Review of History of Education Society Conference 2014: ‘Transnationalism, Gender & Teaching: Perspectives from the History of Education’

By Charlotte Rochez - @cdrochez 

The 2014 History of Education Conference was held at Bewley’s hotel, Dublin. The hotel was an ideal location for a conference for the society given its interesting history, and many delegates enjoyed discussing the building’s history and its original purpose as a Masonic Girls’ boarding School. 

The conference theme of ‘Transnationalism, Gender and Teaching: Perspectives from the History of Education’ was variously explored in over 60 conference papers responding to the theme. Delegates came from a wide number of places; beyond those from the UK and the Republic of Ireland, delegates came from Australia, Canada, Denmark,  France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan and USA. Whilst papers spanned a variety of time periods, there was a predominant focus on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. 

Within the conference sub-themes emerged including: travel; religion; social class; non-institutional education; literacy, writing, literature, publishing and painting; Empire, imperialism and imperial oppression; methodologies; transnational movements of thought, culture and practices; power; methods of communication; identity and understanding of the self and the other; identity and the relationship between the individual, the community and the nation. Taken collectively the papers and the discussions left me reflecting on the intersectionality of transnationalism and gender in educational experiences, particularly the individual's understanding of themselves and others. The conference suggested to me that whilst transnational experiences have been and often continue to be gendered, the reflections - on culture, politics and self - envoked by transnational experiences have at times challenged traditional gender roles and behaviours.  

The three keynotes took up the conference theme in various ways: Professor Joyce Goodman MBE on 'Becoming Visible: Gender in Transnational Space and Time - Kasuya Yoshi and Girls' Secondary Education; Professor Elizabeth Smyth on ‘The world wide web of teaching sisters: building networks beyond classroom walls over space and time’ and Professor Dáire Keogh on ‘Our Boys: the Christian Brothers and the formation of youth in the ‘new Ireland’ 1914-44'.

Professor Joyce Goodman, Professor Elizabeth Smyth and Professor Dáire Keogh

On Friday evening delegates joined Dr Professor J Deeks, President of University College Dublin in celebrating the book launch of Dr Deirdre Raftery and Dr Karin Fischer (Eds.), Educating Ireland: Schooling and Social Change 1700-2000 (2014, Irish Academic Press).

On the Saturday afternoon a well-attended AGM of the History of Education Society reported on the work of society. The AGM featured positive reports on the publications of the society. The society continues to encourage researchers to share their work in the History of Education journal, the History of Education Researcher, in this History of Education Society blog and in A History of Education in 50 Objects webspace. 

A highlight of the weekend was the Saturday evening conference dinner in the grand Thomas Prior Hall, where delegates had a three course meal whilst enjoying live Irish music.

During the meal the Brehony and Bloomfield book prizes were awarded. Dr Catherine Burke received the Anne Bloomfield prize for A Life in Education and Architecture: Mary Beaumont Medd (2013, Ashgate). Dr Heather Ellis & Dr Maura O’Connor shared the Kevin Brehony prize: Dr Heather Ellis for Generational Conflict and University Refore: Oxford in the Age of Revolution (2012, Brill) and Dr Maura O’Connor for The Development of Infant Education in Ireland, 1838-1948 (2010, Peter Lang)

Dr Catherine Burke

Dr Heather Ellis & Dr Maura O'Connor

With thanks to all the delegates, to the energies all the presenters gave to ensuring the high standard of presentations, to Bewley's hotel, Ballsbridge and their helpful staff and to Dr Deirdre Raftery and to her team for their dedicated hard work in organising such a successful and enjoyable conference. 

And With many thanks to our conference host:The School of Education, University College Dublin, Ireland

We are pleased to announce that in 2015 the History of Education Society conference will be hosted by Liverpool Hope University with the theme of 'Science, Technology and Material Culture in History of Education' - 20th-22nd November 2015.  

International Standing Conference on the History of Education 2015 (ISCHE 2015): ‘Culture and Education’ Istanbul University, Turkey, 24th – 27th June 2015

By Meryem Karabekmez (student representative of ISCHE 2015)

ISCHE 37 will be held in Istanbul in 2015 on the theme of ‘Culture and Education’. The purpose of this conference is to examine the relations between education and culture in the historical process.

