Juxtaposing Comparative Education and Teacher Education

• In Event: Teaching Comparative and International Education (CIE): Pedagogical Aspects of CIE and CIE Guiding Pedagogies

Abstract

This presentation makes a case for including comparative education within teacher education programs by pointing out the ubiquity of comparative education in political and education discourse and the multifarious purposes for which it is employed. Explicit comparison is integral to many key aspects of the life of teachers, and forms the basis for many important decisions that affect the ecology of their work. Comparative studies can inform teachers how their students and schools are faring, the merits of various pedagogical options and resources, how a new curriculum differs from a previous version, how their lessons can be constructed so that new learning can be developed, and so on. Comparison is also used for measuring student achievement, performance appraisals of teachers, inspections, fulfilling administrative tasks, and marketing schools—to mention but a few important applications of comparative education. Therefore, teachers need to be able to bring a critical perspective to bear on such comparative education research and also to possess the capability of conducting their own comparisons with validity and rigor. One of the useful skills that teacher education programs should help them acquire to perform these professional functions involves the process of juxtaposition (Essentially, a comparative process involves putting two or more objects of analysis next to each other in order to identify differences and similarities.) The presentation then looks at how comparative education can be positioned within a teacher education program. It covers areas such as the pedagogical content knowledge aspects of comparative education as well as some of the tools—such as juxtaposition—that could equip teachers to become critical consumers and subjects of comparative education. It then provides examples of activities that might be deployed in a teacher education program to sharpen teachers' awareness and understanding of the potential of comparative education.

Author

• Bob Adamson, The Education University of Hong Kong