Our
History
The International Society for
Educational biography began in the fall of 1982 with a memo sent
by L. Glenn Smith.
In the fall of 1982, a newsletter, Vitae Scholasticae: The
Bulletin of Educational Biography, Vol. 1, No. 1, was sent to
persons interested in educational biography by L. Glenn Smith,
Editor, and Patti S. Cale, Managing Editor. The need for
organization and a publication was explained as follows:
Educationists have long had an interest in biography. The
practice of illuminating pedagogical thought and practice by
including biographical accounts of important theoreticians and
practitioners goes back to at least 1847 when Karl von Raumer
brought out his influential Gesciiichte der Pad@ogik vom
Wiederaufbluhen klassisclier Studium his auf unsere Zeit.
During the past two decades, many educational specialists have
neglected the historic underpinnings of pedagogical theory,
perhaps because contemporary issues are so distressingly acute.
Yet, even during a period when students of the humanistic and
cultural foundations of education have tended to ignore anything
predating 1830 as too remote to deserve attention, issues
continue to revolve around individual personalities; Cyril Burt,
Arthur Jensen, Marva Collins, Jean Piaget, A.S. Neill, Paulo
Freire, and other figures assert their varying claims for
attention. And many educators still believe that students can
profit from knowing about Socrates, Rousseau, Montessori, and
Dewey.
Some specialists in anthropology and literature have begun
directing more attention to biography, both as a research
technique and as an area of specialization (Chronicle of Higher
Education, 24 March 1982). Indeed, the field of biography is
currently represented by two journals, a research center, and an
institute. While these are of potential interest to educational
researchers, their foci remove them from the central issues of
pedagogical inquiry. The journal Prometei is published in the
Soviet Union and emphasizes figures in Soviet history.
Biography, produced at the University of Hawaii's Biographical
Research Center (established 1978), is a scholarly journal with
a literary orientation. The Institute for Modern Biography, at
Griffith University, Brisbane, specializes in significant
Australians.