• What is the relationship between culture and education?
• What are the roles of educational reforms and educational borrowing in the cultural changes?
• What are the roles of educational institutions, educators, and educational materials in culture formation and transformation?
• How have education and elements of culture such as language, religion, symbols, and routines influenced each other throughout history?

These are the questions will be answered in the conference on the History of Education which will be organized at Istanbul University in 2015.

Subthemes:

• Cultural paradigm and education

• Agents of intercultural interaction

• Language and education

• Religion and education

• Symbols, heroes, stories, and myths

• Rituals and routines

The deadline for the submission of proposal is 15 December 2014. Applicants will be notified of the acceptance or rejection of proposals at the beginning of February 2015. For those presenting a paper at the conference, the deadline for registration is 30 April 2015. We look forward to seeing you in Istanbul.

For more information about the conference please visit the ISCHE 2015 website 

You may also be interested in this review of ISCHE 2014 by Jonathan Doney. 

November is #histedmonth

#histedmonth uses social media to encourage collaboration and networking between individuals and groups interested in the history of education. It seeks to promote the history of education by engaging the wider public. 

The theme of #histedmonth this year is: ‘Personalising the History of Education’

During #histedmonth we’ll be reflecting on questions like: 

• What is my own history of education? 
• What are the histories of the institutions I have attended (and taught at)? 
• Why do I think the history of education is important and exciting? What aspects of the history of education inspire me, and why?

Here are some initial plans for #histedmonth. Please develop #histedmonth by adding your own initiatives and publicising them on social media.

#histedmonth on Twitter:

• Share your favourite quotes from figures in the history of education or from historians of education (if the quote is too long, turn it into a picture using a text box on Microsoft paint – here you could also add a photo of the author too) – These are best posted on Tuesdays through November using both the hashtag #histedmonth and #TuesdayQuote.

• Add posts relating to your own history of education. Share your school photos, toys you played with, educational television programs you enjoyed, events in education you experienced, images and videos from the institutions you attended. These are best posted on Thursdays through November: use both the hashtag #histedmonth and #tbt (‘Throwback Thursday’). Remember to include the twittertags for any institutions in your posts.

• Recommend sources and ideas relating to the history of education to others – e.g. another Tweeter that they should follow, a website to look at, a book to read, a video to watch etc. This is a great way to publicise new books, journals, websites and writers. These posts are best added on Fridays through November: use both #histedmonth and #ff (‘Follow Friday’).

You might also like to include the following hashtags in your posts: #histed #twitterstorians and #edchat to connect with historians of education, historians and those interested in education.

#histedmonth blog posts:

Here at the History of Education Society UK blog we are inviting contributions to their blog in all forms (text, image, video, mixed). Here are some questions to prompt blog post ideas for #histedmonth: 

• How do you define the ‘history of education’; what does it mean to you? 
• How did you become interested in the aspect of the history of education you study? Why do you see it as important?
• Which books or authors inspired you to study the history of education? Why?
• Which figures in history or political developments inspired you to study the history of education Why?
• What do you see as the biggest issues in the history of education today?
• What are the histories of the institutions you attended or taught at (from schools through to higher education)? 
• What was your own experience of education / childhood /adolescence / adult education / teaching. Think about and share aspects of your own experience such as learning resources, pedagogies, popular perceptions of schools and education, political developments in education…

International Standing Conference on the History of Education 2014

The Past in the Present…Rainy day reflections on the scorching days of summer

By Jonathan Doney ~ @Jonathan_Doney 

As the rain pours down on the ‘summer’ Bank Holiday, the scorching sunny days of early July spent in London attending the ISCHEconference at the Institute of Education, seem so far in the past. But yet, this past is still a present reality…

Like all good conferences, there was a delightful mix of laughter, catching up with old friends and making new ones, food, music, and, of course, the wonderful privilege of listening to others as they presented their work. The insights gained into how other people see the world, how they mold together ideas from different theorists, different perspectives and different periods was both challenging and encouraging in equal measure.

