Comparative Science : Interdisciplinary Approaches 9781783504565, 9781783504558

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COMPARATIVE SCIENCES: INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON EDUCATION AND SOCIETY Series Editor: Alexander W. Wiseman Recent Volumes Series Editor from Volume 11: Alexander W. Wiseman Volume 11:

Educational Leadership: Global Contexts and International Comparisons

Volume 12:

International Educational Governance

Volume 13:

The Impact of International Achievement Studies on National Education Policymaking

Volume 14:

Post-Socialism Is Not Dead: (Re)Reading the Global in Comparative Education

Volume 15:

The Impact and Transformation of Education Policy in China

Volume 16:

Education Strategy in the Developing World: Revising the World Bank’s Education Policy

Volume 17:

Community Colleges Worldwide: Investigating the Global Phenomenon

Volume 18:

The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Education Worldwide

Volume 19:

Teacher Reforms around the World: Implementations and Outcomes

Volume 20:

Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2013

Volume 21:

The Development of Higher Education in Africa: Prospects and Challenges

Volume 22:

Out of the Shadows: The Global Intensification of Supplementary Education

Volume 23:

International Educational Innovation and Public Sector Entrepreneurship

Volume 24:

Education for a Knowledge Society in Arabian Gulf Countries

Volume 25:

Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2014

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON EDUCATION AND SOCIETY VOLUME 26

COMPARATIVE SCIENCES: INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES EDITED BY

ALEXANDER W. WISEMAN Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA

NIKOLAY POPOV Sofia University, Sofia, Bulgaria

United Kingdom North America India Malaysia China

Japan

Emerald Group Publishing Limited Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK First edition 2015 Copyright r 2015 Emerald Group Publishing Limited Reprints and permissions service Contact: [email protected] No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-1-78350-455-8 ISSN: 1479-3679 (Series)

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CONTENTS LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

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PREFACE

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AN INTRODUCTION TO COMPARING COMPARATIVE METHODOLOGIES: A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING PITFALLS AND OPERATIONALIZING PROMISES Alexander W. Wiseman and Nikolay Popov

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PART I: METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN COMPARATIVE SCIENCES QUISNAM SUM EGO? CRISES OF IDENTITY IN COMPARATIVE EDUCATION AND THE CALL FOR A COMPARISON OF COMPARATIVE STUDIES C. C. Wolhuter

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THE ROLE OF COMPARATIVE PEDAGOGY IN COMPARATIVE EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH Klara Skubic Ermenc

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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: METHODOLOGICAL OPTICS IN THE IDEOLOGICAL CONTEXT Olga Fedotova and Oksana Chigisheva

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EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER EDUCATION IN NAMIBIA AND CANADA Larry Prochner, Ailie Cleghorn, Anna Kirova and Christine Massing v

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COMPARATIVE INTERPRETATION STANDARDS IN UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL LAW Maren Heidemann

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PART II: EMPIRICAL COMPARATIVE STUDIES CROSSING THE NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS TO EMERGING NATIONS Karen L. Biraimah and Agreement L. Jotia

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HIGHER EDUCATION AND SOCIAL TRUST: A EUROPEAN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE Pepka A. Boyadjieva and Petya I. Ilieva-Trichkova

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DEMOCRATIC SCHOOL GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF TWO SCHOOLS IN SOUTH AFRICA Vusi Mncube, Lynn Davies and Renuka Naidoo

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SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS OF EDUCATION FOR INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING IN THAILAND Chanita Rukspollmuang

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FAMILY NEEDS AND FEMALE WORK: A COMPARATIVE SURVEY OF PUBLIC POLICIES AND PRIVATE CHOICES ON EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES Alessandra Pera and Marina Nicolosi

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

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INDEX

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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Karen L. Biraimah

College of Education, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

Pepka A. Boyadjieva

Institute for the Study of Societies and Knowledge, BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria

Oksana Chigisheva

Southern Federal University, Rostov-onDon, Russian Federation

Ailie Cleghorn

Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

Lynn Davies

University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

Klara Skubic Ermenc

University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Olga Fedotova

Southern Federal University, Rostov-onDon, Russian Federation

Maren Heidemann

University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Petya I. IlievaTrichkova

Institute for the Study of Societies and Knowledge, BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria; Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland

Agreement L. Jotia

University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana

Anna Kirova

University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

Christine Massing

University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

Vusi Mncube

University of South Africa, Muckleneuk Campus, South Africa vii

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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

Renuka Naidoo

University of South Africa, Muckleneuk Campus, South Africa

Marina Nicolosi

University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

Alessandra Pera

University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

Nikolay Popov

Sofia University, Sofia, Bulgaria

Larry Prochner

University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

Chanita Rukspollmuang

Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Alexander W. Wiseman Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA C. C. Wolhuter

North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

PREFACE It is natural to compare. Comparison is fundamental to understanding not only understanding what makes one phenomenon like another, but also what makes many phenomena different from the others. Examining various social science phenomena and comparative studies fields by looking at them comparatively allows for a holistic approach to understanding rather than trying to achieve understanding as a conglomeration of isolated phenomena. Since the context of comparative study is one of the most important yet misunderstood influences on comparative research in all fields, this volume aims to build a conceptual infrastructure for comparative research, which is relevant to all comparative studies and fields across disciplines. To do this, the capacity for understanding and identifying the comparative method in various fields is necessary. And, to sustain comparative collaboration and mutual benefit, this volume builds an interdisciplinary base for continued awareness, development, and application of comparative studies. Based on the inaugural session of the International Symposium of Comparative Sciences, held in Sofia, Bulgaria (October 2013), this volume of the International Perspectives on Education and Society series focuses on the distinctions, overlap and integration of comparative studies across disciplinary boundaries, broadly speaking. Each part of this volume has been developed to provide a shared space for us to hear regional and cultural voices from different fields of study, to recognize ways that comparative research in one field translates to another, and to identify and appreciate new or under-emphasized topics and issues in the comparative sciences broadly speaking. This volume is organized into two parts. Part I includes chapters that address methodological considerations in comparative sciences. These methodological considerations range across several fields and disciplines, including comparative education, comparative pedagogy, comparative analysis, comparative teacher education, and comparative law. Wolhuter’s chapter addresses crises of identity in comparative education by addressing 10 issues that prevent comparative education from achieving its full potential. This is then followed by Wolhuter’s explanation of the potential of ix

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comparative education compared to other comparative sciences. Ermenc’s chapter on comparative pedagogies follows and perhaps answers some of Wolhuter’s questions by addressing the conceptualization of comparative pedagogies from a European perspective. Much like Wolhuter, however, Ermenc also questions the meaning of comparative pedagogy and then proposes a new and more distinct definition of this construct. Fedotova and Chigisheva’s chapter follows Ermenc’s with a question about ideological indoctrination through comparative analysis as well as the potential for comparative analysis to reveal ideology. The author’s comparative study suggests that micro and macro contexts can be mechanisms to distinguish comparative research. Prochner, Cleghorn, Kirova, and Massing’s chapter is a research note, which provides an example of the type of comparative analysis that Fedotova and Chigisheva’s approach and attempt to identify as well as challenge ideological indoctrination through comparative study, although that is not the authors’ necessary intent. Instead, Prochner et al. propose and comment on a study of early childhood teacher education programs in Namibia and Canada from a decidedly Canadian perspective, which emphasizes the importance of preparing “teachers to dovetail children’s preparation for school with meaningful connections to the culture and language of the home community” with the stated goal of “effectiveness” and an assumed understanding of what “majority and minority worlds” need. Finally, Part I concludes with Heidemann’s chapter, which comparatively interprets standards in uniform international law. The author argues that a comparative approach may be key to developing uniform standards for the application of particular laws, but this perspective goes beyond comparative law itself. The contributions of comparison to normative isomorphism in education, law, philosophy, literature, and a host of other fields and disciplines are possible. The chapters in Part II are empirical comparative studies and represent the fields and disciplines of comparative higher education, comparative education, comparative leadership and management, comparative analyses, and comparative public policy from a legal perspective. Part II begins with Biraimah and Jotia’s chapter critically analyzing study abroad programs to emerging nations through a distinct analytical structure involving framework development, critical questioning, and the examination of challenges to study abroad partnerships, in particular. The emphasis of this chapter is on the partnership both in terms of the program development, but also in terms of providing a comparative framework for developing an equitable relationship between the two universities engaged in the partnership.

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Boyadjieva and Ilieva-Trichkova’s chapter then focuses on the influence higher education has on the construction of social trust using a European comparative perspective. This cross-national study of 19 different European countries uses a quantitative methodology to implement the comparative method. The role of key intervening and other independent variables in impacting the dependent variable of social trust is discussed and empirically and comparatively studied. The potential distinguishing characteristics of micro and macro contexts (much like Fedotova and Chigisheva’s chapter) are raised by Boyadjieva and Ilieva-Trichkova to suggest that social trust is a characteristic of both individuals and social systems. Mncube, Davies, and Naidoo’s chapter comparatively analyzes two schools in South Africa to distinguish democratic school governance, leadership, and management, but instead of taking a quantitative approach like Boyadjieva and Ilieva-Trichkova, Mncube et al. use qualitative methods. Using a qualitative approach the authors were less able to generalize their findings, but they were able to identify two structures for democracy in school governance, leadership, and management. Their careful comparative, qualitative analysis is important not only because of its findings that teachers need training in different democratic ways of operating schools, but also that teachers need multiple options for change. Rukspollmuang’s chapter on education for international understanding in Thailand is an empirical comparative study of the development of a culture of peace in education. However, not only is this an important empirical piece, but it is also representative of the fact that comparative empirical analyses do not have to compare across nation-state boundaries. Instead, this comparative study looks comparatively across international and national systems, which suggests that comparative science can be comparative across units of analysis as well as within them. Finally in Part II, Pera and Nicolosi’s chapter presents a comparative study of Italian women’s education and skills and the relationship of women’s condition in Italy with legal policies, in particular. To follow up on a methodological consideration that was a theme of comparative sciences and the chapters in Part I, Pera and Nicolosi’s chapter analyzes both micro- and macro-choices. The micro/macro comparison is a consistent (or perhaps persistent) theme throughout this volume, and while Pera and Nicolosi conclude that the micro/macro comparison is not only among choices (represented by legal instruments and policies) but also across units of analysis (e.g., national laws and policies versus European legal rules and models).

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The audience for this volume spans many fields and disciplines and includes authors and topics for study and analysis within the chapters, which span these fields and disciplines as well. Nikolay Popov and I extend a sincere and heartfelt thank you to the contributors to this volume, to the participants in the 2013 International Symposium of Comparative Sciences, and to the anonymous chapter reviewers. They each contributed to the development and enhancement of the quality and rigor of each chapter, the volume as a whole, and to the International Perspectives on Education and Society series as a whole. The development, definition, and application of comparative sciences both for theoretical scholarship and practical application is not only important to those of us who do comparative research, but to all who are invested in comparative science broadly speaking. It is my sincere wish that this volume will serve to enhance and inform comparative studies in all fields and disciplines, and serve also as a mechanism for developing knowledge and facilitating meaningful reflection and understanding. Alexander W. Wiseman Series Editor and Volume Co-Editor

AN INTRODUCTION TO COMPARING COMPARATIVE METHODOLOGIES: A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING PITFALLS AND OPERATIONALIZING PROMISES Alexander W. Wiseman and Nikolay Popov ABSTRACT Systematic, consistent, and holistic reflection on comparative methodologies across different disciplines and fields is rare. This chapter, however, develops a framework for both understanding and operationalizing comparative research. First, the basic characteristics of comparison and how it is used in social science research is described. Then, the benefits of comparing for identifying similarities versus differences and the contexts that determine the appropriateness of comparison are discussed. Next, several questions are posed that serve as guides in the operationalization of both the promises and the pitfalls of comparison. Finally, these

Comparative Sciences: Interdisciplinary Approaches International Perspectives on Education and Society, Volume 26, 1 11 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3679/doi:10.1108/S1479-367920140000026001

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questions are used to frame both conceptual and practical approaches to inter- as well as intra-disciplinary comparative research. Keywords: Comparative methods; comparative science; comparative research; comparative reflection; methodological nationalism

Reflection is a necessary part of growth, just like comparison is a natural part of knowing (Epstein, 2008; Wilson, 2009). Yet, reflection alone is sufficient neither for professional development nor significant change (Day, 1993). Similarly, there are both pitfalls and promises associated with being reflective and systematic about comparing comparative methodologies. Yet, the evidence of human experience suggests that it is natural to compare. Comparison is driven by needs, agendas, and interests at all levels ranging from the individual to the institutional. Comparison is something that is done without planning as well as something that is explicitly and systematically planned and implemented. Regardless of the agenda, actor, and method, it is taken-for-granted because it happens so readily and so often. Children do it when they make their first comparisons between what they have versus what others have; and adults do it when they attempt to understand both their own societies, systems, and situations as well as understanding others’. In other words, comparison is not only natural, it is innate. It happens because we are human. Comparison is fundamental to understanding not only understanding what makes one phenomenon like another, but also what makes many similar phenomena different from the others. In other words, comparison is not only about looking for similarities and shared meanings. It is also and perhaps most importantly about finding what is unique and different. In fact, a meaningful understanding of any phenomenon requires grounding in what makes that phenomenon unique. Comparison can be about characterizations of one person, situation, or community in relation to another. In comparative social sciences, for example, key questions often ask how a particular phenomenon is unique in specifically contextualized communities by examining what makes it similar as well as what makes it different from phenomena in other communities. So, comparison is easy, it is natural because it can be done with simple metaphor or simile, and even when done so simply it can be done to great

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and impressive effect. But, we have a deeper issue at stake, which is whether it is possible or prudent to compare comparative studies.

COMPARING COMPARATIVE STUDIES Comparing comparative methodologies is not simply about the identification of unique phenomena. It is about the overlap and integration of comparative sciences broadly speaking. Comparative studies in anthropology, civilization studies, economics, education, history, labor studies, law, linguistics, literature, migration studies, myth and legend studies, political science, psychology, religion, sociology, and many more seek to understand phenomena through comparison. Each of these comparative fields of scholarship or disciplinary approaches also bring a balance of contextualization and globalization to their comparative methodologies. In other words, comparative studies are not necessarily limited by national systems or political, cultural, social, or economic boundaries, and they are often global in character. For example, situating any social institution in a global context may highlight the unique impact that the institution has on individuals and their communities, but it will also be a way to focus attention on the broader impact and importance of that institution. In comparative education, for example, situating education as an institution in a global context emphasizes how schooling is not only a tool for educating individual students, but also for community and national development. And, it shows how the broader contextual character can shape the agenda that drives or guides education worldwide. In fact, many researchers who look at education comparatively find that only through international comparison of an educational phenomenon with like phenomena in other nations can the public and educators, in particular, understand the complete role of education. But, comparative education is only one of many fields of comparative study. For example, in the social sciences some disciplines have been established and legitimized through many years of theoretical and methodological debate, research, and development. These more legitimized disciplines, like sociology or law, have been established and are founded upon a clear and “classic” history of the discipline and its theoretical and methodological foundations. In sociology, for instance, the work of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber serves as a classical theoretical foundation that other disciplines are informed by and borrow. These more legitimized

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disciplines have comparative strands (e.g., comparative sociology or comparative law). Other comparative studies fields are less legitimized (e.g., comparative education) because of the legitimacy of the parent field of study, or because of the relative historically recent origin of the formal field of comparative study (Wiseman & Matherly, 2009). The more legitimized academic disciplines’ comparative methodologies tend to influence or even dominate those of less legitimized disciplines or more newly established fields of comparative study. To continue the previous example, many scholars who do comparative education research borrow methodologies from the social sciences quite freely, yet there is little evidence that researchers in sociology or political science borrow methods or frameworks from comparative education studies. This, then, is a limitation of comparing comparative methodologies. First, it must be established, which fields of comparative studies are independent or externally legitimized versus fields of comparative studies that are dependent on others for their comparative frameworks? In considering the impact and complexity of different approaches to the comparative sciences, many important questions have not been systematically or uniformly investigated. There are, in fact, several approaches to comparing comparative methodologies, yet there is not yet an articulated approach to systematically and collectively compare comparative methodologies. Part of the reason why is because not all comparative methodologies are different across disciplines and fields. There is evidence that a shared set of assumptions across comparative fields of studies sets a standard for what comparative methodologies are at a minimum, but then there are multiple fields of comparative study with different content and areas of focus that provide a much more varied experience with comparative methods and studies.

COMPARATIVE RESEARCH AND METHODS Each comparative studies field has its own set of key constructs or target variables that deserve scrutiny. But, as in many comparative contexts, the variation in the units, environments, or levels being compared makes it quite clear that there are always problems with comparisons. One way to overcome this obstacle is to ask key questions about comparative methodologies. For example, are comparative methods consistently defined and measured across fields of comparative studies? This is a question that could

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be empirically investigated through a meta-analysis of research published in comparative education, comparative psychology, and comparative religion, for example. Of course each paper or article included in this hypothetical study may present an important study that should be valued on its own merit, but researchers could also look across the many papers being presented and start thinking about whether the comparative methods that each author uses are consistently defined and measured. If they are, then how are they? If they are not then what are the different variations? And, in either case, why are they alike or different? Are there some trends in context, topic, or data that suggest how and why the comparative methods discussed are defined and measured? Or, researchers could look at comparative methodologies specifically by asking whether comparative methodologies are context-, discipline-, or field-specific? Researchers could also ask if comparative methodologies lend themselves to cross-contextual, interdisciplinary, or multilevel analyses? As these questions suggest, cultural, contextual, and organizational characteristics often prevent direct comparisons. But, examining various social science phenomena and comparative studies fields by looking at them comparatively allows for a holistic approach to understanding rather than trying to achieve understanding as a conglomeration of isolated phenomena.

