The purpose of comparison. What is comparative

education? What is international

education?

Fernando ReimersSeptember 2009

• Introduction Teaching Team. • Sections• Syllabus on-line • Reading packet• Communicating with Teaching Team• Assignments

• Introduction to the course and structure• History of Comparative Education• Dissemination of ideas about education—influences in practice• Kandel—Education of Teachers• Husen—Consensus in the 1950s• Classification of the field today• Purposes of comparison and link to different professions• A framework to compare• What institutions are involved• Examining the Expansion of Educational Opportunity around the WorldA

quick historical overview of the development of mass education• A framework to think about educational opportunity• A discussion of the equity and the relevance gaps (civic education, science

and engineering education, global education)

Not including college and graduate school, in how many countries have

you attended school?70%

1%8%

22%

1. In one country2. In two countries3. In three countries4. In four or more

countries

What is your experience in the field of education

I hav

e not w

orked i

n t..

I hav

e only

worked i

n...

I hav

e wor

ked in

two ...

I hav

e wor

ked in

three

...

I hav

e wor

ked in

four ..

9%

26%

9%

25%

31%1. I have not worked in the

field of education2. I have only worked in

the country in which I was born

3. I have worked in two different countries

4. I have worked in three different countries

5. I have worked in four or more different countries

In what region of the world do you have most knowledge and experience?

Africa

US and Canad

a

Wes

tern Euro

pe

Eastern Europe

Mexic

o, Centra

l Americ

a a..

Caribbea

n

Centra

l Asia

Eastern Asia

Southeas

t Asia

Middle

East

8%

31%

6%

4% 4%

12%

8%

0%1%

26%

1. Africa2. US and Canada3. Western Europe4. Eastern Europe5. Mexico, Central America

and South America6. Caribbean7. Central Asia8. Eastern Asia9. Southeast Asia10. Middle East

Have you?

Lived or

worke

d in a

...

Lived or

worke

d in m

...

Nev

er liv

ed or

worke

...

44%

13%

44%1. Lived or worked in a developing country?

2. Lived or worked in more than a developing country?

3. Never lived or worked in a developing country?

How many languages do you speak?

One

Two Three Four

Five Six

Seven

or mor

e

13%

44%

30%

0%0%4%

10%

1. One2. Two3. Three4. Four5. Five6. Six 7. Seven or more

What is Comparative Education?

What is International Education?

a narrow definitionan expanded definition

• Why do we compare?• Examples of comparison• Why do we look abroad?

• Educational ideas have been ‘exported’ for a long time…

• John Amos Comenius 1592 to 1670

Jean Jacques Rousseau, 1712-1778

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, 1746-1827

Joseph Lancaster 1778-1838

W. Humboldt

Andres Bello

J.J. Rousseau

S

Simon Rodriguez

Joseph Lancaster

Simon Bolivar

Horace Mann

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

Horace and Mary Mann

• What is the number of students in the primary schools in the commune or district?

• What is the proportion of the total number of these students to the total population?

• Approximately how many students are grouped under a single director or teacher?

• At which age are children admitted to the primary schools?• Are children of both sexes admited to the same school and until

what age?• How are students assessed and for what purpose?• How are students streamed?• Is there peer education?• How much time is devoted to literacy and math instruction?• At what age do children leave primary school?

Marc Antoine Jullien in 1816

• Systematic comparisons are more recent

• Can you think of one instance where international comparisons have influenced education policy in a country with which you are familiar?

McKinsey Study

• Get the best people to become teachers• Develop them into effective instructors• Ensure that the system is able to deliver

the best instruction for every child

http://www.nctq.org/p/publications/docs/mckinsey_education_report_20071202070650.pdf

Think about the applicability of the recommendations of the McKinsey Study to one education system you know well. To what extent are these recommendations applicable to

that system?

To a gr

eat e

xtent

To some e

xtent

I don’t k

now

Not much

Not at a

ll

33%

51%

2%9%

5%

1. To a great extent2. To some extent3. I don’t know4. Not much5. Not at all

Comparative Education• The scholarly study of education across different national

contexts. • Akin to other comparative scholarly disciplines, such as

the comparative study of politics, or the comparative study of business, or the comparative study of culture.

• Purpose understanding the relationship between education and social institutions, with understanding the goals societies or groups assign to educational institutions, with the methods used to achieve those goals, with the ways to organize, finance or manage educational institutions.

• Because education is not only a scholarly field of study, but principally a profession, comparative education inevitably has a practical side. Interest in impact.

• Kandel’s argument for comparison

• Kandel’s argument for global education

Isaac Kandel

International Education• The use of comparative knowledge for the explicit purpose of

educational improvement in a particular country, typically a developing country.

• The field emerged in the late 1940s when a series of ideas and institutions emerged. Central among them was the field of international development associated to the concept of economic development.

