Comparative Education examines the common problems facing education systems around the world as the result of global economic, social, and cultural forces. Issues related to the governance, financing, provision, processes, and outcomes of education systems for differently situated social groups are described and analyzed in specific regional, national, and local contexts.

There is a dire need today to create spaces in which people can make meaning of their existence in the world, abiding by cultural frameworks and practices that acknowledge and validate a meaningful existence for all. People are not just isolated individuals but are connected in diverse ways with other persons within our natural and social environment which is part of the whole universe. The African philosophy of uBuntu or humaneness is re-emerging for its timely relevance and potential as indispensable (...) in our quest for global citizenship, peace, and mutual understanding in securing sustainable human development in the broader ecosystem. Comparative educationists have the challenge to devise theoretical frameworks, epistemological and pedagogical constructs as well as pragmatic, useful and effective ways of promoting the virtues of compassion and recognition of our common humanity in eliminating the ills of domination and control that are guided by greed, hatred, jealousy, and intolerance. Comparative Education for Global Citizenship, Peace and Shared Living through Ubuntu paves the way for a better understanding of the critical importance of the collective search and endeavor towards achieving the virtues of nonviolence, peace, shared values of living together, global citizenship, improved quality of life for all and a better appreciation of the positive implications of interdependence. (shrink)

_Comparative Education: A Field in Discussion_ is a personal reflection on the field of comparative education from the perspective of one scholar who has been active in the field since the 1980s.

Background Ensuring morally competent nurses depends on many factors, such as environmental, social, political, and cultural. However, several inadequacies in nursing education have been documented, and no common framework has been established for how nursing ethics should be taught in undergraduate education. Research questions What are the different approaches across nursing programmes established in teaching ethics? What are the main similarities and differences across programmes facilitating a common understanding in developing a curriculum capable of preparing a morally competent (...) nurse? Research design International comparative education study in five steps: (1) formulating the initial question; (2) defining the units of comparison; (3) determining the variables of comparison; (4) describing the findings; (5) interpreting the findings. The comparative variables were identified, extracted, and populated in a piloted grid. Participants Six universities were purposefully selected by the Promoting a Morally Competent Nurse project partners for their nursing education curricula as delivered in 2022–2023. Ethical considerations No ethical approval was required, given no human participants and public data regarding nursing curricula. Findings Variability emerged in the terminologies used in naming the courses, the numbers of credits and hours devoted to teaching ethics, when the courses are delivered (since the initial semesters of nursing education or concentrated in the final years), and their main modes of delivery (a single or separate module or integrated across the curriculum). Contents have some similarities, whereas the teaching methods varied and included (or not) explicit connections with clinical practice. Attendance is mandatory in all courses. The assessment methods used varied from knowledge-based to more competence-based approaches involving multidimensional strategies. Conclusions This comparative study explored similarities and differences across nursing programmes in six different European countries. The reviewed ethics curricula lack significant clarity, and they offer important areas to consider for future development. Issues emerged regarding terminologies, learning workloads, when to deliver, how to deliver, the main contents, and the teaching and assessment methods that merit further discussion. (shrink)

Sparked by global capitalism’s demand for new knowledge and new commodities, as well as new logistical systems to deliver them, the nature of education has changed significantly. Universities, in striving to become a part of this knowledge society, have focused on responding to these demands, at the expense of the humanities and social sciences. The dominance of this way of thinking, primarily a product of Western educational thought, has clearly affected approaches to education in the East. The originalities, (...) authenticities, and unique perspectives of the East have failed to get enough attention, subsumed by the focus on science and technology. However many education systems are still endeavouring to capture some of the indigenous and authentic culture of their home countries, incorporating national cultural ideals, even in subjects with a primarily vocational focus. Although the drive for scientific knowledge has led to a degree of standardisation and convergence, cultural differences still play a role in the education theory and policy of different countries. This book examines these cultural differences between different East Asian and South Asian countries, with chapters ranging from historical educational analysis to contemporary re-interpretations of the construction of society and education in the East. This book was originally published as a special issue of _Comparative Education. _. (shrink)

This paper examines some of the problems of periodisation that arise in attempts to compare historical developments in the education systems of two or more countries.

This paper examines some of the problems of periodisation that arise in attempts to compare historical developments in the education systems of two or more countries.

By its nature, comparative education values diversity. Respectfully studying how different groups pursue education provides opportunities to learn about the variety of human experience, expand the boundaries of the field, and ultimately re-understand ourselves. At its core, the field leverages the dynamic space between life as culturally located and being human. This chapter contributes value to comparative education from an Oceanic viewpoint. Oceania is the world region with more water and languages than any other. Because (...) of its diversity and colonial histories, Oceania is a site of creative tension between regionalism and self-determination. Unsurprisingly, conflict exists in the region. However, a key need in our ‘sea of islands’ for sustainability is to live well together. Faced with the uncertainties of the future such as climate change, mutual understanding and support is at a premium. The collaboration of writers; Solomon Islander, Tongan, and Anglo-Welsh, embodies this, as does the chapter’s woven mat-based structure. The thrust of this chapter is that through walking backwards into the future and embracing solidarity through diversity, we can promote a sustainable educational journey that offers the hope of continuity in the face of the challenges ahead. (shrink)

This paper describes a 'structural typology' to assist in the analysis of ways in which policy-makers in one country explore educational provision in another and seek to 'borrow' from it. In this analysis we look specifically at England's 'cross-national attraction' to education in Germany over the past 200 years. The paper aims to provide an analytical programme to use in comparative education and to facilitate exploration of the importance of context in shaping educational phenomena.

