ABSTRACT
Progressive education is widely understood as an international phenomenon. While histories of the origins, exchange, dissemination and adaptation of “new education” ideas and practices are readily available, historiographical comparisons of academic interpretations of progressive education are rare but potentially useful for understanding progressivism.1 This article reports the findings of an analysis of interpretations of progressive education advanced by US and English education historians, and then speculates as to why differences of interpretation exist. The findings are summarised by describing how historians of education in each country represent major progressive education reform reports, significant progressive education practices and criticisms of progressive education.
