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This paper argues the importance in and for a democratic state and society of discussing controversial issues in education. In particular it analyses two national educational contexts, that of England and South Africa. It considers both whether they provide a suitable framework for teaching controversial issues in school classrooms and if they prepare teachers to be able to organise discussions of controversial issues in schools. The paper then examines interview data on teaching controversial issues with university tutors and student teachers in four universities, two in England and two in South Africa. The data suggest that there are still serious obstacles in both countries to teaching controversial issues in schools and in preparing teacher education students to teach about controversial issues.

Silent exclusion, when children register and attend school but learn little, is a critical feature of educational access in South Africa. Several international studies (e.g. TIMMS, SACMEQ) have shown that despite high levels of investment, South African schools perform poorly in relation to other countries at similar levels of income. Equitable access is yet to be achieved with wide variations in the quality of access between sub‐populations. This paper focuses on levels of learning achievement and comparisons between grades, schools, and populations of children in the Western Cape. Since outcome data is available over time changes can be followed and equitable access explored.

(1996). The Unregarded Prophet: Lord Curzon and the Palestine Question. Journal of Palestine Studies: Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 60-68.

The events of the schools’ boycott presented by Molteno are reviewed. It is argued that for a combination of reasons illustrative of the difficulties deriving from the relationship between the social sciences and politics, his interpretation of the events must be seriously questioned. The implication arising is that Molteno's linking of practice and theory is in this case not justified.

The reaction of teachers to an innovation, the Science Education Project in South Africa, has been analysed by considering the demands made on them in their roles of subject specialist, classroom director, professional and employee. The Science Education Project relies on phased, ongoing inservice work, incorporating courses, on‐site teacher support and teacher groups, to achieve its purposes of encouraging teacher growth and hence more active, pupil‐oriented classrooms. The four roles represent an increasing complexity of involvement of implementers with teachers, and have been found to correspond with the phases of inservice work.