The current system in schooling is in opposition to the very meaning of “education,” which is derived from two Latin roots: “e,” meaning “out of,” and “ducere,” meaning “to lead” or “to draw.” True education involves the process of drawing knowledge out of the student or leading the student toward knowledge, rather than putting or depositing information into what some educator’s perceive as the student’s waiting and docile mind”—what the Brazilian philosopher and educator Paulo Reglus Neves Freire termed “the banking system of education.” This article discusses the current era of book censorship in U.S. schools and libraries.

A brief history of history textbooks in India in recent decades

This is a collection of critiques by a very wide variety of intellectuals of the RSS effort to re-write scientific history substituting it with mythology propagated by the Right wing, Hindu religion based political formations.

While recognising the contested nature of History as a school subject, this article explores the political context and practical implications of making History compulsory until Grade 12. After twenty one years of democracy, South African society lacks social cohesion, a sense of nationhood and is experiencing occurrences of xenophobia. To address these concerns, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) established the History Ministerial Task Team (HMTT) to oversee the implementation of compulsory History in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase. The terms of reference of the task team include: the strengthening of History content; a review of the content in the General Education and Training (GET) band; its implication for teacher education, professional development and textbooks. The campaign to make History compulsory was promoted by the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) and intensified after the outbreak of xenophobic attacks in 2008. To maintain the academic and professional status of History teaching, this article attempts to answer the question: what is the purpose of History as a school subject? To respond to this question, Barton and Levstik's model: " the purposes of History teaching " , is employed as a framework to evaluate the proposal. By conducting a review of the post-apartheid History curriculum with special reference to complex phenomena such as nation-building and xenophobia, this article argues for attention to be given to the improvement of teachers' pedagogical practice and historical knowledge rather than policy reform which may be destabilising a large segment of the school system. The anticipated HMTT report is alerted against gratuitous political interference and to some practical implications of its work for educational practice.

History having inherently a very voiceful structure is a hybrid science which places within the whole educational process from primary education to higher education and which is mostly based upon international interaction. Today, " Atatürk's Principles and History of Turkish Revolution " lecture, which is compulsory in all higher education institutions and has a past as early as Turkish Republic itself, has been a cultural and educational heritage presented by Atatürk. This lecture has been under the control of state until today. State's intervention to the name and even the contents of the lecture as an internal controller has brought about various criticisms. Those criticisms have basicly been caused due to the perception of this intervention by the political authority to the lecture. On the other hand, the state, which has continued to its intervention and been criticized because of this attitude, has evaluated the issue as a matter of regime since it has a crucial oversensitivity. This work indicates the current situation of compulsory history lecture in higher education throughout the historical process and comprises sundry recommendations on how a more independent and actuality based history education in higher education can be achieved.

'This paper addresses conflicts about history education in contemporary democracies through an exploration of the link between censorship and educational legitimacy. I argue that systematic education is ultimately a political enterprise responsible for not only selection of the right content but also the justification of this selection in terms of its objectives. Educational legitimacy as a paradigm offers opportunities to better separate educational power from the normativity which first sets and then judges its use. Though complex, educational legitimacy can provide a more comprehensive understanding of history textbook conflicts.'