy, and teacher professionalism. There are also several book reviews and the latest news from the Comparative Education Society in Europe.

11 September 2013

Table of Contents Volume 45 Number 2 (Summer 2013)

Editorial Introduction
Iveta Silova and Noah W. Sobe

When Corruption Gets in the Way
Befriending Diaspora and EU-nionizing Bosnia's Higher Education
Amra Sabic-El-Rayess

Language Policy and the Internationalization of Higher Education in the Baltic Countries
Rita Kaša and Ali Ait Si Mhamed

"Leave Me Alone—Simply Let Me Teach"
An Exploration of Teacher Professionalism in Kyrgyzstan
Nurbek Teleshaliyev

(Re)Thinking Teacher Networking in the Russian Federation
Kate Lapham and Sarah Lindemann-Komarova

Book Reviews

CESE News
XXVI Conference 2014, Freiburg, Germany 10-13 June 2014

05 August 2013

Exporting European Education

The final paper in our recent special issue of European Education: Issues and Studies exploring European education outside of Europe comes from Barbara Schulte. She is an associate professor of education at Lund University in Sweden and at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies in Copenhagen. She specializes in research on education and contemporary history in China. Her research focuses on issues of transnational educational transfer, governmentality, and the discursive construction of the educational field in China. Her paper is entitled "Europe Refracted: Western Education and Knowledge in China" and the abstract is reproduced below. If you would like to read the entire paper or any other content from our journal, you can find out more about subscriptions here.
European educational knowledge and practices have been deeply impacted by the colonial experience. While hegemonic knowledge was exported to the colonies, practices of teaching and governing colonial subjects were tested in the periphery and then reimported to the center. This contribution looks at a case of European education outside Europe that did not take place, at least not entirely, in a colonial setting: China. It argues that the (at least potentially) non-colonial encounter with societies that presented possible alternatives to European civilization was as important in refracting and reframing European knowledge, education, and identity as was the colonial encounter. European education outside Europe was enacted not only in settings of hegemony and resistance but also in more subtly nuanced spaces of encounter.

30 July 2013

Seeking the Educational Cure

In a recent edition of European Education: Issues and Studies, the editors presented four papers that explored the ways that European education has been exported to other regions around the world. Hoda A. Yousef's contribution to the journal is entitled "Seeking the Educational Cure: Egypt and European Education, 1805-1920s." Dr. Yousef is an assistant professor of the history of the Islamic world at Franklin and Marshall College. She is currently working on a manuscript about the centrality of Arabic literacy, education, and public displays of language to the development of modern Egypt. The following abstract accompanied her paper in European Education:

Egyptian reformers and governments, in their desire to create relevant and effective educational institutions, have often looked to Europe for inspiration. This paper examines the development of European style education in Egypt during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The desire to utilize modern methods while preserving the local character of education created institutions that straddled the line between the strictly European and Egyptian. With these compromises and negotiations, ultimately, one of the most influential legacies of European education was the belief in education as a “cure” for all the ills of modern Egyptian society.
If this gets you wondering about the issue of European education outside of Europe, or gets you interested about the journal, you can find out more about subscriptions here.

16 July 2013

New Issue Published on Eduction in Post-Soviet Ukraine

We are pleased to announce the publication of European Education Volume 45, Number 1, a special issue which takes up the question of Educational Metamorphoses in Post-Soviet Ukraine.Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine initiated a series of sweeping educational reforms aimed at successfully positioning the newly independent state within the global political and economic arena. This special issue brings together scholars and researchers to explore the broad questions about the trajectories of post-socialist transformations by critically examining the educational metamorphoses in post-Soviet Ukraine. The editors Iveta Silova and Noah W. Sobe note in their introduction that "through multiple research lenses, levels, and sites, the authors engage in a timely discussion of the major changes taking place in the educational system of the post-Soviet Ukraine and their implications for education quality and equity, focusing specifically on such areas of education reforms as the Bologna process, educational  standards, quality, access, and teacher development essential for the development of well-being of Ukrainian youth in and outside of Ukraine." The articles in this issue powerfully demonstrate the excitement and uncertainty of post-Soviet transformations. The impact these transformations have on the lives of Ukrainian teachers, students, and youth is great and this issue of European Education is a wonderful addition to the body of knowledge on this topic. If you would like to read this special issue, you can find out more about subscriptions here.

14 July 2013

Table of Contents Volume 45 Number 1 (Spring 2013)

Educational Metamorphoses in Post-Soviet Ukraine: Quo Vadis? 

