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Showing papers in "Comparative Education in 2001"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the importance of global and local factors in the current development of universities in Western countries is examined, and three concepts dealing with recent changes to universities, namely managerialism, academic capitalism and entrepreneurial universities, are examined for their usefulness in explaining what is happening to universities in Europe and North America.
Abstract: The paper examines the importance of global and local factors in the current development of universities in Western countries. Globalisation is a fashionable theoretical stance but care needs to be taken in applying it to education, not least because social theorists cannot agree on definitions and implications. Three concepts dealing with recent changes to universities--new managerialism, academic capitalism and entrepreneurial universities--are examined for their usefulness in explaining what is happening to universities in Europe and North America. Following a critical analysis of the theoretical and empirical basis of Slaughter & Leslie's 'Academic Capitalism' and Clark's 'Creating Entrepreneurial Universities', it is suggested that, in searching for similarities and convergence in universities in different countries, more localised factors affecting higher education institutions may be under-emphasised. Furthermore, some of the data used in the comparative case-studies of universities analysed in the...

659 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors pay particular attention to some of the most important dynamics surrounding globalisation in education, and examine their class and race and gender effects at the level of who benefits from their specific institutionalisations and from their contradictory functions within real terrains of soci...
Abstract: In this article, I pay particular attention to some of the most important dynamics surrounding globalisation in education—the increasingly powerful discourses and polices of neoliberalism concerning privatisation, marketisation, performativity, and the 'enterprising individual'. While I demonstrate the truly international effects of neo‐liberal policies—and the differential realities they tend to produce in real schools—I also suggest that we cannot simply read off the effects of these policies in the abstract. Their uses and effects are historically contingent. They are at least partly dependent on the balance of forces in each nation and on the histories of the ways progressive tendencies have already been instituted within the state. Yet, I also suggest that any analysis of these discourses and policies must critically examine their class and race and gender effects at the level of who benefits from their specific institutionalisations and from their contradictory functions within real terrains of soci...

382 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examines the relevance of existing accounts of globalisation and education for low-income, post-colonial countries, with special reference to the education systems of sub-Saharan Africa, using recent developments in globalisation theory, existing accounts are analysed in relation to their view of the origins, nature and future trajectory of globalization and the implications for education.
Abstract: The article examines the relevance of existing accounts of globalisation and education for low income, postcolonial countries, with special reference to the education systems of sub-Saharan Africa. Using recent developments in globalisation theory, existing accounts are analysed in relation to their view of the origins, nature and future trajectory of globalisation and the implications for education. It is argued that most of the recent literature deals with Western industrialised countries and the newly industrialised countries of the Pacific Rim and therefore has limited relevance for low income countries. The literature that is concerned with low income countries often lacks a firm theoretical basis and has been limited to a discussion of the impact of economic globalisation on education. Drawing on recent work on the political economy of development and the state in Africa, the article sets out a conceptual framework for understanding various aspects of the education/globalisation relationship in low ...

295 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors use the Comparative Education millennium special issue and the author's recently published five-nation comparative study of primary education to argue the case for a new comparative pedagogy.
Abstract: This article uses the Comparative Education millennium special issue and the author's recently published five-nation comparative study of primary education to argue the case for a new comparative pedagogy. Pedagogy is defined as both the act of teaching and the discourse in which it is embedded. The comparative analysis of pedagogy requires that we have a viable framework for the empirical study of classroom transactions and that we locate these transactions historically and culturally at the levels of classroom, school and system. The postulated analytical framework maps the key elements in the act of teaching and links them with the processes of curriculum transformation from state to classroom. Comparative pedagogy reveals, alongside each country's unique mix of values, ideas and practices, powerful continuities in these which transcend time and space. In so doing, it helps us to pinpoint those universals in teaching and learning to which, in any context, we need most closely to attend if we are to improve the quality of education.

166 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors pointed out that the process of marketisation has been influential in the decision making of social policies around the world, and that this tidal wave is now crossing over to the Asia-Pacific region as well.
Abstract: It has been a global trend, since the 1980s, that the process of marketisation has been influential in the decision making of social policies around the world, and that this tidal wave is now crossing over to the Asia-Pacific region as well. Education policy, as one of the important social policies for many developing countries, has been influential in the forefront of national development in terms of manpower training, as well as in other arenas of economic and social developments. In this way, these countries are trying to improve the quality of their educational services so that they can be more competitive in order to cater for the demands in the international markets. One of the outcomes of this global trend is the international quality assurance movement in streamlining the educational institutions as well as in using different coping strategies to promote quality education for all concerned. For the Chinese mainland, it seems that the central government is adopting a policy of decentralisation in g...

