Gaby Weiner

This timely book takes stock of past and present feminist educational thinking and practice in Britain. It is the range and clarity of the descriptions of past feminist activities in education, combined with the complexities of contemporary feminist ideas, that make this book essential reading for a wide range of people. Wienr's style is direct and intellectually interactive.

An Introduction

Feminisms in Education

Roger Slee

Sally Tomlinson

School effectiveness research together with what is now described as the 'school improvement movement' (Barber, 1996) has captured both the Conservative and New Labour imaginations as a basis for educational planning and policy making in the UK. Internationally school effectiveness enjoys and expanding and enthusiastic audience. This book provides a critique of this research genre, particularly in the light of the recent calls for teaching to go 'back to the basics'. The editors argue that this school effectiveness research is simplistic in its analysis of educational problems. Far from getting to the bottom of the problem of failing students and schools, they argue, these 'movements' are merely scratching at the surface of the problems and coming up with notions for superficial improvements.

School Effectiveness for Whom?

The stories of so-called ordinary families and their place in history are important. Though theyre not the stuff of kings and queens or governments or wars, they shed light on how political movements and decisions affect ordinary individuals and how those individuals react to those decisions. In Tales of Loving and Leaving, author Gaby Weiner tells the story of three of her family members: her maternal grandmother, Amalia Moszkowicz Dinger; her mother, Steffi Dinger; and her father, Uszer Frocht. Weiner shares how these peoples lives were profoundly affected by the great movements and isms of the twentieth century that included not only Nazism, but also the Russian Revolution, the rise and fall of Communism, and the displacement and migration of more than 60,000,000 people following the Second World War. The stories, told in chronological slices, tell about ordinary people who were rendered extraordinary by the period through which they lived. The narratives also focus on the treatment and experiences of Jewish migrants before, during, and after the war in different countries and the impact of these countries politics on them. Weiner illustrates the effects of separation and trauma and how human beings, when confronted with horror, respond, get on with life, go on to make different futures, and seek to be ordinary again. Tales of Loving and Leaving shows how, following the impact of the Nazi-led genocide, myths were created, secrets were perpetuated, lies were told, shelter was found, futures were shaped, and hope was rekindled.

Gaby Weiner

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