Michael W Crossley

Comparative and international research in education: globalisation, context and difference

Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Mutidisciplinarity and Diversity in Comparative and International Education 3. Difficulties in Doing Comparative and International Research in Education 4. Globalisation, Context and Difference 5. Changing Research Agendas: Issues and Priorities 6. Educational Research, Global Agendas and International Development Cooperation 7. Reconceptualising Comparative and International Research in Education 8. Context and Culture in Educational Research and Development

Bridging Cultures and Traditions in the Reconceptualisation of Comparative and International Education.

If the field of comparative education is to be reconceptualised in ways that articulate and demonstrate its continued relevance for the 21st century, it is argued that its history and traditions deserve both celebration and challenge. The fields multi-disciplinary origins and nature, for example, position it well for further advancement in a future in which the socio-cultural analysis of global trends and developments will require concerted attention. On the other hand, some fundamental, and long-evident, characteristics require critical re-consideration. In the light of this, the article focuses upon ways in which bridges can be built or strengthened across disciplinary boundaries and between theoretical and applied studies, policy and practice, micro and macro levels of analysis and studies of the North and the South. Implications of this are considered for all engaged in comparative and international research and related educational policy and practice.

Postcolonial perspectives and comparative and international research in education: a critical introduction

Recent years have seen dramatic changes in the field of comparative and international education. Changing geopolitical relations, the intensification of globalization and advances in information an...

Comparative and International Research in Education: Scope, Problems and Potential

Abstract This article argues that as the significance of national boundaries increasingly gives way to larger‐scale federations, so the potential salience of comparative and international research in education is dramatically increased. The relevance of such developments for researchers not familiar with the perspectives and literature of comparative and international education is explored in the light of the evolution of this specialist field. The discussion identifies how more researchers could usefully contribute to a strengthening of comparative and international studies, while considering what implications such wider involvement holds for research training. The latter issue is examined with reference to the rapidly increasing involvement of educational researchers in international consultancy work where sensitivity to cross‐cultural factors is especially important.

Reconceptualising Comparative and International Education

Abstract It is argued that the field of comparative and international education must be fundamentally reconceptualised and redeveloped in ways that better demonstrate its potential to contribute to: (I) the improvement of educational policy and practice world‐wide; and (2) advances in theoretical work relating specifically to education and to the social sciences more generally. Traditional strengths of the field upon which we can build are identified, but the discussion focuses upon the nature, significance and potential of emergent trends and new possibilities. This meta‐analysis is presented to stimulate and widen discussion and to help generate further avenues for future research and development. Particular attention is given to the research orientation and potential of our multidisciplinary field; to the implications of globalisation; to the challenges of post‐modern and post‐colonial perspectives; to new frames of reference and units of analysis; to the significance of culture and context; to new for...

Comparative and international education: policy transfer, context sensitivity and professional development

This paper examines the intellectual and professional contribution of comparative and international studies to the field of education. It explores the nature of the challenges that are currently being faced, and assesses its potential for the advancement of future teaching, research and professional development. Attention is paid to the place of comparative and international education (CIE)—past and present—in teacher education, in postgraduate studies, and in the realms of policy and practice, theory and research. Consideration is first given to the nature and history of CIE, to its initial contributions to the field of education in the UK, and to its chief mechanisms and sites of production. Influential methodological and theoretical developments are examined, followed by an exploration of emergent questions, controversies and dilemmas that could benefit from sustained comparative analysis in the future. Conclusions consider implications for the place of CIE in the future of educational studies as a whole; for relations between and beyond the ‘disciplines of education’; and for the development of sustainable research capacity in this field.

Whose Knowledge, Whose Values? The Contribution of Local Knowledge to Education Policy Processes: A Case Study of Research Development Initiatives in the Small State of Saint Lucia.

This paper draws upon a case study of education in the small Caribbean state of Saint Lucia (population 154,000) to examine how local knowledge and values can influence the education policy process. It is argued that recent research development initiatives have strengthened the ability of Saint Lucia to mediate international education agendas to suit its distinctive ‘social ecology’ and circumstances as a small state. Saint Lucians, it is argued, are reconceptualizing educational research in ways that better reflect the societys Kwéyòl‐majority culture, oral traditions and postcolonial context. The boundaries of educational research are therefore being stretched to incorporate local knowledge and values and multiple modes of meaning‐making. The paper argues that increased recognition of the epistemological issues and cultural values that are at the heart of efforts to strengthen research capacity can play a crucial role in democratizing the education policy process and educational research itself.

International Collaboration and Research Capacity Building: Learning from the EdQual experience

Research capacity building and its impact on policy and practice are increasingly highlighted in the literature on international research partnerships. In the field of education and development, it is recognised that, in the past, international research collaborations have tended to be dominated by the agenda of Northern partners. Partly in response, new modalities are developing and, in the UK, funding has recently been channelled through large consortia of research institutions spread across several countries delivering a themed programme of research projects. These are expected to build research capacity in the South and influence policy in the countries in which research is conducted, at the same time as producing quality research of international relevance. This article reflects critically on the experience of one research consortium made up of academic institutions in the UK and sub‐Saharan Africa. It analyses participation in setting the research agenda, distribution of leadership and forms of capacity building within the consortium. New roles and tensions are identified and implications are drawn out for future international collaborations, funding bodies and ongoing debate within the literature on international research partnerships.

RETHINKING CONTEXT IN COMPARATIVE EDUCATION

Concern with context penetrates to the heart of comparative education. It is refl ected in much of the early writing within the fi eld, and it remains central to many contemporary intellectual positionings, discourses and developments. Contextual issues are also central to many of the most passionate theoretical and methodological debates that are to be found in the research literature ‐ past and present. Thus questions of context reveal much about the history of comparative education, at the same time as they inspire and shape some of the most challenging research and scholarship at the cutting edge of the fi eld today. This chapter explores the nature and implications of such debates, and of the contextual themes that play a strategic role in shaping the future of some of the most innovative approaches to comparative and international education worldwide. This is done with reference to developments that have made a signifi cant contribution to the evolution of research in comparative education, and to my own related work within this multi-disciplinary fi

Research and Evaluation for Educational Development: Learning From the PRISM Experience in Kenya

This book provides a reflective and historically situated analysis of the Kenyan Primary School Management Project (PRISM). This is carried out in the light of a broader international review of the theoretical and methodological literature relating to the role, and potential, of research and evaluation in the process of educational development. The case study of PRISM pays particular attention to the part played by collaborative and participatory research and evaluation in project development and implementation. The book is designed to be read on two main levels. Firstly, it provides a detailed, critical and empirically informed record of the Kenyan PRISM initiative. Secondly, the broader analysis explores implications for changing modalities of international development co-operation; for research and evaluation capacity building; for methodological and theoretical dimensions of development processes; and for the importance of comparative insights in understanding the processes and dilemmas of the international transfer of theories, policies and practices.