Comparative Education Unit No. 1

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Conceptual Framework of
Comparative Education
Tahira Rafiq
Ph.D. Scholar
Department of Education
Faculty of Social Sciences
International Islamic University
Islamabad

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................3
2. Learning Objectives ..........................................................................................................3
3. Education ...........................................................................................................................3
4. Comparative Education....................................................................................................4
5. The scope of Comparative Education..............................................................................6
6. The Purpose of Comparative Education.........................................................................7
7. Limitations of the Analytical Method: ......................................................................... 17
8. Comparative Education vs International Education .................................................. 17
9. Aims................................................................................................................................. 18
10. Conclusion....................................................................................................................... 19
References .................................................................................................................................... 20

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1. Introduction
Education and comparative education as concepts can be given
different interpretation. The reason is that different people from different
angles will see them from different perspectives. In other words, there can be
as many definitions to the concepts of Education and Comparative Education.
2. Learning Objectives
At the end of this unit students should be able to:
i. Define Comparative Education
ii. Describe the Scope of Comparative Education
iii. Describe the Purpose Comparative Education
iv. Explain the reasons for studying Comparative Education
3. Education
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.

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4. Comparative Education
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. Man may also involve himself in this kind of a
business when he wants to choose between two things before him.
i. 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 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 system

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ii. Comparative Education according to Good (1962) 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.
iii. According to David N. Wilson (2003) Comparative Education
is an intersection of the social sciences, and cross national data
to test proposition about the relationship between teaching
practices and learning outcomes.
iv. Osokoya (1992) describe Comparative Education could be the
comparison of educational theory and practices within a society,
state, region and nation.
v. Mallinson (1975) defines the subject as: a systematic
examination of other cultures resemblances and differences, and
why variant solutions have been attempted (and with what result)
to problems that are often common to all.
vi. Kascey oswell (2011) define Comparative Education is a field of
study that applies historical, philosophical and social sciences
theories and methods to international problems in education.

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5. The scope of Comparative Education
The term "scope" according to Longman dictionary of contemporary
English could mean:
i. The area within the limit of a question, subject, action etc.
ii. Space or chance for actions or thought.
However, subjects from where Comparative Education draws its
contents include the following:
i. History of Education
ii. Philosophy of Education
iii. Sociology of Education
iv. Anthropology
v. Economics
vi. Geography
vii. Psychology
viii. Statistics
ix. Literature
x. Political geography
xi. Political science
xii. The International relations.

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Above explanation clearly shows that the subject is not independent of
other subjects; it is a discipline that relates to other subjects for the
accomplishment of its aims and objectives. It may be reasonably concluded
that the interdisciplinary nature of the subject has contributed to the wideness
of the discipline.
6. 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 and aims at achieving.
i. 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.
ii. The purpose of Comparative Education was given by Mallinson
(1975) when he noted that: To become familiar with what is
being done some countries and why it is done, is a necessary part
of the training of all students of educational issues of the day.
From the above, it is evident that the study of Comparative Education
assists the learners to understand their educational systems better.

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iii. In his own contribution to the purpose of comparative education,
Marc - Antoine Jullien de Paris (1817) cited in Hans (1992)
notes that the purpose of Comparative Education is to perfect
national systems with modifications and changes which the
circumstances and local conditions would demand.
Like other Education Comparativsts, the purpose given above is a
pointer to the fact that the study of Comparative education assists in the
flexibility of educational systems of one's country.
iv. Kidd (1975) provide the following detailed list of purpose:
a. To become better informed about the educational system
of other countries.
b. To become better informed about the ways in which
people in other cultures have carried out certain s have
carried out certain social functions by means of education.
c. To become better informed about the historical roots of
certain activities and use this to develop criteria for
assessing
d. To better understand the educational forms and system
operating in one’s own country
e. To better understand oneself

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v. Reasons for Studying Comparative Education Include:
a. To serve as an academic discipline.
b. To assist in solving one's educational problems
c. To assist in the understanding of the factors that are
responsible for various educational changes
d. To assist in the understanding of one's educational
institutions as well as educational practices
e. To contribute not only to the educational development of
the society but also to the general development of the
society.
vi. Methods in Comparative Education:
In the various methods of the study of comparative education the
following are Quantitative, Descriptive, Sociological, Historical,
Analytical and Synthetic.
a. The Quantitative of Statistical Method:
In this method various type of educational data are col-
lected about a country. For example, the data about the
number of students at a certain stage of education, ex-
penditure on them, the percentages of passes and failures

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at various stages of education, expenses on teachers’ sala-
ries, school buildings and other items are collected, and
the same are compared with the identical data of another
country. Thus the progress or decline of education in any
country is statistically analyzed.
b. The Descriptive Method:
This method was used in the nineteenth century because
the main purpose of comparative education then was to in-
corporate the good points of another country. For this, a
detailed description of educational affairs of another coun-
try was necessary.
So many educationists presented detailed descriptive ac-
counts of educational systems of other lands. John Gris-
com of U.S.A. is worthy of mention in this connection. In
1918-19 he visited Great Britain, France, Holland, Swit-
zerland and Italy and wrote a book entitled “A Year in Eu-
rope” describing their educational systems.
Matthew Arnold of Great Britain and Horace Man of
U.S.A did some work in the area of descriptive method.
Mathew Arnold studied the educational systems of France