Amidst such a mix of experts, specialists and professionals, the apprehension that goes with presenting your work to others grew day by day and hour by hour. My paper, ‘From Enemy to Ally: Ecumenical reconstruction of the 'religious other' and the adoption of world religions teaching in English Schools during the 1960s and 1970s’ was timetabled for the last day of the conference. Surely, by then, people will have heard enough? Tired, they will be ready for a break, ready for their journeys home…

The questions flooded through my mind. Am I stating the obvious? Have I overlooked something very simple? Is my argument watertight? I was reassured through a conversation with another presenter, someone for whom such presentations were a regular event. They told me that they too get nervous, they too ask these questions. I was comforted.

Then they told me that their main worry was ‘will anyone turn up to listen?’. So concerned had I been with my questions, I had not thought about this!

What if no one comes?

But the people did come. They listened, they engaged, they challenged. True to their word, a handful followed up our discussion with emails, sending papers that they had suggested I read. Nervousness was eased, and encouragement flowed.

So, as I return to work after the summer break, the comments, the encouragement, and the discussion of my presentation, together with the wider experience of the conference, continue to affect my thinking and my work. The past is not separated from the present, but continues to affect it, to shape it, and to help make sense of it.

I am very grateful for the generosity of those who engaged with my work during the conference, for those who shared their work, for the encouragement and the challenge. I am especially grateful to the History of Education Society, who through their Brian Simon Bursary made it possible for me to attend the conference.

Call for Papers: History of Education Society Annual Conference 2014: Transnationalism, gender and teaching

The deadline is fast approaching to submit abstracts to present at the History of Education Society annual conference, at University College Dublin, on the 21st-23rd November 2014. 

We invite papers that examine the conference theme: Transnationalism, gender and teaching: perspectives from the history of education. Papers may also be considered that provide historical perspectives on one of the conference thematic areas: transnationalism and teaching, OR gender and teaching. 

Papers may address the conference theme through consideration of some of the following, though this list is only suggestive, and not definitive:

• International education networks & alliance
• Travel, transnational mobility and global citizenship
• Knowledge formation & travel writing | education and the Grand Tour
• Education and diasporas | missionary education
• Travel scholarships, boarding and finishing schools, school tours
• Education & experiential travel | teachers as ambassadors
• Networks of schools and teachers | voluntarism, voluntary action and education
• Life histories| history in the margins | masculinities and femininities
• Heritage education and global knowledge| cross-cultural studies and the history of education
• Nationality, language and schooling | transnational femininities | space and place
• Academic leadership, public intellectuals and international education
• Gender and university teaching | gender-differentiated curricula and schooling
• Materialities of teaching | visual histories | education archives
• Reading, libraries and transnational culture | books, publishing and the transfer of ideas
• Teacher education and gender | teacher unions and professional societies

Keynote speakers

Professor Joyce Goodman MBE is Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of Winchester. Professor Goodman is a past President of HES, former Secretary of ISCHE and previous editor of History of Education. She was awarded an MBE in 2011 for services to higher education. Professor Goodman has published extensively on the history of women's education, with a particular focus on: Colonialism, national identities, internationalism and transnationalism; Secondary education for girls; Educational policy and administration.

Professor Elizabeth Smyth is Professor and Vice Dean (Programs) at the School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto. Her research interests include the history of education in Canada , the history of the professions and professional education, the intersection of religion and history, history of teachers and the pedagogy of new technologies. She is co-editor of Historical Studies in Education, the journal of the Canadian History of Education Association.

Professor Dáire Keogh is President, St Patrick’s College, & Cregan Professor of Modern Irish History, Dublin City University. He has published widely on the history of popular politics, religion and education in Ireland. Professor Keogh is a founding member of the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR) Committee, the body charged by EU Governments with monitoring quality assurance in higher education across the continent. 

Venue
The conference venue is Bewley’s Hotel / Thomas Prior Hall, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, Ireland. The hotel was once a Masonic School. Many of its original features remain. 

Submissions:
Abstracts (500 words max) should be sent to deirdre.raftery@ucd.ie by Friday 12th September 2014.

With many thanks to our conference host:
The School of Education, University College Dublin, Ireland

Professor Sir Godfrey Thomson (1881-1955)

By Emma Anthony

To mark our Wellcome Trust funded project, ‘Documenting the Understanding of Human Intelligence’*, which aims to catalogue and preserve the papers of educator and psychologist Professor Sir Godfrey Thomson (1881-1955), Edinburgh University archives and special collections are holding a free seminar at Edinburgh University Library, 16th May 2014.

