Comparative education is a discipline in the social sciences which entails the scrutiny and evaluation of different educational systems, such as those in various countries. Professionals in this area of endeavor are absorbed in advancing evocative terminologies and guidelines for education worldwide, enhancing educational structures and producing a context to which the success and effectivity of education programs and initiatives can be assessed.
Objectives According to scholars in the field, comparative education has five purposes:
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 that are valid in more than one country. To help the current generation understand the nowadays education systems with reference to the past. Comparative education is often incorrectly assumed to exclusively encompass studies that compare two or more different countries. In fact, since its early days researchers in this field have often also studied international institutions, international cooperation, and transnational influences on education systems and practices. Single-country and single-site studies have made important contributions to the field. Some large-scale projects, such as the PISA and TIMSS studies, have made important contributions to the field through explicitly comparative macro analysis of massive data sets.
Rationale Many important educational questions can best be examined from an international and comparative perspective. For example, in the United States, there is no nationwide certificate of completion of secondary education. This raises the hypothetical question of what may be the advantages and disadvantages of leaving such certification to each of the 50 states. Comparative education may draw on the experience of countries such as Japan and France, for instance, to show how a centralized system works, and illustrate the possible advantages and disadvantages of a more centralized approach to educational certification. Critics of comparative education sometimes disparagingly refer to its approaches and conclusions as "policy borrowing," with the implication that policies are best developed organically according to local needs rather than what appears to have worked in other contexts. However, comparative education scholars argue that education everywhere faces many of the same challenges, and there is much to learn from both successes and failures in other contexts.Reagan, Timothy G. Non-Western Educational Traditions: Alternative Approaches to Educational Thought and Practice. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1996.
Disciplinary vs. interdisciplinary identity Comparative education is closely related to, and may overlap with, international education, international development education, and comparative sociology. There are also efforts to expand and "decolonize" the field of philosophy of education with a comparative education approach.Hebert, D. G. (2021). Editorial Introduction: Global competence, decolonization, and Asian educational philosophies. Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education (NJCIE), 5(2), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.7577/njcie.4158 While in some countries, comparative education is fully established as a distinct field of educational research, in others it might best be regarded as an interdisciplinary field that brings together scholars from diverse specializations. For instance, specialists in math education,A notable example from math education is Kaiser, G., Luna, E., & Huntley, J. (Eds.), International Comparisons in Mathematics Education (London: Falmer Press, 1999). social studies education,An example from history education is Erdmann, E., & Hasberg, W. (Eds.), History Teacher Education: Global Interrelations (Schwalbach/Ts: Wochenschau, 2015). or various arts subjectsA recent example from the field of music education is Hebert, David & Hauge, Torunn Bakken. (2019). Advancing Music Education in Northern Europe. London: Routledge. Similar books addressing the same subject area in other regions include Torres-Santos, Raymond (Ed.), Music Education in the Caribbean and Latin America: A Comprehensive Guide (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017), and Akuno, Emily Achieng' (Ed.), Music Education in Africa: Concept, Process, and Practice (Routledge, 2019). may develop research designed to enable meaningful comparisons between national educational systems with a focus on their specific subject area of expertise. It follows that comparative education research can examine schooling holistically and globally (macro-level analysis), or may alternatively focus on the status of a particular subject area in a specific region of the world, thereby benefiting from subject-area or regional expertise (meso- or micro-level analysis). Each approach may have characteristic advantages and disadvantages.
Theories According to the Bloomsbury Handbook of Theory in Comparative and International Education, the theories used in comparative education can be broken down into 5 categories: foundational theories, post-foundational theories, theoretical adaptations and revisions, theories of policy and practice, and interdisciplinary and emerging approaches.