LACK OF COMPARATIVE REFLECTION A cursory review of comparative research in any field suggests that there is both a diverse array of comparative methods and a paucity of methodological reflection on comparative approaches. There has been, however, an awareness in some comparative studies fields that this lack of reflection exists and is potentially detrimental. For example, Skocpol and Somers (1980) observed that systematic reflection of comparative history methods was rare. They noted (p. 174), Certain areas of scholarly endeavor in contemporary social science have given rise to methodological reflection even more sophisticated than the substantive applications of the methods in question, but this has certainly not been the case for comparative history. Despite the steady application of variants of this approach to macrosocial topics such as revolutions, religious evolution, political development, economic “modernization,” patterns of collective violence, and the rise and fall of empires, there have been remarkably few efforts to explore the methodological aspects of comparative history as such in any systematic fashion.

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To be more systematically reflective in the comparative approach to historical research requires asking the questions outlined already, which address consistency in definition and measurement and specific versus integrated approaches to comparison. The most basic way to compare comparative methodologies is to consider the levels or units of comparison being used. Levels of comparison and units of comparison are often more predictive and reliable when they are focused or contained. This is difficult to operationalize. For example, does this mean that broader levels of analysis (e.g., global comparisons) are less stable comparative units than more focused levels of analysis (e.g., at the neighborhood, family, or individual level)? Or, does this suggest that global and national units stabilize comparative research because they tend to obscure local variation? Another starting point is to compare comparative studies by grouping comparative methodologies. This provides a place to start because it shows which methodologies share characteristics or mechanisms for comparison or how they are dissimilar from other families of methodologies. This is indeed no easy task, but it is bound to have a significant impact. Few activities and behaviors are centrally coordinated worldwide, which means that the context of comparative study is one of the most important yet misunderstood influences on comparative research in all fields. A crossdisciplinary comparison, like the one hypothesized earlier, aims to build a conceptual framework for comparing comparative methodologies across the many fields of comparative study. To do this, the capacity for understanding and identifying the comparative method in various fields is necessary. And, to sustain comparative collaboration and mutual benefit, comparative scholars must build a reflective, interdisciplinary, and scholarly base for continued awareness, development, and application of comparative methods relevant to all fields. This is the beginning of a broadly defined science of comparison and of comparative methodologies themselves.

WHAT IS THE COMPARATIVE METHOD? One field in which an overt attempt was made to define and institutionalize a comparative method is comparative education. In the late 1960s, two professors of comparative education, Harold Noah and Max Eckstein set out to develop a science of comparative education. They began by tracing the historical development of comparative education to set the foundational

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context for comparative education as a scientific research method. They then created a science of the comparative method in education by applying the classic procedures of the scientific methods to comparative education research. In other words, they asserted that comparative education researchers should (1) set up hypotheses, (2) collect data, (3) quantify, control, manipulate, and interpret the analysis of this data, and then (4) blend compatible hypotheses in order to constitute a theory about whatever comparative education phenomena had been investigated. Unfortunately, this method did not become widely accepted or adopted in the field of comparative education. The problem may have been that this approach was not flexible enough to handle all of the vagaries of context, time, culture, and purpose that comparative methodologies require. In hindsight a better approach seems to be to start with large-scale comparison and then gently focus as the situation, data, or questions allow. In a study of the promise and pitfalls of comparative research design in the study of migration, sociologist Irene Bloemraad (2013, p. 27) said, “Comparative research design involves a decision over what to compare … and how to compare.” She said that “what to compare” involves deciding on the general class of “cases” in a study. And, “how to compare” is a choice about the comparative logics that drive the selection of specific cases. In contrast to Noah and Eckstein’s overly specified scientific approach to the comparative method, Bloemraad’s generalism is a more accessible way to begin systematically and holistically understanding the comparative method. Simply start with two questions: what to compare and how to compare? Bloemraad’s approach suggests that if researchers already know that what they want to compare is comparative methodologies themselves, then all they should be left with is the “how”? But, this is perhaps too simple. It takes more than knowing what and how to understand a complex phenomenon. At a minimum, most researchers need to know who, what, when, where, why, and how as a starting point. Once this is clear, researchers can ask more complicated questions. For example, comparative scholars may find it useful to ask when comparison is appropriate and when is it comparing “apples and oranges” (in other words, comparing phenomena that were not meant to be compared). The answer depends on many factors, including unit, context, interpretation, and application of the comparative method. In fact, Bloemraad (2013, p. 29) suggests that it is more complex than deciding on what and how when she says, “The strength of a comparative research design … rests on its ability to foster concept-building, theorybuilding, and the identification of causal mechanisms.” In other words,

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theoretical perspective or conceptual framework will shift the who, what, when, where, why, and how of comparing comparative methodologies just as much as the connections and differences among them does, if not more. Political scientist, Denk (2010, p. 29) pushes comparative scholars beyond theory and into the realm of empirical comparative methodology when he asserts, “A classic problem in comparative studies has been the presence of too many variables and too few cases.” Additionally, the instruments of comparison require careful scrutiny to ensure that they are valid and reliable tools for comparison. At this point, it is again useful to return to the “how” of comparing comparative methodologies, but perhaps more importantly, is it possible to move beyond the classic empirical and disciplinary distinctions between qualitative and quantitative comparisons that sociologist Charles Ragin created for comparativists in 1987 in his widely read book, The Comparative Method? One way to do that is to ask if comparative science implies a universality of methodology, or not. Perhaps the unit of analysis question has to be answered before the other questions can be asked. The scope of comparison studies across all of the social science disciplines encompasses comparisons at all levels of analysis from micro to meso to macro (e.g., Davies & Aurini, 2006). There are some reasons, however, why comparative studies are often stuck at the international or cross-national comparison arena. For example, “methodological nationalism” is a term used to describe the problem of viewing the nation-state as the natural societal unit of analysis. The production of statistics by every sub-national, national, and international unit promotes this line of thinking. Consequently, researchers may underplay variation within the nation-state because they are looking for variation among nation-states to create national models. FitzGerald (2012, p. 7) argues that the issue of whether the scale of comparison is appropriate is often forgotten; and a fixed sense that a nationstate has always been there, hides the variable and contingent boundaries of the entity that is being compared. He does so with several examples. For example, in critiquing the ways that the scale of comparison is forgotten FitzGerald asks if a very large country like China should be weighted in comparative analyses alongside a very small one like Belize? Or, when critiquing the ways that the variable and contingent boundaries of nationstates are hidden in comparative research, he asks if emigration from “Poland” and “India” mean the same thing historically? These are difficult questions to ask or answer, largely because many comparative studies and researchers focus solely on isolating and comparing specifically defined and

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contextualized phenomena. The question remains, however, whether or not this is appropriate comparison.

THE PITFALLS AND PROMISES OF COMPARISON The challenge for comparativists then is to begin to understand when we have developed or applied comparative methodologies to phenomena, situations, or contexts that cannot bear comparison. There are scenarios when comparisons must be carefully constructed or not constructed at all. But, how do comparative researchers recognize when this is, and when is comparison less helpful than harmful? Finally, the spread of comparative methodologies into all social science disciplines and beyond may be “natural,” but is it necessary? Indeed, “Comparison is compelling because it reminds us that social phenomena are not fixed or ‘natural’” (Bloemraad, 2013, p. 29). But, more importantly, “through comparison we can de-center what is taken for granted in a particular time or place after we learn that something was not always so, or that it is different elsewhere, or for other people” (Bloemraad, 2013, p. 29). In other words, comparative researchers can argue that comparative approaches to social phenomena provide a foundation upon which to understand phenomena to a degree not possible before. But, comparative researchers can also argue that comparative methods have a less desirable effect as well. Comparisons identify and often institutionalize distinctions and division. Comparisons may establish boundaries in an effort to look across them. And, comparisons can reproduce stratification among people, situations, and contexts in ways that non-comparative work cannot. So is the concept of comparative science a form of harmful globalization? Is a comparative approach evidence of hegemony or agenda, which is driven by the interests of dominant groups and researchers working to their advantage? As Bloemraad (2013, p. 31) argues, “Comparison without careful forethought can leave researchers open to criticism when peers and reviewers fear that an expansion of cases undermines the attention paid to any one case and, by implication, the quality of the data.” So, there are additional obstacles to comparative research. Not only is it a challenge to understand how to compare comparative methodologies, but it is also unclear how comparative researchers can know when comparative study is appropriate or not. These are just a few of the many potential

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pitfalls comparativists must be aware of. The hope, however, is to find the promise. Since, the context of comparative study is one of the most important yet misunderstood influences on comparative research in all fields, it is imperative that comparative studies scholars build a conceptual infrastructure for comparative methodologies in all comparative studies fields. To do this, the capacity for understanding and identifying the comparative method in various fields is necessary. And, sustaining comparative collaboration and mutual benefit requires a scholarly base for continued awareness, development, and application of comparative methods relevant to all fields. To address these needs a few key questions can serve as a framework for conceptualizing the pitfalls of comparison as well as provide a preliminary approach to operationalizing the implementation of the promises and solutions to the pitfalls. Questions that may suggest ways to operationalize solutions to comparative pitfalls are: (1) How do comparative researchers do comparison that helps us understand without institutionalizing inequality? and (2) How do comparative researchers identify situations and contexts for appropriate comparison? Questions that may suggest ways to operationalize the promises are: (3) How do comparative researchers design comparative studies that benefit from the shared wisdom of many disciplines and fields rather than working in comparative isolation?; (4) How do comparative researchers value what they share as well as what makes them unique?; and (5) Where do comparative researchers go from here if they truly want to critically and constructively examine the ways that they can compare comparative methodologies? Comparativists are fundamentally interested in change often either how it happens or why it does not happen. The frameworks for both understanding and operationalizing comparative research explained here provide the opportunity to facilitate change in the comparative sciences across as well as within disciplines. It also provides a framework for building relationships across what often seem like insurmountable disciplinary boundaries in theory, methodology, and research.

REFERENCES Bloemraad, I. (2013). The promise and pitfalls of comparative research design in the study of migration. Migration Studies, 1(1), 27 46.

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Davies, S., & Aurini, J. (2006). Rethinking ‘macro’ and ‘meso’ levels of new institutional analysis: The case of international education corporations. In D. P. Baker & A. W. Wiseman (Eds.), The impact of comparative education research on institutional theory (pp. 121 136). International Perspectives on Education and Society. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Day, C. (1993). Reflection: A necessary but not sufficient condition for professional development. British Educational Research Journal, 19, 83 93. Denk, T. (2010). Comparative multilevel analysis: Proposal for a methodology. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 13(1), 29 39. Epstein, E. H. (2008). Setting the normative boundaries: Crucial epistemological benchmarks in comparative education. Comparative Education, 44(4), 373 386. FitzGerald, D. (2012). A comparativist manifesto for international migration studies. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 35(10), 1 16. Ragin, C. C. (1987). The comparative method: Moving beyond qualitative and quantitative strategies. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Skocpol, T., & Somers, M. (1980). The use of comparative history in macrosocial inquiry. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 22(2), 174 197. Wilson, D. (2009). To compare is human: Comparison as a research methodology. In J. Zadja & V. Rust (Eds.), Globalisation, policy and comparative research (pp. 49 60). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer. Wiseman, A. W., & Matherly, C. (2009). The professionalization of comparative and international education: Promises and problems. Research in Comparative and International Education, 4(4), 334 355.

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PART I METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN COMPARATIVE SCIENCES

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QUISNAM SUM EGO? CRISES OF IDENTITY IN COMPARATIVE EDUCATION AND THE CALL FOR A COMPARISON OF COMPARATIVE STUDIES C. C. Wolhuter ABSTRACT Comparative Education is conceptually difficult to define. It has been described as having an unusually wide terrain. It suffers from a host of identity crises, and this chapter enumerates and explains 10: deciding whether Comparative Education is a discipline, a field or a method, what does ‘comparison’ in Comparative Education denote?, the minuscule place of the comparative method in Comparative Education, the dominance of single unit studies, the dearth of taxonomies, the problem that globalization makes Comparative Education seems like a field past its shelf-life, the question as to whether Comparative Education should graduate to International Education, the fact that it can show very little evidence of achieving the lofty goals it purports to pursue, the many pitfalls in practicing Comparative Education and the lack of autochthonous

Comparative Sciences: Interdisciplinary Approaches International Perspectives on Education and Society, Volume 26, 15 35 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3679/doi:10.1108/S1479-367920140000026002

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Comparative Education theory. The chapter concludes by indicating the potential from other comparative sciences, in order to address this problem. Keywords: Comparative Education; comparative sciences; comparison; globalization; international education; taxonomy

INTRODUCTION Comparative Education is conceptually difficult to define. It has been described as having an unusually wide terrain (Colclough, 2010, p. 821) and an ‘eclectic/diverse field with adjustable borders and contours which are difficult to demarcate’ (Epstein & Caroll, 2005, p. 62). Since Jullien coined the term ‘Comparative Education’ almost two centuries ago, many eminent scholars in the field have attempted to distil a definition for the field; but a neat, perfect definition remains and evading ideal. Similarly its identity can also not be tracked down to a few simple statements (cf. Wolhuter, 2008). In fact attempts to encapsulate its identity in a set of clear-cut statements crash head-on with a series of crises of identity (in this chapter the term ‘crisis’ is used in its lexical meaning of any event that is, or is expected to lead to, an unstable and dangerous situation). And yet there is an imperative for a centripetal or integrative force among comparativists (Wolhuter, 2008, p. 324). The existence of a scholarly endeavour called ‘Comparative Education’ and of a community of scholars calling themselves ‘comparativists’ presupposes the existence of a common theoretical edifice. The aim of this chapter is to tease out some 10 of the crises of identity besetting Comparative Education, as a prelude to the theme of this volume, namely to determine what could be taken from other comparative sciences, in order to address the identity crises in Comparative Education.

CRISIS 1

COMPARATIVE EDUCATION: A METHOD, A FIELD OR A DISCIPLINE?

There has been a long standing debate among comparativists whether Comparative Education constitutes a method, a field or a discipline. The faultlines of this debate roughly corresponds with the controversy as to

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whether Comparative Education’s distinguishing feature is some subject of study or the comparative method, that is whether Comparative Education can be defined in terms of the content of study or method of study. Those on the content side nowadays take a softer position claiming that Comparative Education denotes a field rather than that Comparative Education is a discipline a ‘field’ is then regarded as a more loose entity than a ‘discipline’. Both ways of trying to define what is Comparative Education, that is by content or by method, is however fraught with difficulties. In one of the earliest volumes of the Comparative Education Review the top journal of Comparative Education, Heath (1958) published an article entitled ‘Is Comparative Education a Discipline?’ and lists a number of criteria for a discipline. Heath wisely refrains from answering the question herself, leaving the reader to use the criteria of a discipline enumerated to decide whether Comparative Education is a discipline. Stone (1983) is an example of a comparativist trying to define Comparative Education by content. According to Stone (1983) Comparative Education studies education from a three-in-one perspective: • An education system perspective • An intercultural perspective (what he means by intercultural perspective is that education systems are studied as the outcome of societal contextual forces shaping education systems) and • A comparative perspective. Education systems, in their societal contexts, are compared. Stone’s position is close to, or an elaboration of, that of two prominent comparativists, George Bereday and Isaac Kandel. Bereday (1964, p. 9) defines Comparative Education as ‘the analytical study of foreign systems of education’ and Kandel (1954, p. 8) writes that Comparative Education seeks ‘to analyse and compare the forces which make differences between national systems of education’. The first problem is that Comparative Education cannot claim a monopoly on any of the three perspectives on education. They also fall within the provinces of other scholarly fields or disciplines. Educational Administration or Educational Management too study education systems, while Sociology of Education also deals with the interrelationships between society and education. The comparative method is in no way limited to or unique to Comparative Education, it can be found, implicitly if not explicitly, in any other scholarly field of Education and beyond. In his 1983 Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) presidential

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address Eckstein(1983) states that comparing is inherent in the human thinking process while in his key-note speech to the First International Symposium on Comparative Sciences, Wiseman (2013) states that ‘it is natural to compare’. Defining Comparative Education as a method a contention held by for example University of Hong Kong comparativist Mason (2008), however, is problematic too. Firstly, in order to be logically consistent, anyone wanting to build Comparative Education on the premise of the comparative method, should be prepared to build up a discipline of Education on every possible method. To claim a justification for a ‘Phenomenology Education’, a ‘Phenomenographic Education’, an ‘Interview Education’ or a ‘Questionnaire Education’, is to test the levels of the absurd. Secondly, as explained above, the use of the comparative method is not unique to Comparative Education. Finally, there is the problem of exactly what is meant by ‘comparative’ in ‘Comparative Education’ the second crisis of Comparative Education, the topic of the next section.

