Comparative Education
Education
Education is
very difficult to pin to a particular definition, because the concept may be
perceived from different angles. The concept has been traced to two Latin
words. The Latin words are (a) educere
and (b) educare. While educere can be interpreted as "to draw
out" or "to lead out", Educare
on the other hand means "to nourish" "to bring up or "to
raise". The interpretations of two Latin words no doubt, are more than
what can be offered by the school alone.
The Meaning of Comparative Education
Naturally,
human beings are in the habit of making comparison of the things that are
around them particularly when such things exist in different places. This may
be done as a result of man's desire to know the relationship existing between,
or among the things being compared.
Comparison can take place wherever
we have two or more things at the same time either for the purpose of having a
better understanding of the relationship existing between them or for the
purpose of having a better choice. Like other concepts, comparative education
is a concept that attracts varied interpretations or definitions. In other
words, there are as many definitions as there are many Educational
omparativists.
Adeyinka (1994) gives the following
definitions for the concept:
(a) A study of two or
more education systems.
(b) 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.
(c) A study of how the
development of education in the past, across the ages and continents, has
influenced the development of education in particular countries.
(d) A study of the
school systems of two or more countries, and of the administrative machineries
set up to implement or to control the implementation of government policies at
various levels of education systems.
Definitions:
According to Good (1962),Comparative Education “is
a field of study dealing with the comparison of current educational theory and
practice in different countries for the purpose of broadening and deepening
understanding of educational problems beyond the boundaries of one's own
country.”
According to Kandel (1957), “Comparative Education is the comparison of various
philosophies of education based not only on theories but the actual practices
which prevail from this above definition.”
Mallinson (1975) defines the subject as “a systematic examination of other cultures
and other systems of education deriving from those cultures in order to
discover resemblances and differences, and why variant solutions have been
attempted (and with what result) to problems that are often common to all.”
The Scope of Comparative Education:
The term
"scope" according to Longman dictionary of contemporary English could
mean:
(a) The area within the
limit of a question, subject, action etc.
(b) Space or chance for
actions or thought.
From the above, scope of
comparative education means the area or areas covered by the discipline. The
scope of the subject 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 no doubt reveals that
There are five perspectives that capture the scope of
comparative education. These are;
i) The subject matter and content; this
covers the essential components of educational systems such as structure, aims,
content or curriculum, administration, financing, teacher education.
ii) Geographical units of study; these
comprises intra-national, international, regional, continental and global or
world systems studies and analysis.
iii) 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.
iv) 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.
v)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 Purpose of Comparative Education:
Comparative
education like other disciplines being offered in the education institutions is
not a purposeless subject. In other words, the subject has some goals which it
aims at achieving.
While giving the purpose
of comparative education,
Hans (1992) concludes that, the analytical study of these factors from
historical perspective and the comparison of attempted solution of resultant
problems are the main purpose of comparative education.
It can be concluded from
the above that comparative education tries to compare educational problems as
well as the solutions applied to such problems with a view to helping one's
educational practices.
Reasons for Studying Comparative Education include:
(a) To assist in the
understanding of one's educational institutions as well as educational
practices.
(b) To assist in the
understanding of the factors that are responsible for various educational
changes.
(c) To educate the
students and teachers on the procedure through which educational changes occur.
(d) To contribute not
only to the educational development of the society but also to the general
development of the society.
(e) To serve as an
academic discipline.
(f) To assist in solving
one's educational problems
(g) To open one's eyes
to the educational philosophies, theories and practices of other countries.
(h) To assist both the
students and teachers of discipline in gathering reliable information
concerning educational system.
(i) To assist in the
Promotion of international relationship.
(j) To contribute to the
formulation of a country's educational systems.
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