Question

Write scope of comparative education. Explain types of comparative studies.

Answer 1

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.

Activity

Examine the scope of comparative education in light of the above aspects.

Answer 2

Comparative education is an area of education that analyzes a country's education system with data and systems from other countries and establishes educational development policies. It is an area of study which compares current educational theory and practice in various countries with a view to broadening and deepening understanding of the problems of education across national boundaries.

Explanation:

There are different perspectives that define the scope of comparative studies

1. The subject and content are the basic components of educational systems, for example structure, goals, content or instruction, administration, funding and education for teachers.
2. Geographical study units comprising studies and review of intra-national, domestic, continental and global structures or world structures.
3. Ideological scope which compares educational systems of countries based on various political, economic and social ideologies. Examples, Democratic, authoritarian, democratic, capitalistic, free market
4. Thematic scope which focuses on educational subjects, concerns or problems in one or more regional units and compares them. Examples,Free elementary and high-school, universal elementary education, free education and free higher education.
5. The spatial/historical scope deals with the study of historical development of the discipline from the earliest (pre-historic) era called as Travelers' Tales to the contemporary phase known as an era of social sciences. The study of the

Type of Comparative Studies

• Individualizing comparison compares' a few cases to understand the features of each case.' This simply means that the characteristics or functionalities of each case studied are thoroughly defined. It contributes to extending our awareness and offers insight into events.
• Universalization comparison  demonstrates that every instance of a phenomenon essentially follows the same law.'  It includes comparing fundamental theories with significant generality and importance, and presenting theories to justify the studies.
• The comparison is designed to' establish a definition of variability in the character or intensity of a phenomenon through a systematic analysis of variations between instances.' This means that comparing several types of an individual phenomenon will identify logical variations between instances and set a level of variance in the character or severity of the phenomenon.
• Encompassing comparison involves' placing different instances in various positions within the same structure, describing their features in conjunction with their respective structure-wide relationships'