Comparative Education

Preface

Today, globalization has its latest effect on education. In as much as, the western countries have been effecting Indian education since ancient times. The theoretical aspect of education is darshan and philosophy. Indian Darshan has not as much effected on education as western philosophy. Our teaching methods, examination system, educational administration and management are all the contribution of western countries. The format of Indian system of education is the gift of educational system of Britain. After the independence, foreign educationists/education members were included. The format of educational system of each country depends on the need of nation and society. The state has the responsibility of education in India. Therefore the educational system of each state differs; it is not uniform. The nationalization of education is being stressed these days so that uniform educational system be brought about in India. After that globalization of education be undertaken, which is the need of the hour. For these changes, comparative study in necessary by which effective and economical (time, money and energy) educational system be established.

Under comparative education, it is also to be understood what reasons make the educational system of some countries progressive or backward. The ruling government system has also its effect on being progressiveness or backwardness-Really, like in the system of government, like the educational administration and control. For example-there is local autonomy and decentralized control in administration in Switzerland, Canada, USA and Japan. This unique characteristic is seen in their educational administration and control also. In this way, one country’s government system, politics and philosophy decide structure of the educational administration and control of that country. The governing system of a country has a close resemblance with educational system. The objective of comparative education is to have thorough understanding of all these factors.

In comparative education, the term comparative is used for two purpose first meaning of the term indicates aim or objective and second meaning of the term is used for method of study. The educational system of two or more countries can be compared with the help of supporting methods and techniques. The details of these methods have been discussed in it. The general or normative comparative method has been discussed at length, but causal comparative method has been described in brief. It is difficult to use causal comparative method in comparative education. This method can be used to identify the factors influencing systems of education of different countries on the basis of observations and survey methods rather than causal comparative method.