Chapter 1 1. Introduction to Comparative Education Comparative education is a vast field of study. It does not only study other countries' educational systems or confine itself to a single, strict definition because it covers disciplines such as the sociology, political science, psychology, and anthropology of different countries. Comparative education is a detailed study of educational systems to determine how people's values and beliefs affect their educational system and provide a suitable education. The field is a deep, critical examination of other countries' societal values and educational systems to evaluate one's system and refresh one's own culture by adopting progressive aspects from elsewhere based on the comparison. 1.1. Concept Of Comparative Education, Meaning, Need, And Scope Concept of Comparative Education Comparative educationists are primarily scholars who study education in different environments to discover why they are the way they are and attempt to solve educational problems. Comparative education is a multidisciplinary subject that uses knowledge from other humanities and social sciences disciplines. Sodhi (2006) perceives comparative education as a field of study that applies historical, philosophical, and social science theories and methods to international education problems. Getao (1996) defined Comparative Education as a discipline, the study of educational systems in which one seeks to understand the similarities and differences among educational systems. As a sum of the definitions, comparative education is a discipline through which one makes comparisons of education systems across national boundaries by examining in detail the structure, curriculum, administration, financing, and participation to understand the factors and forces that account for the differences and similarities in these systems of education. Meaning of Comparative Education Comparative education is a comparative study of educational theories and practices in various countries. Comparative education attempts to use cross-national data to test propositions about the relationship between education and society and between teaching practices and learning outcomes. Adeyinka (1994) gives the following definitions for the concept. ➢ A study of two or more education systems ➢ A study of how the philosophy, objectives and aims, policy and practice of education in other countries influence the general development, policy, and practice of education in a particular country ➢ A study of how the development of education in the past influence by the action of particular countries ➢ A study of the school systems of two or more countries and the administrative machinery set up to implement or to control the implementation of government policies at various levels of education systems The need for Comparative Education The need to study comparative education is to ➢ Assist in the understanding of one's educational institutions and educational practices. ➢ Assist in the understanding of the factors that are responsible for various educational changes ➢ Educate the students and teachers on the procedure through which educational changes occur ➢ Contribute not only to the educational development of the society but also to the community's general development ➢ Serve as an academic discipline ➢ Assist in solving one's educational problems ➢ Open one's eyes to the educational philosophies, theories, and practices of other countries ➢ Assist both the students and teachers of discipline in gathering reliable information concerning the educational system ➢ Assist in the Promotion of international relationships ➢ Contribute to the formulation of a country's educational systems Scope of Comparative Education The term "scope," according to the Longman dictionary of contemporary English, could mean: ➢ The area within the limit of a question, subject, action ➢ Space or chance for actions or thought From the above, the scope of comparative education means the area or areas covered by the discipline. The subject's scope also connotes the various subjects or disciplines from where Comparative Education draws its information directly or indirectly. A critical look at the various definitions of the discipline undoubtedly reveals that Comparative Education is an interdisciplinary subject since it relies on other subjects to accomplish its objectives. As a multidisciplinary subject, its scope covers the historical development of education from Roman and Greek civilizations. It also includes the historical development of non-formal education in any country of study. The discipline has its scope extended to the purposes of education systems of the countries study, an investigation into the similarities and differences existing in the countries' educational practices under investigation. However, subjects from where Comparative Education draws its contents include the following: vii. Psychology i. History of Education viii. Statistics ii. Philosophy of Education ix. Literature iii. Sociology of Education x. Political Geography iv. Anthropology xi. Political Science and v. Economics xii. International Relations vi. Geography The above explanation clearly shows that the subject is not independent of other subjects; it is a discipline that relates to other subjects to accomplish its aims and objectives. It may reasonably conclude that the subject's interdisciplinary nature has contributed to the wideness of the discipline. Evans (2013) has elaborated the scope of comparative education under the following five Perspectives. i. ii. iii. iv. v. The subject matter and content; cover the essential components of educational systems such as structure, aims, content or curriculum, administration, financing, teacher education. Geographical units of study; comprises intra-national, international, regional, continental, and global or world-systems studies and analysis. Ideological scope; this compares countries' educational systems based on political, social, and economic ideologies, for example, democratic, communism, socialist, capitalist, free-market, and mixed economies. Thematic scope focuses on educational themes, topical issues, or problems. It 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. The historical or spatial scope; 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 stage known as the period of social science perspectives. 