Since the 1970s the history of educational development has become the object of scholarly research once more. Within the context of recent educational history, the postwar period has aroused particular interest in educational historiographers. The history of the educational development of Berlin in the 1950s and 1960s is discussed. (RM)

Reviews three books on education in China: "Educational and Social Change in China: The Beginnings of the Modern Era" (Borthwick, 1983), "Education and Popular Literacy in Ch'ing China" (Rawski, 1979), and "Education under Mao: Class and Competition in Canton Schools, 1960-1980" (Unger, 1982). (JDH)

Reviews Carl F. Kaestle's 1983 book, "Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society, 1780-1860." Maintains that this work synthesizes and refocuses both old and new interpretations of the political and institutional history of the common school before 1860 in the United States. (JDH)

Reviews "Managers of Virtue: Public School Leadership in America, 1820-1980" (Tyack & Hansot, 1982), and "Public School in Hard Times: The Great Depression and Recent Years" (Tyack, Lowe & Hansot, 1984). Maintains that the strength of these two works lies more in their balanced synthesis of the scholarly literature than on the direct policy…

Elementary, secondary, and higher education enrollment data for Scotland between the 1860s and 1939 are examined, and the structure and development of the Scottish system in the light of some of the general theories of comparative social history of education are discussed. (RM)

Presents a case study of a village in highland South America to show how different segments of a society view literacy education. Topics discussed include collapse of traditional society as a result of education, values, changing economic and social conditions, the school role in creating an active citizenry, and school drop-out rates. (Author/DB)

Recounts the rocky development of a dominant common school system in London, Ontario between 1852 and 1860. Details the support and opposition to the move among the various social, economic, and ethnic groups in the provincial city. Even after the system implementation, school attendance indicated social differentiation. (MJP)

Explores John Dewey's influence upon the history of educational research. Considers the genesis of Dewey's approach to the systematic study of education and investigates some of the reasons his approach to educational inquiry did not endure as well as those of Edward L. Thorndike. Examines the nature of these various traditions. (KO)