Shaping the History of Education? ─ The first 50 Years of Paedagogica Historica

In 1961 the Centre for the Study of the History of Education at Ghent University, Belgium published the first issue of the multilingual journalPaedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education. This book celebrates its fiftieth volume. In fourteen contributions written by different generations of historians of education, it demonstrates that in an era where the history of education at university level is at risk, both the journal and the discipline are pulsing, and alive and kicking.

Was the journal a trendsetter or a follower, and which position did it take with respect to the International Standing Conference for the History of Education? These are questions addressed in the first section of this book. In the second section, a number of articles show national and transnational developments of the history of education. In their diversity, they make clear how the national and the transnational together characterize the discipline. They show why journals in this domain should stimulate the development of broader concepts and theories in order to put national and regional cases in a broader scientific context and to make them attractive for international readership. In the last section authors turn their minds to the future of the history of education. They write about the shaping of new trends and about moving beyond borders, focusing on, among other things, the challenge of neurosciences and of digital humanities.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Paedagogica Historica.

Jeroen J.H. Dekker is Full Professor of History and Theory of Education, and Head of the Department of Education, at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. A former President of the International Association for the History of Education, he is co-Editor-in-Chief of Paedagogica Historica, corresponding member of the Editorial Board ofHistory of Education, member of the Editorial Committee of Groningen Studies in Cultural Change, Member of the Editorial Board ofPedagogiek, Member of the Advisory Board of the Journal Historia y Memoria de la Educacion, member of the Editorial Board ofPedagogiek, and member of the scientific committee of Annali di storia dell’Educazione e delle Istituzioni Educative.He is also a member of the Leuven Research Community on Philosophy and History of the Discipline of Education, uniting main centers of research in Philosophy and History of Education in Europe and the USA. His publications deal with the social and cultural history of education, childhood and parenting.

Frank Simon is Professor Emeritus at Ghent University, Belgium. His research deals with pre-school and primary education in Belgium (education policy, teacher unions, the teaching profession), educationalization processes, everyday educational practice, classroom and curriculum history, education and cultural heritage, and Progressive Education (especially the biography of Ovide Decroly). He is a member of the advisory board ofSarmiento: Anuario Galego de Historia da Educacion, Revista Brasileira de Historia da Educacao,Revista Historia Caribe, Cadernos de Historia da Educacao, Revista Mexicana de Historia de la Educacion,Historia y Memoria de la Educacion, and Historia de la educacion. Anuario. He was editor-in-chief ofPaedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education from 1992-2007, a member of the editorial board ofHistory of Education Quarterly from 2000-2002, and treasurer (2001-2006) and chairperson of the International Standing Conference for the History of Education (ISCHE), 2006-2009.