Introduction to Comparative Education

Catalog description

Origins, nature, scope, basic literature, and methodology of comparative education. Study of sample topics. CI ED 401 CI ED (EDTHP) 401 Introduction to Comparative and International Education (3) (IL) The course introduces undergraduate students to global issues in education and provides a survey of schooling practices used in various educational systems around the world. Students will have the chance to create an individual research project that will allow them to explore one country and one global educational issues in depth. Students are required to attend all classes, participate in the discussion sections, and take notes on the films shown. These films play an integral part in the course and provide students with views into classrooms and schools around the world. Students will also have access to international databases and be expected to make use of these databases in developing their projects. Finally, in-class discussions will focus on how comparative educational studies have been used by politicians to influence educational reform around the world.In this course, we will survey the state of public education in the world today. Each student will focus on one nation and provide a synopsis of educational practice in that nation. We will then move on to focus on global or cross-national issues such as how competition between "core" nations like Singapore and the U.S. drives reform (GOALS 2000 or No Child Left Behind). Other issues will include power differences between north and south, education for democracy, barriers to girls and women's education in developing nations, as well as education and national identity.