Comparative education

COMPARATIVE EDUCATION AND CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN EDUCATION NOTES.

The course focuses on Comparative and Critical Contemporary Issues in Education. The course examines the discipline of Comparative Education; Meaning, Aims, Rationale, Development, Comparative Methodology and Challenges facing the study of Comparative Education; Some National Systems of Education of selected Countries of the World (North America, South America, Europe, Asian and Africa) National Educational Policy objectives, Planning issues and educational innovations ; Critical contemporary issues and trends in global education especially Universal Primary Education (UPE), Education for All (EFA), Gender and Education, Dependency and Education, Equity and Education, , Human Rights, Justice and Education, Employment and Education, Information Communication Technology and Education, Teacher Education, Globalization and Education.

Definition of Comparative Education

Many scholars in comparative education do not seem to agree on a single definition of comparative education. However there is a general consensus that a good definition of the comparative discipline should contain at least the elements of content, methodology and purpose of the study. In this regard we look at some of the definitions that have been widely accepted in the study of comparative education:

• Nicholas Hans, (1958) - defines comparative education as a step-by-step study of different and often contrasting educational systems with a view of understanding their differences and similarities.
• E.H. Epstein, (1995) - defines comparative education as a field of study that applies historical, philosophical and social science theories and methods to international problems in education.
• Vernon Mallinson, (1975) - defines comparative education as the analytical study of factors that influence the development of education in historical and comparative perspectives to identify the principles upon which solutions to educational problems are based.
• Fraser and Brickman, (1968) -they defined comparative education as the analysis of educational systems and problems of social, political, economic, cultural, ideological and other contents in order to understand the factors underlying similarities and differences in education in various countries.
• Beredy GZF,(1964) - defines comparative education simply as the analytical study of foreign education systems.
• Isaac Kandel - says that comparative education seeks to analyze and compare the forces which make for differences between national systems of education.
• Harold Noah and Max Eckstein-they define comparative education to be a discipline at the intersection of the social sciences education and cross national study.
• Peter Ragatt- defines comparative education as the cross-national study of general propositions about relationships between education and society, and within educational relationships.

In light of the above definitions it is evident that comparative educationists are primarily scholars who study education in different environments in order to discover why they are the way they are and also attempt to solve educational problems. It is also clear that comparative education is a multi-disciplinary subject that uses knowledge from other humanities and social sciences disciplines.

We therefore would want at this point to give a summary of the definitions of comparative education as "a discipline through which one makes comparisons of education systems across national boundaries by examining in detail the structure, curriculum, administration, financing and participation, with the aim of understanding the factors and forces that account for the differences and similarities in these systems of education"

Defining Comparative Education

a)Define Comparative education in your own words.

b) Identify and explain five aspect that comprise the definition of comparative education