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This book presents a clear overview of the debates that surrounded the making of the 1944 Act, which affected every aspect of education in this country. It gives a detailed account of the tripartite divisions into 'three types of child' that were sanctioned in the reforms of the 1940s. At the same time, it also emphasises the idea of education as a civic project which underlay the reforms and which was such an important part of their lasting authority. The education policies of the past decade and the current attempts to shape a new education settlement need to be interpreted in a long-term historical framework and in particular, in relation to the aims and problems of the last great cycle of reform in the 1940s. This book makes an important contribution to the development of such a framework and the social history of education policy in this country.

Each volume in the 7-volume series The World of Science Education reviews research in a key region of the world. These regions include North America, South and Latin America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, Arab States, and Sub-Saharan Africa. The focus of this Handbook is on science education in Europe. In producing this volume the editors have invited a range of authors to describe their research in the context of developments in the continent and further afield. In reading this book you are invited to consider the historical, social and political contexts that have driven developments in science education research over the years. A unique feature of science education in Europe is the impact of the European Union on research and development over many years. A growing number of multi-national projects have contributed to the establishment of a community of researchers increasingly accepting of methodological diversity. That is not to say that Europe is moving towards homogeneity, as this volume clearly shows.