• Economic development as a staged process. • Economic development could be planned. • From economic planning to educational planning• This gave rise to the field of international education and

development, meaning efforts to support educational planning in developing countries in order to support the economic development in those countries.

• Torsten Husen• Mapping of the field of

international education

Comparative education

Comparative studies Education Abroad International Education

Development Education

Comparative PedagogyIntra-educationalAnd intra-cultural

studies

Internationalpedagogy

Study of work ofInternational organizations

Halls typology of comparative education

• Question?

The aims of comparative education

• Describes what might be the consequences of certain courses of action, by looking at experiences in various countries

• Contributes to the development of education theory

• Supports educational planning• Helps to cooperation and mutual

understanding among nations

• Shows what is possible by examining alternatives to provision at home

• Offers yardsticks by which to judge the performance of education systems

• Describes what might be the consequences of certain courses of action, by looking at experiences in various countries

• Provides a body of descriptive and explanatory data which allows us to see various practices and procedures in a very wide context

• Contributes to the development of an increasingly sophisticated theoretical framework in which to describe and analyze educational phenomena

• Serves to provide authoritative objective data which can be used to put the less objective data of others who use comparisons for a variety of political and other reasons to the test

• Has an important supportive and instructional role to play in the development of any plans for educational reform

• Helps to foster cooperation and mutual understanding among nations by discussing cultural differences and similarities and offering explanations for them

• Is of intrinsic intellectual interest as a scholarly activity as other comparative fields.

• The Internationalization of Education Policy

– In what way is education policy internationalized?– What are the positive effects of internationalization?– What are the negative effects?

– What is educational transfer?

On balance Educational Transfer…

Is a

posit

ive pro

cess

Is neit

her p

ositiv

e nor...

Is a

negati

ve pr

oces

s

33% 33%33%1. Is a positive

process2. Is neither positive

nor negative3. Is a negative

process

Educational transfer…

Supports

the p

rocess

..

Is in

conse

quen

tial to

...

Is detr

imen

tal to

educ..

.

33% 33%33%1. Supports the

process of educational development

2. Is inconsequential to educational development

3. Is detrimental to educational development

Imposed

RequiredUnder

Constraint

NegotiatedUnder

ConstraintBorrowedPurposely

IntroducedThroughInfluence

1) Totalitarian/authoritarian rule, etc.2) Defeated/occupied countries3) Required by bilateral and multilateral agreements4) Intentional copying of policy/practice observed elsewhere5) General influence of educational ideas/methods

Source: Phillips and Schweisfurth 2007

Level 1: World regions/continents

Level 2: Countries

Level 3: States/Provinces

Level 4: Districts

Level 5: Schools

Level 6: Classrooms

Level 7: Individuals

Cur

ricul

um

Teac

hing

Met

hods

Edu

catio

nal F

inan

ce

Man

agem

ent S

truct

ures

Pol

itica

l Cha

nge

Labo

r Mar

ket

Oth

er a

spec

ts

Ethnic

Group

s

Age G

roup

sReli

gious

Gro

ups

Gende

r Gro

ups

Other G

roup

sEnti

re P

opula

tion

Bray and Thomas

• 2000 years ago…from a private affair to a public interest

Protestant Reformation 1560

Dr Bells School, Great Junction St Leith, founded in 1839 by Dr Bell to teach what he called the Madras Method of Education. He is buried at Westminister Abbey London.

The first public school in America was established by Puritan settlers in 1635 in the home of Schoolmaster Philemon Pormont and was later moved to School Street in Boston

January 11, 1651, Thomas Mayhew, Jr., established the first school on Martha's Vineyard to teach the native children and any of the young Indian men who were willing to learn. He hired Peter Folger to become the first teacher. Folger later became the grandfather of Benjamin Franklin, and his descendants still make their home on the island. Folger found the Indian "very quick to learn and willing to be instructed in the ways of the English."

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Human Capital

• UNESCO

• PREAMBLE• Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable

rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

• Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

• Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

• Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

• Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

• Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

• Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

• Article 26.• (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be

free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

• (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

• (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

• THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, IN BRIEF...

• On December 10, 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations meeting in Paris. At that time, Unesco’s Director-General, Jaime Torres Bodet, stressed the importance of this event in these words:

• ‘The declaration of 10 December 1948 is more than a historical summary, it is a programme. Every paragraph is a call to action, every line a condemnation of apathy, every sentence a repudiation of some moment of our individual or national history; every word forces us to scrutinize more closely the situation in the world today. The destiny of mankind is an indivisible responsibility which we all must share.’

