From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 practises and situation in
another country, or countries. Programs and courses in
comparative education are offered in many universities
throughout the world, and relevant studies are regularly
published in scholarly journals such as Comparative Education,
International Review of Education, International
Journal of Educational Development, and Comparative
Education Review. The field of comparative education is
supported by many projects associated with
UNESCO and the national education ministries of various
Objectives and Scope
Harold J Noah (1985), comparative education has four
- To describe educational systems, processes, or outcomes.
- To assist in the development of educational institutions
- To highlight the relationships between education and
- To establish generalized statements about education that
are valid in more than one country.
Comparative education is often incorrectly assumed to
exclusively encompass studies that compare two or more different
countries. In fact, since its early days researchers in this
field have often eschewed such approaches, preferring rather to
focus on comparisons within a single country over time. Still,
some large scale projects, such as the PISA and TIMSS
studies (linked below), have attained important findings through
explicitly comparative macroanalysis of massive data sets.
Rationale for the Field
Many important educational questions can best be examined
from an international-comparative perspective. For example, in
United States there is no nationwide certificate of
secondary education. This raises the question of what the
advantages and disadvantages are of leaving such certification
to each of the 50 states. Comparative education draws on the
experience of countries such as
France to show how a centralized system works, and what are
the advantages and disadvantages of centralized certification.
Comparative education is closely allied to, and may overlap
international education and international educational
development. The Comparative and International Education
Society (CIES) was "Founded in 1956 to foster cross-cultural
understanding, scholarship, academic achievement and societal
development through the international study of educational
ideas, systems, and practices." Among North American
Pennsylvania State University, and
University of Illinois are especially known for their
programs in this field. The
University of London and
University of Hong Kong also have outstanding programs.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development: PISA
2003 Country Profiles
TIMSS Study (US Department of Education)
Comparative and International Education: A Bibliography
NCCRESt Bibliography (2000)
Comparative and International Education Society (CIES)
Philip G. Altbach
Gail P. Kelly
Harold J Noah
Dr. Carlos Torres
MAJOR REFERENCE HANDBOOKS
- Educational Research, Methodology and Measurement: An
International Handbook. 2nd ed. Edited by J.P. Keeves. New
York: Pergamon, 1997.
- International Handbook of Research in Arts Education.
Edited by Liora Bresler. New York: Springer, 2006.
- International Encyclopedia of Adult Education and
Training. 2nd ed. Edited by Albert C. Tuijnman. Oxford, UK;
Tarrytown, NY: Pergamon, 1996.
- International Encyclopedia of National Systems of
Education. 2nd ed. Edited by T. Neville Postlethwaite.
Tarrytown, NY: Pergamon, 1995.
- International Handbook of Educational Change. Edited by
Andy Hargreaves, et al. Boston,: Kluwer Academic Publishers,
- International Handbook of Educational Leadership and
Administration. Edited by Kenneth Leithwood, et al. Boston:
Kluwer Academic, 1996.
- International Handbook of Teachers and Teaching. Edited
by Bruce J. Biddle, Thomas L. Good, Ivor F. Goodson.
Boston,: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998.
- International Handbook of Women's Education. Edited by
Gail P. Kelly. New York: Greenwood Press, 1989.
- Altbach, Philip G. Comparative Higher Education:
Knowledge, the University, and Development. Greenwich, CT:
Ablex Pub. Corp.,1998.
- Emergent Issues in Education: Comparative Perspectives.
Edited by Robert F. Arnove, Philip G. Altbach, and Gail P.
Kelly. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1992.
- Arnove, R. and Torres, C. eds (1999) Comparative
Education: The Dialectic of the Global and the Local.
Oxford: Rowan and Littlefield.
- International Perspectives on Educational Reform and
Policy Implementation. Edited by David S.G. Carter and
Marnie H. O'Neill. Washington, DC: Falmer Press, 1995.
- Quality Assurance in Higher Education: An International
Perspective. Edited by Gerald H. Gaither. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1998.
- Higher Education Policy: An International Comparative
Perspective. Edited by Leo Goedegebuure, et al. New York:
Pergamon Press, 1994.
- David G. Hebert. Music Competition, Cooperation, and
Community: An Ethnography of a Japanese School Band (Ann
Arbor: Proquest/UMI, 2005).
- Alexandra Kertz-Welzel. "Didaktik of Music: A German
Concept and its Comparison to American Music Pedagogy."
International Journal of Music Education (Practice) 22
No. 3 (2004): 277-286.
- Harold J. Noah and Max A. Eckstein. Toward a Science of
Comparative Education (New York: Macmillan, 1969).
- Harold J. Noah and Max A. Eckstein. Secondary School
Examinations: International Perspectives on Policies and
Practice (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993).
- Harold J. Noah and Max A. Eckstein. Doing Comparative
Education: Three Decades of Collaboration (Hong Kong: The
University of Hong Kong Press, 1998).
- Adrien C. North and David J. Hargreaves (2003). Musical
Development and Learning: The International Perspective. New
- Reagan, Timothy G. Non-Western Educational Traditions :
Alternative Approaches to Educational Thought and Practice.
Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1996.
- Vulliamy, G., Lewin, K. and Stephens, D. (1990) Doing
Educational Research in Developing Countries: Qualitative
Strategies. Lewes: Falmer Press.
- Higher Education in an International Perspective :
Critical Issues. Edited by Zaghloul Morsy and Philip G.
Altbach. New York: Garland Pub., 1996.
Education by country