Katalin Kéri: Paradigm Shift in Interpreting the Universal History of Education

In addition to their respective national histories of education, researchers of educational history have also shown an interest in the global perception of the field since the emergence of the discipline at the turn of the 19th century. Western European educational historiography has placed a strong emphasis on continental history since the beginning, albeit one can find examples of a wider, more international outlook, for instance in the work of Ágost Lubricht and Ernő Fináczy in Hungary. However, the universal canon of educational historiography that has formed in the Western world has involved little understanding of the educational past of non-European (i.e. non-western) societies, and the little it has included has only made reference to ancient cultures. Consequently, the educational policy and philosophy of more recent eras have been incompletely, and often inadequately, represented in textbooks and lexicons; moreover, entire regions (e.g. Latin America, Africa and Japan) are completely absent. However, numerous geographically, conceptually or linguistically isolated endeavours can be found in the world today that aim at expanding the frameworks of universal educational history. This study provides an overview of the aims, findings and characteristics of these efforts based on handbooks of educational history written in recent decades. The documents are analyzed comparatively. In addition, the paper stresses the importance of a world-wide perspective in studying the history of education and reflects on the most significant changes in perception more recently, utilizing the works of western and non-western authors and highlighting their mistakes and shortcomings

MAGYAR PEDAGÓGIA 110. Number 3. 265-276. (2010)

Levelezési cím / Address for correspondence: Kéri Katalin, PTE BTK Neveléstudományi Intézet, Nevelés- és Művelődéstörténeti Tanszék, H–7624 Pécs, Ifjúság útja 6.

 
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