 Professor Sir Godfrey Thomson (1881-1955)

The seminar programme is a varied one exploring Thomson’s work in Education, Psychology (especially cognitive testing), Statistics, and Eugenics, with academic speakers from each field.  Chaired by Professor Dorothy Meill, Vice Principal and Head of the College of Humanities and Social Science, It will also discuss current scientific research facilitated through data sets left from Thomson’s work, as well as the complexities involved in interpreting and cataloguing the collection itself.

Professor Ian Deary's British Academy Lecture on Thomson

The seminar is free, but please note places must be booked through eventbrite.
Wellcome Trust bursaries for accommodation and travel are available.
For further information, contact Emma.Anthony@ed.ac.uk.

*Funded by the Trust's Research Resources grant scheme under the call 'Understanding the Human Brain'.  Continuing on from the current cataloguing project, we aim to digitise Thomson's papers, and catalogue related papers through the Moray House and University of Edinburgh collections.  We will also be curating an exhibition regarding Thomson's life and work in 2016.

Writing and Academic Space - History of Education Society Annual Student Conference

By Lottie Hoare

News and Call for Papers:

Writing and Academic Space History of Education Society Annual Student Conference

Saturday 5 July 2014, 11am-5pm - University of Nottingham

The title for this years History of Education Society student conference came about after conversations with Nottingham University PhD student, Emma Lautman. Emma offered her university as the venue for our 2014 event, after attending the 2013 HES student conference Witness to Change: sharing student and teacher persepctives which took place at Birmingham University in June 2013. She also suggested that writing should become a central theme for this year’s conference because postgraduates were united by the task of writing – however diverse their history of education subject matter may be. 

We now have two confirmed Keynote speakers for Writing and Academic Space. Dr. Marcella Sutcliffe, a research associate at the University of Cambridge on the AHRC funded project ‘Active Citizenship, Public Engagement and the Humanities: the Victorian Model’ will present a paper: ‘New directions and perspectives for the history of education: A transnational approach’.  Dr. Alison Clark, senior lecturer in Childhood and Youth studies at the Open University, will be presenting a paper: ‘Writing on childhood and place: an exploration of methodological artefacts’. Jonathan Doney (University of Exeter) and Co-editor of the History of Education Researcher will also be running a session on writing for this journal. 

Alongside these events we are announcing a Call for Papers for postgraduate speakers. We are looking for 15-minute presentations from current postgraduate students. There are two panels to which you can contribute: 

1. You can either send a 250 abstract for a 15 minute paper on some aspect of your current research which you would like to share with an audience for feedback or questions – this will come under the heading Research Presentations.
2. Or you can send a 250 word abstract for a 15-minute presentation for the panel 1000 words on a Source. For this panel you need to focus on a single source and bring the source or a representation of it with you on the day. Sources can include for example: photographs, artefacts, exercise books, music/sound/film clips (these need to be short enough to fit into15-minute presentation alongside your 1000 spoken words) or other sources – we are open to suggestions. As with the Research Presentations there will also be time for questions and feedback on your presentation. 

It would be great if you touch on how your work connects with the theme Writing and Academic Space but it does not need to be central to your paper. 

Please send 250 abstracts to Lottie Hoare on chh11@cam.ac.uk by Sunday 18 May 2014. Please mark clearly in your email whether you want to be considered for ‘Research Presentations’ or ‘1000 words on a Source.’ 

We will notify those who are accepted as speakers by the first week of June 2014.

This enables speakers to book advance tickets for Nottingham for travel on 5 July 2014. These inland travel costs will be covered by HES (UK) for speakers, once receipts have been presented. There will be no charge to attend the conference for speakers. A small charge will be asked for non-presenting current HES members who would like to come along – further details will be confirmed in June but it is likely to be in the region of £5 to cover catering costs. 

If you would like to be involved and require further details do get in touch with Lottie Hoare on chh11@cam.ac.uk 

All good wishes Lottie Hoare 

Postgraduate representative, History of Education Society, UK

and co-organisers Emma Lautman (University of Nottingham) and Alice Kirke (IoE)