In recent years, there has been a growing attention for ‘the acoustic’ within the new cultural history of education, (cf. two recent Special Issues that were specifically dedicated to this topic: Verstraete & Hoegaerts, 2017; Crutchley, Parker & Roberts, 2018). The growing interest for sounds and silences in the history of education fits within the more encompassing scholarly attention for sensorial history. As a consequence of the sensorial turn (Thyssen & Grosvenor, 2019), several scholars indeed have pointed towards the importance of smell, touch, taste, sight and hearing for understanding our educational pasts (McGulloch, 2011). Some senses, however, have received more attention than others. This certainly holds true for the visual. The so-called pictorial or visual turn lead to an increased emphasis on the use of images in the work of historians of education (Thyssen, 2007; Dussel & Priem, 2017). Among other initiatives, it was the ECER Network 17: Histories of education that catalysed critical reflection on the use of visual source materials like pictures, documentaries, drawings, architectural blueprints etc.

In contrast to the attention devoted to the visual within the history of education, the importance of sounds and silences has remained rather underdeveloped. In light of Network 17’s tradition to explore new methodological pathways, this workshop aims to put central the question what an acoustic approach – as part of the wider sensorial approach – can mean for doing history of education research. In order to do so, we connect to the so-called sound studies, an interdisciplinary approach that emerged since the 1970s and crystallized into a wide variety of sociological, musicological, ethnographical and historical studies (Erlmann, 2004; Pinch & Bijsterveld, 2012; Smith, 2004). Inspired by insights from the sound studies approach, the workshop aims to provide time and place to investigate if, and how, we can “reserve a more important place for the auditory in the historian of education’s toolbox” (Verstraete & Hoegaerts, 2017, 492), or in other words: the workshop’s ambition is to facilitate discussion and debate among scholars about the potential opportunities and the limitations of ‘an acoustic approach’.

Nele Reyniers will first introduce the acoustic perspective and present some insights from the sound studies approach. Considering the fact that the acoustic perspective remains underdeveloped in history of education scholarship, we believe it is important to properly introduce the meaning and nature of the acoustic. In order to provide the audience with a ‘hands on’ (or ‘ears on’) understanding about what the acoustic is, two concrete case-studies will be briefly introduced. Pieter Verstraete will present how the Montessori game of silence was received in Belgian educational circles during the 1920’s. In her 15-minute presentation, Sarah Van Ruyskensvelde will explore the silence policies within Belgian residential youth care, and how juvenile delinquents made themselves heard. After the general introduction, and the two case-studies, the audience will be divided into smaller groups and a set of questions will be presented. Firstly, some central questions pertaining to the (potential) added value of the acoustic for history of education research. Possible questions are: In what ways can the acoustic help us in developing ‘new ways of hearing’ the past? Do you think this approach requires the exploration of new sources, or can ‘traditional’ source materials (such as written, institutional documentations) also speak to us in a meaningful way? How should we consider the acoustic; as a theoretical framework, or rather as a methodology? A second set of questions will deal with the implications of these questions for individual researchers. Having discussed the potential and limitations of the acoustic approach, do you think that the acoustic could be meaningful in your research? Could you perhaps give us an example of a particular topic and/or source (related to your ongoing research) that could be explored through an acoustic lens? The workshop will end with a more general reflection (involving the entire group of participants) on the ‘outcomes’ or issues discussed in the different groups. After the workshop has ended, we aim to hand out a sheet to the participants, asking them about their opinions on the importance of the acoustic perspective after having followed the workshop (i.e. do you feel you have gained more insight in what the acoustic perspective entails?), and the potential they see for their own research (i.e. after having participated in this workshop, are you interested in adopting the acoustic perspective in your own research, and if so, do you wish to stay in touch with us?).

Although it remains difficult to anticipate the ‘outcomes’ or conclusions of this workshop (considering its format of open discussion and reflection), the workshop has a lot of potential on different levels. First, and probably foremost, this workshop aims to bring to the attention the acoustic perspective in history of education research, which – in spite of some recent publications – remains an understudied topic within the field. Considering the importance Network 17 had in stimulating research into ‘the visual’, we believe that this conference/network provides the proper intellectual space to discuss these matters. We anticipate that the discussion could provide us with some clues about how the acoustic can provide – as Michael Bull and Les Back (2003) have suggested in their book The auditory culture reader – the tools and means to re-think the meaning, nature and significance of our social experience, our relation with the community, think about how we relate to others, as well as to the spaces and places we inhibit, and question relationships of power. Furthermore, apart from a more general contribution to the field, this workshop aims to also concretely ‘stimulate’ history of education scholars to explore ‘new ways of hearing’ in their own research, by having them reflect about the potential of the acoustic approach for their own research.

Bull, M. and Back, L. The auditory culture reader (Oxford: Sensory Formations Series, 2003). Crutchley, J. Parker, S.G. and Roberts, S. (2018), “Sight, sound and text in the history of education”, History of Education 47, 144. Dussel, I. and Priem, K. (2017), “The visual in histories of education: a reappraisal”, Paedagogica Historica 53. Erlmann, V. (ed.), Hearing cultures. Essays on sound, listening and modernity (Oxford: Berg, 2004). McGulloch, G. (2011), “Sensing the realities of English middle-class education: James Bryce and the Schools Inquiry Commission, 1865–1868”, History of Education 40, 599-613. Trevor Pinch and Karin Bijsterveld (eds.) The Oxford handbook of sound studies (Oxford: University Press, 2012). Smith, M. M. (ed.), Hearing history. A reader (London: The University of Georgia Press, 2004). Thyssen, G. (2007), “Visualizing Discipline of the Body in a German Open‐Air School (1923–1939): Retrospection and Introspection”, History of Education 36, 248. Thyssen, G. and Grosvenor, I. (2019), “Learning to make sense: interdisciplinary perspectives on sensory education and embodied enculturation”, The Senses and Society 14, 120. Verstraete, P. and Hoegaerts, J. (2017), “Educational soundscapes: tuning in to sounds and silences in the history of education”, Paedagogica Historica 53, 491-497.