ABSTRACT
In the last chapter, evidence was found of new approaches to theory and methodology in the history of education that have potential to provide fresh intellectual vitality to the field. In the current chapter, I will take this further to investigate the extent to which these ideas and methods are being applied in substantive areas of study in the history of education, with particular reference to three key topics that have attracted much attention over the years. The first of these is social disadvantage and the exclusion and marginalization of specific social groups. The second is the theme of teaching and learning in the context of the classroom and in other educational settings. The third is that of education and Empire, with a particular focus on the British Empire. First of all, however, it is instructive to consider the tensions that helped to provide difficulties for an earlier initiative to enliven and reorient the field, in the form of curriculum history.