CRISIS 2 WHAT DOES ‘COMPARATIVE’ IN COMPARATIVE EDUCATION SIGNIFY? Etymologically the word ‘compare’ means, in its Latin roots, to put together (in category) that which belongs together, and to separate (into different categories) that which do not belong together (Wolhuter, 1997). A well-known concept in Comparative Education is that of tertium comparationis meaning two entities can be compared only when they have at least one feature in common (Cowen & Kazamias, 2009). These seem simple and obvious. Yet there is no unanimity among comparativists as to what constitutes the act of comparison in Comparative Education. In a classic essay in Comparative Education entitled ‘The Problematic Meaning of “Comparison” in Comparative Education’ Epstein (1992) distinguishes between three major theoretical orientations in Comparative Education, with irreconcilable divergent views on ‘comparison’ in Comparative Education. The first orientation can be traced back in the history of Comparative Education right down to the writings of Marc-Antoinne Jullien (1775 1848), widely hailed as the ‘father of Comparative Education’ and the first person to use the term ‘Comparative Education’. Proponents of this orientation attempt to arrive at laws relating to the interrelationship

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between society and education. Although by no means extinct today, this orientation reached its zenith in the 1960s, in what Noah and Eckstein (1969) call the ‘social science’ phase of Comparative Education, when protagonists such as Brian Holmes, Harold Noah and Max Eckstein wanted to turn Comparative Education into a fully-fledged social science, and an empirical social science on the template of Comte’s, who in turn took his model as the natural sciences of the nineteenth century. The first problem with this orientation after 50 years (since the 1960s) of feverishly seeking for laws, any search for a body of laws in Comparative Education today would be a search in vain. Very, very few laws will be detected in the scholarly literature, and those that do figure, such as the Heyneman Loxley effect (stipulating that the incremental effect of increased investment in education on educational achievement diminishes the higher the incipient level of investment was) (cf. Heyneman & Loxley, 1983), are no laws in the sense of natural science laws, but at most broad generalizations, not difficult to find exceptions. But apart from the problem an absence of a track record to establish such laws, there are two other broad strands making up the field of Comparative Education, with quite different takes on the place of (or even negating a place for) comparison in Comparative Education. Epstein (1992) calls these two ‘relativistic’ strands. The first, that of cultural relativism, can be traced back to at least the 1900 Oxford lecture of Michael Sadler (1861 1943), a moment as defining for Comparative Education as Jullien’s 1817 publication. Sadler first formulated the ground rule that (national) education systems are the outcome of (national) contextual forces, such as geography, demography, social system, economy, political system, and religious and life and world views (cf. Sadler, 1900). Whoever wants to study and understand a national education system, should therefore first study the (national) context in which that (national) education system is embedded. This ground rule formed the basis of the writings of the triumvirate (the big three) of Comparative Education Isaac Kandel (1881 1965), Nicholas Hans (1888 1969) and Friedrich Schneider (1881 1969), and also of an entire phase in the history of Comparative Education, a phase named by Noah and Eckstein (1969) the ‘factors and forces’ stage of Comparative Education. While this orientation had its heyday during the inter-war years, it continues to be strong in Comparative Education a recently published survey of articles published in the Comparative Education Review has found it to be the strongest single paradigm (Wolhuter, 2008). The problem is that if every (national) education is the outcome of a unique set of contextual factors, then what basis of

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comparison exists? The only answer which comparativists in this camp can advance is that the study of foreign systems of education helps the scholar to gain a better understanding of his/own education system (Mallinson, 1975). In such a scheme of things such as inter-scholarly dialogue or the search for universal truths (both key features of scientific pursuit) go lost. Even if elaborate methodological blueprints are constructed for how comparative studies could be employed for the testing of hypotheses and the evaluation of the own education system, such as George Bereday (1964) or for comparative studies to aid in education policy decision taking, such as King (1968), the gap in logic remains between such blueprints and this orientation’s first constitutional principle for Comparative Education, namely the unique, relative configuration of each (national) education system based on its (national) context. If it is difficult to see any space for comparison in the above relativistic theoretical orientation, it is even more difficult to do so in the case of the second, more radical relativistic strand in Comparative Education. In this strand could be placed protagonists of phenomenology (and related paradigms such as phenomenography), of micro-paradigms (such as ethnomethodology) and above all of post-modernism. Epstein (1992, p. 11) writes that phenomenologists object to the positivist view of social facts as ‘things’ embodied in the form of prior hypotheses, and that phenomenologists want to direct their scholarly inquiry at the ‘internal’ logic of conditions under study, that is the rules used by participants themselves; rather than occupying themselves with operational definitions of variables and statistical tests of significance. Heyneman’s (1979) article, ‘Comparative Education for an Ethnomethodological Perspective’, represents the trailblazer for micro-paradigms in Comparative Education. Heyneman contended that Comparative Education has not provided useful knowledge to educational planners, policymakers and reformers because of its decontextualized commitment to social ‘facts’, its narrow interest in functional and structural relationships, and its focus upon social science indicators rather than on interaction among participants in actual social and educational environments (Paulston, 1994, p. 926). Ethnomethodologists call for the observation, description and interpretation of the reality of everyday educational existence in schools and classrooms. Proponents of these paradigms typically serve themselves of qualitative research methodologies, and emphasize the uniqueness, not of each national education system, but of each educational institution, each class

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and each individual (student). With such a central article of faith, it is difficult to find a raison d’eˆtre for any act of comparison. By the early 1990s, these micro-paradigms have been eclipsed by the rise of post-modernism. Post-modernism also found its preachers in Comparative Education, the names of Rolland Paulston and Val Rust here come to mind. But postmodernism, with its rejection of metanarratives and of any objective truth, is even more fundamentally relativistic than paradigms such as phenomenology or ethnomethodology.

CRISIS 3 THE MINUSCULE PLACE OF THE COMPARATIVE METHOD IN RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IN COMPARATIVE EDUCATION As has been explained above, the comparative method is by no means the exclusive property of Comparative Education, but could be found in the entire range of Education disciplines. On top of this, as has been explained in the previous section, the ‘comparison’ does not mean the same for all comparativists, and in two of the three major theoretical orientations it is doubtful whether comparison actually exist or is possible. But these are not the only problems related to methodology. Despite claims of the comparative method forming the distinguishing feature of Comparative Education, or of the salience of the comparative perspective (cf. crisis 1, above), the whole range of methods (from questionnaires and interviews to phenomenography and social cartography) of the social sciences are employed in comparative studies, as two major surveys of the research methodology used in articles published in eminent Comparative Education journals have showed (Rust, 1999; Wolhuter, 2008). These methods are so salient that they overshadow any comparative method in Comparative Education studies. One way out of this conundrum might be to use Robson’s (2011) model of social science research methodology. Robson (2011) distinguishes methods on three levels. The first level is data collection methods (such as questionnaires). The second level is data analysis methods (here the t-test or correlation coefficients might be placed). On the third level data interpretation and the spelling out of implications occur. It could be alleged that while Comparative Education research does not preclude the employment of other research methods at the data collection and data analysis levels, these form a scaffold for the comparative method used at the level of interpretation and spelling out of implications.

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CRISIS 4 THE APPARENT ANOMALY OF THE DOMINANCE OF SINGLE UNIT STUDIES IN A FIELD CALLING ITSELF COMPARATIVE STUDIES Survey after survey of Comparative Education literature find that most studies in Comparative Education are single unit studies (i.e. they deal with one national education system, or one institution, or one state education system, etc.). For example, Colclough (2010, pp. 822 823) found that in the three journals Comparative Education Review, Comparative Education and International Journal of Education Development, the number of single country studies were three times the number of multiple country studies. This preponderance of single unit studies, as Colclough (2010, p. 823) outs it, rests as odds with the notion of comparative studies. On the question as to whether single unit studies constitute comparative studies, there exist perhaps more consensus among comparativists than with respect to any of the other crises discussed in this chapter and the answer is in the affirmative. Comparativists advance several reasons as to why single unit studies can be regarded as comparative studies. These include the fact that such studies contribute to the stock of knowledge of education in particular contexts and that such studies hook onto general concepts used in comparative education scholarship (Wolhuter, 2008, p. 326). Their value also lies in the refinement and modification of existing theory and ultimately in the creation of new theory when existing frameworks prove inadequate (Arnove, 2001, p. 496). However the problem remains that it could be said of any other scholarly field of Education (and beyond), for example Educational Administration, Sociology of Education, etc., that in case studies they serve themselves of the conceptual instrumentarium in their fields, then what is the unique feature of Comparative Education?

CRISIS 5 THE DEARTH/ABSENCE OF TAXONOMIES: THE SCOTOMA RIGHT IN THE CENTRE OF COMPARATIVE EDUCATION Taxonomy occupies a key position in science. As an example Botany could be taken it would be hard to find a scholarly publication in Botany without a single reference to Linneaus’ (genus and species) classification. With

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respect to the social sciences, Bill Williamson (1979, p. 27) puts it that ‘to make possible the scientific study of social reality, it is necessary to reduce it to intelligible typological proportions’. By summarizing data and thus rendering them into useful form, classification fulfils a generalizing function. Thus taxonomy allows the scholar and the scholarly community to get an intellectual grip on masses of unwieldy data. Here as an example could be cited Mendeleyev’s periodic table, a classification of the elements and how the properties of elements could be deduced from their position on the table a great aid in the study of Chemistry. Perhaps the most important value of classification systems is that they permit inductive generalizations that enhance understanding, facilitate the formulation of hypotheses, guide further investigations and aid theory building. The dearth of classificatory systems is a major deficiency in Comparative Education, as has been pointed out by some of the founding fathers such as Hans (1949, pp. 6 7) and major theoreticians in the field such as Epstein (1983, pp. 3 29) in his 1982 presidential address to the CIES, Halls (1967, pp. 189 193) and Jones (1971), but this scotoma (blind spot) right in the middle of the field has never been filled. On the classification of national education systems, two taxonomies have been published by Wolhuter (1997, 2011), while Bray and Thomas (1995) have published what became known among comparativists as the ‘Bray and Thomas cube’ a framework for Comparative Education analyses. This three dimensional cube enumerates seven geographic levels of analysis, seven aspects of society and education, and six demographic categories. However, the taxonomy of Wolhuter never made much of an impact on subsequent Comparative Education publications, and the Bray and Thomas cube, while widely cited (cf. Bray et al., 2007, p. 9), never developed into a universal common framework for analysis, comparable to for example Aristarchus classification of nine word types (nouns, verbs, etc.) which forms the basis for any study of grammar in the world. Otherwise comparativists make use of categories such as developed developing nations, which are very problematic and which are based upon criteria other than education, and loosely used terms such as ‘decentralized’ and ‘centralized’ education systems. Taxonomies such as Trow’s (1973, 2011) classification of the higher education systems of the world into elite, mass and universal higher education systems, by means of clear criteria and with clear characteristics assigned to each category, and then succeeding in gaining currency among comparativists, are extremely rare. The comparativist attempting to construct taxonomies is facing two almost insurmountable challenges, and both the above taxonomies are

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graphic illustrations of these difficulties. The first is the extremely wide scope of Comparative Education, virtually impossible to encapsulate in a finite number of categories. Even a very perfunctory comparison between the Bray and Thomas cube and any random body of Comparative Education literature, or a survey of Comparative Education publications such as Wolhuter (2008) will reveal that the cube does not remotely capture all topics studied by comparativists. Where for example would policy studies or the study of institutional fabric, both significant research topics in Comparative Education (cf. Wolhuter, 2008, p. 338) fall in the cube? Neither is the eight levels of the cube (word regions/continents, countries, state/province, district, school, classroom, individual) exhaustive where would a study of the education system of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (home ground of one of the designers of the cube, Mark Bray) fall in this taxonomy? The subject of study in Comparative Education is a rapidly changing, rendering difficult the construction of durable taxonomies. For example, England (together with Sweden) has always been held up, in the European region at least, as an example of a decentralized education system and France (together with Greece) as the archetypical centralized education system. Yet the 1988 Education Act in England (introducing for example for the first time in history a National Curriculum) significantly eroded the English education system’s status as the show piece decentralized system. Ditto for recent education reforms in France and the decentralized label with which the French education has traditionally been tagged. Page through the International Handbook on Teacher Education Worldwide (Karras & Wolhuter, 2010), and it will be hard to find as much as one of the 90 national education systems surveyed which had not been through a major policy shake up during the 10-year period prior to the publication of the volume. The volume creates the impression of the education systems of the world being in a constant state of flux.

CRISIS 6 AN ANSWER TO THE FEELING THAT GLOBALIZATION RENDERS COMPARATIVE STUDIES OBSOLETE The compelling force of globalization, sweeping through every part of the planet, results in the feeling that the homogenizing vector of globalization nullifies the possibility of any comparative study. This concern is captured

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in the title of Von Kopp’s (2010) article: ‘Do We Need Comparative Education in a Globalised World?’ Two problems surround the position of Comparative Education vis-a`-vis the phenomenon of globalization. The first pertains to the moral dimension. It is so that most studies in Comparative Education that touch on the topic of globalization actually proclaim an anti-globalization (Wolhuter, 2008, p. 335) rather than embracing globalization or at least proposing another form of globalization (than the one playing itself out in the world). This is a high-risk position, to try to build up a body of scholarship from the ground motive of fighting an unstoppable force. The second problem pertains to the fitting in of the uniformization vector of globalization with the theorem of Comparative Education of the role of (national) contexts in creating unique education systems. There is a trend among a few comparativists to, in their theoretical schemes give way to this vector of uniformization. The name of John Meyer (cf. Wiseman, Astiz, & Baker, 2013) and his associates at Stanford University is usually linked to this line of thought, perhaps best enunciated (or at least best known) in their article ‘Explaining the Origins and Expansion of Mass Education’, in which Boli, Ramirez, and Meyer (1985) make a case that a uniform set of forces in all corners of the world lie at the root of the present expansion of mass education. However, this contention of a growing isomorphism in education systems all over the world is not shared by all. A larger contingent of comparativists tenaciously cling to the traditional article of faith that local/national context remains a significant factor in shaping education systems. In bringing both globalization and national context as shaping forces of education systems into one scheme, they put forward the proposition of processes of globalization finding expression in different ways as they get set in the contours of particular contexts; or some variation on this theme, such as the notion of ‘glocalization’ or ‘the dialectic between the global and the local’ (e.g. Carnoy & Rhoten, 2002, p. 6; Stromqvist, 2002, p. v). While this has a ring of easy logic around it, the problem is that very few comparativists have so far spelled out concrete illustrations as to how the global and the national/local co-shape particular instances of education. While cases were of comparative studies succeeding in doing this, such as Welmond’s (2002) on the effect of globalization and national context on the identity of teachers in Benin, these are far and few in between. Even the well-known publication, Comparative Education: The Dialectic of the Global and the Local (Arnove & Torres, 2012) currently used more than any other single source as textbook for Comparative Education courses

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taught at universities in the United States of America, despite its title and impressive extensive survey of the field of Comparative Education, does not explicitly proffer much in terms of illustrating cases of this dialectic; let alone putting forward an elaborate theory in this regard.

CRISIS 7 SHOULD COMPARATIVE EDUCATION BE SUPERSEDED BY INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION? Another reaction among the Comparative Education community to the rising tide of globalization is that Comparative Education should turn itself into International Education. To complicate matters the term International Education has long been used by comparativists, with different meanings attached to it during different times and by different comparativists. To tease out this kaleidoscope of meanings is beyond the scope of this chapter, in this regard the interested reader is referred to the 1994 CIES Presidential Address by Wilson (1994) and to Manzon’s (2011, pp. 199 205) comprehensive publication on the delineation of the field of Comparative Education. What is here meant by International Education, however, is a wide-angle lens look at global educational issues and trends, such as the UNESCO Report on higher education globally (Altbach, Reisberg, & Rumbley, 2009); that is a revival or continuation of a trend first set by Philip Coombs in his two monumental publications (1968, 1985) on the world crisis in education. Even at the executive meeting of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies in Puerto Rico in 2012, it was discussed whether the name of that body should not be changed to the World Council of Comparative and International Education Societies.

CRISIS 8 THE PURPOSES AND SIGNIFICANCE OF COMPARATIVE EDUCATION: A BOUNDLESS FAC¸ADE TO AN EMPTY INTERIOR A popular topic among theoreticians in the field is to spell out the aims or purposes or significance of Comparative Education. Wolhuter (2014) summarizes these under the following rubrics: description of education systems, understanding education systems, evaluation of education systems,

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application: informing education policy formulation, application: informing teaching practice/pedagogy, application: illumination of other fields of Education Studies and a furthering the philanthropic ideal. These are not the only goals of Comparative Education. It seems that Comparative Education can be pursued by an infinite range of goals by different students. On the ambit of the annual International Conference on Comparative Education and Teacher Education, organized by the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society, a research project developed on the topic of what students want from a Comparative Education course. A uniform questionnaire surveying students’ expectations from a Comparative Education course, was run in nine countries. The combined results were published in article authored by Wolhuter et al. (2011). It seemed that every time a new country was surveyed a new purpose for Comparative Education surfaced. In the case of the United States, the dominant motives for enrolling in Comparative Education courses are related to international understanding within the context of education as part of international aid. The hierarchy of expectations of the American students might be understood against the background of these students’ experience and career plans in international aid. American student expectations may also result from the amount of foreign aid (and education as part thereof) that the United States has been engaged in the past half century, ever since the advent of independence of large parts of the Third World, The Cold War and the Truman Doctrine. In the case of Ireland the most important motivation was to help students to find a job to teach abroad. The Irish student teachers were mainly in their early twenties and intended to teach abroad at some stage of their career. They also indicated that they hoped it would develop their capacities to teach in the newly developing multi-cultural classrooms in Ireland and to also develop their general teaching strategies. The Greek and South African students looked to Comparative Education to illuminate and to guide the domestic education reform project. Both Greece and South Africa have recently become the scene of fundamental societal reconstruction, of which education is not only an integral part, but in which education had been assigned a pivotal instrumental role to bring about. Bulgarian students’ expectations, on the other hand, seem to resolve around gaining of fuller knowledge and insight of their own education system. While undergoing societal and educational transformation as South Africa, Bulgaria as a fully-fledged member of the erstwhile Eastern Block, never suffered from academic isolation as South Africa did during the years of the international academic boycott. But the existence of an intransparent

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government and political-bureaucratic machinery up to 1990 might have created a yearning to know and to understand their education system better. In contrast to South Africa, Tanzania has long since passed through the post-independence educational and societal reconstruction of the 1960s a project that bore limited success, and whatever educational reform is currently taking place, takes place within the prescribed fixed parameters of the World Bank Structural Adjustment Programme (which Tanzania had little option but to sign) and the neo-liberal global economic revolution. Tanzanian students therefore have a somewhat more detached (from everyday practice), purely intellectual expectation from Comparative Education courses. Oman has recently commenced to develop a mass education system, therefore Omani students, as their South African and Greek counterparts are interested in the value of Comparative Education to illuminate and to guide domestic educational reform. A unique expectation which transpired among the responses of the Omani students, is that, in a country with one public university, and 5,097 students studying abroad (total tertiary enrolment 68,154), Comparative Education will be seen a means to obtain knowledge of foreign education systems, which will facilitate students to proceed to further (postgraduate) studies abroad. Similarly, among the Thai postgraduate cohort, an interesting expectation was what would assist them in finding an appropriate research design for their theses. Cuban students viewed Comparative Education as a way to gain a fuller understanding of various countries’ societies and cultures. Cuban students’ expectations could have been shaped by their country’s history of using education to create a new society and culture since 1961. They view Comparative Education as revealing how their own as well as other societies and cultures were shaped by education, and how education contributes to the accomplishment of societal goals, such as societal justice. The question arises as to when everyone is busy pursuing his/own goal, are comparativists busy with the same or with a common intellectual project? More serious cause for concern is that, despite these lofty and boundless goals, are comparativists not standing on a hide to nothing what can they show in terms of a track record in achieving these goals? To take one example, the philanthropic ideal: What Weeks, Herman, Maarman, and Wolhuter (2006, p. 12) write in their assessment of the Southern African Comparative and History of Education Society (SACHES), might well be written about Comparative Education in any other corner of the world:

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There are many events and issues on the education scene in Southern Africa in which SACHES and comparativists are not involved. Two examples can be given. Firstly, 2005 2015 is the ‘United Nations’ Decade of Education for Sustainable Development’. Are SACHES and SACHES members informed about it or active participants in these debates or in critical reflection on the Millennium Development Goals as formulated by the United Nations Development Programme? … . The same applies to the United Nations’ Decade of Peace for the Children of the World … .