112 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the implications for globalisation and post-modernity are assessed in terms of the self-understanding and practice of comparative education, particularly in relation to contemporary theories of the state, and civil society.
Abstract: In this article, the implications for globalisation and Post-modernity are assessed in terms of the self-understanding and practice of comparative education, particularly in relation to contemporary theories of the state, and civil society. It is argued that, while globalisation and post-modernity are usually seen as discrete phenomena, each raises complex questions of difference and hybridity, power and collective action, which can no longer be seen in relation to the nation-state alone. Different meanings of globalisation are canvassed, based in part on Sklair's taxonomy, while examples of the impact of globalisation, especially on higher education, are given. The implications of post-modern thought are also analysed, particularly for research and understanding in comparative education. Referring to Putnam's work on civil society, it is argued that both globalisation and post-modernity are linked to changes in the nature of late capitalism, and crises in the modern state. It is finally argued that neith...

103 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The main reform measures to date have favored a progressive rather than a neoliberal direction as mentioned in this paper, however, critics have alleged that the emphasis on 'individuality' masks a neo liberal agenda driven by business demands.
Abstract: Despite overseas' observers praise for Japanese education over the last 20 years, within Japan the school system has become the focus of increasing discontent because of its supposed rigidity, uniformity, and exam-centredness. This discontent has given impetus to a series of educational reform proposals and policy measures during the late 1980s and 1990s. These reforms have gone under the slogan of 'stress on individuality' (kosei j ˆ shi), and are purportedly aimed at encouraging creativity by introducing more freedom and choice into the education system. However, critics have alleged that the emphasis on 'individuality' masks a neo liberal agenda driven by business demands. This article analyses the reform measures and the surrounding debate. It concludes that Japan's Ministry of Education remains cautious in its approach to reform. The main reform measures to date have favoured a progressive rather than a neoliberal direction.

89 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examines patterns in Russia and China in the light of this literature and shows that although transitions in the two countries have displayed major differences, they have also displayed significant similarities, and that these similarities have been evident despite the fact that changes in both countries have been made independently of each other.
Abstract: Recent years have brought emerging theoretical propositions about the nature of educational change in societies undergoing transition from socialism to market economies. Focusing particularly on the financing of education, this article examines patterns in Russia and China in the light of this literature. It shows that although transitions in the two countries have displayed major differences, they have also displayed significant similarities. These similarities have been evident despite the fact that changes in Russia and China have been made independently of each other. This has largely been because of the impact of market forces, though it has also reflected broader forces of globalisation.

75 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors report the results of two studies of young children's historical thinking, one conducted in Northern Ireland and one in the USA, and find that primary/elementary students learn about history in a variety of settings, including not only schools but also family conversations, historic sites and the media.
Abstract: This research reports the results of two studies of young children's historical thinking, one conducted in Northern Ireland and one in the USA. In both countries, primary/elementary students learn about history in a variety of settings, including not only schools but also family conversations, historic sites and the media. The differing nature of historical representations in the two countries, however, leads students to contrasting conclusions about the purpose of learning about the past: in the USA, students emphasise that history is important so that they will know about the origin of their country and their own place within it, while in Northern Ireland students describe the purpose of history as being to learn about those who are different from themselves. In both countries, such comparative evidence about children's thinking provides educators with the opportunity to consider how they can build on and extend students' understanding of history.

66 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, an overview of the episteme of comparative education in the USA and the British comparative proteus is presented. But it is argued that in the period after the 1960s the two proteuses were metamorphosed from essentially being historical to social scientific, and a call is made for re-invention of the historical dimension in comparative education.
Abstract: It has been said, not in jest, that while the future may be predictable, the past is unpredictable. This essay first constructs yet another, but hopefully different, historical overview of the episteme of comparative education in the USA, the American comparative proteus (after the Greek mythical sea-god who, according to the Oxford English Dictionary , would assume different shapes and appearances 'to avoid answering questions'). The focus of the second section is a comparative view of the British comparative proteus. In both cases, the analysis is focused on the epistemological-cum-methodological orientations of the two 'comparative educations'. It is argued that in the period after the 1960s the two proteuses were metamorphosed from essentially being historical to social scientific. In the third section it is argued that this metamorphosis has impoverished the field, and a call is made for the re-invention of the historical dimension in comparative education. It is further argued that the reclamation o...

