Review of the Review: Constructing the Identity of Comparative Education

Abstract

The aim of this article is the explication of the identity of Comparative Education and a critical reflection thereon, by means of a journal analysis of articles published in the Comparative Education Review during the first 50 years of its existence. The 1157 articles were analyzed under the following rubrics: levels of analysis of articles; number of units covered by articles; geographical area which articles deal with authors: numbers, countries and institutional affiliation; research methods; paradigmatic affiliations; phase of education articles cover; mode of education articles deal with; and themes/topics focused on. The analysis revealed two equally strong trends -a remarkable resilience/constancy amidst a broadening. For example, the hermeneutic paradigm continues to be the most frequent paradigm, although there has been a significant diversification of paradigms recently. Comparative Education still has the 'black box' character, whereby things outside educational institutions (i.e. shaping forces of education and societal effects of education) are studied more than that which takes place inside educational institutions. The study suggests that there is much scope for the expansion of Comparative Education along new lines. Some of these are pointed out.

Mapping the Purposes of Comparative and International Education Research: A Comparative Study of Four Leading Journals

“…are most common in specific CIE journals (e.g. Foster, Addy, and Samoff, 2012;Koehl, 1977;Wolhuter, 2008). Through this type of research, scholars have been able to come to similar conclusions about the nature of the field and its genetic makeup over time:…”

“…He created a framework of nine rubrics for categorisation, and though individual thematic percentages were not provided, he did present detailed percentage information on the three main thematic groupings: shaping forces; facets of the educational system; and effects of education (Wolhuter, 2008). From these findings, he determined that those forces shaping and influencing education were more often studied than themes taking place within educational institutions per se (Wolhuter, 2008). His most significant conclusion was that the field is experiencing "two equally strong trends -a remarkable resilience/constancy amid a broadening" (Wolhuter, 2008, p. 340).…”

Patterns in Japanese Comparative Education Practices: A Contrast with North America and Greater China

“…Southeast Asia has been a relatively popular region among Japanese comparative education scholars for some decades, but Africa, South and West Asia, the Arab region, and Latin America were not. Compared to that, Wolhuter's (2008) analysis of articles in CER from 1957 to 2006 demonstrates that Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa have constantly been the focus of articles together with North America and Western Europe. It is noteworthy that Africa and Asia have been well represented from the first volume of CER (Wolhuter 2008, 328;Foster et al 2012, 712).…”

“…First, I will compare publication trends in the journals of JCES and CIES, namely, CE-J and Comparative Education Review (CER hereafter). Then, the paper will turn to the comparison of trends between CE-J and Comparative Education Review (CER-C hereafter) of the Chinese Comparative Education Society (CCES), To contrast the research trends observed through the articles published in CE-J and CER, I relied on the analysis provided by Charl C. Wolhuter (2008). Wolhuter classified 1,157 articles appearing in CER, from the first volume in 1957 to 2006.…”

Should Comparative education be superseded by Comparative and international education?

“…the objectives, methods and curricula of Comparative education courses) has been virtually absent from the Comparative education research agenda (cf. Wolhuter, 2008). Thus, while comparative education is a prolific field, the part of its existence most pivotal to its future, namely the teaching of Comparative education, has eluded the attention of scholars in the field.…”