In his 2007 CIES Presidential Address Victor Kobayashi quotes statistics such as that during the twentieth century 168 million people died at the hands of government planned murders all around the world; but he cannot state what Comparative Education has done against that (Kobayashi, 2007, pp. 261 262). Without necessarily asking as Biraimah (2003) in her 2003 CIES Presidential Address for comparativists to become activistically involved in political causes, this lack of Comparative Education to live up to its claims of utility and significance, is cause for concern.

CRISIS 9 PITFALLS IN PRACTICING COMPARATIVE EDUCATION Not only do comparativists not know their vehicle which they are using to go towards their lofty objectives, the road to these goals are littered with potholes. These were identified and described by two frequently referred publications, namely Tretheway’s (1976, pp. 41 53) ‘Pitfalls in Comparative Education’ and Harold Noah’s article ‘The Use and Abuse of Comparative Education’ (1984). The first pitfall relates to the lack of reliable data. Though this problem might not be acute as a generation ago, it has by no means disappeared. It does happen that faked education data get distributed for propaganda (Wolhuter, 1993, p. 8). Added to that it should be borne in mind that many developing countries have a poor infrastructure, poor and even absent means of communication and not very functional administrative systems (ibid.). Ca`rceles (1990, p. 6) points out, for example that much data on adult literacy are based upon censuses and surveys where self-evaluation is the main means of measurement. According to Ca`rceles (1990, p. 6) that undoubtedly carries a high error risk, which lead to the underestimation of the incidence of illiteracy. Related to propaganda is prejudice, not only on the part of researchers, but also of institutions. On this point, what also comes to memory is that

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in 1983 the United States left UNESCO (a key source of education statistics) because of accusations of political prejudice of and hidden agenda at UNESCO (Anon, 1983, p. 1). A next pitfall is the difficulty of ensuring comparability, do get apples compared with apples? Even identical terms can take on different meanings in different contexts. In British English for example the word ‘student’ pertains only to a learner at higher education institutions, in American English a ‘student’ also includes primary and secondary school learners. In pre1990 times there was the problem that Soviet higher education enrolment ratios were artificially inflated by enrolments in institutions which, though officially classified as higher education institutions in the Soviet Union, were really secondary education institutions. There still is the problem that many universities in Latin-America have inflated enrolment figures, because in their higher education systems, upper secondary education institutions preparing students for university entrance examinations are part of the bigger university systems and therefore included in university student numbers. It is commonly said that in Quebec, in contrast to other Canadian provinces and at variance with much of the rest of the world, the school cycle is 11 years. Yet the CEGEPS (Colleges d’Education Ge´ne´ral et Professionel) commonly classified as Community Colleges, actually are upper secondary schools, two years attendance (after completion of the 11-year school cycle) of which is a prerequisite for university admission. Finally there is the pitfall of not taking into account contextual similarities and differences when comparing two education systems; but summarily prescribing the borrowing of best practices from one system to another, regardless of any contextual differences. This is a trap into which not only government policy makers fall, but also scholars, as has been shown by for example De Wet and Wolhuter’s (2007) study of the issues of OutcomesBased Education and of Language of Learning and Teaching in post-1994 education reform in South Africa (cf. Grant, 2000).

CRISIS 10

NO AUTOCHTHONOUS THEORY

In a series of publications right up to his death about a decade ago, Paulston (1977, 1994, 1997, 1999) mapped the paradigms making up the field of Comparative Education. These paradigms (containing theories as centre pieces) make up an impressive kaleidoscope. The only problem is that these theories all have their origin outside of Comparative Education.

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For example, three of the most commonly used theoretical frameworks in the field: Theodor Schultz, originator of Human Capital Theory was an economist, as are Sam Bowles and Harry Gintis, trailblazers of socioeconomic reproduction theory in Comparative Education, while Jean Bourdieu and Pierre Passeron, pioneers of Cultural Reproduction Theory in Comparative Education, are sociologists. No autochthonous theories exists in the field of Comparative Education, at best there are models (simulating some aspect or proposing an analytic framework for some aspect of study) such as Joseph Farrell’s (1982) model of Equality in Education, or Bergmann’s model of Educational Quality and even these are few and far between; but full blown theory is not visible. This creates the impression that Comparative Education is at best some exercise in applying theories from other disciplines to education, not a fully-fledged scholarly field or discipline in its own right.

CONCLUSION: PROSOPOGNOSIA OF COMPARATIVE EDUCATION AND AMELIORATIVE POTENTIAL OF OTHER COMPARATIVE SCIENCES Psychologists diagnose a disorder called prosopognosia, that is an inability to remember faces of people. David Wilson, former president of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies once made this remark regarding Comparative Education, being a field without a clearly recognizable face or identity (Wilson, personal communication to the author during the IXth Comparative Education World Conference, Sydney, Australia, 1996) a diagnosis confirmed by the above chapter. For the balance, to present the other side of Comparative Education, it should be stated that the field has much in the credit column. Epstein (2013) enumerates the following benchmarks of the field: the expanding body of scholars, teachers and practitioners who identify with the field, and a collective consciousness about the venture. The latter is visible in the number of Comparative Education courses and programmes at universities all over the world, the publication of textbooks, encyclopaedias, yearbooks and journals in the field, and professional Comparative Education associations. The volume of Wolhuter, Popov, Leutwyler, and Ermenc (2013) gives an exposition of the galaxy of Comparative Education courses and programmes in universities in 43 countries and world regions, while the collective volume of Masemann, Bray, and Manzon (2007) describes the history

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and activities of the range of Comparative Education societies in the world. The largest of these, the Comparative and International Education Society, US-based but with a worldwide membership, has some 2,400 members. Most of these societies host regular conferences, and the 43 Comparative Education Societies are confederated in the World Council of Comparative Education Societies, which hosts a Comparative Education World Conference every three years. Few fields of scholarly endeavour can boast such a global infrastructure. But a more clearly defined identity is desirable. For this Comparative Education can practice its own trade, comparison, by comparing itself with and learning from other comparative sciences. Apart from a conference at Humbodlt University more than a decade ago, and a special edition of the journal Comparative Education in 2006 (which contained contributions from other comparative sciences, but no comparative perspective with Comparative Education) this avenue has not yet been explored by comparativists. It is hoped that the envisioned annual International Seminar of Comparative Sciences, which had its inaugural session in Sofia, Bulgaria, October 2013, and this volume (which contains a selection of chapters presented at that Seminar) will fill this lacuna.

REFERENCES Altbach, P. G., Reisberg, L., & Rumbley, L. E. (2009). Trends in global higher education: Tracking an academic revolution. Paris: UNESCO. Anon. (1983). VSA verlaat UNESCO. Die Burger, 31 December. Arnove, R. F. (2001). CIES facing the twenty-first century: Challenges and contributions. Comparative Education Review, 45(4), 477 503. Arnove, R. F., & Torres, C. A. (Eds.). (2012). Comparative education: The dialectic of the global and the local. Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield. Bereday, G. Z. F. (1964). Comparative method in education. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Biraimah, K. (2003). Transforming education, transforming ourselves: Countries and lessons. Comparative Education Review, 47(4), 423 444. Boli, J., Ramirez, F. O., & Meyer, J. (1985). Explaining the origins and expansion of mass education. Comparative Education Review, 29(2), 145 170. Bray, M., Adamson, B., & Mason, M. (Eds.). (2007). Comparative education research: Approaches and methods. Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong and Springer. Bray, M., & Thomas, R. M. (1995). Levels of comparison in educational studies: Different insights from different literatures and the value of multilevel analyses. Harvard Educational Review, 65(3), 472 490.

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Ca`rceles, G. (1990). World literacy prospects at the turn of the century: Is the objective of literacy for all by the year 2000 statistically plausible? Comparative Education Review, 34(1), 6. Carnoy, M., & Rhoten, D. (2002). What does globalisation mean for educational change: A comparative approach? Comparative Education Review, 46(1), 1 9. Colclough, C. (2010). Development studies and comparative education: Where do they find common cause? Compare, 40(6), 821 826. Coombs, P. H. (1968). The world education crisis: A systems analysis. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Coombs, P. H. (1985). The world crisis in education: The view from the eighties. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Cowen, R., & Kazamias, A. M. (Eds.). (2009). International handbook of comparative education. Dordrecht: Springer. De Wet, C., & Wolhuter, C. (2007). From “borrowing” to “learning” in international comparative study: A critical reflection. South African Journal of Education, 27(2), 317 328. Eckstein, M. (1983). The comparative mind. Comparative Education Review, 27(3), 311 322. Epstein, E. (1983). Currents left and right: Ideology in comparative education. Comparative Education Review, 27(1), 3 29. Epstein, E. (1992). The problematic meaning of ‘comparison’ in comparative education. In J. Schriewer & B. Holmes (Eds.), Theories and methods in comparative education (pp. 3 23). Frankfurt: Peter Lang. Epstein, E., & Caroll, K. J. (2005). Abusing ancestors: Historical functionalism and the postmodern deviation in comparative education. Comparative Education Review, 49(1), 62 88. Epstein, E. H. (2013). Crucial benchmarks in the professionalization of comparative education. In C. Wolhuter, N. Popov, B. Leutwyler, & K. S. Ermenc (Eds.), Comparative education at universities worldwide (pp. 11 26). Sofia, Bulgaria: Bulgarian Comparative Education Society. Farrell, J. P. (1982). Educational expansion and the drive for social equality. In P. G. Altbach, R. F. Arnove, & G. P. Kelly (Eds.), Comparative education. New York, NY: Macmillan. Grant, N. (2000). Tasks for comparative education in the new millennium. Comparative Education, 36, 306 317. Halls, W. D. (1967). Comparative education: Explorations. Comparative Education, 3(3), 189 193. Hans, N. (1949). Comparative education: A study of educational factors and traditions. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Heath, K. G. (1958). Is comparative education a discipline? Comparative Education Review, 2(2), 31 32. Heyneman, S. (1979). Comparative education for an ethnomethodological perspective. Comparative Education, 15(3), 241 249. Heyneman, S. P., & Loxley, W. A. (1983). The effect of primary school quality on academic achievement across twenty nine high and low income countries. American Journal of Sociology, 88(6), 1162 1194. Jones, P. E. (1971). Comparative education: Purpose and method. St. Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press.

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Kandel, I. L. (1954). The new era in education. London: Harrap. Karras, K. G., & Wolhuter, C. C. (Eds.). (2010). Handbook on teacher education world wide (Vols. 1 & 2). Athens: Atrapos. (Reprinted by Ion Books, Athens, 2011). King, E. J. (1968). Comparative studies and educational decision. London: Methuen. Kobayashi, V. (2007). Recursive patterns that engage and disengage: Comparative education, research and practice. Comparative Education Review, 51(3), 261 280. Mallinson, V. (1975). An introduction to the study of comparative education. London: Heinemann. Manzon, M. (2011). Comparative education: The construction of a field. Dordrecht: Springer. Masemann, V. L., Bray, M., & Manzon, M. (2007). Common interests, uncommon goals: Histories of the WCCES and its members. Hong Kong: Springer and Comparative Education Research Center, University of Hong Kong. Mason, M. (2008). What is comparative education and what values might best inform its Research? Presidential address given at the annual conference of the Comparative Education Society of Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong, January. Noah, H. J. (1984). The use and abuse of comparative education. Comparative Education Review, 28(4), 550 562. Noah, H. J., & Eckstein, M. A. (1969). Toward a science of comparative education. New York, NY: Macmillan. Paulston, R. G. (1977). Social and educational change: Conceptual frameworks. Comparative Education Review, 21(2 3), 370 395. Paulston, R. G. (1994). Four principles for a non-innocent social cartography. In R. G. Paulston (Ed.), Social cartography: Mapping ways of seeing social and educational change (pp. xv xxvi). New York, NY: Garland. Paulston, R. G. (1997). Comparative and international education: Paradigms and theories. In T. Huse´n & T. N. Postlethwaite (Eds.)., The international encyclopedia of education (2nd ed.). Oxford: Pergamon. Paulston, R. G. (1999). Mapping comparative education after postmodernity. Comparative Education Review, 43(4), 438 463. Robson, C. (2011). Real world research: A resource for users of social research methods in applied settings. Chichester: Wiley. Sadler, M. E. (1900 [1963/1964]). How can we learn anything of practical value from a study of foreign systems of education. Comparative Education Review, 7, 307 314. Stone, H. J. S. (1983). The common and the diverse: A profile of comparative education. Johannesburg: McGraw-Hill. Stromqvist, N. P. (2002). Editorial comment. Comparative Education Review, 46(1), (Special Issue on the Meaning of Globalisation for Educational Change), iiii viii. Tretheway, A. R. (1976). Introducing comparative education. Rushcutters Bay: Pergamon. Trow, M. (1973). Problems in the transition from elite to mass higher education. Berkeley, CA: Carnegie Commission on Higher Education. Trow, M. (2011). Reflections on the transitions from elite to mass to universal access: Forms and phases of higher education in modern societies since WWII. In J. J. F. Forest & P. G. Altbach (Eds.), International handbook on higher education (pp. 243 280). Dordrecht: Springer. Von Kopp, B. (2010). Do we need comparative education in a globalised world? Orbis Scholae, 4(2), 7 20.

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Weeks, S. G., Herman, H., Maarman, R., & Wolhuter, C. (2006). SACHES and comparative, international and development education in Southern Africa: The challenges and future prospects. Southern African Review of Education, 12(2), 5 20. Welmond, M. (2002). Globalisation viewed from the periphery: The dynamics of teacher identity in the Republic of Benin. Comparative Education Review, 46(1), 37 65. Williamson, W. (1979). Education, social structure and development: A comparative analysis. London: Macmillan. Wilson, D. N. (1994). Comparative and international education: Fraternal or Siamese twins? A preliminary genealogy of our twin fields. Comparative Education Review, 38(4), 449 486. Wiseman, A. W. (2013). Introduction to the symposium: It is natural to compare. Key-note presentation at the International Symposium on Comparative Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria, 8 11 October. Wiseman, A. W., Astiz, M. F., & Baker, D. P. (2013). Comparative education research framed by neo-institutional theory: A review of rich and diverse approaches and conflicting assumptions. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education. Retrieved from http://www.tandofline.com/loi/ccom20. Accessed on 22 August 2013. Wolhuter, C., Popov, N., Leutwyler, B., & Ermenc, K. S. (Eds.). (2013). Comparative education at universities worldwide. Sofia, Bulgaria: Bulgarian Comparative Education Society. Wolhuter, C. C. (1993). Gelyke Onderwysgeleenthede met Spesiale Verwysing na die Implikasies Daarvan virn Onderwysvoorsiening in die RSA. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Stellenbosch. Wolhuter, C. C. (1997). Classification of national education systems: A multivariate approach. Comparative Education Review, 41(2), 161 177. Wolhuter, C. C. (2008). Review of the review: Constructing the identity of comparative education. Research in Comparative and International Education, 3(4), 323 344. Wolhuter, C. C. (2011). The spectrum of international educational development. Journal of Educational Planning and Administration, 25(3), 235 247. Wolhuter, C. C. (2014). Comparative education: What and why? In H. J. Steyn & C. C. Wolhuter (Eds.), Comparative education, the education system and educational issues in international perspective. Potchefstroom: Keurkopie. Wolhuter, C. C., Sullivan, M. O., Anderson, E., Wood, L., Karras, K. G., Mihova, M., … Thonghew, S. (2011). Students’ expectations of and motivations for studying comparative education: A comparative study across nine countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Educational Research, 2(8), 1341 1355.