66 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reveal Education For All as an ideological notion, reflecting values that contradict those of nomadic groups, and argue that the value positions underlying this notion need to be articulated and further contextualised if it is not simply to reflect existing, and exclusive, hegemonies.
Abstract: Migrants, and particularly nomads, are among the most marginalised social groups, and are widely excluded from educational provision, despite pledges of Education For All. The phenomenon of movement itself presents many challenges for both providers, and would-be users, of educational services. Around the world, the provision of education for nomads has reflected and been instrumental to particular stances on pastoral development. The links between education and development are explored specifically in the case of a transhumant pastoral group in Western India. The article reveals Education For All as an ideological notion, reflecting values that contradict those of nomadic groups, and argues that the value positions underlying this notion need to be articulated and further contextualised if it is not simply to reflect existing, and exclusive, hegemonies.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The phenomenon of globalisation argues for a broader view of the world than was hitherto necessary; one that takes into account the diversity of the human experience and consequently requires a deeper understanding of the particularities of each of the constituencies that make up that experience as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The phenomenon of globalisation argues for a broader view of the world than was hitherto necessary; one that takes into account the diversity of the human experience and consequently one that requires a deeper understanding of the particularities of each of the constituencies that make up that experience. Comparative education, which has always stressed the significance of context and circumstance, is ideally placed to foster awareness of these elements that differentiate us, thereby facilitating our 'reading of the global' and cultivating in us a deeper appreciation of the interdependence of today's global community. The small states of the Caribbean which risk being further marginalised by the processes of globalisation stand to benefit from comparative education initiatives which would give greater international exposure to their particular circumstances and their contribution to world culture and civilisation. The Caribbean region has had a history of learning to live and work with people from diverse...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Viet Nam's transition to a market economy, educational planners have had to consider strategies for making the education system more responsive to current and future labour demands as mentioned in this paper, and they have pursued and continues to pursue an agenda of educational refonn by means of curriculum reforns.
Abstract: Comprehensive national educational change is a complex and often difficult process. In countries such as Viet Nam where the govemment exercises tight control over social and economic development strategies, wide scale changes to an education system are often not possible. Viet Nam's increasing engagement with private sector development has, however, enabled greater flexibility for improving and strengthening its education system. In response to Viet Nam 's transition to a market economy, educational planners have had to consider strategies for making the education system more responsive to current and future labour demands. Accordingly, beginning in the early 1990s, the Govemment of Viet Nam put in place policies to enable the education system to 'modemise'. Guided by the principle that an investment in education is an investment in economic development, the government has pursued and continues to pursue an agenda of educational refonn by means of curriculum reforns. Early evidence indicates that despite ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article reviewed the evolution of comparative education in these four societies, noting major forces which have shaped the field and observed similarities and differences within the four societies and noted some lessons and contributions from the field in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
Abstract: Greater China is an umbrella term used to cover Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. This article reviews the evolution of comparative education in these four societies, noting major forces which have shaped the field. The article observes and comments on similarities and differences within the four societies. It has been prepared as a response to the millennial special issue of the journal, and notes some lessons and contributions from the field in Greater China to the global field of comparative education.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors explored the extent to which teachers in selected Commonwealth Caribbean countries are being trained to: (i) use centrally produced curriculum guides in language arts/reading, English and foreign languages; (ii) adopt appropriate methodologies for the teacher as a 'facilitator of learning'; (iii) teach low achievers and underachieving males; and (iv) use new technologies to aid instruction.
Abstract: The study explores the extent to which teachers in selected Commonwealth Caribbean countries are being trained to: (i) use centrally produced curriculum guides in language arts/reading, English and foreign Languages; (ii) adopt appropriate methodologies for the teacher as a 'facilitator of learning'; (iii) teach low achievers and underachieving males; and (iv) use new technologies to aid instruction. The findings suggest that, while in most of the countries teachers are trained to use curriculum guides at the primary level, there is little evidence to indicate that the ideals in (ii)-(iv) either are being or can be realised, given existing constraints. Highlighted amongst the lessons learned from the Caribbean experience are: (i) the insensitivity of policy to the practical realities of the classroom; and (ii) the tendency of policy to perceive teacher training as the panacea for problems whose solutions lie in changes in the economic, social and cultural fabric of society.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the uses and negative side-effects of the publication of performance tables in two European countries, showing the strengths and weaknesses of the current practices in England and France.
Abstract: Educational performance tables have become a feature of the educational landscape in a number of countries in the 1990s. These tables have been published on the assumption that they will help to inform parental and pupil choice, school improvement and will make schools more accountable. This article explores the uses and (negative) side-effects of the publication of performance tables in two European countries. It shows the strengths and weaknesses of the current practices in England and France, reviews the current practices critically and gives some recommendations for improvement.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The urban areas of Ghana and Cote d'Ivory Coast have become sites for cultural and educational convergence, as well as the reproduction of the elite as a class, far more than the rural areas as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The urban areas of Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) have become sites for cultural and educational convergence, as well as the reproduction of the elite as a class, far more than the rural areas. The urban secondary schools in cities such as Accra and Cape Coast in Ghana, and the lycees in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, serve as sites for the realization of these goals. Here, the cultural pull and push factors arising from West Africa's 'triple cultural heritage' that is African, EuroChristian and Islamic have placed considerable strain and stress on secondary school students and secondary education as a whole. This situation has been further complicated in recent years by the interplay of cultural pull and push factors emanating from the West, especially Britain, France and the United States. This complicated postcolonial condition with its implications for nation-building and development in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire constitutes the subject of analysis in this article. It is argued that the cultural pull and...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a tentative basis on which comparative education might profit from an engagement with "globalisation", and to circumvent the danger that that engagement will lead to a shift in purpose, from "how to make education better" to "howto make education do better".
Abstract: This article seeks to put forward one tentative basis on which comparative education might profit from an engagement with 'globalisation', and to circumvent the danger that that engagement will lead to a shift in purpose, from 'how to make education better' to 'how to make education do better'. It uses the example of the career of the New Zealand model of neo-liberalism and new public management to expose, from the perspective of how a 'localism' becomes globalised, something of the nature of the processes, discourses and mechanisms of globalisation and of the subjects who drive them. The article examines the local conditions that enabled the development and installation of the New Zealand model, the discursive and formal characteristics that made it desirable and possible for it to be incorporated at a global level, and the means through which this was done. It concludes by drawing some possible theoretical and methodological implications of the career of the New Zealand model for the relationship betwee...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined some of the debates of what constitutes personal and social education in Hong Kong and made comparisons between Western and Chinese (especially Confucian) views on Personal and Social Education.