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and Germany and published a report about France in 1859
and about Germany in 1865.
Mathew Arnold in his description drew our attention also
to those factors which distinguish the educational system
of one land from that of another. Sir Michael Sadler and
Paul Monroe followed Arnold’s method. Thus, the study
of comparative education became better organised.
Henry Bernard, between 1856 and 1881, published thirty
one volumes of “The American Journal of Education”. In
these volumes he described the educational systems of the
various states of U.S.A. and of many foreign countries.
And so he placed before us standard data. In this process
he also interpreted the historical background of each edu-
cational system he described.
The above account indicates that the descriptive method
of comparative education was advocated by those educa-
tionists who wanted to promote and popularise the study
of comparative education.
c. The Sociological Method:

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In the sociological method the educational problems are
studied in a social context. This is done with the belief that
the educational system of a country is conditioned by its
social, cultural, economic, political and religious situa-
tions.
Hence the educational problems of a country have their
origin in some social problems and they do not exist by
themselves as there is a close relationship between educa-
tion and society.
The sociological method suffers from the limitation that it
ignores the contributions of individuals towards the
growth of education. We know that in each country there
are some individuals who have contributed immensely to-
wards the growth of education in their countries.
d. The Historical Method:
In the historical method we study the modern educational
problems. This method reveals the basis on which the
modern educational system is based. Needless to say that

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this knowledge may help us in eliminating undesirable el-
ements in the system and further strengthening the desira-
ble ones.
In the historical method we try to understand all those ge-
ographical, social, racial, political, religious and linguistic
factors which influence the educational system of a coun-
try. Nicholas Hans, Schneider and Kandel have empha-
sized this method.
But one of the great limitations of the historical method is
that the data on which we base our study may not be reli-
able because in the collection of the same, due care is not
observed. Therefore, conclusions derived cannot be very
useful.
Thus, the truth is not known. Consequently, by the histor-
ical method we cannot reach the right conclusions. The an-
other difficulty of the historical method is that the past is
unduly emphasized. Consequently, the study of compara-
tive education becomes unbalanced

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e. The Analytical Method:
In the foregoing pages we have remarked several times
that the educational system of a country has a close rela-
tionship with its social, political and economical condi-
tions. It is because of this relationship that a comparative
study has become necessary. In any comparative study we
have to use analysis.
Because through analysis we can separate the various ele-
ments and understand the importance of each inde-
pendently. Analytical method can be useful only when the
social and educational organisations are compared. For
this comparison the following four factors are necessary.
(1) To Collect Educational Data:
To collect all the educational information through
descriptive and statistical methods is necessary for
analytical method.
(2) Interpretation of Social, Political, Economic and
Historical Data:

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This is necessary in order to understand similarities
and differences found in the educational systems of
various countries.
(3) Determination of Standard for Comparison:
After finding out the similarities and differences of
the various educational systems, we have to com-
pare the same according to certain standards. It is
the business of the analytical method to formulate
these standards. Political philosophy, aims of edu-
cation and the method of control of education may
be cited as some standards for comparison.
In the context of these standards, we shall under-
stand the similarities and differences of educational
systems of various countries. For example, we can
say that since there is a difference between the po-
litical philosophies of India and China, therefore,
we find differences in their educational systems.
(4) Interpretation and Conclusion:

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On the basis of the above three aspects we interpret
the collected data and reach certain conclusions on
the basis of comparison.

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7. Limitations of the Analytical Method:
The analytical method is prone to close our eyes to this inherent simi-
larity. Therefore, in the study of comparative education the necessity of syn-
thetically method has been conceived. We shall study this method below.
8. Comparative Education vs International Education
Comparative and International 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. Comparativists come from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and
therefore come to the field with different subject expertise and ideas about
how best to conduct research in the field. There has been much debate over
the theoretical, epistemological and methodological frameworks and tools that
should be used when carrying out research in comparative and international
education as well as discussions over the future directions of the field. The
SIG welcomes interest and contributions on these important debates.
Examples of issues that have been researched by our SIG members in-
clude (but are not at all limited to): EU education policy; citizenship and hu-
man rights education; global education policy; students’ and teachers’ identi-
ties; learning and teaching; assessment and achievement; effects of gender,
race and social class on learning and achievement; textbook research; parental

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choice; international schools and intercultural education; education in devel-
oping countries.
Evidently, much of our research fits in comfortably with other SIGs,
but what we are all essentially concerned with as Comparativists is exploring
similarities and differences between the structures, processes, dynamics, pol-
icies and practices of different education systems. Much of the work we do is
also international in nature. We strongly encourage BERA members whose
work fits in to this field to join the SIG and contribute to knowledge exchange,
especially through submitting abstracts to BERA conferences. We stress the
importance of learning from comparing and remind members of the important
words stated by Robert Edward Hughes (1901: 52) in his seminal text
‘Schools at Home and Abroad’ that ‘the basis of all knowledge is compari-
son’.
9. Aims
i. to provide a forum within BERA for academics, practitioners and
students from a range of disciplines who are involved in research
in comparative and international education to engage in dialogue
and debate, share theoretical and empirical research, and ex-
change knowledge and ideas

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ii. to raise the profile of comparative and international education
through the annual conference and by hosting seminars
iii. to encourage the publication of high quality research papers
within BERJ and other journals
10. Conclusion
Comparative education is an interdisciplinary course as it borrows ideas
from other subjects. As a course of study, it has reasons for being taught by
teachers and being learnt by the students.

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References:
Adeyinka, A.A. (1994) Popular Topics in Comparative Education for
Nigerian Tertiary Education Students, Ilorin, Success Education
Osokoya, I.O. (1992): Comparative Education, Ibadan, University of Ibadan