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THE ROLE OF COMPARATIVE PEDAGOGY IN COMPARATIVE EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH Klara Skubic Ermenc ABSTRACT The main aim of this chapter is to discuss the conceptualization of comparative pedagogies within Continental European and Anglophone traditions, and to discuss the importance of comparative pedagogy within the contemporary comparative educational research as such. The chapter opens with the issue of naming and translation of the key terminology, notably pedagogy, comparative pedagogy, and vzgoja (Erziehung in German and vospitanie in Russian) a concept which implies the teacher’s intentional guidance of children in their moral, personal, social, aesthetical, physical, and spiritual advancement. The chapter presents a brief history of the development of pedagogy as a distinctive science, and proceeds with the discussion on pedagogy’s identity. Due to multifaceted understanding of pedagogy in Continental Europe, the chapter focuses on the academic tradition in Slovenia and wider area of former Yugoslavia. Further, the role of comparison in different contemporary historical periods of pedagogy’s development is explained. The chapter shows that comparative pedagogy has different meanings in different academic traditions. The main difference between that Continental Europe and the

Comparative Sciences: Interdisciplinary Approaches International Perspectives on Education and Society, Volume 26, 37 56 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3679/doi:10.1108/S1479-367920140000026008

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Anglophone world is in the knowledge base they built on (pedagogy vs. other social sciences), and the focus they place on endogenous and exogenous factors influencing the nature of education systems and pedagogical processes. The author finally proposes a new definition of comparative pedagogy; a definition which takes pedagogy as its knowledge base, but is also informed with a long tradition of comparative education research based on other social sciences. Keywords: Comparative education; comparative pedagogy; pedagogy; Slovenia; former Yugoslavia; vzgoja

INTRODUCTION Scholars who engage in comparative educational research sooner or later face the issue of conceptualization of comparative educational research in different academic traditions. This is a particularly pressing issue for scholars coming from Continental (especially Eastern) Europe who encounter the domination of Anglophone academic thought and also the English language as the global lingua franca. Due to different conceptualizations of the fundamental scientific concepts in different academic circles, they are challenged with their translatability and comparability. Some research of English-dominated scholarship and its cultural baggage has been conducted so far (Alexander, 2001, 2009; Ermenc, Spasenovic´, Vujisic´ˇ ´ , Vrcelj, & Popov, 2013; Kulic´, 2011; Mitter, 2009; Olivera, 1988; Zivkovic Savic´evic´, 1984), but it has rarely been connected to the concept of comparative pedagogy a concept that has long been present in Continental European education research, but has only recently gained more importance also in the Anglophone context (Alexander, 2001, 2009; Planel, 2008). The main aim of this chapter is to discuss the conceptualization of comparative pedagogies within Continental European and Anglophone traditions, and to discuss the importance of comparative pedagogy within the contemporary comparative educational research as such. In spite of the fact that comparative educational research in Europe has not been monolithic (Mitter, 2009), Mitter (2009, pp. 97, 98) nevertheless argues that two “manifestations of comparative education” in Europe can be observed: The “German” model and its counterparts in a good part of Europe (in particular in Central and Eastern Europe) ha[ve] been characterised by the descent of the discipline

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from the philosophically (and before theologically) based “general pedagogy.” [Although] Oskar Anweiler, already in the sixties of the twentieth century though contested in that period defined i[t] as a “crosssectional area” in reference to its historical and sociological neighbours […]. In this respect he contributed to laying the ground for opening its borders to interdisciplinarity without, however, abandoning its traditional affiliation to “general pedagogy” as its “mother-discipline.” The “British model” had never favoured the construction of a “general” education and rather preferred the institutionalised and structural formation of individual education disciplines, among which comparative education could be placed without any effort to undergo “problematic” debates.

The quotation suggests that the key distinction between the German or rather Continental European model, and the English or rather Anglophone1 model of comparative educational research is a different understanding of the identity of the discipline and hence their knowledge base. The distinction, which will be elaborated further on, can be illustrated in the question: is comparative educational research an interdisciplinary research field (area) or is it a distinctive pedagogic subdiscipline? Hence, spatial argument is less important than the epistemological one; it may be true that one model prevails in one country, but both may (and do) also coexist.

The Issue of Naming and Translation The coexistence of different models in the same conceptual space is revealed also in the practices of naming and translating key terminology. As far as the naming of the field/discipline in Continental Europe is concerned, the term comparative pedagogy exits and (often, not always) prevails (Vergleichende Pedago¨gik in German; komparativna pedagogija in Croatian, Serbian, and Bulgarian; primerjalna pedagogika in Slovenian). The term comparative pedagogy however competes with that of comparative education (Vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaft). Comparative pedagogy was usually used in the former Soviet Union (Golz, 2008; Savic´evic´, 1984), former Eastern Germany (Waterkamp, 2013), former Yugoslavia (Frankovic´, 1955, 1971; Savic´evic´, 1984), former Czechoslovakia (Walterova´, 2013), and other former socialist countries; but it was also used in other countries with a developed science of pedagogy such as Spain (Naya, Ferrer, & Martinez, 2013), Italy (Palomba, 2009; Palomba & Paolone, 2013), Norway (Brock-Utne & Skinningsrud, 2013), and others. At the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s, some scholars and universities from former communist states decided not to use the term comparative pedagogy anymore because it was supposed to be “ideologically

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contaminated”: comparative pedagogy, most notably in the socialist Soviet Union, focused on the ideological critique of the “bourgeoisie pedagogy” of the western world and at the same time uncritically defended socialist pedagogy (Golz, 2008; Savic´evic´, 1984). Similarly biased was comparative pedagogy (as pedagogy in general) in other formerly communist countries, for instance in Bulgaria and Eastern Germany (Popov, 2007, 2008). There had always been authors who disapproved of an uncritical defense of ideology in science and kept publishing critical texts (Ermenc et al., 2013; Frankovic´, 1955; Mitrovic´, 1981). Some researchers, who after 1989 wished to clearly express their negative stance toward communist ideals, changed their professional language,2 and thus uncritically supported the policy of borrowing and transformation of their home education systems according to western values (Silova, 2009). In the same vein, the term comparative pedagogy has often been uncritically replaced by comparative education, without considering the implications of the replacement for the discipline’s identity and its epistemological basis.

CONTINENTAL EUROPEAN CONCEPTUALIZATION OF COMPARATIVE RESEARCH IN EDUCATION Comparative approaches to studying educational phenomena in Continental Europe have been traditionally linked to the science of pedagogy, which implies that pedagogy has been the main knowledge base comparative pedagogy draws on (cf. Wiseman & Matherly, 2009). To explain the conceptualization of comparative pedagogy in Continental Europe, it therefore is important to discuss the hallmarks of the pedagogy’s development and its fundamental questions. Pedagogy began to develop as a distinct science in the nineteenth century in Germany (Prussia), but soon spread to other European countries in the West (Best, 1988), East (Chavdarova, 2009; Walterova´, 1994), South (Palomba, 2009), and North (Bengtsson, 2006).

The Beginnings of Pedagogy Pedagogy began developing through the works of Trapp, Herbart, Pestalozzi, Fro¨bel, Diesterweg, and many others (Ermenc et al., 2013). A crucial shift in the construction of pedagogy as a science was made by

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J. F. Herbart who in 1806 published his Allgemeine Pa¨dagogik (General Pedagogy), where he defined pedagogy as a deductive and normative science based on practical philosophy (mostly ethics) and on psychology. Ethics answers questions about educational aims, while psychology answers questions about how those aims are achieved. Herbart was however not fully satisfied with such a conceptualization of the science as it did not enable a formation of knowledge that would help educators to adequately respond to traits and needs of each individual child. He, therefore, argued that pedagogy has to develop its own concepts (Protner, 1998, pp. 21 22). Based on this dual background, Herbart conceptualized pedagogy as both a reflective and also a normative applied science (Medve ˇs, 2010; Protner, 1998). Until the 1880s, pedagogical university courses were developed in many European universities. Chairs in pedagogy were established at universities from Sweden to Bulgaria. Pedagogy was part of primary school teachers’ education in teachers’ colleges and also a part of the gymnasium teachers’ education in the faculties of arts or faculties of philosophy (Ermenc et al., 2013, p. 195). This means that pedagogy became one of the key knowledge base that helped professionalized teaching profession. The first professors of pedagogy were most often followers of Herbart pedagogy, but later, at the end of the nineteenth century new paradigms developed: notably experimental pedagogy that drew on psychology ˇ ´ , 2008); and the Geisteswissenschaftliche (Bengtsson, 2006; Vujisic´-Zivkovic Pa¨dagogik which soon (notably in Germany) became “the mainstream of educational thinking for a long period” (Keiner, 2002, p. 85). After World War I other pedagogical paradigms began developing. Among these paradigms, progressive and critical pedagogies have been most influential (Ermenc, 2013). But only after World War II, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, with widespread democratization processes in education systems and massification of education worldwide, did pedagogy spread extensively among European universities. This was also the time when many pedagogical research institutes were developed, which began cooperating at the ˇ ´ , 2008). European level intensively in the 1990s (Vujisic´-Zivkovic During the last 200 years pedagogy has been developing its own concepts and theories also by integrating other sciences. Its basic research object has throughout remained what is in German language called Erziehung, in Russian vospitanie, and similarly in other Slavonic languages: vaspitanje in Serbian, odgoj in Croatian, vzgoja in Slovenian, and so on. The term has no parallel in the English language.3 There are also

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differences in meaning among these concepts in different national academic contexts, which is why I will focus on the Slovenian concept vzgoja: the term implies teacher’s intentional guidance of a child in his or her moral, aesthetical, personal, social, physical, spiritual advancement. Pedagogy has produced many definitions and conceptualizations of vzgoja throughout history. Many researchers and educational experts would however agree that it implies the following dimensions: (1) it is an intentional process aimed at reaching aims related to the development (formation) of the whole child; (2) it is a relational process that is established in communication; (3) it is a process that presupposes child’s activity; and (4) it is a process embedded in historical and societal context (Pecˇek et al., 2009, pp. 23 26). It is also a process whose final outcome can due to several factors never be fully assured. The concept of vzgoja is closely linked to the second main concept or research object, that of izobrazevanje ˇ (Bildung in German, obrazovanie in Russian): usually translated as education in spite of not having an identical meaning.4

The Identity of Pedagogy Pedagogy’s identity can be explained along the lines of three interconnected dimensions that have emerged in the process of its establishment during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The three dimensions are also the elements of tensions that have arisen in the process of its development: (1) the concept of vzgoja and the normative nature of pedagogy; (2) the dialectics of theory and practice; (3) the relationship between pedagogy and other sciences (Ermenc, 2014). The first dimension is the most complex because it deals with the heart of the science of pedagogy (Kroflicˇ, 1997; Medve ˇs, 2000; Novak, 1995; Pecˇek et al., 2009). As explained above, the core concept and research subject of pedagogy is that of vzgoja. Pedagogy confronts the issues about the aims and methods of vzgoja, about the nature of a child, about the role of the educator, and so forth. It discusses the relationship between vzgoja and education (izobrazevanje) ˇ in the public education context. After 1960s pedagogy began drawing also on sociology and other social sciences (Bergant, 1994), it is also concerned with the relationship between vzgoja and socialization. The fact that vzgoja is the central concept caused pedagogy to be established as a normative science. Each pedagogical paradigm is constructed around the issues of values, which are supposed to be the guiding principle in establishing the aims of vzgoja and education; in selecting

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(formative) learning contents, and (formative) learning methods; and in defining of the educator’s role. The second dimension addresses the dialectic between theory and practice. Pedagogy has developed as a response to the needs of pedagogical professions: teachers at first, but later also of other professionals such as school counselors and school administrators. However, as Hofstetter and Schneuwly (2001) point out, pedagogical knowledge has also always been borne out of research interests, which is why the process of pedagogy’s development as a discipline has been marked with contradicting demands. On the one hand are those who came from educational practice, and on the other hand are those who came from scientific fields. These tensions, as ˇ ´ (2008, p. 545) concludes, “situated pedagogy in the interVujisic´-Zivkovic space of pragmatic and professional imperatives on one side and of scientific imperatives on the other.” Moreover, this dialectic relationship between theory (deductive approach) and practice (inductive approach) is the fundamental methodological principle of pedagogical research. One of the fathers of contemporary pedagogy in Slovenia (and the whole former Yugoslavia) is Schmidt (1975, 1982), who elaborated this dialectic relationship by describing two fundamental types of laws governing pedagogy. Schmidt’s (1975) first principle is called the principle of general relatedness, which means that vzgoja and education depend on society. As such, they are connected with other social phenomena, which make them impossible to understand independently from society and its changes. The relationship between vzgoja, education, and society is studied deductively, which leads to critical examination and elaboration of aims and principles related to vzgoja and education. Schmidt’s (1975) second principle is that there is no automatic causal relationship between a pedagogical5 measure and the result achieved. The relationship depends on the circumstances in which the measure is applied; therefore, there is hardly any pedagogical measure that can be in advance defined as good, bad, or irrelevant. Each pedagogical measure’s usefulness depends on concrete circumstances, time, the child and teacher involved, and the aims to be achieved. A particular measure does not operate on its own, but always in connection with other circumstances. Its effectiveness is most efficiently examined inductively, but the results of such investigations have to be theoretically explained, and the role of each circumstance rationally discussed. The third dimension or set of tensions that has marked the development and the identity of pedagogy, is pedagogy’s relationship with other sciences. As shown above, pedagogical ideas first developed within

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philosophy, but separated from it in the beginning of the nineteenth century. The process of pedagogy gaining autonomy from other sciences is, however, marked by the formation of pedagogy as a multidisciplinary discipline; and in the twentieth century its multidisciplinary base broadened. To develop its own theories and concepts pedagogy has drawn on sociological, historical, anthropological, and economic findings, theories, and methodologies. In spite of these tensions, a comparative study of the nature of pedagogy and its relationship to other social sciences and humanities conducted by Keiner and Schriever (in Hofstetter & Schneuwly, 2001), revealed that integration highly depends on the academic and national context; and in each context one dominant model developed. Keiner and Schriever’s (in Hofstetter & Schneuwly, 2001) analysis revealed that it is possible to distinguish three models: the German, the French, and the Anglo-Saxon ones. Hofstetter and Schneuwly (2001, pp. 37, 38) summarize: The German model [… with its] “pronounced disciplinary split” is characterised by great disciplinary unity that is marked by a stable body of references that are securely founded within the discipline itself. In contrast, the French model, which they present as an “expanded social science,” whilst also being established within a European disciplinary tradition, is characterised by a multidisciplinary referential and a broad space of referencing, to the detriment of the creation of a stable corpus of reference, in particular including cognitive psychology, sociology, linguistics, history or anthropology. Finally, the Anglo-Saxon model, which the authors define as a “pragmatic specialisation, conditioned by the fields of application and relevant professions,” makes fair reference to the discipline’s originators and those of the other human and social sciences overwhelmingly favouring psychology; it is not so much disciplinarily organised as it is heavily structured in accordance with demands made for professional and political reasons (curriculum theory, measures of efficiency and effectiveness, etc.).

As discussed above, the tensions regarding the nature of pedagogy within and between different academic circles in Continental Europe can be observed at the level of the naming of the science itself, which is directly linked to its identity. In France, Best (1988) reports that up until the 1960s the term pedagogy (pe´dagogie) prevailed, but was at the time gradually replaced by education (l’e´ducation). Primary school teachers’ colleges began to study pedagogy in the early 1880s, but soon also some universities established chairs in science de l’e´ducation held by respected philosophers and sociologists such as Durkheim. The distinction came about between the university e´lite which studied educational phenomena only theoretically, and the primary-school teacher-training colleges, which were responsible for both, practical as well as theoretical aspects of pedagogy.

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Similarly, in Germany in the 1960s a schism within pedagogy occurred, which has brought about the constitution of two distinct streams of pedagogical research: the first one is still deductively based pedagogy (Pa¨dagogik) which has retained its primal connection to philosophy and studies normative questions regarding vzgoja; the second is known by the name of education science (Erziehungswissenschaft), which is interdisciplinary-based and focused on empirical research of various educational phenomena (Medve ˇs, 2010). In spite of this split, Keiner (2002) explains that researchers belonging to both streams have dealt with almost identical research topics, which in practice have brought both streams closer together than they claimed to be. A similar stance can be found in Mitter (2009).

The Role of Comparison in Pedagogy It is not an easy task to present in a systematic yet concise way how the role of comparison in pedagogy evolved, since many academic and research traditions and diverse standpoints exist, persist, and conflict. To avoid oversimplification, a focus on the views of authors coming mostly from the former Yugoslavia provides a relatively unbiased account of pedagogical comparison. They have worked on the crossroads of several pedagogical traditions: European traditions (notably the German one), Russian, as well ˇ as American ones (Potkonjak, 1978, 1982; Strmcˇnik, 1987; Zlebnik, 1959). Deductively based pedagogy has used comparison as one of its essential cognitive instruments allowing for the comparison of pedagogical ideals and ideas among different traditions and theoretical streams (Krneta, ˇ ˇsa, 1967). Later on, with the introduction of Potkonjak, Schmidt, & Simle the inductive methodological approaches into educational research, comparison began to be understood as a specific research method (Savic´evic´, 1984). Since every pedagogical idea or phenomena can be compared, some authors argued, the establishment of comparative pedagogy as a distinct subdiscipline could not be justified. Even today, comparison is often engaged as one of the methods in broader pieces of basic and applied educational research. This situation is also very common in Slovenia, where many pieces of research include a comparative analysis of the research topic in relevant countries. Usually, they are a part of the introduction to empirical study on the topic (Ermenc, 2013). With the increased importance of the inductive approach in European pedagogical research, the role of comparison has gradually changed.

