Setting Boundaries in
Comparative Education
Seeking the Normative
Erwin H. Epstein
What is Comparative Education?
Pedestrian’s answer: blank stare
 Educator’s answer: “the study of national
systems of education”
 Comparativist’s answer: various

What do scholars of various
disciplines call themselves?
Economists
 Sociologists
 Political Scientists
 Historians
 Physicists
 Biologists

What do comparativists call
themselves?
Comparative Educationists
 Comparative Educators
 Comparativists of Education

Confusion over Boundaries





Uncertainty over Quality
Conflation with Other Disciplines
Conflation with Ancillary Fields
Ideological Disparity
Epistemological Ambiguity
Uncertainty Over Quality

Unskilled Comparison

Undue Reliance on Abstract Theoretical
Scholarship
See E.H. Epstein (1979), Review of J. Kozol, Children of
the Revolution (Delacorte), in the Comparative
Education Review, June.
See K. Watson (1998), “Memories, Models and
Mapping: the Impact of Geopolitical Changes in
Comparative Studies in Education,” Compare, 28.

Undue Reliance on Applied Research
See P. Jones (1998), “Globalisation and
Internationalism: Democratic Prospects for World
Education,” Comparative Education, 34.
Conflation with Other Disciplines
History
 Philosophy
 Social Sciences

Conflation with Ancillary Fields
International Education
 Global Education
 Intercultural Education
 Development Education

Ideological Disparity

Marxist Interpretations



“The purpose of capitalist comparative education is to falsify
socialist education.” ― M.A. Sokolova, E.H. Kuzmina, & M.L. Radionov
“Comparative education researchers shoulder a huge
responsibility of constructing a comparative education discipline
with Chinese characteristics.” ― Gu Mingyuan
Liberal Western Interpretations



Discovering Universals
Discovering Unique Impalpable Forces
Achieving Balance Between Universals and Unique Forces
Epistemological Ambiguity
Positivism
 Relativism
 Historical Functionalism
 Beyond the Normative

 Holoculturalism
 Postmodernism
Positivist Definitions of Comparative
Education


“. . . intercultural comparison of the structure, operation,
ends, methods and achievements of different
educational systems and of the social correlations of
these educational systems and their elements.”
― C. Arnold Anderson
“. . . The discipline of research that tends to achieve new
knowledge of a theoretical and practical order through
the confrontation of two or more systems of education
corresponding to diverse countries, regions or historical
stages.”
― George F. Kneller
Relativist Definitions of Comparative
Education


“. . . to discover the spiritual, intangible, impalpable
force that in every effective system of education, in
reality, sustains the school system and is responsible for
its effectiveness.”
― Michael Sadler
“The comparative study of one of the most complex
forms of human behavior, the educational process. It
ought not to be confined to the study of school systems
or to the study of any other kind of single factor. I
consider the educational process as a total process.”
― Edmund King
Positivism as the Founding Epistemology: Establish
Invariable “Laws”
Marc-Antoine Jullien (1817)
 Philip Foster (1960)
 C. Arnold Anderson (1961)
 Torsten Husén (1967)
 Harold Noah & Max Eckstein (1969)
 Judith Torney-Purta and John Schwille
(1986)

Relativism As the Succeeding Epistemology:
Link to “National Character”
K. D. Ushinsky (1857)
 Michael Sadler (1900)
 Vernon Mallinson (1957)
 Edmund King (1968)
 Richard Renner (1988)
 Dickson A. Mungazi (1993)

Examples of Normative Extremes

Positivist: Matthew Christenson & Edward Crenshaw
(1999), “Democracy’s Handmaiden: The Influence of
Mass Education on Political and Economic Change,” in
Comparative Perspectives on the Role of Education in
Democratization: Part I: Transitional States and States in
Transition, eds. N.F. McGinn & E.H. Epstein (Peter Lang).

Relativist: Joseph P. Farrell (1986), The National Unified
School in Allende’s Chile: The Role of Education in the
Destruction of a Revolution (University of Columbia
Press).
Critics of the Extremes

Critique of Positivism: Vandra Masemann
(1990), “Ways of Knowing: Implications for
Comparative Education,” Comparative Education
Review, 19 (November).