Editorial Introduction
Educational Metamorphoses in Post-Soviet Ukraine: Quo Vadis? 
Iveta Silova and Noah W. Sobe

Flawed Implementation or Inconsistent Logics?
Lessons from Higher Education Reform in Ukraine
Marta A. Shaw

Teacher Collaboration in Times of Uncertainty and Societal Change
The Case Study of Post-Soviet Ukraine
Benjamin Kutsyuruba

What Are We Educating Our Youth For?
The Role of Education in the Era of Vocational Schools for "Dummies" and Diploma Mill Universities in Ukraine 
Alla Korzh

Ethnic Experience and Politics of Ethnicity in a Globalized Environment
Insights into the Perspectives and Experiences of the Ukrainian Minority Youth in Poland
Ewa Kowalski




29 May 2013

Call for Papers - Marketization, Privatization, and Shadow Education

In March and June, 2014 European Education will publish a special issue in two volumes dedicated to marketization, privatization, and shadow education in Southeast/Central Europe and Eurasia. This special issue will be published in collaboration with the Privatization in Education Research Initiative (PERI), which is a global initiative supported by the Education Support Program of the Open Society Foundations. PERI seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms and outcomes of the marketization, privatization, and private sector participation in education.
This region has a unique contribution to make to the body of research already growing under PERI because of the ways that private funds have flowed to education in the 20 years since the collapse of the socialist bloc. Rather than overt privatization visible through the development of private schools, this region has seen a hybrid of public and private financing as state budgets have not been sufficient to maintain the quality and range of educational services offered in the past. Parents have supplemented public education budgets by making informal payments directly to schools or school-based NGOs, by topping up teacher salaries, and by paying for private tutoring to ensure that their children have access to the entire school curriculum necessary for passing tests and university admission exams.
We welcome submissions that explore the changing nature of public/private education provision and address some of the following key questions: What are the main facets of privatization or marketization of education in the countries and sub-regions in Southeast/Central Europe and Eurasia? What are some of the policy changes relating to marketization or privatization of education in the countries and sub-regions in Southeast/Central Europe and Eurasia and how have these policies originated and resonated in the national contexts? Why have countries with similar historical and transitional paths experienced different scope, intensity, and nature of privatization in education? Given current trends in privatization the countries and sub-regions in Southeast/Central Europe and Eurasia, what are the major concerns related to equity/educational justice and education quality that are either already manifesting themselves or are likely to manifest themselves in the future.
For more information about this call for papers and directions on how to submit papers, please see this .pdf document.

Creating Germans in Africa

In the most recent edition of European Education, we featured four papers about the export of European education to places around the world. One of these comes from Daniel J. Walther. He is the Gerald R. Kleinfeld Distinguished Professor in German History at Wartburg College. He is also the author of the book Creating Germans Abroad: Cultural Policies and National Identity in Namibia and several articles on the German experience in Namibia and on German colonialism. He is currently working on a study of the interplay between the medical profession and indigenous agency within the context of venereal diseases and prostitution. His paper in our journal is entitled "Creating Germans Abroad: White Education and the Colonial Condition in German Southwest Africa, 1894–1914." The abstract of the paper is provided below. If it looks like something that you would like to read, please follow this link to find out more about subscriptions.

Creating Germans Abroad: White Education and the Colonial Condition in German Southwest Africa, 1894–1914
From the perspective of German colonial supporters and authorities, appropriate white education in the settler colony of Southwest Africa (SWA) was essential for maintaining German hegemony in the territory. In order to reach this objective, the German colonial administration in SWA, with assistance from pedagogues and institutions in Germany, embarked upon a program to turn the colony’s white youth into productive and loyal members of the German Empire. The educational policies pursued provide a lens to explore how colonial enthusiasts defined what it meant to be German. However, this image and the policies intended to create it did not exist in isolation. Other populations, colonial economics, and geography resulted in a German educational system that could not be exactly replicated in SWA. Thus, a system and ultimately a population emerged that were shaped by both German educational philosophies and colonial exigencies.

08 May 2013

European Education in the Philippines

The most recent addition of European Education features four great papers that each discuss the ways that European education was implemented outside of Europe. One of these is by Erin P. Hardacker. She is a doctoral student in Educational Policy Studies and Southeast Asian History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research interests include colonial education systems and policies, civic and language education in American and colonial contexts, and the history of childhood. Her paper is entitled "The Impact of Spain’s Educational Decree of 1863 on the Spread of Philippine Public Schools and Language Acquisition." An abstract is provided below, and if it piques your interest, you can find out more about subscriptions here.