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Pedagogy experienced radical changes in the 1960s in its shift from a deductively based humanistic science to (partially) transforming into inductively based social science. As such it has become more open for empirically based comparative research, and for tackling practical educational problems (Mitter, 2009; Schmidt, 1982; Suchodolski, 1974; Waterkamp, 2013), notably educational policy problems. Gradually, comparative pedagogy began to be more widely recognized as a distinctive pedagogical subdiscipline; not only as a method. The German comparativist Schneider (1961) was one of the first who defined it as such. Such a conceptualization is close to many authors coming from Germany and other Central European countries (Gudjons, 1994; Kulic´, 2011; Lenzen, 2002). As pedagogy started to deal with policy issues, it has also begun to draw on other social sciences, such as economics and political science. This shift moved it closer to the traditions in other countries, notably the United States, where comparative education has a longstanding tradition of serving as a knowledge base for the training of education administrators, international advisors, and the like (Wiseman & Matherly, 2009). Numerous authors have since dealt with this nature of comparative pedagogy. One of the issues discussed mostly in the 1960s and 1970s was the place of comparative pedagogy within pedagogy and its relations to other subdisciplines. It was sometimes seen as a part of general pedagogy (Frankovic´, 1971), and sometimes as a continuation of the history of pedagogy and schooling. Rarely, can a view be found that says that comparative pedagogy is an independent scientific discipline, although such a view was expressed by two important Russian authors Dzurinsky and Vulfson (Golz, 2008). Instead, comparative pedagogy is most often defined as a specific pedagogical subdiscipline6 dealing with the analysis and comparison of macro and micro elements of education systems (Golz, 2008; Kulic´, 2011; Mitrovic´, 1981; Savic´evic´, 1984; Spasenovic´, 2013). Researchers have however rarely defined and developed comparative pedagogy as holistically as Savic´evic´ (1984), one of the leading comparativists in the former Yugoslavia. He has argued that comparative pedagogy can be viewed as a specific subdiscipline, but it needs a clearer definition of its specific research objects and its aim. Savic´evic´ stated that the main aim of research in general is in establishing scientific laws, which in social sciences are expressed as general tendencies. He, therefore, defined comparative pedagogy as a pedagogical subdiscipline which enables the systematic study of strengths and weaknesses of different education systems. Comparison can be conducted at the macro and micro levels, which means that comparative

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studies do not need to focus solely on the investigation of the education system as a whole, but also on the investigation of “micro-problems” among several systems. Savic´evic´ (1984) further argued that without comparison it is hardly impossible to comprehend the dialectics of vzgoja, the dynamics of the formational processes, and the societal factors influencing these processes. Countries are constantly in interaction, exchanging ideas, influencing and enriching each other. Comparative research is, in Savic´evic´’s opinion, a key which enables researchers to study various influences and streams of pedagogical ideas more efficiently. And, in this manner, researchers may establish conceptualizations of vzgoja and education that have a more universal character. Savicˇevicˇ’s conclusion seems crucial not only for understanding, but even more for the conceptualization of comparative pedagogy as such. Comparative pedagogy, unlike comparative education, uses comparison as a means of scientific advancements in the understanding of the phenomenon of vzgoja and its relationship with other phenomena, especially education (including educational and instructional processes), and socialization.

ANGLOPHONE CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF COMPARATIVE RESEARCH IN EDUCATION In his text, Why No Pedagogy in England?, Simon (1999) explains that pedagogy as a science does not exist in England. He continues (1999, p. 34): The contrast here with other European countries, both west and east, is striking. In the educational tradition of the Continent, the term “pedagogy” has an honoured place, stemming perhaps particularly from the work and thinking of Comenius in the seventeenth century, but developed and elaborated in the nineteenth century through the work of Pestalozzi, Herbart and others. […] Not so in England. It is now one hundred years since Alexander Bain published Education as a Science […]. Since then, less and less has been heard of this claim. The most striking aspect of current thinking and discussion about education is its eclectic character, reflecting deep confusion of thought, and of aims and purposes, related to learning and teaching to pedagogy.

Therefore, Simon claims, the concept of pedagogy in England has usually been avoided.7 Taken out of the context of the broader argumentation of his paper, Simon’s claim could be misunderstood. There is of course a discipline that studies vzgoja and education also in England and other parts of English-speaking world, but it is conceptualized and approached

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differently. The closest to pedagogy in a Continental European context, which appears in the Anglophone world, is the discipline of educational research. Its traditional core is the foundation disciplines of philosophy, psychology, and history of education (Bridges, 2006, p. 259). Researchers who come from (or draw on) the Anglophone tradition most often define comparative education as a research area or field, in which many social sciences meet when they aim to analyze educational phenomena in comparative perspective. To mention but a few, a renowned comparativist Epstein (1994) has in this vein defined comparative education as a field of study that applies historical, philosophical, and social science theories and methods to international problems in education. […] Comparative education is primarily an academic and interdisciplinary pursuit. (1994, p. 918)

Together with Carroll, Epstein also referred to comparative education as an “eclectic/diverse field with adjustable borders and contours which are difficult to demarcate” (Epstein & Carroll, 2005, p. 62). Similarly, Kubow and Fossum define comparative education as “the study of education in other countries. […] Comparative education draws on multiple disciplines (e.g., sociology, political science, psychology, and anthropology) to examine education in developed and developing countries” (Kubow & Fossum, 2007, p. 6). English-speaking authors who deal with the issue of identity rarely defend comparative education as a subfield of pedagogy. Most of the discussion revolves around a question of whether comparative education is developed enough to be able to claim its independent position. According to Bray (2007) only a few people have described comparative education as a discipline [Youngman, Sutherland, Chabbott … and even], those people were perhaps using that word somewhat loosely. Most people see comparative education as a field which welcomes scholars who are equipped with tools and perspectives from other arenas but who choose to focus on educational issues in a comparative context. (p. 35)

Recently, such stance has been critiqued by Rappleye (2012, p. 3) who argues that when approaching education from the “dominant lenses offered by the social sciences,” this can lead either to best work or to “fracturing of understandings” of the educational phenomena. More profound in his critique was Olivera (1988) who argued that we have to distinguish between a comparative discipline and the use of comparison in any discipline (p. 168). Olivera argues that a comparative discipline does not apply to “two or more ‘objects’, but to two or more sets of

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scientifically obtained knowledge about comparable objects. Those sets must have been previously built along similar theoretical models.” Olivera continues that in the case of comparative education, those sets of knowledge relate to educational situations, which have to be scientifically studied before comparative education becomes possible. He claims that most of the discussions carried out under the name of comparative education really belong to the general realm of educational science. Moreover, comparative education (or comparative “educology” as he calls it) only deserves this name “when it carries comparison to a higher level of abstraction, a ‘comparison of comparisons’” (Olivera, 1988, p. 180). In Olivera’s opinion, therefore, the adjective comparative could only be used when comparison is applied to previously elaborated sets of theoretical statements. Because these are partially also the result of comparison, comparative disciplines use a sort of “second-degree comparative method.” He concludes that what is compared is not objects in their total reality but “the corresponding abstract models or relational patterns, which make comparison possible by transcending the uniqueness of individual systems.” Noteworthy is Olivera’s conclusion on the epistemological role of comparative education in the field of as he calls it educology: To put it very simply, the social process of education, which everywhere tends to satisfy the same basic need, nevertheless takes on different systemic forms and is faced with different problems in each society or discrete societal group. In each case, these forms and problems are studied and analysed through a complex of disciplines pertaining either to educology or to the sciences “of education,” as we have seen. To a greater or lesser degree, they all use the comparative method. The purpose of such studies may be pragmatic (to solve the concrete educational problems of that society) or strictly scientific (to reach valid generalizations concerning those forms and problems). But beyond these particular studies based on different disciplines it is possible to proceed to a higher level, in order to analyse the diversity as such, such as the variations of an essentially similar system, problem or situation under different conditions. In this case, comparison is used in order to attain a general comprehension, replacing the differences in their contexts, and so to find the “laws of diversity.” This is essentially what comparative education is about.

Although the points outlined in previous sections do not align with Olivera’s argument about the term of educology, his epistemological and methodological grounding of comparative education seem convincing and easily transferable to the situation in research and academic communities that build on pedagogy and struggle to define the pedagogical subdiscipline of comparative pedagogy. As shown above, comparative pedagogy shares fundamental research objects and theoretical models with pedagogy.

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CONCLUSION: HOW CAN COMPARATIVE PEDAGOGY ENRICH GLOBAL COMPARATIVE EDUCATION RESEARCH? Alexander’s study, Culture and Pedagogy (2000), led to an increase of interest in comparative pedagogy in the Anglophone world. His claim that things inside school matter as much as things outside it, with which he criticized Sadler’s legacy (Alexander, 2001, p. 508), put pedagogy on the global comparative research map.8 Encouraged by Alexander’s discussion on epistemological and methodological issues (Alexander, 2001), Planel (2008) defended the inclusion of comparative pedagogy into the field of comparative education. She understands comparative pedagogy as the area of comparative education which deals with the theory and practice of teaching. Comparative pedagogy in her opinion connects both, the act of teaching and the discourse of teaching on one hand, and teaching and culture on the other (Planel, 2008, p. 386). It seems that her conceptualization of comparative pedagogy and its relation to comparative education is just the opposite as it would be if defined by scholars coming from Continental Europe. In other words, some Continental European scholars would most likely define comparative education as a subfield of comparative pedagogy a subfield that deals only with education as a systemic issue (macro level), and not with other topics related to pedagogical practices and phenomena (also at the micro level, including the dimensions of vzgoja). When defining comparative pedagogy, Planel referred to Alexander. In Alexander’s (2001) opinion, pedagogy, Encompasses both the act of teaching and its contingent theories and debates-about, for example, the character of culture and society, the purposes of education, the nature of childhood and learning and the structure of knowledge. Pedagogy is the domain of discourse with which one needs to engage if one is to make sense of the act of teachingfor discourse and act are interdependent, and there can be no teaching without pedagogy or pedagogy without teaching. It is the aspect of education which most tellingly brings together macro and micro. (p. 513)

For Alexander, pedagogy is the practice of teaching, but also a discourse that explains the practice. Hence, comparative pedagogy is the practice, but also a discourse that Identifies, explores and explains similarities and differences in pedagogy, as concept, discourse and practice, across designated units of comparison such as nation-states. It thereby exploits opportunities which only proper comparison can provide: teasing out what is universal in pedagogy from what is unique or site/culture specific; informing the

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development of pedagogic theory; and extending the vocabulary and repertoire of pedagogic practice.

Alexander’s definition of pedagogy is narrower than definitions made by Continental European authors; he understands pedagogy as a discourse not as an independent science and limits its object of research to teaching processes. Continental European authors might possibly call such a research field comparative didactics,9 but would most likely use theories and concepts developed in didactics as theoretical background of their comparative analyses. In spite of that, Alexander’s position may help build bridges between the two traditions because he has brought back the focus on exogenous as well as endogenous factors influencing national education systems and practices. To conclude, considering the above discussion on the identity of pedagogy, I propose the following definition of comparative pedagogy and by it open discussion about its place in the global comparative research in education. Comparative pedagogy could be defined as pedagogical subdiscipline which primarily focuses on the endogenous factors influencing national education systems and practices. It compares roles, aims, and nature of intentional processes aimed at reaching aims related to the development of the whole child (vzgoja) in different cultural settings. It studies the relationship between these processes in different societal contexts to discover differences and construct, as Olivera (1988, p. 180) formulated, “abstract models or relational patterns, which make comparison possible by transcending the uniqueness of individual systems.” It has a normative character, and is as such committed to the development of autonomous, critical, emancipated, global citizens. It needs to help improving the state of humanity, and critically respond to attempts in narrowing the nations’ education role to the creation of competitive and flexible global knowledge workers (Ermenc et al., 2013, p. 214). Comparative pedagogy is situated in the interspace of pragmatic (political and professional) imperatives on one hand and of scientific imperatives on the other. It supports teachers, school administrators, and policy-makers to achieve the above-mentioned goal by critiquing, and by developing new insights. It thus also connects researchers and practitioners. This interconnectedness of practical and theoretical uses of comparative research was succinctly described by Schneider already in 1961: A one-sided theoretical orientation, sooner or later, appears to revert to a preference for practice, while mere practice arouses desire for theory and, in fact, may originate it.

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KLARA SKUBIC ERMENC The nature of this interdependence of theory and practice and its potential usefulness should be the proper object of comparative studies of typical national developments. (p. 139)

Finally, comparative pedagogy is a multidisciplinary-based subdiscipline, forming new comparative pedagogical concepts, theories, and ideas by drawing on both, pedagogical science tradition and principles governing pedagogy as well as different relevant sciences, and thus enriching the science of pedagogy as well as comparative education. As such, it also supports the cooperation of comparativists from different academic backgrounds.

NOTES 1. I will rather use the terms Continental European and the Anglophone models. The reason is that the “German” model has been dominant in other part of the European continent, and that the “English” one has been dominant in the ˇ ´ , 2009). Anglophone world (similarly in Vujisic´-Zivkovic 2. As Silova (2009) critically comments, former socialist countries “[adopted] the language of the new allies” (p. 302) because they wanted to demonstrate “that [they are] not willing to fall behind international standards in educational reform and signaled their efforts to ‘return to Europe’ […]” (p. 302). 3. When researchers try to translate the term into English, they sometimes use the term upbringing, and more often the term education, to which they occasionally add adjectives such as moral, spiritual, esthetic, etc. In the same vain the theory (or philosophy) of vzgoja (one of the main pedagogical subdisciplines) is usually translated as theory of education. These translations are confusing, especially because as shown later in the chapter education is understood as the second main concept that pedagogy studies. Education is a concept that is connected though not identical with that of vzgoja (Pecˇek, Cˇuk, & Lesar, 2009). 4. Alexander (2009, pp. 925, 926) has vividly explained some nuances of meaning of the two concepts in different countries: [In] French public education […] e´duquer means to bring up as well as formally to educate and that bien e´duque´ means well brought up or well-mannered rather than wellschooled (‘educate’ in English has both senses too, but the latter now predominates); or that the root of the Russian word for education, obrazovanie, means ‘form’ or ‘image’ rather than, as in our Latinate version, a ‘leading out’; or that obrazovanie is inseparable from vospitanie, an idea which has no equivalent in English because it combines personal development, private and public morality, and civic commitment, while in England these tend to be treated as separate and even conflicting domains [.]

5. “Pedagogical” meaning pertaining to vzgoja and education. 6. Other subdisciplines are, for example, theory (philosophy) of vzgoja, history of pedagogy and schooling, educational methodology, preschool and school pedagogy, and didactics.

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7. In the same vein Hamilton (1999) has posed a question Why no didactics in England: Anglo-American usage of “pedagogy” is to a certain extent similar to what continental Europe uses for “didactic.” Didactics is one of the oldest and most important pedagogical subdisciplines, and “the most important tool for planning, enacting, and thinking about teaching in most of northern and central Europe” (Hopmann & Riquarts, 2000, p. 3). 8. Schneider (1961) presented similar view already more than half a century ago, as he discusses the relationship between exogenous (national character, geographic environment, foreign influences, culture and civilization, the sciences, national economy, social stratification, politics, religion, historical past) and endogenous factors (pedagogical characteristics of nations) explaining similarities and differences among education of different nations. 9. Cf. Note 6.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my very great appreciation to Dr. Alexander W. Wiseman for his valuable suggestions and constructive critiques during the development of this chapter. His willingness to give his time so generously has been very much appreciated.

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Schmidt, V. (1975). Pedago ˇska metodologija. In L. Krneta, N. Potkonjak, V. Schmidt, & ˇ ˇsa (Eds.), Pedagogika II. Ljubljana: Drzavna P. Simle ˇ zalozba ˇ Slovenije. Schmidt, V. (1982). Socialisticˇna pedagogika med etatizmom in samoupravljanjem. Ljubljana: Dopisna delavska univerza. Schneider, F. (1961). The immanent evolution of education: A neglected aspect of comparative education. Comparative Education Review, 4, 136 139. Silova, I. (2009). Varieties of educational transformation: The post-socialist states of central/ southeastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In R. Cowen & A. M. Kazamias (Eds.), International handbook of comparative education (Vol. 22, pp. 295 320). Dordrecht: Springer. Simon, B. (1999). Why no pedagogy in England? In J. Leach & B. Moon (Eds.), Learners & pedagogy (pp. 34 45). London: Sage. ˇ Spasenovic´, V. (2013). Skolski sistemi iz komparativne perspektive. Beograd: Institut za pedagogiju i andragogiju Filozofskog fakulteta Univerze u Beogradu. ˇ Strmcˇnik, F. (1987). Sodobna sola v lucˇi ucˇne diferenciacije in individualizacije. Ljubljana: Zveza organizacij za tehnicˇno kulturo Slovenije. Suchodolski, B. (1974). Tri pedagogije. Beograd: Novinsko izdavacˇko preduzecˇe Duga. ˇ ´ , N. (2008). Proces disciplinarizacije u polju pedago ˇskog istrazivanja Vujisic´-Zivkovic ˇ i obrazovanja prvi deo: Istorijsko-komparativni kontekst razvoja pedagogije kao univerzitetske discipline. Pedagogija, 63, 540 554. ˇ ´ , N. (2009). Proces disciplinarizacije u polju pedago ˇskog istrazivanja Vujisic´-Zivkovic ˇ i obrazovanja drugi deo: Savremeni razvoj pedagogije kao univerzitetske discipline. Pedagogija, 64, 42 59. Walterova´, E. (1994). Kurikulum. Promˇeny a trendy v mezina´rodnı´ perspektivˇe. Brno: Masarykova Univerzita, Centrum pro dal ˇsı´ vzdeˇ la´va´nı´ ucˇitelu. ˚ Walterova´, E. (2013). Comparative education for teachers in the Czech Republic: Aims, models, problems. In C. Wolhuter, N. Popov, B. Leutwyler, & K. S. Ermenc (Eds.), Comparative education at universities world wide (3rd expanded ed., pp. 44 48). Sofia: Bureau for Educational Services. Waterkamp, D. (2013). Comparative education as a field of teaching in German universities. In C. Wolhuter, N. Popov, B. Leutwyler, & K. S. Ermenc (Eds.), Comparative education at universities world wide (3rd expanded ed., pp. 68 74). Sofia: Bureau for Educational Services. Wiseman, A., & Matherly, C. (2009). The professionalization of comparative and international education: Promises and problems. Research in Comparative and International Education, 4, 334 355. ˇ Zlebnik, L. (1959). Obcˇa zgodovina pedagogike. Ljubljana: DZS.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: METHODOLOGICAL OPTICS IN THE IDEOLOGICAL CONTEXT Olga Fedotova and Oksana Chigisheva ABSTRACT Contemporary comparative pedagogical discourses are becoming increasingly popular and strongly modify the policy and practice of education worldwide. Intensification of empirical studies naturally leads to the decrease of the research interest in purely methodological issues that stand apart from practical application of comparative analysis and comparative method. This chapter attempts to fill in the methodological lacuna in the study of comparative method and its potential when doing research determined by the ideological context. The authors state two main research questions, the first one concerning the potential of comparative analysis for the detection of the technologies and facts of ideological indoctrination and the second one focusing on its functional possibilities in revealing the transformations in the vision of pedagogical reality by the theorist under the influence of the complete change of the state’s ideology. Statistical analysis of the units, content and comparative analysis, quantification, interpretation, and analogy were used for the comprehensive comparative study of the small volume of