Foundational theories include structural-functionalism, imperialism, colonialism, coloniality, Marxism, human capital theory, dependency theory, and world-system analysis. Structural-functionalism, associated with Talcott Parsons, attempts to explain social phenomena in relationship to a larger systems. In comparative education this entails analyzing education in the context of social, political, and other systems it interacts with. Imperialism in comparative education involves the exploration of how powerful nations to impose their educational practices and knowledge on others. Collins English Dictionary defines colonialism as "the practice by which a powerful country directly controls less powerful countries and uses their resources to increase its own power and wealth". In comparative education this looks at how educational systems have been shaped by this control. Marxist theory in comparative education looks at the role that social hierarchy plays in education. "In one of the most influential writings on the role of education in development in the 20th century, Theodore W. Schultz explored the idea of education as a form of capital and introduced the notion of education as a form of human capital."
Post-foundational theories in comparative education include post-colonialism, post-modernism, post-structuralism, post-socialist transformation, and gender theories. A post-colonialism lens of comparative education seeks to understand the role that colonial and post-colonial education systems have on cultural mixing and who has been included in forming educational systems. Post-modernism is based on a pluralistic and reflexivity episteme with a focus on space, information, and performativity. Post-structuralism rejects ideas of structuralism that draw conclusions about society and educational systems based on language usage. They argue that language can only be understood in context of the system that produced it. Post-socialist transformation in education examines how educational processes have changed in formerly socialist countries such as the soviet union. These scholars examine how political and western influences have changed education since the fall of socialism. A focus on gender in comparative education can take many different focuses from how gender is defined, to equity in educational practices between genders, access to education, the effect of education for women on politics and economy, and violence against women in the educational system.
Theoretical adaptations and revisions used in comparative education are neo-liberalism, neo-institutionalism, neo-realism, neo-Gramscian, regimes and regionalism, and cultural political economy (CPE). Neo-liberalism examines the privatization of education where corporations control education through private institutions, financing for teacher or training, or other influences of capitalism. Neo-institutionalism looks at institutional change in education as a result of choice, historic factor, or social change. The neo-realist theory of international relations in education looks at not only the role of the state's authority in education, but also on how international structures shape educational systems. The neo-Gramscian school examines the interaction between material capabilities, ideas, and educational institutions. The study of regimes and regionalism looks at who is shaping educational systems, regional or global entities. According to Verger, Fontdevila, and Zancajo "CPE is an analytical and heuristic approach that pushes us to observe how drivers of a different nature (agentic and structural, global and local, material and ideational, etc.) interact in the production of pro-privatization reforms through the mechanisms of variation, selection and retention."
Comparative education theories of policy and practice are constructivism, learner-centeredness, differentiation theory, externalization, policy borrowing, policy lending, peace education theory, and human rights education. Constructivism in comparative education examines the factors that influence which ideas gain traction, influence and ultimately become practice in education. A learner-centeredness approach is a social constructivism approach that looks at the ways in which student learning is influenced by beliefs, learning strategies, learning styles, and personal characteristics. Differentiation theory, sometimes called systems theory, attempts to simplify a system by looking at what is part of a system and what is its environment. Externalization uses differentiation theory to examine how ideas are transferred between groups. According to Steiner-Khamsi, "whereas diffusion relates to the outcome of educational transfer, the study of borrowing and lending deals with the process by which reforms are transplanted from one context to another." Peace education examines education that enables learners to work towards comprehensive peace and an end to social violence. Human rights education examines content and processes for teaching about human rights as well as the desired goals and outcomes of this education.
Interdisciplinary and emerging approaches to comparative education include theorizing about race and racism, queer theory, transitologies, actor-network theory, social network analysis, and capabilities approach. Theories about race and racism in education look at the ways in which our systems of education support and reinforce social differences based on race. Queer theory in comparative education looks at ways in which students can examine tradiational education in a more inclusive, critical, and radical lens to include queer perspectives. Transitologie focuses on transformation in education and the political, social, economic and ideological changes that coincided with the metamorphosis. Actor-network theory examines how human and non-human forces interact and influence education changes. Social network analysis looks at the web of connections between individuals or organizations to understand how educational ideas are shared and transmitted. The capabilities approach examines the link between knowledge and capability as well as the ways in which education can assist individuals in meeting their capability.
Comparative and International Education Society The Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) was founded in 1956 to foster "cross-cultural understanding, scholarship, academic achievement, and societal development through the international study of educational ideas, systems, and practices."
Comparative Education Society of India