Routledge Border-crossing in Education: Historical perspectives on transnational connections and circulations

Border-crossing in Education comprises a series of case studies covering a variety of cultural areas, in order to reveal the density of connections and exchanges that inform educational practices, policies, and systems. It attaches particular importance to individual and collective actors that govern these flows – initiating, promoting, or reconfiguring transfers of policy models. The contributors explore various aspects of the circulatory mechanisms that have been deployed in the field of education during the modern and contemporary period. Varying the observation scales, from local to international, they demonstrate the multilateral character of the circulatory dynamics observed. The implementation of rich and varied approaches to these complex processes offers a perspective that complements and renews our knowledge of the genesis and evolution of educational policies and systems, most notably highlighting their foreign inspirations. However, these studies do not merely evoke borrowings and hybridization, as if national borders proved porous or non-existent. Instead they show that the phenomena of resistance, reinterpretation, and rejection are also an integral part of transnational mechanisms of exchanges. The book thus demonstrates the relevance of a historical approach in addressing these transnational mechanisms in the field of education and childhood policy. This book was originally published as a special issue of Paedagogica Historica. About the Author Joëlle Droux is a Senior Lecturer in the history of education, and co-leader of the Social History of Education Research Group (ERHISE), at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. She studies the history of international child welfare movements and humanitarian networks from a transnational perspective, with a focus on educational issues. She also develops research projects on the long-term evolution of Swiss policies for child and youth welfare. Rita Hofstetter is a Professor in the Department of Educational Sciences, director of the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Institute’s archives, and coordinator of the Social History of Education Research Group (ERHISE), at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Her research focuses on the history of the educational sciences, the construction of the teaching state and the teaching profession, and international networks in education.