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 Geschichte 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.
