Across much of the world there is now a standard secondary school curriculum based on a traditional array of subjects. This is the first work to tell the story of its invention, from the sixteenth century until the present day. The book concludes with a sketch of an alternative: a curriculum based on a well-argued set of fundamental aims.

This handbook offers a global view of the historical development of educational institutions, systems of schooling, ideas about education, and educational experiences. Its 36 chapters consider changing scholarship in the field, examine nationally-oriented works by comparing themes and approaches, lend international perspective on a range of issues in education, and provide suggestions for further research and analysis. Like many other subfields of historical analysis, the history of education has been deeply affected by global processes of social and political change, especially since the 1960s. The handbook weighs the influence of various interpretive perspectives, including revisionist viewpoints, taking particular note of changes in the past half century. Contributors consider how schooling and other educational experiences have been shaped by the larger social and political context, and how these influences have affected the experiences of students, their families and the educators who have worked with them. The Handbook provides insight and perspective on a wide range of topics, including pre-modern education, colonialism and anti-colonial struggles, indigenous education, minority issues in education, comparative, international, and transnational education, childhood education, non-formal and informal education, and a range of other issues. Each contribution includes endnotes and a bibliography for readers interested in further study.

This Handbook presents an international collection of essays examining history education past and present. Framing recent curriculum reforms in Canada and in the United States in light of a century-long debate between the relationship between theory and practice, this collection contextualizes the debate by exploring the evolution of history and social studies education within their state or national contexts. With contributions ranging from Canada, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, the Netherlands, the Republic of South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States, chapters illuminate the ways in which curriculum theorists and academic researchers are working with curriculum developers and educators to translate and refine notions of historical thinking or inquiry as well as pedagogical practice.

Tracing the life of Sir Cyril Norwood, one of England's most prominent and influential educators, this book investigates the historical development of secondary education in England and Wales during the early Twentieth century.