The purpose of comparison. What is comparative

education? What is international

education?

Fernando Reimers

September 3, 2010

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

• Introduction to the course and structure• Your questions• Intuitive comparisons• Comparing three systems• Comparing educational opportunities for girls• 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)

• I  am mostly interested in what is being done worldwide in the field of education and in exploring good models of schools that seem to work unanimously, with only a few changes to suit each country and its dynamics.

• I am interested in knowing this because I plan to set up an international school (or schools) once I have a good model in place.

• I also wish to know about good school models because I think I can benefit from knowing about the best practices in this field, before I open up my own school. This interest me personally because I am dedicated to finding out the best there is to have to give to Pakistan's future generation. And once I have working a model in place I can think about scalability more easily, like the 'Citizens Foundation' has already done in Pakistan, although it is having its own set of problems.

• As we begin this course, I look forward to the discussions that I will have with my peers, who clearly have a wealth of international experience, and hope that through those discussions my own interests regarding the nature of education and educational systems both domestic and abroad, will broaden.

• My interests deal largely with higher education, policy, and management of higher educational institutions. I am particularly interested in many of the post-Soviet economies in transition, with a particular interest in Azerbaijani educational systems. Questions regarding that interest are:

• Question one: What role do natural resources play in the development of higher educational institutions?

• This question derives from my interest in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the role it has played on the development, not only of Azerbaijan (Georgia and Turkey) but its influence on the development of higher educational institutions there. Additionally, I have a particular interest in the role BP plays in that development.

• Question two: How is corruption currently monitored in higher educational systems in post-Soviet countries and what steps must be taken to improve monitoring systems?

• As a result of the development of higher educational institutions in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan, a number of reports have been written regarding the corruption of these universities by the government and private citizens. I am extremely interested in how corruption within education develops and how it effects further development of the institution (or later institutions).

• Question three: How does choice of curriculum/development of curriculum system affect gender distribution in higher educational institutions?

• A number of institutions in Azerbaijan place heavy emphasis on engineering , math, and physical sciences, which would clearly put graduates at an advantage for a job within the B-T-C development or other oil projects in the area. I would be interested to see if this heavy emphasis on STEM courses has any effect on women’s enrollment, which is already a problem in Azerbaijan.

• While these are my current questions, they emerge from my own travels, experience, and study. I truly look forward to learning a great deal from everyone else’s experience and hope that it may change or lend answers to some of the questions I have posed!

• - Is it really possible, or rather, how often does it happen, that research and work in this field brings about policy reform that results in the desired educational outcome or social change?

• - To what extent can we establish best school practices? What are the most important factors that we can examine in schooling worldwide that have made the greatest impact on national development?

• - How have language learning programs expanded opportunities for student education/employment, as well as national growth?

• am primarily interested in finding ways to improve access to quality and functional education in rural communities in sub-saharan Africa. Giving the tie between education, economic wellbeing and health, I am interested in studying educational programs from different parts of the world that has used an integrated approach in addressing this tripod issue. I am also interested in studying education policy trend in developing economies with a view of understanding approaches to policy formulation and implementation that works elsewhere and that could be adapted to suite local situations and thereby improve on education policy challenges in sub-saharan Africa.

• I am mostly interested in acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills to improve education in the developing countries. More specifically, I want to learn how to elaborate preventive actions that preclude negative outcomes in children from low-income areas. 

• Thus, in this course, I would like to understand the main concepts related to educational policy and comparative studies, so I could be able to answer some of the following questions:

• How to expand educational opportunities for children from risk environments?

• What policies are key factors in designing and implementing educational reforms, both at a national as well as at a school/community level?

• How to integrate the macro-system (educational policies) and the micro-systems (children’s learning, academic and social outcomes etc) in order to promote interventions that are holistic and effective?

• What are the basic educational policies that are indispensable for a efficient educational reform?

• How to evaluate other countries’s successful educational systems and policies?

• How to transfer and apply the ideas and positive outcomes from one context to another that is completely different in terms of culture, history and resources?

• I am interested in how literacy can be used to empower poor, underserved populations. I believe that an increase in literacy in developing countries would open doors for entrepreneurship, for increased understanding of health issues like HIV / AIDS, for professional advancement, and for many other opportunities. So much begins with simply reading a sign, or a book, or a newspaper.

