Search results

Historical studies of comparative education have been available and utilised in Europe and North America to justify and legitimise comparative and international education research in present day contexts (Cowen; Masemann et al.; Psacharopoulos; Schriewer). However, a review of the literature of comparative education research in Asia and the Pacific discloses that very little is known about its own history, purpose, or direction. The aim of this paper is to explore the idea that part of this circumstance stems from the fact that these fields of study are often perceived as undefined.

This analysis suggests that in the Asia and Pacific region, research in comparative and international education is generally perceived as narrowly defined.

This article points out that the “fields” differ in terms of paradigmatic representation but are both change‐dependent, and that while comparative education research does not necessarily require an international dimension to it, international education must contain comparative elements for critical analysis and reflection.

The first study of its kind to review the history of comparative education research in the region.

This article is intended to stimulate theoretical reflection in international comparative studies in library and information science (comparative LIS).

The need for theory is emphasized and shortcomings in comparative LIS in respect of theory are identified. On the basis of literature from other comparative disciplines, a framework for examining issues of metatheory, methodology and methods is constructed. Against this background the role of theory and metatheory in the literature of comparative LIS is evaluated. General observations are illustrated using examples selected from comparative studies in LIS.

Much of the literature of comparative LIS is atheoretical and based on assumptions that reflect naive empiricism. Most comparativists in LIS fail to link their work to that of colleagues, so that no body of theory is built up. Insufficient use is made of theory from other social science disciplines. There is a little evidence of awareness of metatheoretical assumptions in the sociological, teleological, ontological, epistemological and ethical dimensions.

While general observations are presented about the literature of comparative LIS, this is not a bibliometric study. Issues of methodology and method are not dealt with.

Recommendations are made for improving teaching and research in comparative LIS. Concepts presented here are of value to the wider LIS community, particularly in internationally oriented research and practice.

Since the 1980s there has been very little conceptual and methodological reflection on comparative LIS. This article alerts the LIS profession to new thinking in other comparative disciplines.

It is unfortunate yet true that in India, research starts and ends with a Ph.D. The steady decline in the quality of doctoral research has been an articulated concern among Indian academics at a time when research and innovation should be a priority. One of the feasible ways of resurrecting or reconstructing Indian research is to open up to examine contemporary international trends. Against this backdrop, the study aimed to make a comparative analysis of doctoral research in education in top-ranking international and top-ranking Indian universities.

Adopting a comparative education methodology, this paper examines 100 doctoral dissertations from the top 10 international universities as per Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranking and 100 doctoral theses from the top 10 Indian universities following National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) submitted in the past decade. Four significant issues were investigated during the comparison – topic, procedure, presentation, and dissemination – based on the premeditated Research Quality Relevance Metrics (RQRM) designed by the authors for quality improvement of research.

Findings revealed stark differences between two trends in all four domains. The top international universities focus on the contemporariness scattered across diverse issues while Indian studies continue to engage on a few archetypal conventional issues with dreary reiterations. The newness of thought is rare in Indian research, while the interdisciplinary mixing of methods and practices had been the hallmark of its international comportment. Practice orientation has been a unique research attribute found in the top 10 international universities. The methods applied have attempted to reduce the age-old gap between educational research and practice. Methodological innovativeness, structural orientation, readability, and dissemination of research were also exemplary in those international theses, whereas Indian theses are still reeling under orthodox surveys with hesitant reporting.

This study put an exclusive mirror in front of Indian doctoral research on its current state in respect of international standards. At the same time, it upholds a framework to promote research quality and impact. Dimensions of research quality relevance matrices and recommendations for effective doctoral research are two vibrant contributions to the intelligentsia in general for bringing Indian research out of its cocoon to make it internationally comparable.

It reports a study conducted by the researchers and the write-up is based on the empirical findings only.

This paper reports a qualitative research study of comparative analysis of global citizenship education (GCE) in two primary schools, one international school in Singapore (Stamford International) and an independent school in Australia (Coastal College). The research focussed on how these two schools implemented GCE through the adoption of international education models, utilising the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) or the International Baccalaureate Programme (IB), creating hybrid curricula. Central to this research is the examination of educational practices, which address global citizenship education in each of the two schools.

Qualitative data from interview transcripts, document analysis, website analysis as well as field notes were analysed both inductively and deductively, teasing out the key themes from interviews, various documents such as policy papers, curriculum materials, syllabuses, the websites and other forms of documents that shed more light on the issues presented. The analysis of each case study began with a brief overview of the global citizenship education policies in the two schools and of their international curricula models, followed by a separate interpretation and juxtaposition of interview data (Phillips and Schweisfurth, 2014).

The key focus is examining the interplay between the global and national, which both schools have acknowledged in their design of the curricula. It is integral to note that globalization differs within different communities around the world with a unique and multifaceted interplay of global and national factors termed as a “global-local nexus”. A key overarching finding relates to the tensions between educational domains and neo-liberal market rationales, which had affected the schools' decisions in curricula and GCE enactment within both schools. Despite their commitment to GCE ideals, schools were mindful about being distinctive and remaining competitive within their educational markets.

In the study, the ideas of hybridity and “mixture and fusion” of curricula elements to generate new practices in local contexts against global influences have been explored. These ideas form the key features of the curriculum design in both schools and of the contexts in which the schools were situated. Even though the selected case study schools were international and independent and were not expected to fully adhere to government guidelines from their respective country’s policies, they were staged against these policies, which in turn influenced the curriculum initiatives and pedagogical approaches of these schools. Thus studying the landscape in which these two schools are situated provided a better understanding of the various influences – geo-political, formal policy, school-specific factors – which contributed to the knowledge base of global citizenship education studies for multi-ethnic nations such as Singapore and Australia.

As more national school systems embrace diversity, an international education approach has been adopted. This study affirms the idea proposed by Hayden, Thompson and Bunnell (2016), that the use of “international” is less relevant in categorising schools that seek to embrace GCE. It is more appropriate to use “cosmopolitan,” as proposed by Rizvi (2008), where the focus is more broadly on acquiring knowledge about cultural trajectories and social identities and reinforcing the idea of global connectivity as is evident in both case study schools. The focus is on understanding and acting on local issues within the “broader context of the global shifts that are reshaping the very nature of localities” (Rizvi, 2008, p. 21). One of the key things to note is that the global and international approaches are seldom enacted in their pure form. Schools that have adopted international education are usually unique and heterogeneous in nature, and what they have done is very much dependent on their histories, their geographical locations and the economic and political statuses. This is evident in both case study schools.

This study has added to the existing literature by providing a rich comparative investigation of global citizenship education in two countries, Australia and Singapore. The research provided the opportunity to study different models of internationally minded schools, with similar GCE ambitions. As the study explored two types of schools in two different countries, there is no claim of generalisability of findings to all the schools in these two countries. However, educators and researchers who are interested in this field could reflect on the themes that have emerged from this study and make an informed decision on the possible transferability to their own contexts.

Besides its contribution to existing literature, the study has also shown that for effective integration of GCE in schools, either in a national or international education system, it is necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the GCE principles. The results drawn from the study indicate that the ambiguity of the concept of GCE can result in different interpretations by school leaders, teachers and students, thus affecting its enactment in schools. In order to better understand and apply GCE, an effective conceptual model would provide a critical understanding of the multi-faceted nature of global citizenship education. A critical GCE requires schools to reflect on the entire curriculum, ensuring a seamless integration of GCE into curricula and practices.

The quality of an education system or a comparative international assessment refers more and more to quantitative parameters, i.e. “educational indicators”. The paper aims to analyse the structure of several educational indicators and indicator systems and answer the question “What can educational indicators achieve?”

Starting with a general consideration of the term “indicator” the findings are applied to the educational area and the development of educational indicators is analysed critically.

Indicators allow for the illustration of outcomes and of system processes. Beginning in the 1950s, following the empirical turn in research methods, and the growing significance of approaches from economics of education, indicators are now applied in national and international settings. The findings show that the combination of the quantitative and qualitative approach is more successful as the isolated research.

The research is based on secondary analysis. A combination of quantitative and qualitative research methodology should be undertaken in following the progress of educational systems.

The findings of quantitative research based on educational indicators determine the general public and political discussion and often the discourse in the scientific community. The analysis shows that a critical distance especially when preparing political decisions is a necessary attitude.

The purpose of this paper is to provide comparative perspectives on how educators teach issues that affect two countries with a history of governmental tensions. The investigation examines how teachers in Cuban classrooms engage in discourses on the recent developments in Cuban and US relations, including the teaching of historical and territorial issues. This research considers border pedagogy, critical border dialogism and critical border praxis as approaches for those who educate on the effects of US international policies. Ultimately, pragmatic hope offers the possibilities for an emergent third space for Cuban and US relations, including educational exchanges.

The research took place in Cuba during an educational exchange to Cuban secondary and university educational sites. Cuban educators of pedagogy and social education engaged in dialogue and shared information on how they address US international policies during their classroom discussions. The researcher employed methodologies that followed Stake’s (2000) model for a substantive case study. Impressions, data, records and salient elements at the observed site were recorded. Transcriptions were documented for face-to-face interviews and hour-long focus group sessions. Participants also logged responses to written survey questions. The study focused on how Cuban educators taught, discussed and addressed the US international policies in classrooms.

Heteroglossia, meliorism, critical cosmopolitanism, nepantla, dialogic feminism and pragmatic hope were components of the data analysis. Heteroglossia was an essential consideration throughout the study as multiple interpretations of Cuban and US interconnectedness emerged. Meliorism factored into Cuban educators’ commitments to their professions. Critical cosmopolitanism developed as educators put forth different conceptualizations of human rights and democracy. Nepantla emerged as a key aspect as indigenous and self-determined viewpoints emerged. Dialogic feminism was preeminent as patriarchy continues to exist, despite a new awareness of gender roles and gender violence. Pragmatic hope offers possibilities for a transnational community of inquiry and collaboration.

The most obvious limitation to this study is, as a case study, the limited scope of perception.

If future relations between Cuban and the US are deemed uncertain, critical border praxis has an essential role in addressing new sets of uncertainties. This study recommends that educational communities engage in discourses addressing ongoing issues facing the dynamic, fluid border environs. Critical border praxis provides conditions in which we, as educators and members of diverse communities of learners, become cross-borders and broaden the possibilities to achieve what had been considered the unattainable. Resources need to be prioritized and redirected toward educational efforts on national, state and local levels so critical border praxis becomes a reality.

Through transnational and transborder engagements, such as educational exchanges, both US and Cuban educators are provided opportunities to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of their own educational systems. The role of education, formal and informal, then serves to transform perceptions one-by-one, school-by-school, community-by-community and to influence policy makers to reconstruct education country-by-country as part of pragmatic hope for an enduring Pax Universalis. Pax Universalis serves as a third space where transborder students and educators alike are positioned as co-creators of knowledge and agents of change.

This study proposes a new emergent third space resulting from critical border dialogism that utilizes border pedagogy and critical pedagogies of place to seek new zones of mutual respect and cooperation among educators. Common educational understandings are the key starting point for a critical border praxis that facilitates ongoing dialogue between the two countries and offers pragmatic hope for the futures of both nations and opportunities to ameliorate relationships. An emergent third space is possible through sustained critical border praxis, a praxis that seeks to address points of contention and the bridges that need crossing between the two neighboring countries.

Although high-quality comparative data from international assessments are now more widely available, to what extent is that data being used to trigger, inform, and direct educational change in non-Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries? The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework to guide a case analysis of Trinidad and Tobago's system response to international assessment data.

This is a single-nation explanatory case study using data from policy documents and elite interviews. Findings are generated through inductive thematic analysis.

The four emerging themes were: first, weaknesses in the national evaluation system; second, policy-making practices not attuned to data; third, lack of collaboration and stakeholder involvement; and fourth, challenges in accessing and using data. Findings suggested that data rarely acted alone to trigger system change. Critical to initiating and sustaining effective data use for system reform were policy-making contexts and mental maps of system leaders, which in this context acted as barriers. Respondents believed that greater strategic leadership from politicians and technocrats could ensure data-informed systemic change.

The study focuses upon data use and data-driven decision making for whole system reform within a single country context. However, it advances theory that might be applied to other non-OECD cases.

The findings contribute to the refinement of a conceptual model explaining data-driven system reform applicable to non-OECD contexts. The role of system leaders when using international assessment data is clarified.

This comparative case study looks towards the diverse approaches of higher education to support peacebuilding, from policy and philosophy to pedagogical practices, in conflict-affected and post-conflict settings. The achievement of global development goals is dependent on addressing access to quality education in conflict-affected contexts, including higher education. However, in settings affected by conflict, higher education is often perceived to be a luxury, not a necessity. This study, then, explores whether and how higher education might support peace and development through the unique perspective of the “three faces” of higher education in conflict contexts.

The paper is designed as a qualitative comparative case study. The research examines the work of university educators in two institutions in Afghanistan and Somaliland, highlighting the challenges and opportunities they face working in conflict-affected societies and their pedagogical responses to conflict. Data for the research were collected through in-depth interviews, documents, and digital artifacts with 12 university educators across the two institutions. The faculty teach a wide variety of subjects in the social sciences and humanities, subjects including and in addition to those specific to peace and development studies. To strengthen the interpretation of data, multiple coders were involved and intercoder reliability was conducted.

Findings indicate a number of challenges and opportunities that university lecturers and their institutions face in teaching for peace in conflict-affected contexts, particularly as it relates to the “three faces” of higher education to support, impede, or reveal the complicated nuances of peacebuilding in conflict settings. Member-checking was employed with participants to enhance the reliability of the analysis.

In the end, the paper contributes new empirical insights into higher education in conflict-affected contexts, particularly from the standpoint of faculty. Critical perspectives and implications for curriculum, pedagogy and research are offered.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between education and competencies from a comparative view, while controlling for background characteristics (e.g. parental education), home features (e.g. income) and country fixed effect.

This paper utilises an international data sets of 12 Belt and Road (B&R) countries participating in the PIAAC survey. Data are examined using regression models with “REPSET” Stata code. The focus on B&R countries is interesting as this recent economic and strategic development alliance might transform the contemporary global balance of power. Therefore, examining its educational development is important.

Findings reveal the higher the level of education, the higher the competency level in numeracy and literacy. Age was found to be negatively related to competencies, and gender was found to be dually significant. Among the examined B&R countries, Slovenia, Russia and Israel contribute the most to the numeracy, literacy and problem solving competencies (respectively) compared with other countries. The findings might contribute to the design of education for development policies aimed at increasing the level of state competitiveness while accounting for social cohesiveness.

The paper provides a comparative study into educational development of the B&R alliance, and therefore offers an insight of the developmental cooperation as it emerges. The focus on the B&R initiative is important as it is a strategic development alliance which might transform the contemporary global balance of power. Therefore, the examination of the above-mentioned relationships with the focus on B&R countries might advance the strategic design of this cooperation.

Utilising dialogic meta-narrative analysis, a form of inquiry based on examining the difference between voices in meaningful and relevant dialogue (Wegerif, 2006, p. 347), the purpose of this paper is to present an examination of three relevant works on theories of the global South for identifying educational patterns, themes, and biases from the worldview perspectives of the respective authors.

In comparative and international education “qualitative” research, the acceptance of differing points of view and reference have often resulted in a fragmented and fractitious affirmation of cultural relativity, whereby the pursuit of truth (Veritas) has been replaced by the pursuit and contestation of a plurality of knowledges and truths. Davies defines this as “discursive practice”, which refers to the way discourse and the production of selves produce and reconstitutes one’s social and psychological realities (Davies, 1999, p. 88). The positional and discursive worldviews relative to “other” are not only dependent on locational, contextual, and time (Zeitgeist) dimensions, but also on disciplinary methodological foundations and subjective interpretations of both experience and choice.

The analysis of the three scholarly works identifies issues of comparative education research from a dialogic and dialectic perspective, suggesting that relativistic notions of research are required and necessary in order to expand horizons and “break out of the box” to broaden one’s imagination.

The questions raised by all three worldviews require further research: Who pays? Who benefits? Should the field contest the positional points-of-reference of comparativists? Should theory and mode of inquiry be made more clear in order to understand and discern the positional authority of the researcher and the researched? Should relevant literature addressing subject material involve greater scrutiny – if not collaboration – between scholars from different worldview perspectives?

Subjectivity, validation and significance of findings contribute to dissemination and advancement of knowledge, and if not robust or rigorous, are simply another point of view.

This is a new paradigmatic approach to problematising comparative and international research from three positional worldviews. The value in problematising the three worldviews helps to delve deeper into the issues at hand regarding the global South.