Comparative Sciences: Interdisciplinary Approaches International Perspectives on Education and Society, Volume 26, 57 82 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3679/doi:10.1108/S1479-367920140000026003

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text by A. S. Makarenko Beseda s rabochim aktivom na zavode ‘Sharikopodshipnik’ (Conversation with Working Active Members at the Plant ‘Ball-bearing’) with comments published in Russian and its analogue issued in German by Makarenko-Referat laboratory and two text versions of “Zadachi i metody narodnoj shkoly” (“Objectives and Methods of National School”) by P. P. Blonsky issued under the same title in 1916 and 1917. General outcomes of the research vividly demonstrate how micro- and macro contexts may widen the horizons of the comparative method and significantly differentiate comparative research schemes. Keywords: Comparison; comparative method; ideology; methodology; determinant

INTRODUCTION Comparison is an important cognitive operation allowing making judgments about similarities and differences between the objects and events of the surrounding world. Comparison permits to reveal both quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the objects as well as to define the features determining their possible connections and interrelations. Already in antiquity ancient thinkers and mathematicians stated the theoretical issue of methodological character: how can differences and similarities of the cognizable phenomena and noumena be identified in the process of subject and mental world cognition? How can the qualitative uniqueness of equality and identity be revealed? Plato through Parmenides’ mouth asserts that “each thing relates to another thing in the following way: it is either identical to another thing or different” (Platon & Parmenid, 1999). Leibniz’s thesis that it is impossible to find two completely identical subjects in nature is also known. Close attention to the issue of detecting similarities and differences can be traced throughout the whole history of philosophical and logical thought. In modern scientific methodology the opinion about unconditional comparability of visual experience objects has been deeply rooted. However theorists asserting that the requirement of observability significantly narrows the range of cognition may also be considered right. The subjects are frequently not visualized and it is necessary to include and/or activate a wide arsenal of logical tools for their cognition. Comparison plays a

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specific role in the spectrum of cognitive operations helping to identify general and specific in the cognizable phenomena. It is not accidental that a collective term “comparative studies” has been introduced into the scientific lexicon. It represents the methodological ‘key’ allowing to perceive various cognitive thematic continuums. The use of epistemological approach to the logical tools permitting to fix certain facets of the world at the level of concepts and judgments presupposes a wide consideration context within different thematic fields of various scientific branches. The connotation “comparative” is widely used in relation to various thematic areas in humanities where human problems and his/her attitude toward the world and other people are put at the center of the cognitive efforts. “Comparative education” is known as one of the branches of pedagogical knowledge being in the process of intensive growth (Fedotova & Chigisheva, 2008). Within this theoretical conceptualization comparative method is used at different levels of education and educational policy. Comparative method has its own peculiarities in the Russian scientific and pedagogical discourse. The first one is connected with the specifics of the twentieth century national Russian history having passed a complex dynamical way of social and economic transformations characterized by the change of ideological foundations and the forms of the statehood. Comparative education research of the Soviet period still had a low degree of methodological reflection under the dominance of the Communist ideological orientations. This led to the situation when it mainly accentuated on the problems of foreign pedagogical country study. Comparative method as such had a limited use and mainly served for strengthening the opposition between Soviet and capitalist pedagogical systems of education and pedagogical practices. A one-sided interpretation of pedagogy and school development in socialist states also prevailed in the USSR. At the same time comparative education research was of anniversary character, its outcomes showed achievements and revealed no difficulties or contradictions in the educational development of the countries belonging to the socialist bloc. Political changes that occurred in the Russian Federation at the end of the twentieth century have stimulated reassessment of various philosophical, theoretical, and epistemological aspects within the study of foreign educational issues. Russian comparative pedagogy sensitively responded to the changes associated with the country’s transition to the capitalist basis in the organization of economic life. Here is the evidence by the well-known Russian comparativist B. L. Vul’fson concerning the occurred changes in the evaluative judgments of comparative pedagogy researchers.

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“In the late 1980s and 1990s the authors of some Russian publications devoted to foreign education exercised another extreme, if earlier they described the system of Western education only negatively now they predominantly started to praise it. Such opportunistic ‘volte-face’ is incompatible with serious scientific research” (Vul’fson, 2003, S. 66).1 Research in comparative education issues should undoubtedly be based on the principles of objectivity, representativeness, consistency, and interdisciplinarity. The second peculiarity in the development of the Russian comparative pedagogy may be seen in the complex attitude to the use of quantitative analysis in research. Its methodological arsenal and potential are not only unclaimed in full but also serve as an object of criticism. According to B. L. Vul’fson “attempts of some teachers by all means to give their works a formal resemblance with natural science research by expanding the application of mathematical symbols in many cases do not lead to fruitful results; complex mathematical apparatus sometimes conceals the poverty of the thematic contents” (Vul’fson, 2003, S. 90). In recent years a new tendency may be traced, namely, synchronous comparison of quantitative data on the development of education in different regions alongside with the usage of comparative method and its potential to identify specific methods for solving similar problems when comparing the outcomes of educational reforms (Borevskaja, Borisenkov, & Chzhu Sjaoman’, 2007). At present the following acute tasks for Russian comparative science have been identified: the study of foreign pedagogy and education, research of foreign innovations in pedagogical theory and practice, and identification of the possibilities to enter the world educational area (Dzhurinskij, 2013). The analysis of the tasks being currently solved by Russian comparative science is not aimed at the development of methodological optics of comparative research and it also doesn’t reflect the trends revealing within contemporary “paradigm shift” in humanities (Fedotova, 2013). Taking into account the preceding facts it seems appropriate to study those methodological aspects of comparative pedagogy that have adjunction to the ideology and the ways of its indoctrination. In this connection two questions problematizing comparative method potential may be formulated: 1. Can comparative analysis serve as a detection means of facts and technologies of ideological indoctrination? 2. Can comparative analysis indicate that the author has changed his vision of pedagogical issues influenced by the change of the state ideology?

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The outcomes of two separate Research Cases (Research Case 1, Research Case 2) will be provided to address each of the stated questions. Discussion part of the Research Cases is represented by interpretive approaches and quantitative analysis of texts and text bodies for the purpose of the meaningful interpretation of identified numerical sequences.

RESEARCH CASE 1 Conceptual Framework For the solution of the objective formulated as “Can comparative analysis serve as a detection means of facts and technologies of ideological indoctrination?” it is necessary to select the text (or texts) having substantial potential and allowing to draw conclusions concerning: • Certain ideological commitment of the author and subsequently his/her creative work commentators. The author must be rather well-known in pedagogy and his/her heritage should be perceived as representative for the certain historical period. • Objectification of the publisher’s own ideological position used to represent his/her professional assessment of the author’s work chosen for the analysis from the whole body of his/her pedagogical heritage. Research hypothesis may be formulated in the form of the following statement: qualitative uniqueness in the positions of the representatives of various scientific and ideological schools may be identified on the basis of comparison of different text publication editions and comparative analysis of the positions of commentators and analysts considering this text.

Research Design and Methodology Content analysis (including statistical analysis of the units), comparative analysis, quantification, interpretation, and analogy were used for the solution of the research objectives. Literature Research The text of the speech by the famous Soviet educator Anton Semenovych Makarenko (1888 1939) was selected as an empirical research object. He is

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known in the history of the Russian and world pedagogy as one of the founders of the theory of education of the new man in the children’s working collective. He put this idea into practice and it demonstrated a good educational effect in building socialism in Russia. Anton Makarenko’s heritage is studied not only in Russia, but also worldwide. The most famous research center of Makarenko’s pedagogical heritage is the Makarenko-Referat laboratory (Vorschungsstelle) of the Scientific and Research Comparative Education Centre at Marburg University. Established in 1968 the laboratory publishes Makarenko’s texts simultaneously in Russian and German on archival units basis. In addition to preparing texts for publication the laboratory staff has been actively involved in research clarifying certain circumstances of this or that text creation, characterizing ideological and theoretical positions of A. S. Makarenko. In this study two variants of a small volume of text by A. S. Makarenko Beseda s rabochim aktivom na zavode ‘Sharikopodshipnik’ (Conversation with Working Active Members at the Plant ‘Ball-bearing’) are used for the analysis. Russian variant of the text is cited by the edition of Makarenko’s works in eight volumes, this work was placed as an appendix to Volume 7 (1983/1986a, 1983/1986b). Special attention was also given to the comments referring to the analyzed fragment written by Russian commentators V. E. Gmurman and N. A. Sundukov and included into the section “Comments and notes” in the seventh volume of the same edition (Gmurman & Sundukov, 1983/1986). German text published by the staff of Makarenko-Referat laboratory in accordance with the full record being contained in the Russian archive is quoted by the journal Pa¨dagogik und Schule in Ost und West (Pedagogy and School in the East and West) for 1987. Instruments, Procedure, and Data Analysis Conducted quantitative content analysis research is based on the allocation of the number of lines contained in the analyzed texts in the Russian and German languages. Herewith these lines serve as counts or units of account within the research and the unfinished text line being short enough is considered complete if it finishes the paragraph. A system of graphic highlighting in particular coloring and hatching of the text fragments necessary to mark for the solution of research tasks were used in this study. The places in the text provided with the commentary of German researchers were graphically marked as “V”. The procedure of research consisted of several series.

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The first series of research is devoted to the identification of the overall publication mass of the text containing the speech transcript by A. S. Makarenko represented in Russian academic editions of pedagogical works. For this reason it was stated that the text published by the Makarenko-Referat laboratory was larger in size. The comparison of text lines allowed singling out text fragments that were not published in the Russian edition. The second series of research is devoted to the study of the question concerning the footnotes made by German publishers to the text fragments that have been excluded from the Russian text of speeches by A. S. Makarenko. The data obtained were filled into the Excel form and simple bar charts were constructed on their basis. It should be noted that the size of the A. S. Makarenko’s published text in different publication sources was different: some pages contained footnotes with commentator’s texts.

Results and Discussion The First Series Oral public speeches occupy a modest place in the pedagogical heritage of A. S. Makarenko. His main works are written in the form of literary and pedagogical novels (Pedagogicheskaja pojema (The Pedagogical Poem), Flagi na bashnjah (Flags on Towers)) and also represented in the A. S. Makarenko’s analytical works summarizing his unique pedagogical experience. A. S. Makarenko is simultaneously a teacher and a writer so his heritage is placed in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art that was previously known as the Central State Archive of Literature and Art. This fact demonstrates pricelessness of A. S. Makarenko’s materials where he appears before the public as a speaker, propagandist, advocate, and popularizer of his unique teaching experience. One of his works published by German researchers on the basis of the storage units of the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art will be considered from the formal and statistical aspect Makarenko, October 24, 1936. For this purpose the method of content analysis will be used. On the basis of line by line text comparison published in Russian and German editions, we singled out common and existing text in both variants fragments and also found text omissions made in the Russian version of publication. Calculation on the number of lines on the positions “coincidence” and “cut text fragments” is represented in Fig. 1.

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cut text fragments

500

coincidence

880

0

Fig. 1.

200

400

600

800

1000

Distribution Range of the Total Number of Text Lines Devoted to the Position “Coincidence” and “Cut Text Fragments.”

The bar graph shows that Russian text has a significant number of cut text fragments available in archival form and published in full by German researchers. Such omissions constitute 56.8% of the original text size, which seems a rather significant figure for the studied short text fragment. In this regard the following questions need special clarification: (1) How are these cut text fragments distributed through the pages of the text? (2) Which text fragments represented in the archive were cut in the Russian edition and why? To answer the first question a content analysis research was undertaken and the results graphically depicted in Fig. 2 were obtained. Comparison of the data presented at the bar graph convincingly shows that the extractions made in the Soviet edition are related mainly to the second half of the transcript, that is, the part of the speech which is constituted of the A. S. Makarenko’s answers to the questions of the working active members participating in the meeting. This part of the speech in contrast to the first one is not a monologue. It contains answers to the questions of the audience given by the teacher and writer in the form of improvisation. Leaving no time for reflection this genre of spontaneous question answer communication potentially contains a certain danger for the person answering the questions. Questions may contain provocative implications and the respondent does not always have the opportunity to recognize this explicit or implicit “trick.” Even if the question is asked “by

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58 5454 51 42 46

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Fig. 2.

p.2

p.3

p.4

p.5

p.6

p.7

p.8

p.9 p.10 p.11 p.12 p.13 p.14 p.15

Distribution Range on the Positions “Coincidence” (Gray Shading) and “Cut Text Fragments” (Hatching) (Page by Page).

the naivete,” that is, without any malicious intent and desire to expose the respondent in something, the latter is often hampered in time for formulating a weighted, reconciled answer not contradicting the previous statements. The respondent may “blurt,” move away from the plan thus saying something secret, privy, not intended for the general public. Comments of the German publishers to the mostly cut text fragments will help to clarify the motives of extracting half of the A. S. Makarenko’s answers to the questions of the working active members from the Russian source. The Second Series Analytical consideration of the author’s text presupposes comments, clarifications, interpretation of terms and explanation of some positions unclear for the reader in the logic of the historical context. The text published by German researchers contains short comments placed page by page. The following conclusions were made after quantification of the notes’ contents represented in the footnotes on the criteria of the semantic unit of content and taking into account that one footnote may contain several semantic units. Out of 24 footnotes made by German publishers 10 specify life events, 11 characterize and clarify the circumstances, 3 contain comments to the term 3, 10 refer to the party and governmental documents or party workers, 1 shows commentator`s doubt. Moreover, seven footnotes contain Makarenko’s incrimination in deliberate lie, 4 demonstrate an attempt to arrogate to A. S. Makarenko a hidden reference of his statement to the directives in the party and governmental documents. Fig. 3

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Fig. 3. Distribution Range on the Number of Footnotes Relating to the Full and Cut Text Fragments. Note: Gray shading indicates number of footnotes referring to the coincident parts of the text and hatching indicates number of footnotes referring to the cut parts of the text.

represents calculation results of the footnotes relating to the full and cut text fragments. Comparison of the number of footnotes to the full and cut by Soviet researchers text fragments shows that most of them refer to the altered version, their correlation is 9:15. It allows to assume that Soviet publishers had certain reasons for excluding namely these text fragments from the published work. It seems reasonable to analyze the contents of some footnotes made by German researchers to the discussed text fragments. Noteworthy is the fact that the comments made by German publishers are based on the detailed study of the factual materials and in our opinion most of them are not unfounded. Among them is the footnote number 12 where commentators argue that A. S. Makarenko provided incorrect information about his father’s death in order to show the difficulties of his professional development as a teacher to the audience. The same aim has a footnote number 14 containing the statement that A. S. Makarenko did not leave the post but immediately accepted a position of the head teacher after the capture of Poltava by the troops of General Denikin. However the analysis of all footnotes, undeniable for the German commentator, showed that they are not exceptional both in argumentation and factual authenticity. Here are the most typical contradictions. Nevertheless

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to confirm the thesis containing reproaches of A. S. Makarenko in deliberate lie it seems necessary at least to quote the sources introducing these facts. Unfortunately comments lack these references. In addition comment number 3 contains not only the attribution to the author of the ideas proclaimed in the Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR dated June 27, 1936 but also an intentional factual inaccuracy. Thus, the title of the document is cited with the omission of its significant part: “… about the establishment of state help for multifamily.” Thus, cutting of this text fragment by German publishers purposely distorts the general essence of the state’s efforts. In the comment number 5 it is asserted without adducing any proof that N. K. Krupskaya was a disseminator of the Western ideas of the “free education theory” and a consistent supporter of L. N. Tolstoy’s ideas (literary German “Tolstoneanerin,” Russian “tolstovka”). The quoted word combination “anti-Marxist pseudoscience” used as a reference by German publishers has never appeared in the text of Central Committee of the All-Russian Communist Party of Bolsheviks’ Decree dated July 4, 1936. This far from the complete list of inaccuracies illustrates mostly deductive reflection process of German commentators being a part of the general system of worldviews. These worldviews are characterized by the consistent rejection of the young Soviet state’s ideology and disseminators of its politics who A. S. Makarenko belonged to due to various reasons. New hypotheses arising from the documentary research are not specified, confirmed, or denied by them but just rather fix the existence of a certain semantic field. It should be noted that the footnotes in the form of comments are found in the part of the publication reflecting “the world outside the author’s text.” Headings may be referred to the interpretative part of the analyzed publication. One and the same work that according to the archival storage unit has no title given by the author (A. S. Makarenko) himself receives the heading offered by the publishers. In our opinion the comparison of these heading variations demonstrates the existence of a certain ideological vector. Soviet publishers entitled the researched work by A. S. Makarenko as Beseda s rabochim aktivom na zavode “Sharikopodshipnik” (Conversation with Working Active Members at the Plant “Ball-bearing”) on October 24, 1936 (Kumarin, 1991; Makarenko, 1983/1986a, 1983/1986b). In the comments to the publication placed in the appendix it is emphasized that the speech was delivered in the plant’s training hall. “The writer and teacher

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told about very interesting methods of training, persuasion of people used in the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs’ colonies for children and based on the experience of great longstanding work” (Makarenko, 1983/ 1986a,1983/1986b, S. 486). The dynamics of labor breakthrough, the pitch of the epoch of Soviet socialist construction, and the workers’ activity under the leadership of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks is emphasized in the title and comments. The publishers preface to the German edition of this work opens with the title extracted from the phrase that was excluded from the part of the speech published in Russia. It sounds like “… Wir sind eben nicht immer so grossartige Ko¨nner” (Pa¨dagogik und Schule in Ost und West, S. 88). In the reverse translation from German it may be represented as part of the phrase “… not always we are such great experts!” As follows from the commentator’s preliminary notes this statement was chosen by him to show the uncertainty of A. S. Makarenko in the efficacy of his educational system, “recognition of his weaknesses and limitations as a teacher” (Pa¨dagogik und Schule in Ost und West, S. 88). If Russian publishers emphasize the fact that A. S. Makarenko addressed the ball-bearing plant workers, in the subtitle made by German authors they are called not working active members but ordinary “readers of ‘The Pedagogical Poem’.” In the introduction anticipating the publication and written by German commentators there is an allusion to the specific in their opinion features of the Soviet era symbolically reproducing historical and ideological context. They are represented in the form of negative symbols associated with the names of party and Soviet leaders Yezhov, Yagoda, Lenin, Stalin, Kaganovich as well as the “Moscow Trials,” “death sentences,” Decrees of the Central Committee of the All-Russian Communist Party of Bolsheviks are also mentioned.

