Mass Education

Making Sense of Mass Education provides a comprehensive analysis of the field of mass education. The book presents new assessment of traditional issues associated with education - class, race, gender, discrimination and equity - to dispel myths and assumptions about the classroom. It examines the complex relationship between the media, popular culture and schooling, and places the expectations surrounding the modern teacher within ethical, legal and historical contexts. The book blurs some of the disciplinary boundaries within the field of education, drawing upon sociology, cultural studies, history, philosophy, ethics and jurisprudence to provide stronger analyses. The book reframes the sociology of education as a complex mosaic of cultural practices, forces and innovations. Engaging and contemporary, it is an invaluable resource for teacher education students, and anyone interested in a better understanding of mass education.

This book assesses the influence of the international organization UNESCO on the development of national Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) systems in the Southern African Community Region (SADC), focusing particularly on Botswana and Namibia. Designed around UNESCO’s Better Education for Africa’s Rise (BEAR) project, the study is an excellent example of applied policy research. Analysis is from the perspective of key stakeholders including UNESCO headquarters and field offices, Ministries of Education and of Labor, employers and employees, education and training institutions, international partners and more. Both qualitative and quantitative evidence are used to provide a comparative overview, and the author also reveals the current state of data on skills. Readers will discover common goals and challenges across the nations but also a common lack of action to measure the impact and influence that UNESCO’s programs have had at a national level, prior to this study. Were the newly implemented educational policies successful or not? If the public policies failed, why was that? These chapters shed light on such questions and how UNESCO's contribution influenced the national development processes, in the context of globalization processes and trends of global mass education. The book has much to offer for both scholars and those working in UN agencies or national governments who seek to develop education systems and better link them to the world of work.

Major changes in education have taken place in West Germany over the past three decades. The experience of the Federal Republic differs from that of its European neighbors, since it was conditioned by postwar efforts of the occupying powers to impose a new model of education: the American comprehensive secondary school. Yet the traditional American educational system is at the extreme of what could be called "mass education," whereas that of West Germany is more nearly "class education" that is, more structurally differentiated and keeping a much smaller proportion of pupils in school until age 18. Moreover, as in every developed country, West Germany has experienced increased consumer demand from an expanding middle class for more extended secondary education that does not foreclose post- secondary options. This study shows the structure that has emerged from this unique experiment with elite and mass education. Discussed at length are the four secondary routes: the Gymnasium, the Realschule, the Hauptschule, and the Volksschule. Also featured are the German answers to questions that have occupied the center of attention in American education for some years: education of ethnic minorities, education- ally disadvantaged, and handicapped children. Prepared by a team of researchers associated with the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education, the study provides the only comprehensive and up-to-date picture of the pre- sent educational system in the Federal Republic of Germany. Its abundance of statistical data make it a valuable resource for the educator, political scientist, and European Studies specialist. Its clarity renders it accessible to the non-specialist as well. The panoramic and yet detailed view that this book gives of German education goes a long way toward providing the base upon which comparison of education in the United States and the Federal Republic can begin.

The first comparative study of the spread of mass education around the world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this unique new book uses a bottom-up focus and demonstrates, to an extent not appreciated hitherto, the gulf between the intentions of the government and the reality on the ground.

This book deals with the realm of education-getting beyond the dead end of mass education-in the context of Israeli education system. It analyzes the aims and target populations of educational fostering and illustrates the dead-end situation of the educational system.

This edited collection explores the historical determinants of the rise of mass schooling and human capital accumulation based on a global, long-run perspective, focusing on a variety of countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and the Americas. The authors analyze the increasing importance attached to globalization as a factor in how social, institutional and economic change shapes national and regional educational trends. Although recent research in economic history has increasingly devoted more attention to global forces in shaping the institutions and fortunes of different world regions, the link and contrast between national education policies and the forces of globalization remains largely under-researched within the field. The globalization of the world economy, starting in the nineteenth century, brought about important changes that affected school policy itself, as well as the process of long-term human capital accumulation. Large migrations prompted brain drain and gain across countries, alongside rapid transformations in the sectoral composition of the economy and demand for skills. Ideas on education and schooling circulated more easily, bringing about relevant changes in public policy, while the changing political voice of winners and losers from globalization determined the path followed by public choice. Similarly, religion and the spread of missions came to play a crucial role for the rise of schooling globally.

By presenting a series of intricate analyses of educational phenomena through the theoretical lenses offered by Immanuel Wallerstein and István Mészáros, the book engages readers and helps them to critically analyze their own participation in the global economy, as citizens, policy-makers, and academics or teachers.