"The Impact of Spain’s Educational Decree of 1863 on the Spread of Philippine Public Schools and Language Acquisition"
The Educational Decree of 1863 was an effort by Spain to reform the Philippine colonial education system. The Decree established a complete system of education in the archipelago—it required two elementary schools in each municipality (one for girls and one for boys), standardized the curriculum, and established normal schools, thus making systematized education available to the masses. In the nineteenth century, educational opportunities opened to a segment of society previously kept under control by the religious orders through a selective curriculum of rudimentary academics and a heavy dose of catechism. The colonial logic was to create a cadre of clerks and officials in service of the new, liberal colonial state, but the Educational Decree of 1863 had an impact the reverse of what Spain intended. The formal system of education created in the Philippines under Spain, even when unevenly implemented, provided Filipinos with the tools to function outside of colonial rule.


22 April 2013

New Issue Published on "European Education Outside Europe"

We are pleased to announce the publication of European Education Volume 44, Number 4, a special issue guest edited by Marcelo Caruso (Humboldt University Berlin) and Noah W. Sobe (Loyola University Chicago).  This issue takes up the question of European Education Outside Europe.  As the editors explain in their introduction:
“European education” has not only been located in “Europe.” Taken as a label depicting institutions and practices, “European” education could also be conceived of as a mode of naming institutional designs, teaching cultures, and policy proposals that exceeds largely the narrow “European” space. In the same vein, “European” education has never been the sole creation of Europeans. It has been a heterogeneous field composed out of multiple and competing elements, among which it is important to include the perceptions and projections of “outsiders.” These perceptions and projections are not just important for “others” but often have also played a role in overseeing the internal features and varying cultures contained within the term “European”. It is not to be denied that the geographic and spatial politics involved in distinguishing between “European” and non-European – or “central” and “peripheral” – educational systems and practices has historically been of great significance in the governing of societies and peoples around the globe. Nonetheless, when we turn our attention to the perceptions and practices of “European education” it becomes clear that it is crucial to analyze “Europe” not simply as a geographic space but as an apparatus of power effects and as a source of discursive production as well.

This special issue takes a historical look at what has been assembled and represented as “European education” in some non-European contexts over the past centuries. It deals with European education outside Europe in two ways. First, it addresses the practices in educational institutions seen as European in non-European contexts, but catered for a “European”, or at least “white” population, or even for would-be Europeans coming from the local elites. Second, it points at the constructions of “European” education performed by non-European observers, and travelers in the context of searching for models of “progress” in their own home countries. Simultaneously addressing these two topics, “European education” outside Europe emerges as a field of perception and practice and as a varying presence of the “European” in non-European contexts....

Table of Contents Volume 44 Number 4 (Winter 2012-2013)



European Education Outside Europe: Historical Perspectives on Perceptions and Practices

Editorial Introduction
European Education Outside Europe: Historical Perspectives on Perceptions and Practices
MARCELO CARUSO AND NOAH W. SOBE
The Impact of Spain's 1863 Educational Decree on the Spread of Philippine Public Schools and Language Acquisition
ERIN P. HARDACKER
Creating Germans Abroad
White Education and the Colonial Condition in German Southwest Africa, 1894-1914
DANIEL JOSEPH WALTHER
Seeking the Educational Cure
Egypt and European Education, 1805-1920s
HODA A. YOUSEF
Europe Refracted: Western Education and Knowledge in China
BARBARA SCHULTE

Books Reviewed in Volume 44 Number 4 (Winter 2012-2013)


Globalization on the Margins: Education and Post-Socialist Transformations in Central Asia, by Iveta Silova (ed.)
REVIEWED BY SVETLANA KULIKOVA
Finnish Lessons, by Pasi Sahlberg
REVIEWED BY PETER MOYI
Alabama in Africa: Booker T. Washington, the German Empire and the Globalization of the New South, by Andrew Zimmerman
REVIEWED BY SHOKO YAMADA

27 March 2013

Books Invited for Review

Each issue of European Education features reviews of books related to education in Europe (which we define broadly as encompassing the 47 members of the Council of Europe). The journal reviews books published in any European languages. We invite authors and publishers, as well as scholars interested in writing book reviews for the journal, to contact Professor Kara Brown (University South Carolina) who serves as the journal's book review editor at brownk25@mailbox.sc.edu.