1.2. Purpose Of Comparative Education According to Harold J Nosh (1985) and Dr Farooq Joubish (2009), Comparative Education has four purposes i. ii. iii. iv. Explaining educational systems, processes outcomes: Helping the development of educational instructions and practices; Emphasizing the relationships between education and society They are forming generalized statements about education relevant in more than one country. Kidd (1975) provides the following detailed list of purposes for engaging in comparative education are: i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. 1.3. To become better informed about the educational system of other countries To become better informed about how people in other cultures have carried out certain social functions through education. To become better informed about the historical roots of specific activities and use this to develop criteria for assessing contemporary development and possible testing outcomes: To better understand the educational forms and systems operating in one's own country; To satisfy an interest in how other human beings live and learn: To better understand oneself, and To reveal how one's cultural biases and personal attributes affect one's judgment about possible ways of carrying on learning transactions. Comparative Education As An Educational Science Comparative education is a discipline in the social sciences that entails the scrutiny and evaluation of different educational systems, such as those in various countries. Since the end of world war, two in 1945 interest and activity in comparative education have developed dramatically and especially in two main respects. a. The work of new and influential national and international agencies involved in the educational inquiry, planning and programme implementation. In these associations, there were those comparativists who saw the field's most productive future in terms of more active involvement in international projects of an inquiring or potentially reformative kind. b. Increased activity in the study and teaching of comparative education as a discipline in colleges, universities and comparative education centres for research. This also points to a further shift in emphasis on social science. There is a close relationship between Comparative Education and other social sciences; it is the discipline where information about education and other social sciences intersects. According to Noah and Eckstein, "Comparative Education is an intersection of social sciences, education, and cross-national study which attempts to use cross-national data to test propositions about the relationship between education and society and between teaching practices and learning outcomes." Getao (1996) has enumerated that the following forces characterize the contemporary era: Explosion of knowledge, especially in science and technology. i. Drive for more knowledge and globalization. ii. iii. iv. Drive for liberty with the proclamation of human rights by UNESCO in 1948. Urbanization as a result of industrialization. Population explosion due to the development of medical science where fifty percent of the population is under twenty years. v. Drive for the reconstruction of peace to facilitate material, moral and spiritual reconstruction. This is to help in removing suspicion and distrust among nations and promote goodwill and cooperation among them. Motivation and characteristic activities The comparativists has been pre-occupied with debate to identify the best method of conducting comparative education studies to yield the most valid data, information and advice. Some of the individuals who have contributed to the development of comparative education during this phase involved: Vernon Mallinson, Joseph A. Lauwerys, George Z.E. Bereday, Brian Holmes and Edmund J. King. Institutions of learning, various agencies and comparative education societies have contributed to the development of this phase. After World War Two University centres developed comparative education studies. Today they have developed comparative education as a discipline in various countries of the world in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America. The scope of work in comparative education has broadened through the development of international, regional and national agencies. Scholars have demanded and attempted to develop a science of comparative education that would finally place comparative education in the family of social sciences and at the same time maintain its distinctive position from them. i. Stages in Bereday's Comparative Method in Education 1) Description and data collection 3) Juxtaposition 2) Interpretation 4) Comparison ii. Stages in Brian Holmes's Problem Approach in Comparative Education 1) Problem formulation 2) Policy formulation or hypotheses development 3) Prediction of policy outcomes iii. Stages in Noah and Eckstein's scientific method 1) Identification of the problem 2) Development of a hypothesis: 3) Definition of concepts and indicators 7) Interpretation of results 4) Analyze the physical and socioeconomic context 5) Predicting policy consequences 4) Selection of cases for study 5) Collection of data 6) Manipulation of the data