Abstract: Personal and social education has become an important area of development in education in Hong Kong. Given that much of the literature on personal and social education is Anglo-American or European, what is the influence on the largely Chinese settings in Hong Kong? This paper will examine some of the debates of what constitutes personal and social education. The significance of competing contexts in the development of personal and social education will be analysed in detail. Comparisons will be made between Western and Chinese (especially Confucian) views on personal and social education. Attempts will be made to come up with a notion of personal and social education which is suitable for the Hong Kong context.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper examined the relationship between national educational values as these are mediated by the school context, teacher beliefs and classroom processes, and eventually translated into pupil perspectives on learning and schooling, and explored the significance of the cultural context in which learning occurs.
Abstract: The article reports on some key findings of a major research project which examines the relationship between national educational values as these are mediated by the school context, teacher beliefs and classroom processes, and eventually translated into pupil perspectives on learning and schooling. These findings are drawn from questionnaires to 1,800 secondary school pupils in England, France and Denmark, and from individual and group interviews with a smaller sample of pupils in each country. Through an examination of pupil perspectives on the purposes of schooling and on themselves as learners, the article explores the significance of the cultural context in which learning occurs. It considers the extent to which there are significant differences related to the national context, or whether pupils' experience of schooling is becoming more similar as they try to construct their identities as learners and as adolescents and to negotiate pathways which lead to success on the dimensions of academic achievem...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The main question in this study was: which success factors and obstacles can be expected in the Netherlands when implementing a new, decentralised policy relating to educational disadvantage?
Abstract: The main question in our study was: which success factors and obstacles can be expected in the Netherlands when implementing a new, decentralised policy relating to educational disadvantage? Part of this research was to look at international experiences of decentralised policies to combat educational disadvantage. Thus three countries were studied in this context and their policies analysed and compared via a literature study and interviews with various experts. In this article we first report on changes in Dutch policy to combat educational disadvantage and then we describe the decentralised educational-disadvantage approach in the three countries chosen: England/Wales, the United States and Australia. Evaluation of the processes and results in these countries leads to predictions of the success of the Dutch policy reforms.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider some of these findings from the perspective of England, and the associated problems in studies involving international comparisons, concluding that, viewed proportionately and in the light of background factors, there is little evidence of either failing or fall.
Abstract: Schools and students in Britain have been compared unfavourably with those elsewhere for many years now. International comparisons of school effectiveness and outcomes have been used to suggest that British schools are underperforming, and consequently that British students are underachieving. This has led to repeated calls by researchers and politicians for policy borrowing from countries with more 'successful' educational systems. In the same way, the growth of 'home- international' comparisons has suggested marked differences between the increasingly devolved regions within Britain. This view of the relative ineffectiveness of schools has permeated both official publications and regional attainment targets in the 1990s. This article considers some of these findings from the perspective of England, and the associated problems in studies involving international comparisons. It concludes that, viewed proportionately and in the light of background factors, there is little evidence of either failing or fall...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the contemporary status and viability of the postcommunist elementary and secondary private schools in Russia is explored based on field research conducted in 1997-98 in St Petersburg, Russia.
Abstract: Based on field research conducted in 1997-98 in St Petersburg, Russia, this paper explores the contemporary status and viability of the postcommunist elementary and secondary private schools. Findings from in-depth qualitative interviews, observations and analysis of documents suggest that the Russian private schools find themselves in a perplexed and precarious situation. Although formally legalised, they operate amidst the anomic situation of legal contradictions. Financially unstable, they engage in a dual economy with heavy reliance on informal networks, sometimes criminal in nature. It is predicted that the current socioeconomic crisis will diminish the number and diversity of private schools. It is argued that private schools' survival depends on the stabilisation of the Russian economy, and political and legal protection of minority rights.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the idea that as the international position of a nation improves, it tends to become more conscious of the need to instruct its population about new international responsibilities and tries to put this concept into practice, especially at school level.
Abstract: In the post-1945 world, the international community has come to recognise the potential of education as a vehicle for promoting world peace. Development education emerges as a medium for such education. This article begins by exploring the idea that as the international position of a nation improves, it tends to become more conscious of the need to instruct its population about new international responsibilities and tries to put this concept into practice, especially at school level. Theorisation of the factors of context for the introduction of development education into schools is attempted on a comparative bases. The article then analyses the case of Japan. It argues that despite the fact that the factors of context for the introduction of development education were present in the mid-1980s, the introduction was delayed in Japan.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors trace the evolution of these perspectives, identify some stress points in the field, and look ahead to whether or not the field is facing competition among these perspectives or convergence.
Abstract: The evolution of scholarship in comparative education in the USA has reached a point where several observations are possible. While there is variation in methodology and theory, three principal perspectives tend to be represented in most contemporary articles published in the top journals in the field. These might be referred to as being area studies based, social science disciplinary based, or development/planning studies based. In this article we briefly trace the evolution of these perspectives, identify some stress points in the field, and look ahead to whether or not the field is facing competition among these perspectives or convergence. We suggest that the field of comparative education, not being bound by one or another of these perspectives, can play a significant role in the reconstruction of learning.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a case study traces the lifecycle of the Primary Science Programme (PSP) in South Africa, from its initiation in 1983 to its demise in 1999, and illustrates how the social and economic environment shaped PSP's development and demise.
Abstract: The case study traces the lifecycle of the Primary Science Programme (PSP) in South Africa, from its initiation in 1983 to its demise in 1999. The case is considered to be representative of the experiences of many South African non-governmental organisations (NGOs), insofar as PSP developed co-terminously with numerous other NGOs within the same political policy environment, serving the same clientele of disadvantaged teachers and depending on the same corporate, voluntary and external funding sources. It illustrates how the social and economic environment shaped PSP's development and demise. The conclusions highlight tensions between quality and quantity, subject versus holistic focus, participatory versus authoritarian management structures, and between styles of relationships with departmental structures. Lessons are drawn concerning the nature of effective InSET and the challenges inherent in taking education programmes to scale. An analogy with the ecological study of a plant's lifecycle is used to i...