Critique of Relativism: George Psacharopoulos
(1990), “Comparative Education: From Theory to
Practice, or Are You A:\neo.* or B:\*.ist?”
Comparative Education Review, 34 (August).
Historical Functionalism as Synthesis
Wilhelm Dilthey (1888), “Über die möglichkeit
einer allgemeingültigen pädagogischen
Wissenschaft,” in Gesammelte Schriften, Vol. V,
ed. H. Nohl (Weinheim, 1961).
 Isaac Kandel (1933), Comparative Education
(Houghton Mifflin).
 Friedrich Schneider (1961), “The Immanent
Evolution of Education: A Neglected Aspect of
Comparative Education,” Comparative Education
Review, 4 (February).

Examples of Historical Functionalism

Relativist “Lean”: Elaine Gerbert (1993),
“Lessons from the Kogugo (National Language)
Readers,” Comparative Education Review, 37
(May).

Positivist “Lean”: Erwin H. Epstein (2006),
“Echoes from the Periphery: Challenges to
Building a Culture of Peace through Education in
Marginalized Communities,” in Educating toward
a Culture of Peace, eds. Y. Iram, H. Wahrman, &
Z. Gross (Information Age).
Beyond the Extremes

Beyond Positivism: Holocultural Studies

Beyond Relativism: Postmodern Studies
Examples of Holocultural Studies

John D. Herzog (1962), “Deliberate
Instruction and Household Structure: A
Cross-cultural Study,” Harvard Educational
Review, 32 (Summer).

Erwin H. Epstein (1965), “Cross-cultural
Sampling and a Conceptualization of
‘Professional Instruction’,” Journal of
Experimental Education, 33 (Summer).
Examples of Postmodern Studies

Hannu Simola, Sakari Heikkinen, & Jussi
Silvonen (1998), “A Catalog of Possibilities:
Foucaultian History of Truth and Education
Research,” in Foucault’s Challenge: Discourse,
Knowledge and Power in Education,” eds. T.
Popkewitz & M. Brennan (Teachers College
Press).

Allan Luke (1999), “Critical Discourse Analysis,”
in “Issues in Educational Research,” ed. J. P.
Keeves & G. Lakomski (Pergamon).
Critiques of Extra-Normative
Extremes

Critique of Holocultural Perspective: Raoul
Naroll (1961)

Critique of Postmodern Perspective: Erwin
H. Epstein & Katherine T. Carroll (2005)
Graphic and Textual Summaries of
Boundary Concepts in Comparative
Education
Boundary Confusion
 Epistemological Ambiguity
 Normative Boundaries
 Beyond the Normative
 Partial Definitions

Boundary Confusion
Epistemological Ambiguity
Other Disciplines
Ancillary Fields
Epistemological Ambiguity
Positivism
Relativism
Historical
Functionalism
Normative Boundaries in
Comparative Education
Normative
Positivism
Historical
Functionalism
Relativism
Beyond the Normative
Normative
Positivism
Holocultural
Study
Relativism
Postmodern
Study
Partial Definitions Draw Narrowly
Confined Boundaries for Comparative
Education

Positivist
“. . . intercultural comparison of the structure, operation, ends, methods
and achievements of different educational systems and of the social
correlations of these educational systems and their elements.”
― C. Arnold Anderson

Relativist
“The comparative study of one of the most complex forms of human
behavior, the educational process. It ought not to be confined to the
study of school systems or to the study of any other kind of single
factor. I consider the educational process as a total process.”
― Edmund King
Comprehensive Definition Draws Broad but
Palpable Boundary for Comparative Education
“The application of the intellectual tools of history
and the social sciences to understanding
international issues of education”
― Erwin H. Epstein
Intellectual Tools of Comparative
Education
Theories
 Positivist/Universalistic:
Cross-National
 Relativist/Particularistic:
Verstehen
Methods
 Relativist:
Ideographic
 Positivist: Nomothetic
Understanding International Issues in
Comparative Education

Knowledge can be generated within “local” or
“global” context.



Local: relativist
Global: positivist
Knowledge must resonate beyond national
borders.


Cross-national investigation: positivist
Verstehen comprehension: relativist