• my questions are:• which countries are most successful in promoting literacy

and why?• what can ngos, governments and individuals do to

increase literacy in the developing world?• to what extent are models used in wealthy countries

applicable to school systems in the developing world?

• During my time teaching and conducting teacher trainings in Nepal, I often grappled with the issue of being an outsider and what “right” I had to be there. As I plan to return to Nepal and base my career there, this is an issue I will continue to deal with in the future. While I’m primarily interested in teacher training and curriculum development, particularly at the grassroots level, some of my more over-arching questions pertain to the ethics involved in working internationally and learning how to work effectively and respectfully as guest in a community and culture.

• I am interested in participatory policymaking, and specifically in examining approaches and mechanisms that enable the multiple education stakeholders, such as governments, funders, implementers and local communities, to engage in meaningful partnership to design and implement education policies. Within this question, I would like to examine the role women play in the success of education policies when involved in the design of these policies.

• My main interests in the field of international education are how to achieve gender equity in the developing world and how education can be a tool of empowerment.  How can girl’s education be a priority? What kind of policies have been used to facilitate this, and in what contexts? How can men and boys be involved in supporting girls? Why do some projects achieve results in one environment and not in another, when they would seem to be very similar? Furthermore, I believe education to be a fundamental tool for empowering individuals, but what kind of education is most effective? In other words, what type of education is the best tool for allowing individuals to improve their situation?

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

you attended school?70%

1%8%

22%

1. In one country

2. In two countries

3. In three countries

4. In four or more countries

Small Group Discussion

• In groups of 4 people where members have experienced at least two different school systems discuss:– What were the strengths of each system– What kind of competencies did the school

priorize (academic, artistic, social, emotional)– How did parents participate in school– How much autonomy did teachers have to

design curriculum

Debrief

• Strenghts• Priorities• Parental Participation• Teacher Autonomy

Do you have comparative experience in the field of education

I hav

e not w

orked

in t.

.

I hav

e only

work

ed in

...

I hav

e w

orke

d in tw

o ...

I hav

e w

orke

d in th

ree.

..

I hav

e w

orke

d in fo

ur ..

9%

26%

9%

25%

31%1. I have not worked in the

field of education2. I have worked in

education only in the country in which I was schooled

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

Discussion

• What are your observations about:

• the relationship between teacher status and education quality?

• The relationship between teacher status and teacher autonomy?

• The relationship between teacher autonomy and education quality?

Have you?

Liv

ed o

r work

ed in

a ..

.

Liv

ed o

r work

ed in

m...

Nev

er li

ved o

r work

e...

44%

13%

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

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

3. Never lived or worked in a developing country?

How many languages do you speak?

One

Tw

o

Thre

e F

our F

ive

Six

Sev

en o

r mor

e

13%

44%

30%

0%0%

4%

10%

1. One

2. Two

3. Three

4. Four

5. Five

6. Six

7. Seven or more

Comparisons

• How do education results relate to education policies?

• Analyzing Finland, Korea and Singapore

• What’s Linda Darling-Hammond’s argument?

• Strong commitment to equity and to education

• Productive teaching and learning systems• Expanding Access• Building teacher capacity

Small Group Discussion

• What lessons from the Finnish, Korean and Singaporean Experience can be transferred to the US?

• What are the limits of transferring those lessons?

Educating Adolescent Girls

• Core argument made by Cynthia Lloyd

Key Concepts

– Initial access to school– Access to school– School attendance– Overage or Repetition– School completion– Learning– Transition to next level– Educational attainment– Formal, Non-Formal, Informal Education

Sources

– Sources– Educational Attainment Project– http://web.worldbank.org/external/default/main

?menuPK=1460753&pagePK=64168176&piPK=64168140&theSitePK=1460718

– Unesco Institute of Statistics

Small Group Discussion

• What are the core findings in Lloyd’s analysis?

• What countries/regions provide more educational opportunities to girls?

• What countries/regions provide less educational opportunities to girls?

• What information would be helpful for the countries with less equity to learn from those more equitable? What can be transferred?

What is Comparative Education?

What is International Education?

a narrow definition

an 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

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

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 AbroadInternational Education

Development Education

Comparative PedagogyIntra-educationalAnd intra-cultural

studies

Internationalpedagogy

Study of work ofInternational organizations

Halls typology of comparative education

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