Schools in Germany are frequently named after people. Thus, these persons are remembered in the public sphere. This article answers the question to what extent the school names in the federal state of Thuringia correspond with the history of scientific pedagogy. For this purpose, in a first step, the controversial discussion about key figures in pedagogy and history of education is presented. In a second step the entirety of all school names in Thuringia is considered and individual results are discussed. (...) As a rule, it is not pedagogues who lend their names to schools but writers, artists and political figures. Only one fifth of all schools named after a person are named after educators. It is found that the key figures in pedagogy are rarely available as namesakes, whereas in practice successful school founders are preferred as name-givers. Accordingly, the history of pedagogy is represented in a filtered way in school names. Based on these results, further research perspectives for research on school names are formulated. (shrink)

This paper aspires to show the often-obscured structure of alternatives in education. Alternative education is generally understood as an umbrella term for educational thought and practice for and in schools differing from an assumed ‘mainstream’, where ‘alternative’ is often taken to mean ‘better’. In many cases, ‘mainstream’ serves as an empty signifier that can be substituted by various forms of criticism. Just as progressive education is supposed to remedy all the ills of traditional education, alternative education is often positioned as (...) a safe place to retreat to, away from the mainstream. I argue that this leads to a dichotomous structure. The mainstream, however, is not an empirical reality, for example, a specific form of curriculum, differentiation of different types of schooling, or anything else. ‘Mainstream’ serves as a generic critical reference point. My argument is developed through a series of historical discussions around alternative education explored through the lens of contemporary analysis of the category. I then offer a more systematic account of the terminology in order to establish a perspective from which to assess the flaws and problems of alternative education alongside its potential virtues and benefits. (shrink)

Journal of Philosophy of Education, EarlyView.