The relationship between education policy and local practices is at the core of research pertaining to the history of education. In this volume, the authors examine this issue from a multitude of perspectives, presenting a broad and comprehensive picture of schooling on international, national and local levels. Three issues of great significance, both in the history of schooling, and for educational policy -School Finance-, -School Reform- and -School Media- are discussed in relation to five European countries by addressing topics such as textbook supply in the eighteenth century, the spread...

In most countries in the world, school education is the business of the state. Even if forms and functions differ, the imparting of elementary knowledge is universally regarded as a public function. Yet this is neither self-evident nor self-explanatory. The degree of involvement of state agencies in the supervision, financing and organization of the school system sometimes varies so much that the usual assumption of a common understanding of 'the state' seems to be an illusion. Making international comparisons and focusing strongly on the historical conditions of the current form of state...

In most countries in the world, school education is the business of the state. Even if forms and functions differ, the imparting of elementary knowledge is universally regarded as a public function. Yet this is neither self-evident nor self-explanatory. The degree of involvement of state agencies in the supervision, financing and organization of the school system sometimes varies so much that the usual assumption of a common understanding of the state seems to be an illusion.

Making international comparisons and focusing strongly on the historical conditions of the current form of...