International Comparative Studies in Mathematics: Lessons for Improving Students’ Learning

Mathematics Education; International and Comparative Education; Learning and Instructio

Exploring international and comparative education

This is an accepted manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge 2019, available online: https://www.routledge.com/A-Students-Guide-to-Education-Studies/Simon-Ward/p/book/9780367276690 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.This chapter offers an introduction to an area of educational studies often described as international and comparative education. This field of study rests on a long tradition, and the chapter begins by sketching its early origins and examining the ways the discipline has evolved. It moves on to a discussion of its various aims and purposes, and considers the reasons why educational comparisons have become of growing global interest. Finally, the chapter looks at a number of important considerations that sometimes call into question the validity of educational comparisons and what they are claimed to show

Indigenous Pathways, Transitions and Participation in Higher Education: From Policy to Practice

Higher education; international and comparative education; educational policy and politic

Whose Reality? A Meta-Analysis of Qualitative Research in International and Comparative Education

This meta-analysis seeks to critically examine the qualitative research being published in influential journals in the field of international and comparative education in order to determine whether qualitative research has remained true to the constructivist paradigm and its theoretical and philosophical underpinnings. Decades after the heated paradigmatic debates within the field of education in the 1980’s, we seek to examine whether predictions that the constructivist paradigm would be pushed out by the call for post-positivist, quantifiable, data-driven research have come to fruition. Based on a review of all qualitative research published in the past three volumes of five influential journals in the field, we conclude that while qualitative articles are represented in approximately equal numbers as quantitative articles, there are key elements of the constructivist paradigm that are largely absent from these qualitative articles. In particular, our conclusion attempts to address the concern that qualitative researchers are failing to address the issue of researcher positionality in their qualitative work

Grafting: Making Space for International and Comparative Education in a Pre-service Teacher Social Foundations Class

This article contributes to a growing appreciation and understanding of both the ways to include exposure to Comparative and International Education (CIE) in undergraduate teacher education as well as to how students take up and respond creatively to opportunities for comparative exploration. In order to make space for comparative education in the already oversubscribed pre-service teacher’s program of study, we (1) explore a strategy to use a required undergraduate social foundations’ class for pre-service teachers at a large public university as a platform for comparative education, and (2) share the lessons learned from creating space for students to express their international and comparative curiosities. We open the article by introducing the “grafting” strategy to make space for the comparative; we then turn to the ways we employed a pedagogical tool we call “drawing out” to allow students to make comparative connections by responding to our deliberate, comparative prompts. We found that by embracing the grafting approach we created opportunities for students to make their own conclusions about the value of comparative considerations and to express their organic interest in the international to better understand domestic developments and options

An appreciative dialogue between East and West

In the context of globalized world, many countries have encountered similar changes and challenges. Learning from one another becomes critical to better understand the strengths and limitations of different theoretical and methodological approaches of education and adult education in particular. International and comparative education have historically demonstrated an effective way of learning from each other. Yet learning from each other seems to become very limited. Instead, learning from the West has become the norm due to its dominant economic position, a legacy of colonialism, the exportation of education, and the development of English as the lingua franca of scholarly publishing and interchange (Altbach, 2008)

Evidence and Expertise in Nordic Education Policy

This open access book explores how policy makers draw on national, regional and international expertise in issuing school reform within five Nordic countries. In an era of international comparison, policy makers are expected to review best practices, learn from experiences from elsewhere, and apply international standards propelled by international organizations. Do they do so? What counts, for them, as evidence and expertise? The chapters draw methodologically on bibliometric data, network analysis, document analysis and expert interviews. They show compellingly how governments use “evidence” strategically and selectively for agenda setting and policy decisions. This book will be of interest and value to scholars of education policy, specifically within the Nordic region, and international and comparative education

American Education Through a Chinese Lens

This June, a group of faculty members from Gettysburg College and K-12 teachers from York and Adams Counties travelled to China for four weeks of intensive cultural and educational exchange. This Gettysburg Fulbright Group Project Abroad in China studied the cultural and historical foundations of the Chinese educational system, as well as how this system is changing. Participants studied the larger policy context of the Chinese system and how those policies play out in the classroom. (excerpt

High School in Bali

In the Indonesian education system, high school is comprised of 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. In their first year of high school, a Balinese student’s curriculum might look very similar to an American student’s. At this point in their education, the Balinese are still following the national general curriculum, studying mathematics, science, language, and history. During the eleventh and twelfth years of school the Balinese school structure diverges from the American system. Indonesian students must choose one of three areas of study on which to focus for the last two years of high school, a concept similar to a college major. [excerpt

Balinese Elementary Schools

Kerambitan’s elementary school houses approximately 100 students. These students, from first to sixth grade, attend class six days a week from 8 AM until noon (the afternoon heat is too strong). Like in many American elementary schools, the teachers on this level teach all core subjects; in Indonesia these subjects are math, reading, culture, and social studies. Subjects are highly standardized on a national level; students in Bali are learning the same things as students in Java or any of the other islands. The exception to this rule is the culture class; here students learn about Balinese culture, arts, and traditions. Other subjects, such as music, are extracurricular activities that take place after school. [excerpt