BIRTH OF THE ‘UNESCO SEMINAR’, SÈVRESDuring the summer of 1947 UNESCO organized its first

Summer Seminar in Sèvres (France). This seminar focused attention on two main areas of interest:

Ways and means of improving the curriculum, within the educational systems of the Member States, as a means of

developing world-mindedness; The influence of differences in cultural environment on the growth and adjustment of adolescents of various countries

Education for All• The six goals are:• Goal 1: Expand early childhood care and

education • Goal 2: Provide free and compulsory primary

education for all • Goal 3: Promote learning and life skills for young

people and adults • Goal 4: Increase adult literacy by 50 per cent • Goal 5: Achieve gender parity by 2005, gender

equality by 2015 • Goal 6: Improve the quality of education

Transnational Space• Multilateral (Intergovernmental) Organizations

UUNN• Multilateral Development Institutions. World

Bank. UNESCO. Regional Banks.• Bilateral Development Agencies (JICA,

USAID, CIDA, GTZ)• International Non-Governmental

Organizations (Faith based Organizations, Save the Children)

• Consulting Firms, Think Tanks and Universities

• Interest Groups

• The History of Education can be construed as the struggle between two projects. A project that seeks to conserve society, it’s traditions, knowledge, institutions, structures, and one that seeks to transform it.

• Changing schools is hard, changing them to change society is even harder. Educators work at the same time to reproduce society, to transmit knowledge, worldviews and culture, and also to improve society, to enable students to have more choices and be freer than their parents.

• The XX Century is a Remarkable Period throghout the world with real gains of the progressive project.

Equality of Educational Opportunity

• The likelihood that any person in a given country can enroll in an educational institution, be supported to learn at high levels, complete and proceed to the next existing level and type of education, independently of characteristics other than effort and ability, and in particular independently of their social class of origin, race, gender and location of residence.

How do we measure progress?• Inputs

Per pupil Spending• Processes

Structures, Curriculum• Outputs

Educational Attainment, Literacy• Outcomes

Employment and Productivity, Political Participation, Social Capital

Key Indicators

• Gross Enrollment Rates• Net Enrollment Rates• Repetition Rates• Student Flows –completion rates—• Learning• Skills

Dimensions of educational inequality:

        Racial Inequality        Gender Inequality        Casts Inequality        Socio-economic inequality        Regional inequality

What is equality of educational opportunity?

• Conservative Definition (Position in the social structure determines education chances)

• Liberal Definition (Equality of Treatment)

• Progressive Definition (Equality of Outcomes requires inequality of treatment. Positive Discrimination).

Equality of Educational Opportunity

• Equality of Outcomes (Social and Cultural Capital) Options in Life.

• Equality of Learning Outputs• Equality of Processes• Equality of Inputs• Equality of Access

Equality of Inputs Per-Pupil expenditures

Teacher characteristicsInstructional ResourcesPhysical facilities 

Learning outputs and outcomes from prior levels.

The role of school segregation

Equality of Processes • Instructional Practices

• Teacher responsiveness• Time on task• Fit between curriculum and student

background • Language of instruction

Equality of Outputs• Results tied to

curriculum objectives

Academic SkillsEducational

Attainement

Equality of Outcomes

• Equal Freedom• Equal Capabilities

(not functionings)• Equal Social Capital• Equal Cultural

Capital

Opportunity to Learn

• Poor children fail to learn when education policies and practices generate instruction of low-quality. In contrast, when education policies generate adequate opportunities, poor children learn at comparable levels to their non-poor counterparts.

Opportunity to LearnFirst, opportunity to enroll in first grade in school. Second, the opportunity to learn sufficiently in that first

grade to complete it with enough command of basic pre-academic skills to continue learning in school.

Third, the opportunity to complete each education cycle.Fourth, the opportunity that, having completed the cycle,

graduates have skills and knowledge comparable to those of other graduates of the same cycle.

Fifth, that what was learned in the cycle serves the graduate to have other type of social and economic opportunities, to expand their life chances.

1. Commitment to educate all at high levels2. Schools that are themselves democratic communities3. Relationships between schools and communities4. Teachers prepared to value diversity, tolerant and

who can model democratic practices5. Curriculum for democratic citizenship6. Frequent daily opportunities to learn at high levels, to

think, choose and be tolerant

1

2

3

4

5

6

Recap

• History of Comparative Education• Dissemination of ideas about education—influences in

practice• Kandel—Education of Teachers• Husen—Consensus in the 1950s• Classification of the field today• Purposes of comparison and link to different professions• A framework to compare• What institutions are involved• Examining the Expansion of Educational Opportunity around the

WorldA quick historical overview of the development of mass education

• A framework to think about educational opportunity• A discussion of the equity and the relevance gaps (civic education,

science and engineering education, global education)• A discussion of the challenges of implementing quality reforms• An analysis of the opportunities and challenges offered by the

Millenium Development Goals and Education for All