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The second part of a three-fold initiative to stimulate and advance international debate about the changing nature and future of comparative and international studies in education is the Comparative Education as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: As indicated in the Introduction, this special number of Comparative Education is the second part of a three-fold initiative designed to ‘stimulate and advance international debate about the changing nature and future of comparative and international studies in education’. In the light of the two related special numbers, we now invite future submissions to Comparative Education (following the standard procedures) that engage with the ideas and issues raised (or not yet raised) and the broader debate itself. In promoting this third phase of the overall project, we would particularly welcome contributions from the widest range of intellectual, cultural and professional perspectives and contexts. This could include comparativists from other Ž elds of study; specialists in various domains of education; writers from cultural contexts that have yet to feature prominently (most notably from the ‘south’); perspectives from differing disciplinary or paradigmatic orientations; policy-makers and practitioners; international development agency personnel; adult educators; non-formal specialists; others generally interested in the debate within and beyond the context of education; and writers engaged in innovative modes of teaching and learning and with relevant aspects of the applications of new technologies. Finally, while the focus of most contributions to-date has been upon research and scholarship, the implications for teaching comparative and international studies in education deserve further attention in their own right [see Tikly and Crossley (2001)]. We now look forward to the ongoing discourse in future issues of Comparative Education. Guidelines for potential submissions are given on the inside covers of each issue of the journal.