This work analyzes the methods the Mamluk Sultanate (1250--1517) used to train and educate its military and religious elite. Three separate classes of people are examined: the Mamluks, the religious elite (' ulama') and finally the children of the Mamluks (awlad al-nas). It is demonstrated that in order for the Mamluk Sultanate to function properly, both military and religious scholarship were needed. During the Mamluk period, these methods of training and education were not applied in a uniform manner.

From 1965 through the 1980's, community education was endorsed and promoted in Indiana by the C.S. Mott Foundation of Flint, Michigan. The Mott Foundation issued nearly $2 million in grant money to the Institute for Community Education Development (ICED) at Ball State University to encourage local communities in Indiana and a four-state region to develop community education programs and processes. This money was granted to Ball State University and the ICED for several purposes: 1) to promote the concept of Community Education, 2) to provide and manage seed money incentive grants made to local public school corporations who adopted the concept, 3) to provide training and academic programs to local program leaders, and 4) to support the development of Community Education in the state through consultant services and other appropriate forms of assistance. After twenty-two years of activity and investment, the Mott Foundation-focused development of community education in Indiana through the Institute for Community Education Development (ICED) was phased out.This research was conducted using an Oral History methodology in which a thorough literature review was completed, ICED yearly reports and other literature provided background and triangulation, and eight interviewees were interviewed and audio-recorded for a total of twenty-one interviews. Recordings were each transcribed and stored by the principle investigator. Participants were interviewed a total of one to three times each, dependent upon the information obtained during each interview.This study provides a written historical report of some of the developments of community education in the State of Indiana that were due, in part, to the ICED consultants. This study also describes the community education development strategies in Indiana by the ICED staff. Additionally, this study reports some of the strengths and weaknesses of the strategies utilized by ICED professionals in Indiana's development of community education as reported by the interviewees. Those interested in educational development may utilize this study to gain insights from some of the lessons found in Indiana's Community Education development experience from 1965 through 1987. / Department of Educational Studies

The matter of formal education for women in the antebellum South raises many questions, especially for the frontier state of Texas. Were there schools for young women in antebellum Texas? If so, did these schools emphasize academic or ornamental subjects? Did only women from wealthy families attend? This study answered these questions by examining educational opportunities in five antebellum Texas counties. Utilizing newspapers, probate records, tax records, and the federal census, it identified schools for girls in all of the counties and found that those schools offered academic as well as ornamental subjects. Almost all of the girls who attended those schools came from privileged families. Schools were available for young women in antebellum Texas, but generally only those from wealthy families were able to attend.

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this research was to analyze the vocational education plans of Nepal through an historical study by identifying their successes and failures. The specific objectives of the study were (a) to provide an historical background of general education and vocational education, (b) to analyze the strengths and inadequacies of the vocational education systems implemented in Nepal since 1950, (c) to review vocational education components implemented in other developing countries, and (d) to provide implications for Nepal's vocational programs. Relevant historical documents were the basis of this research. The publications of the Ministry of Education of Nepal, Tribhuvan University of Nepal and its numerous colleges, international organizations, and authors knowledgeable in the Nepalese education field served as primary and secondary sources. The development of formal vocational education in Nepal was traced, beginning with its origin in the traditional occupational and social structure. Descriptions, salient features, and objectives of three different education plans implemented since 1950, namely, (a) the basic education system, (b) the multipurpose education system, and (c) the national education system, were compiled. Each 'of these systems increasingly emphasized vocational education and produced many significant results, yet each of these systems was abandoned because of its limited successes. The strengths and weaknesses of these systems were identified and analyzed. Aspects of female education were separately studied because of their special relevance to vocational education in developing countries. The reasons behind the adoption and the failure of these systems were also discussed. External influence in the formulation of the programs, dependence on foreign financial assistance, ambitious expansions, lack of qualified teachers and educational materials, and the lack of coordination among different agencies were identified as the main problems. / Ed. D.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Chinese Historical Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / abstract / Chinese Historical Studies / Master / Master of Arts

In this doctoral thesis I develop a methodological system to facilitate the comparison of syllabus topics in history education across international contexts. The thesis brings together many years of work and while rooted in the philosophy of Hegel draws on the ideas and concepts of a wide plurality of thinkers. Essentially, the thesis is a 'synthesis', developing from my pre-doctoral experiences as an educator in the UK and overseas (thesis) and my critique of comparative textbook research (antithesis). In the doctorate, syllabus topics are understood to be composed of constellations of influencing variables or parts; the relationship between topic and variable conceived as reciprocally constituting and dialectical. Essentially, I argue that to compare curriculum knowledge the researcher need not necessarily compare 'things in themselves' - e.g. textbooks, examinations, official censorship guidelines etc., - but rather relationships and effects. Syllabus topics are thus understood as the expression of relationships with influencing variables. Only when variables and relationships have been identified and appropriately valued does it become possible to compare syllabus topics in a meaningful way. In this thesis I develop a concept of the researching subject that is neither totally centred nor totally de-centred. Modernism's centred subject assumes a research horizon that is both limitless and objective, while the de-centred postmodern subject denies the concept of horizons by championing only relative particularities and subjective experience. Identifying the hermeneutic element in the work of Hegel, Gadamer and Foucault I chart a location 'beyond' the oppositions. The subject is thus understood as an agent empowered to act, and perform critique, but within limits that are sensitive to cultural difference. The comparative researcher is thus conceived operating within a specified 'sphere of liberty'; the liberty to compare depending on the training, intercultural skills and first-hand experiences of the researcher. In this research the Second World War is utilised as an 'exemplar topic'. With the end of the Cold War the importance and significance of the war has receded in political terms. Nevertheless it remains as a popular subject in history classes around the world. Morally, the war continues to raise fundamental questions. But to understand the impact of the war as a syllabus topic in educational terms we must identify its form and content as an object. The syllabus topic as a whole is composed of a constellation of parts, influencing factors, push and pull variables. What is the 'power/knowledge' relationship between whole and parts in particular contexts? How does a particular syllabus topic express these relationships? It is argued that relationships between topic and parts must be identified if we are to begin to understand their effects in classroom settings.

This study examined how the Lesotho Education Act of 1995 was initiated, formulated and implemented. In addition, the study investigated teachers' perceptions of the impact of the Act on them. The study was conducted through stakeholder interviews, school visits and an examination of official documents, education reports and minutes of meetings. First, the study has established that the Act was initiated to phase out churches from school management in church schools, contrary to its stated objectives of promoting education. Second, the process of formulating and implementing the Act was bureaucratic and lacked coherence, sustainability and political consensus. Third, the Act has left teachers disillusioned and feeling disempowered by not accommodating their representation in structures dealing with their employment, conditions of service, promotion and demotion, transfer, discipline, dismissal, and designing the national curriculum. It has no provision for them to unionise, and does not even bind the employing authority to allow them to influence policies at national level. Fourth, on the provision of education, the Act is seemingly inconsistent with the national Constitution and other conventions on the Rights of Child and conventions which Lesotho signed. Contrary to them, the Act makes the provision of education in Lesotho circumstantial. Keywords: Lesotho Education Act 1995, Lesotho Education Stakeholders, Lesotho Church Education, Lesotho government and churches, Lesotho Teachers,