HED4805
ASSIGNMENT 2 2025
UNIQUE NO:
DUE DATE: 20 JUNE 2025
,HED4805 – History of Education
Assignment 2 – 2025
Unique Number: [To be filled in]
Due Date: 20 June 2025
Question 1 (25 marks)
1.1 Explain how global schools spread in the Global South and Global North (10
marks)
The development and expansion of global schools in the Global North and Global South
followed different historical and socio-political paths. In the Global North, the growth of
schooling systems was largely a response to internal transformations such as
industrialisation, the rise of the nation-state, and Enlightenment thinking. Education was
shaped to meet the demands of an emerging industrial economy, emphasising literacy,
numeracy, and civic education. These systems aimed to foster national identity,
economic productivity, and informed citizenship.
In contrast, the spread of global schools in the Global South was largely driven by
colonialism. European colonial powers introduced formal education systems in their
colonies to serve their own administrative and ideological purposes. These schools
typically promoted European languages, histories, and values while disregarding or
devaluing local knowledge systems and cultures. Rather than promoting inclusive
access to education, colonial schooling aimed to create a limited group of educated
elites who could support colonial governance.
Following independence, many countries in the Global South retained the structures
and curricula of these inherited education systems. Although efforts to localise and
reform education have been ongoing, many systems still reflect colonial influences, with
challenges remaining in fully integrating indigenous perspectives and addressing local
educational needs.
, have often been challenged by continued reliance on models and epistemologies
developed in the Global North.
Thus, while the spread of global schools in the North was internally motivated and
linked to development needs, in the South it was externally imposed through
colonialism, with lingering effects that still require intentional decolonization efforts
today.
1.2 Outline the state of research in the Global South, and suggest what can be
done to improve or encourage research in the field of the History of Education.
(15)
The state of research in the Global South remains underdeveloped and marginalized
when compared to that of the Global North. Studies show that scholarly publications are
still dominated by researchers from the Global North, who also disproportionately set
research agendas and focus areas. Even when the Global South is the subject of
research, the studies are often conducted by Northern scholars. For example, only
2.13% of articles published in Thomson-Reuters indexed education journals in 2012
were authored by African scholars. Similarly, in journals like Paedagogica Historica, the
representation of authors from the Global South remains alarmingly low, with only 1.6%
of authors coming from the Global South between 1990 and 1995.
Research topics have often been skewed toward issues relevant to the Global North,
influenced by movements like the Civil Rights Movement and #BlackLivesMatter, rather
than issues specific to the South. Indigenous perspectives and historical truths have
been historically ignored or assessed through a Eurocentric lens, perpetuating the
marginalization of Global South epistemologies.
To improve or encourage research in the History of Education in the Global
South, several measures can be taken:
ASSIGNMENT 2 2025
UNIQUE NO:
DUE DATE: 20 JUNE 2025
,HED4805 – History of Education
Assignment 2 – 2025
Unique Number: [To be filled in]
Due Date: 20 June 2025
Question 1 (25 marks)
1.1 Explain how global schools spread in the Global South and Global North (10
marks)
The development and expansion of global schools in the Global North and Global South
followed different historical and socio-political paths. In the Global North, the growth of
schooling systems was largely a response to internal transformations such as
industrialisation, the rise of the nation-state, and Enlightenment thinking. Education was
shaped to meet the demands of an emerging industrial economy, emphasising literacy,
numeracy, and civic education. These systems aimed to foster national identity,
economic productivity, and informed citizenship.
In contrast, the spread of global schools in the Global South was largely driven by
colonialism. European colonial powers introduced formal education systems in their
colonies to serve their own administrative and ideological purposes. These schools
typically promoted European languages, histories, and values while disregarding or
devaluing local knowledge systems and cultures. Rather than promoting inclusive
access to education, colonial schooling aimed to create a limited group of educated
elites who could support colonial governance.
Following independence, many countries in the Global South retained the structures
and curricula of these inherited education systems. Although efforts to localise and
reform education have been ongoing, many systems still reflect colonial influences, with
challenges remaining in fully integrating indigenous perspectives and addressing local
educational needs.
, have often been challenged by continued reliance on models and epistemologies
developed in the Global North.
Thus, while the spread of global schools in the North was internally motivated and
linked to development needs, in the South it was externally imposed through
colonialism, with lingering effects that still require intentional decolonization efforts
today.
1.2 Outline the state of research in the Global South, and suggest what can be
done to improve or encourage research in the field of the History of Education.
(15)
The state of research in the Global South remains underdeveloped and marginalized
when compared to that of the Global North. Studies show that scholarly publications are
still dominated by researchers from the Global North, who also disproportionately set
research agendas and focus areas. Even when the Global South is the subject of
research, the studies are often conducted by Northern scholars. For example, only
2.13% of articles published in Thomson-Reuters indexed education journals in 2012
were authored by African scholars. Similarly, in journals like Paedagogica Historica, the
representation of authors from the Global South remains alarmingly low, with only 1.6%
of authors coming from the Global South between 1990 and 1995.
Research topics have often been skewed toward issues relevant to the Global North,
influenced by movements like the Civil Rights Movement and #BlackLivesMatter, rather
than issues specific to the South. Indigenous perspectives and historical truths have
been historically ignored or assessed through a Eurocentric lens, perpetuating the
marginalization of Global South epistemologies.
To improve or encourage research in the History of Education in the Global
South, several measures can be taken:
