Comparative Education

Comparative Education

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Presented By
Tahira Rafiq

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Comparative Education


Objectives
After reading this you should be able to:

i) Define and explain the meanings of comparative education.
ii) Describe the aims of comparative education
iii) To understand the forms of comparative education
iv) To understand the scope and importance of comparative education.
v) To understand the use and users of comparative education
1. Definitions of comparative education

Comparative education is the comparative study of educational theories and practices in various
countries. In the history of comparative education Marc-Antoine Jullien de Paris is commonly
referred to as the "father of Comparative Education"
Comparative study is used to determine and quantify relationships between two or more
variables by observing different groups that either by choice or circumstances is exposed to
different treatments. Comparative study looks at two or more similar groups, individuals, or
conditions by comparing them. Sir Michael Sadler of England was the father of this second
stage. In 1907 he published an essay in which he emphasized the point that educational system of
a country was related to the social environment of the land.
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 some of the definitions that have been widely accepted in
the study of comparative education:
According to Nicholas Hans, (1958) ,

“ comparative education as a step-by-step study of different and often contrasting educational
systems with a view of understanding their differences and similarities”
Beredy GZF,(1964) - defines comparative education simply as the analytical study of foreign
education systems

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 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.
 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.
 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..
 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.
 Comparative education is a field of study that focuses on the provision of organized learning
activities across international and intercultural boundaries and utilizes comparative methods of
study.
 Comparative education is a fully established academic field of study that examines education
in one country (or group of countries) by using data and insights drawn from the practices and
situation in another country or countries.
 Generally Comparative education is viewed 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"

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 Educational System: Is that combined structure in which various groups have a role to
play with regard to public education and which is too organized to promote its efficiency.
The concern of education system is educative teaching in the interest of civilization.
In defining an education system, Steyn (1988) puts emphasis on the idea that the education system
should be seen as an instrument created by society to provide education for the young in an
organized, orderly and planned manner in order to affect educative teaching.
An education system as a combined structure consists basically of four components which are the
education system policy, education system administration, the school system and the supportive
services. Every component in the education system is an integral part of the structure of society
and each plays a unique role in the development of education and culture.
 International education: Is a process as well as a systematic study of the process of
organized learning that is designed to increase people’s knowledge and skills and that
takes place across international boundaries.
 Comparative Analysis: Comparative analysis refers to a process of comparing and
contrasting two or more things, such as educational systems, methods, theories or policies
with an aim of assessing the relative strength, advantage or value of one thing over
another or others.
2. Aims or purposes of Comparative Education

There are different aims or purposes of studying Comparative Education, but the following will
help in keeping focus of the study;
 To provide a picture or profile of the education systems in various countries or regions of
the world.
 To enable one come up with a global description and classification of education in various
parts of the world.
 To determine the relations and aspects in education and society, for example, how does
family size affect education? How does social status affect education? Or what are the
motivations of different social classes to participate in education? Among other aspects.

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 To distinguish the fundamental elements of educational persistence and change and relate
these with philosophical laws.
 To facilitate practical reform and planned development of the school system, that is,
improvement of education at home. In order to achieve this aims one requires establishing
the correlation of aims, customs, social norms and the education system.
 To enable one have a greater understanding of the wider educational process.

3. Nature of comparative education
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.
Comparative education is use in the development of educational testing procedures and the
creation of educational programs and frameworks. Comparing systems can provide educators
with ideas for revitalizing one system by incorporating elements of others, and it can allow
people to track progress over time. Education is a key factor associated with adult literacy and
numeracy. In general, literacy and numeracy scores tend to be better the higher the level
of educational attainment. However, education is not the only factor strongly associated with
literacy and numeracy.
4. Forms of Comparative Education

Comparative education is also divided into four broad areas. These are;

4.1 Comparative Pedagogy: This entails studies of classrooms dynamics in different
education systems, that is, what goes on inside the classroom? How is learning? Is it teacher
on pupil centered? How do teachers relate to their pupils? This area also involves studying
teaching methods. For example how is mathematics taught in pakistani schools?
4.2 Intra-cultural Analysis: This area entails examination of the various forces that impact
on education. They include culture, social, economic, religions, political and
philosophical issues.
4.3 International Education: This includes the study of multinational institutions like
international schools, international efforts to harmonize curricula, text books, and
development of objectives for the purpose of creating international norms. It also
includes the study of international institutions like UNESCO with regard to policy

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matters intended to harmonize global education, standards of qualifications, promotion of
educational exchanges and initiation of cultural agreements. There is a lot of work in the
area of equivalences in education, for example, how does a Kenyan master’s degree
compare to a British masters degree?
4.4 Development Education: This is an effort especially by the developed world to produce
information and plans so assist policy makers in the developing countries. It also involves
the development of appropriate education methods and techniques for training of human
resources in various programmes.
5. The scope of Comparative Education

There are five perspectives that capture the scope of comparative education. These are;

5.1 The subject matter and content; this covers the essential components of educational
systems such as structure, aims, content or curriculum, administration, financing, teacher
education.
5.2 Geographical units of study; these comprises intra-national, international, regional,
continental and global or world systems studies and analysis.
5.3 Ideological scope; this compares countries' educational systems on the basis of different
political, social and economic ideologies. For example, democratic, communism,
socialist, capitalist, free market and mixed economies.
5.4 Thematic scope; this scope focuses on educational themes, topical issues or problems
and compares them within one or more geographical units. For example free primary
and secondary education, universal primary education, education for all and universal
higher education.
5.5 The historical or spatial scope; this deals with the study of the historical development of
the discipline from the earliest (pre-historic) phase known as the period of Travelers'
Tales to the modern phase known as the period of social science perspectives.
The problems and purposes of education haven general become somewhat similar in most
countries; the solutions are influenced by differences of tradition and culture of each. The
resent volume seeks accordingly to serve as a contribution to the philosophy of education in
the light both of theory and practice in six of the leading educational laboratories of the
world—England, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States. Accordingly Kandel

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paid special attention to nationalism and national character as a historical background to
actual con dictions. He did not, however, analyze these factors in detail, But he quite clearly
formulated the necessity of a historical approach and the study of determining factors. The
chief value of a comparative approach to educational problem [says he in his textbook] lies
in an analysis of the causes which have produced them, in a comparison of the differences
between the various systems and the reasons underlying them, and finally, in a study of the
solutions attempted. In other words, the comparative approach demands first an
appreciation of the intangible, impalpable spiritual and cultural forces which underlie an
educational system; the factors and forces outside the school matter even more than what
goes inside it. In his monograph "Comparative Education," published in 1936 in the
American Review of Educational Research, Kandel expressed the same idea still more
succinctly: "The purpose of Comparative Education, as of comparative law, comparative
literature or comparative anatomy, is to discover the differences in the forces and causes
that produce differences in education systems.
6 Uses of Comparative Education

Comparative education is used to obtain solutions to problems that are plaguing us. Many
educational questions can be examined from an international perspective.. Comparative
education is used to borrow successful forms of education, ideas and activities from other
countries or regions to be adopted and at times adapted to our own system of education.
1. To facilitate planning of educational programs, curricula, teaching methods and activities.
Studying case studies on various educational systems can facilitate educational planning
both at national level as well as in the classroom. Before educational polices are made,
policymakers need to evaluate the anticipated consequences of the policy as well as identify
possible constraints. Studies of educational systems that share similar problems or those that
have formulated policies to overcome similar problems provide information for learning the
possible consequences. Country case studies on educational systems may provide data on
what other countries are doing, planning or changing in their educational systems and thus
provide invaluable information for decision-making regarding what to adopt, modify or
avoid.

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2. To facilitate educational assessment or evaluation. Comparative education enhances
evaluation of educational outcomes by showing us how we are performing in a particular
area of education compared to other countries and this evaluation ideally should go beyond
performance in national examinations. Noah (1984) points out that comparative education
facilitates the establishment of comparative standards. Descriptive studies provided by the
country studies provide an opportunity to estimate a country’s standing in relation to other
countries on dimensions of education that are selected for analysis. He further points out
that the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement is one
such initiative that uses comparative data.
7 Users of comparative education

Given the above uses of comparative education, the traditional users of comparative education
have been the policymakers, curriculum developers and educational scholars. The educational
scholars usually are interested in widening their knowledge of educational philosophies and
learning theories as well as discovering the effects of various educational practices in various
social contexts. A fourth category of users of comparative education ideally should be teachers.
However, most teachers do not perceive themselves as users of comparative education because
they associate comparative education with policy making and curriculum development.
Teachers can benefit from comparative education through a variety of ways such as adoption of
appropriate teaching methods and self evaluation.
8 Factors of comparative education

In the study of comparative education we should study the factors which make the education of a
country national. These factors include geographical, economic, social, cultural, historical,
religions, political, language and technological. Comparative Education is a vast, rich, and
growing field of inquiry that is concerned with the academic study of a wide range of
key educational issues and themes across a range of cultures, countries and regions.

9 Importance of comparative education
There are various reasons that justify the study of comparative education especially for students
of education -teachers in the making (or to-be), practicing teachers, policy makers, education
planners and managers and all interested parties. Some of the reasons include;

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i. Enhance one's own understanding; To enable us understand our own education systems in
a better way by knowing its routes and how it has been influenced by others to be what it is
today.
ii. To generalized educational concepts; To enable us make general statements about how
education develops and also test how universally applicable existing theories in education
are.
iii. To know other people. Through comparative education one develops a reservoir of
knowledge which satisfies one intellectual curiosity besides enhancing ones intellectual
enlightment. Thus it broadens our thinking when dealing with educational issues and
problems thus, think globally and act locally.
iv. To improve education at home; By studying other peoples systems of education we get to
develop a better perspective of our own education system. We study comparative education
to discover which reforms are desirable and possible and how best to implement them, and
also what successes to borrow and what failures to avoid.
v. To make people practical ; We study comparative education in order to get exposure to
knowledge in other disciplines in humanities and social sciences that also study human
affairs so as to enable us have a holistic picture of education. Education in this regard is
considered to be a consumer good. It therefore must have practical utility for example, ability
to read and write. The task of making education practical is the duty of the government and
the educationist. Comparative Education is therefore considered very suitable for studying
this problem.
vi. To learn the true nature of a society ;By studying schools in other countries, comparative
education opens the window through which we can understand a society for often the school
reflect what the society looks like (schools are the mirrors of society). A school actually
reflects or represents the national character. Michael Sadler (1900) said "In studying foreign
systems of education, we should not forget that the things outside the school matter even
more than the things inside the school and govern and interpret the things inside"

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vii. Contribute to International understanding and goodwill ; Comparative education fosters
international understating, peace and co-operation among nations of the world. By
discovering and appreciating what exists elsewhere it replaces national pride and prejudice
with the objectivity of judgment that facilitates international harmony.
viii. Humanitarian reasons ; The contemporary world is characterized by a big quest for
knowledge, peace, equality and better life. The concern is how education can provide these
qualities. In many countries the question of peace and equality are key issues in education.
The discipline therefore satisfies our natural desire to learn more about the origins and
development of such contemporary and educational issues in various countries including
ours.
ix. Problem solving ; All countries face educational problems that require solutions.
Comparative education helps us to understand differences and similarities between our own
education system and others. In this regard one is able to appreciate the fact that countries
develop educational systems to serve their own national objectives, interests, values and
aspirations, based on their unique contexts and hence solve problems facing them.
x. International standards ;In order to achieve international standards in education,
comparative education makes us aware of the international trends in education and guides
countries on how to give their people or citizens a universally conscious and relevant
education that fits in the global village today.
xi. To expose people to innovations ; Today people are using various media to conduct
education activities by use of televisions, teleconferencing, radio, e-learning and internet. By
studying other system, one learns how to use such media and their benefits and this helps to
bring the necessary reforms in one's own education system.
To understand the economic implications of education; There is an argument that there is a
correlation between education and improvements in the economy, that is, according to economic
theory. Comparative education helps us to examine whether and where this is true.

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Conclusion

Comparative education is a useful subject for educationists Comparative Education has been
admitted as a subject of academic studies. It is generally recognized now that intending teachers
and educational administrators should have some knowledge of foreign educational systems and
their comparative merits. In some Universities Comparative Education is even included in the
requirements for Teachers.The knowledge of comparative education enables educationalist
understand what is successful in the field of education policies from one country and use them in
their own country. The knowledge helps the teacher trainee to develop special research skills.
Comparative Study of European Education" (1936), and "Comparative Study of Education in Latin
America and Countries of Islam" (1937) emphasized still more the historical approach and dealt
with education in each country as the result of cultural and national background.The problems and
purposes of education haven general become similar in most countries; the solutions are
influenced by differences of tradition and culture of each.
References

Bereday, G. Z. (1964). Comparative method in education. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Noah, H. J., & Eckstein, M. A. (1969). Towards a science of comparative education.
Bray, M. (2002). Comparative education in the era of globalisation: evolution, mission and roles.