Zhejiang's aesthetic education has developed rapidly in recent years, especially in the context of global aesthetic education that promotes the integration of noble culture with popular culture and emphasizes diversity, compromise, and reproducibility. In light of this year's high reexamination of aesthetic education by the country, provinces, and cities, aesthetic education has been elevated to a new level. However, existing aesthetic education still has problems, such as the indistinguishability of aesthetic education and art (...) class='Hi'>education concepts, the one-sidedness of aesthetic education content, and the shortage of aesthetic education teachers. These problems have long affected the development of Zhejiang's aesthetic education. The issue of promoting aesthetic education has become a major concern for aesthetic education teachers throughout the province and even the country. Therefore, this article focuses on the current situation and problems of Zhejiang's aesthetic education. A comparison of the current status and achievements of Taiwan's aesthetic education with Zhejiang, drawing on each other's experience, learning from each other's strengths and weaknesses, and in-depth research on teachers' performance in aesthetic education, aesthetic education training programs, and campus cultural construction, and other aspects is put forward. A series of implementation plans for the promotion of aesthetic education, such as "synergy training" and "education of people with a view," was provided as a practical experiment and a theoretical reference for promoting the rapid development of aesthetic education in the country. (shrink)

This article considers a postcolonial approach to comparative philosophy of education as comprising four key features: ethnography, translation, hybridity, and critique. This conception of comparative philosophy of education is first located in the postcolonial context that demands sensitivity to the ongoing dangers of orientalism. Each of these four identified aspects of comparative philosophy of education is illustrated with reference to the comparative work of a prominent contemporary Chinese philosopher, Zehou Li (李泽厚). It concludes (...) with some observations about the challenges that face a postcolonial comparative philosophy of education. (shrink)

John Dewey.--William Chandler Bagley.--Herman Harrell Horne.--The Catholic viewpoint.--Educational implications compared.--Conclusion.--Bibliography (p. [129]-135).

In this article the role of comparative studies of music education within the globalized world is discussed by looking at a particular initiative in the general education field called “Didaktik and/or curriculum.” By drawing on the characteristics and issues of this particular initiative, as well as on some critical perspectives that those characteristics and issues entail, the potential of comparative studies in the field of music education is addressed. In the course of drawing on those (...) connections, the challenges of comparative studies that arise from globalization and “glocalization” are discussed, along with three levels of such studies that emerge when regarding them as meeting places for ideas, experiences, and competences. This discussion will suggest some possible benefits of future comparative studies of music education. (shrink)

An accelerating rate of systemic, structural and institutional convergences leads to the transformation of world educational space. A comparative study makes possible to analyse at a systems level both philosophy of education as systematic scientific knowledge and education as a system. Philosophy attempts not only to comprehend the existing system and to formulate values for the educational system of the future, but also to generalize and compare existing experience. But “experience” has different meanings. First, it indicates the (...) concrete, urgent experience of reality and contains the components of sensory receptions and sensations, their spiritualizing senses, an entire conceptual complex, and also accumulated habits, skills, and knowledge. From the other side, it is understood as a component of social-historical existence, including the storage, creation and transfer of cultural senses, objectified in the standards and values, in lingual and objective forms; this means that an educational experience is the axiological basis of education, its value-purposeful characteristics. Philosophy of education is an independent specific field of knowledge adequately reflecting conceptual, theoretic-methodological and practical trends of education. It has global, national and local level of its reflection. Comparative investigation in philosophy of education is a comparison of such levels and explanation of their interaction. Themain methodological question is the extent to which it is expedient to use the achievements of foreign experience in educational theory and practice in another country. Comparative study makes it possible to pass from descriptions to the answer to more fundamental questions: to explanation and development of reasons. (shrink)

Since Eugen Weber’s (1976) classic work Peasants into Frenchmen, the role of mass education in nation-building has been repeatedly discussed in the literature on nationalism. However, the specific...

Disturbed by these acrimonious arguments, the authors - former colleagues and university-press board members - embarked on an ambitious project to reexamine a number of major literary and philosophical works dealing with the liberal arts and education. With their discussions ranging from Plato to Rousseau, from Cicero to Vico, from Erasmus to Matthew Arnold, Sousa and Weinsheimer offer not a history of education philosophy but an examination of the present.

German education plays a huge role in the development of education sciences and modern universities internationally. It is influenced by the educational concept of _Bildung_, which defines Germany ‘s theoretical and curricular ventures. This concept is famously untranslatable into other languages and is often misinterpreted as education, instruction, training, upbringing and other terms which don’t encompass its cultural ambitions. Despite this hurdle, _Bildung_ is now being recognized in current discussions of education issues such as standardization, teaching (...) to the test, evidence-based policy and high stakes testing. This volume clears up the confusion and misunderstandings surrounding _Bildung_ by examining the origins of the concept and how it has been applied throughout history. It paves the way for educators to fully understand and benefit from this model and all it has to offer. (shrink)