Educ 211

COMPARATIVE
EDUCATION
 Grading System

• Attendance – 10%
• Reflection/Position Papers – 30%
• Participation/Report – 20%
• Midterm/Final Examination – 40%
Total 100%
 Course Description

• An examination of conceptual and

methodological question underlying
comparative education in which particular
attention is given to the development of
the field and styles of social analyses
which may be applied to comparative and
cross national studies in education
Starting points…

What type of education will help

our children adjust in the future
society and how?
Are we better than we are?
Do they children learn more
than ours?
Why are they children better at
learning Science and
Mathematics?
 Meaning of Comparative
Education
Getao (1996)

The study of educational systems in which

one seeks to understand the similarities and
differences among educational systems.
Noah and Eckstein (1969)

• Comparative Education is an intersection

of the social sciences, education and
cross-national study.
Michael Sandler (1861-1943)

In studying foreign system of education, it

should not be forgotten that things outside
the school matter even more than things
inside; and that an education system is the
outcome of (societal) forces which have
been operated over an extended period of
time.
Isaac Kandel (1881-1965)

Comparative education should not

emphasize only educational set up,
organization, administration, methods,
curriculum and teaching but also the causes
behind educational problems of different
countries and attempted solutions in the light
of their social, political, cultural and national
ideologies.
Classification of 3 groups of factors
influencing the educational development in
countries (Nicholas Hans, Comparative
Education: a Study of Educational Factors and
Traditions, 1888-1969)
1.Natural factors: race, environment and
language
2.Religious factors: Catholicism,
Anglicanism and Protestantism
3.Secular factors: Humanism, Socialism and
Nationalism.
In general…
• A study of two or more education systems.
• A study of how the philosophy, objectives
and aims, policy and practice of education
in other countries influence the general
development, policy and practice of
education in a particular country.
• A study of how the development of
education in the past, across the ages and
continents, has influenced the
development of education in particular
countries.
 Objectives of Comparative
Education
by Harold Noah & Max Eckstein (1993)

• to describe educational systems,

processes, or outcomes
• to assist in the development of educational
institutions and practices
• to highlight the relationships between
education and society
• to establish generalized statements about
education those are valid in more than one
country.
• CE is often incorrectly assumed to
exclusively encompass studies that
compare two or more different countries.
• Early researchers have often eschewed
such approaches, preferring rather to
focus on a single country.
• Single unit studies (i.e. studies focusing on
one system of education) dominate
Comparative Education research
(Wolhuter, 2008).
 Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA)

• coordinated by the Organization for

Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD)
• taken by 15 year old pupils in the 65
OECD member states
• 1st test took place in 2000
• to improve educational policy and quality
in countries
• Pupils are tested in reading, mathematics
and science
 International Association of Evaluation of
Educational Achievement (IEA)

• is an independent international
cooperation of national research institutes
and governmental agencies
• formed in 1959
• conducts large scale comparative studies
on educational achievement.
• Studies include the International Computer
Information Literacy Study, Trends in
Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS),
PIRLS (reading literacy study), ICCS (civic
and citizenship Education study) and
TEDSM (Mathematics teacher education
study).
 Scope of Comparative
Education
• Content
• Geographical Unit
• Ideological Approach
• Thematic Scope
• Special/Historical Scope
 Reasons of Studying
Comparative Education
Description
• The basic utility of CE is to describe
education systems/learning communities,
within their social context, in order to
satisfy the yearning for knowledge which is
part of human nature.
• We study CE because we want to know –
Bereday (1964)
Understanding/Interpreting/Explaining

• CE also satisfies the need to understand

• Education systems are explained or
understood from surrounding contextual
forces which shape them.
• Comparative study of education systems
also fosters an understanding of cultures
or societies.
• CE is very topical in times of multicultural
societies and of Intercultural Education -
Noah's (1986)
 Evaluation

• CE serves as the purpose of evaluating

the education systems (own and universal
education systems)
• Evaluation of domestic education assumes
bigger importance
– International Prgramme for the Assessment of
Student Achievement (PISA), International
Educational Assessment (IEA)
• Universal education entails how well the
education systems of the world rise up to
the challenges of the 21st century world as
an estimation of the limits and possibiliites
of the societal effects of education.
 Intellectual

• CE is an intellectual activity that scholars

can pursue in their masters and doctoral
programs.
• A way of enhancing intellectual capacity
concerning other systems of education
• Helps individuals to understand their
education system and that of others better
to improve the system and solve problems
 Planning

• CE is pursued to design anew education

system, to plan education, and to reform
educational systems (Steyn & Wolhunter,
2010)
• Since educational policy affects millions of
people, rational decisions need to be
made so that it can achieve the desired
results.
• One country could benefit from the
experience of others in solving the same
problem, its implications and possible
contributory causes.
• This call for a proper planning that
comparative education can provide a
helping hand.
 Practicability

• Educational patterns that lose practicability

are replaced by such with practical utility.

• UK supported primary schools whose

objectives was to teach the masses how to
read and write to enable them to work
better in the industrial society.
• US has replaced comprehensive schools
has replaced grammar schools.
• Kenya’s educational system was reformed
in 1985.
• Various arguments shown that education
system was more elitist and had no
practical utility to the pupils involved.
• Educational reforms can be done better
through the study of CE.
 Humanitarian Viewpoint

• The current world is characterized by

increasing problems affecting the human
population in various ways.
• Problems experience in countries like Iraq,
Sierra Leone, Congo and Sudan have
affected neighboring countries.
– Gulf war affected world oil prices like just
as like crisis in Middle East in 1971
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights by
UN assembly in 1948 have made people
to aspire for peace, freedom, equality and
a better life.
• Most of the countries are aspiring to
provide universal primary education like
Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda as a human
right.
• Nations need to co-operate in order to
create a better world.

• Knowledge of other education system is

necessary and better be acquired through
comparative education.
Education Problems in World Perspective

• Most countries have identical problems in

their educational perspective.

• When Kenya implemented free primary

education in 2003, Nigeria and Uganda could
have provided some clues of the problems.
• Cuba could share lessons on how it managed
to obtain total literary while India has
problems in achieving it.

• Comparative education helps to understand

why some countries’ education systems are
progressive while others are backward.
• The administrative system of the land
influences the state of the educational
system.

• The administrative machines of Switzerland,

Canada, US and Japan are combined with
local autonomy and decentralized control.
• We find a reflection of their political
philosophy.

• Political philosophy and administrative

systems of various countries determine the
administration and control of education.
 Innovation in education

• The use of internet to deliver knowledge,

use of other aspects of the media, Open
University, African Virtual University (AVU)
and computer assisted distance learning
were introduced to education.
• Computer assisted distance education is
viewed for as a panacea for lack of
educational access and other associated
problems.
 Economics of Education

• Provision of education results in economic

growth and increased economic
productivity.
• Former USSR set out to improve its
economy by taking as a first step the
eradication of illiteracy.
 Education for International
Understanding

• International understanding is a central

purpose for studying CE.
• It is essential in order to curtail national
pride in people’s minds.
– League of Nations (1921), International
Bureau of Education (1925), Commission of
Intellectual Cooperation (1926)
 – International Labor Organization (ILO) &
United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• Understanding the philosophies of life,
education, culture and sociology,
geography, culture and religion is essential
to understand other nations.
• Understanding how culture affect
education system is important for
internationalism
 Relax National Pride

• Necessary to combat feelings of

superiority
• Comparative thinking and international
perspectives taking are essential for
citizens to get along in diverse, global
society (Kubow & Fossum, 2007).
• “What kinds of educational policy,
planning, and teaching are appropriate for
what kind of society?”