Summary of Research Case 1 Paying tribute to the German publishers for the careful reproduction of the tendentiously shortened text in the Soviet edition (see the appendix) and the efforts in ascertaining the dates and circumstances we should express our doubts concerning their objectivity in clarifying “authentic picture of these statements” (Pa¨dagogik und Schule in Ost und West, S. 88). The technique of fixing false data represented by A. S. Makarenko is used in the title and footnotes. It undermines the confidence in his entire activity and pedagogical concept. Assigning of the context, accentuation of

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A. S. Makarenko’s uncertainty in his own theoretical positions and practical result may also be traced there. The only unknown fact for researchers (the statement is connected with the inability to set the fate of the staff working in the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs’s colony) urged them to draw conclusions about their grim fate. In turn Soviet publishers do not tend to offer objective description of A. S. Makarenko’s life and pedagogical heritage. Text extractions made by them vividly demonstrate that many intentional fragments that were indirectly able to clarify exceptionable circumstances of his life were excluded. It was done to maintain the iconically irreproachable image of the Soviet writer and teacher whose theory of collective upbringing was implemented in the practice of communism construction. Thus the use of comparison helps to clarify the ideological vector of publishers’ intentions.

RESEARCH CASE 2 Conceptual Framework Research Case 2 is devoted to the answer search for the following question: “Can comparative analysis indicate that the author has changed his vision of pedagogical issues influenced by the change of the state ideology?” Research hypothesis: to make a judgment on how comparative analysis may help to establish the transformational dynamics in the author’s conceptual position is possible when comparing his/her texts published within a short time interval. Comparative analysis will help to determine the changes made by the author in the published materials and classify them. Identification of the meaningful moments modified by the author in subsequent publications allows to draw a conclusion concerning his/her theoretical self-positioning and self-presentation in the new environment. This issue may be considered within comparative research study of creative work by the famous Russian and Soviet educator Pavel Petrovich Blonsky (1884 1941). His creative activity easily coincides with three epochs of Russian state system development: (1) the period of the tsarist autocracy (until February 1917); (2) the period from the February Revolution of 1917 until the October Revolution of 1917; (3) Soviet period. P. P. Blonsky’s heritage includes psychological and pedagogical theoretical works and constitutes an important component in the history of the Russian educational theory. P. P. Blonsky belongs to the pleiad of the

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Russian scientists whose views were getting very ambiguous evaluation within different periods of Russian history starting from complete rejection of their positions to the recognition of their originality and importance for the development of educational theory (Petrovskij & Danil’chenko, 1979). In a certain period of his creative work P. P. Blonsky was under the influence of pedagogical views. Pedagogy is the theory of two factors according to which the formation and development of the human is predominated by the influence of his heredity and social environment, however, the role of specially organized educational actions is regarded as a concomitant factor but not a key one. The work of prognostic character that was firstly written and published in 1916 during the first of the periods indicated above will be analyzed. It was subsequently revised and published by the author in 1917 in the context of new historical realities and democratic reforms that followed the February Revolution of 1917.

Research Design and Methodology Content analysis (including statistical analysis of the units), comparative analysis, quantification, interpretation, and analogy were used for the solution of the research objectives. Literature Research Two text versions of “Zadachi i metody narodnoj shkoly” (“Objectives and Methods of National School”) by P. P. Blonsky published under the same title at different times were chosen for the research study. 1. The first paper version was published in two issues of the leading Russian pedagogical journal Vestnik vospitanija (Bulletin of Education) in 1916 (Blonsky, 1916). This edition of the work refers to the prerevolutionary period of the Russian history which is conventionally indicated as the “period of the tsarist autocracy,” “tzarism.” 2. The second version was published as a single brochure in the summer of 1917 in the series “Pedagogicheskaja biblioteka dlja dejatelej po narodnomu obrazovaniju” (“Pedagogical Library for Working in National Education”) (Blonsky, 1979). This variant appeared in the Soviet mass edition entitled “P. P. Blonskij. Izbrannye pedagogicheskie sochinenija v dvuh tomah” (“P. P Blonsky. Selected Pedagogical Works in Two Volumes”) in 1979.

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Instruments, Procedure, and Data Analysis 1. Text fragments being substantially changed and cut in the 1916 1917 editions or included into subsequent editions by P. P. Blonsky were found after line by line comparison of the two text editions. 2. Quantitative content analysis research was used for the evaluation of these fragments’ size. The notion of “author’s position change” was chosen as a semantic category of research and the word as its account unit. Here were counted not only the words contained in the main text but also those represented in the footnotes to the changed, cut, or added text fragments. 3. Graphic italicized text highlighting is used for the purpose of marking new semantic text fragments when comparing within the table. 4. Data obtained in the course of research were used for further interpretation. 5. Received data were tabulated into Excel for the construction of bar charts and further substantial processing of the results.

Results and Discussion The First Series The work by P. P. Blonsky “Zadachi i metody narodnoj shkoly” (“Objectives and Methods of National School”) is a bright and typical product of the teacher’s creative period that is associated with the years of “pedagogical enlightenment” by many researchers of his creative life (Nikol’skaja, 1979). This period of life is characterized by significant changes in his professional self-determination and assessment of the state’s political life realia. This work was preceded by P. P. Blonsky’s practical experience as a lecturer in psychology and pedagogy at Moscow University and in women’s gymnasiums in Moscow. According to the researchers of P. P. Blonsky creative heritage the paper “Zadachi i metody narodnoj shkoly” (“Objectives and Methods of National School”) is not characterized as educational or original but strikingly reflecting his views of the time (Nikol’skaja, 1979, S. 282). It seems reasonable to examine the reflection dynamics of his views on vocational, pedagogical, social, and political foundations of the Russian life. The content analysis research is aimed at those of the author’s changes that were included by P. P. Blonsky into his work “Zadachi i metody

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Y1917 1500

1398

1000 467 500 75 0 cut text fragments

Fig. 4.

new text fragments

changed text passages

Distribution Range of Changed, Added, and Cut Text Fragments.

narodnoj shkoly” (“Objectives and Methods of National School”) in 1917. The outcomes are represented in Fig. 4. Identification of fragments exposed to the author’s revision allowed to classify them into three groups by the criteria “character of change.” As the calculation showed the position “cut text fragments” has undergone the greatest changes. New text fragments constituting about a third of the reductions made by the author were included into the 1917 issue. The peculiarity of the author’s text revision is seen in the absence of the paragraphs’ size modification of the 1916 edition. P. P. Blonsky slightly amended these paragraphs and this will be further discussed in detail. The paper by P. P. Blonsky is of programmatic nature and reflects his perception of the future Russian school. The publication has a specific structure. It consists of the conceptual part clarifying the author’s views and extensive materials revealing with a various degree of minuteness and thoroughness the author’s vision of the discussed issues. It is necessary to carry out the comparison on the basic position, that is, the concept of “new school.” This position was systematized by P. P. Blonsky and embodied in 12 points. The modified statements are represented in Table 1. A comparison shows that the changes made by the author are quite sparse and represented only in three points. However they attest to a certain though not radical emphasis shift in his theoretical position. Judging by the table data the changes made by P. P. Blonsky do not contain fundamental reconsideration of his views on the project of future school. In the first position the change is characterized by the transition from the recognition of the influence of not entirely clear “will of the machine” to the recognition of the will and the human impact on the emerging identity of the schoolchild. Connotation of “passive” is added in the third position and it negatively defines contemplative book learning in prerevolutionary school. In the sixth position the allocation of mathematics’ language being an

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Table 1.

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Evolution of P. P. Blonsky’s Views on the Position of “New School.”2

“Zadachi i metody narodnoj shkoly” (“Objectives and Methods of National School”) (1916) 1. Modern school strives to instill in the students certain dogmatic truths but education through infusion even in the best case creates a recurring alien will of the machine. 2. Modern school is based on the book and child’s memory, its dreams do not go beyond visualization of child’s perceptions. 3. In the new school mathematics is a method and language.

“Zadachi i metody novoj narodnoj shkoly” (“Objectives and Methods of New National School”) (1917) Modern school strives to instill in the students certain dogmatic truths but education through infusion even in the best case creates a recurring alien will and alien thought. Modern school is based on the book and child’s memory, its dreams do not go beyond visualization of passive child’s perceptions. In the new school mathematics is a method and language of precise reality perception.

important tool of the world cognition is specified. In general all small sized changes are connected with the clarification of P. P. Blonsky’s epistemological position. The Second Series (a) Let’s refer to the analysis of the text fragments extracted from the article publication in 1917 as it was stated within comparative research. A significant and large text fragment consisting of 89 words and describing the atrophy of social conscience among the intelligentsia in prerevolutionary Russia was not included into the second issue of the paper. Considering his contemporaries as the witnesses of terrible human suffering P. P. Blonsky indignantly notes that Russian educated people feel no personal responsibility and guilt for it. “We are sophisticated in putting the sins on someone else’s shoulders and fully lull our conscience with other people accusations and political gossip and most pitiful politicking has once eclipsed empathetic social conscience of the intellectual” (Blonsky, 1916, S. 29). The cut text fragment contains unambiguously negative assessment of the human formed under the influence of public relations in the imperial times “Modern man is a child of decadence and social reaction: the best of us are bad already because they were born by such a nasty time; all of our attitudes and habits are permeated by the poison of the era” (Blonsky, 1916, S. 29). The

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extraction of this abstract is apparently associated with the hope of P. P. Blonsky for the change of the state structure and creation of better living conditions for people after the triumph of the bourgeois-democratic revolution in February of 1917. Pedagogical position of P. P. Blonsky is reflected in 1916 publication and contains a positive attitude toward religious dimension of human life. The teacher turns to this question several times in different contexts, first assessing Christianity as a doctrine of morality then considering its impact on the formation of the child in the process of school and family education and upbringing and eventually when discussing the inclusion of the foundations of the Christian faith into the school curriculum. The comparison of the texts edited in 1916 and 1917 showed that all text fragments having relation to this theme were excluded from the paper published in 1917. A considerable text fragment (150 words) is devoted to the issue connected with the possibility of reaching the moral ideal by the student and its implementation in his/her daily life. P. P. Blonsky unambiguously asserts that “moral height of holiness is obvious and the ideal of Christianity is the most exalted” (Blonsky, 1916, S. 8). The teacher sharply criticizes the system of education based on the concept of “natural education.” Without mentioning the name of Jean-Jacques Rousseau he asks the rhetorical question: “What will the child be after upbringing with the method of the natural consequences but the adept living according to the commandment ‘do everything that you do not expect troublesome retribution’?” (Blonsky, 1916, S. 8). P. P. Blonsky also rejected the ideals of public and civic education grounded by G. Kerschensteiner and the “spirit of ‘Americanism’ penetrated into the domestic pedagogy. P. P. Blonsky believed that Russian reality had formed a ‘selfless desire of child to imitate the Christ and approximate the holy life’” (Blonsky, 1916, 2, S. 8). In this regard the teacher points at the need to ban the child reading “demonological” Gogol’s tales and fairy tales by L. N. Tolstoy who was the bearer of unconventional version of orthodoxy. Previously offered block of subjects related to the creed, that is, “Life of Christ,” “Lives of the Saints” (Blonsky, 1916, 2, S. 8) was excluded from the nomenclature of school subjects contained in the draft of the new school project in the 1917 publication. Text fragments that characterize the conceptual model of the future school and concretize the embodiment of this model at the level of its stepped structure and substantive content of individual disciplines are also removed in the 1917 paper edition. The author purged the text fragment

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where he justifies his vision of certain subjects in the manner of the ancient tradition. In particular P. P. Blonsky contends that “the school must return to the old Platonic definition of arithmetic as a science of relations” (Blonsky, 1916, 1, S. 26). This approach resulted in the proposed by P. P. Blonsky methodology of teaching mathematics as a solution of the objective containing the establishment of certain relations between the numbers and teaching the doctrine of making the numerical formulation of these relations. P. P. Blonsky worked out the organization concept of the Russian national school different from the one that existed in the prerevolutionary Russia. It also didn’t appear in the 1917 edition. New school organization is expressed by P. P. Blonsky in the idea of “the up and down year extension, that is instead of four-year study for the ages 8 12, there will be six years (7 13); the child is too young for school at 6 and after 13 is the awkward age so it is impossible to transfer the final exam for this time” (Blonsky, 1916, 2, S. 19). According to the concept of P. P. Blonsky a six-year school is followed by the four-year secondary school having an additional class for those not planning to enter higher education. This additional class was an instrument of solving a socially important task of opening access to the heights of science and culture for the children who would receive a profession while working (within the system of tutorship) or in special educational institutions of secondary vocational education. When developing the model of the higher education system P. P. Blonsky considered the fact that many college and university students have expressed a desire to extend the study period for the better mastery of their future profession. That’s why P. P. Blonsky writes “I would imagine five-year higher education” (Blonsky, 1916, 2, S. 29). The parts characterizing the subject content of school education on the basis of the new for the Russian pedagogy principle of students’ distribution for the training program were cut from the section “Program Concretization.” P. P. Blonsky strongly believed that when deciding on the appointment of the child to some class the teachers should be guided not by the age, but by the student’s level of development. The unity and theoretical novelty of P. P. Blonsky’s approach to the formation of teaching content is worth attention: grades 1 3 teaching is based on the idea of student’s familiarization with the “nomenclature and classification” signs of animated and inanimate objects, spatial and temporal relations. The fourth grade student must learn about the world through observation. In grades 5 6 the basis of learning is made up of the teacher’s help to the student in finding causative relations and deducing the consequences

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about the phenomena and processes of both physical and social world. It should be noted that cutting of text fragments affected only the abovelisted aspects reflecting the conceptual basis of the educational process organization in the new six-year school. The illustrations in the form of trial lessons’ schemes for students in grades 1 6 were retained by the author in the 1917 publication. In the history of Russian pedagogy it is noted that the system of P. P. Blonsky’s views relevant to this period was highly controversial and full of aspects difficult to accept. They include the call for return to the ancient understanding of school, renunciation of the school day and school program into separate lessons and separate subjects accordingly. (b) Additions to the text and their meaning The comparison of 1916 and 1917 text editions showed that there had been some additions made by P. P. Blonsky to the studied work. These fragments are distributed throughout the text and are small in size. Among the significant in size may be mentioned the text fragment included by P. P. Blonsky into the part of work entitled “Shkola social’nogo truda” (“School of Social Labor”). This semantic unit describes the work of the Swiss teacher E. Ertli who published an authorized translation of his book National School and the Beginning of Labor in 1914 and the position of the famous Russian scientist, geographer, and world famous anarchist P. Kropotkin. As it is the largest new fragment included by P. P. Blonsky it is natural to assume that its content is conceptually significant and reflects some new positions that the author would like to draw the attention to. It seems appropriate to carry out content analysis of this fragment including a total of 240 words. The outcomes of this research are reflected in Fig. 5. As it is clearly seen from the bar graph the most part of the new fragment is represented not by the authentic author’s text but by the statement of E. Ertli’s ideas and substantial quote from P. Kropotkin without specifying the source. P. P. Blonsky supports the system of familiarizing children with the basics of human labor. P. P. Blonsky expresses a very important thought in the form of a note to the ideas of E. Ertli connected with labor. In his opinion it cannot be a separate school subject, but should be a natural part of the child’s working life. P. Kropotkin’s quote reflects the stages of the child’s labor transitions being the basis of trade. The remaining fragments of the new text are devoted to: • the objective of the teacher to teach the child the correct use of cases in order to accurately express the thoughts;

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Own judgment Blonsky Retelling books E.Ertli Quote from P. Kropotkin 0

20

40

60

80

100 120 140

Fig. 5. Distribution Range of the Largest Fragment with New Content Included by P. P. Blonsky into 1917 Issue of the Paper. Note: Unit for the horizontal axis is words.

• the purposes of schooling consisting in the upbringing of the “true intellectual”; • the questions of impoverishment of pedagogical ideals: “Is it possible that the school ideal is upbringing of the skilled worker and ‘Bavarian citizen’? Is school only a means for the purposes of capital and burgher state? Is it really that even in school the person is not an end in itself?” (Blonsky, 1979, S. 58); • the assertion that teachers themselves do not know Russia from the point of ethnography and sociology. The analysis showed that despite the small text size the additions refer to the ideologically significant moments. Their inclusion significantly changes the direction of the author’s text. The appeal to a new set of problems reflects ideological complicity of P. P. Blonsky to the revolutionary, optimistic and at the same time constructive attitude of the population in the period between two Russian revolutions. (c) Text processing

the influence of “zeitgeist”

As it was ascertained within comparative analysis the work of P. P. Blonsky has replacements of some of concepts, words, dates which generally do not change the scope of the publication. As comparison shows time and historical realities are primarily specified in this case. Some of the changes are technical and specify the dates: the year 1916 is twice replaced by 1917. However some changes reflect the political position of P. P Blonsky. In the spirit of the political situation when determining the pedagogical position of the teacher in the phrase “The teacher is not the commander of the other children” (Blonsky, 1916, 1, S. 33) the word

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“commander” is replaced by the word “autocrat” that bears a negative connotation in the context of liberation from the tsar’s oppression after the Romanovs demise of thrown. Replacement of the word characterizes P. P. Blonsky as a man potentially hating autocracy but wisely confessing it only in case of guaranteed personal safety at this historical moment. Some changes are associated with the specification of social life realities. Thus if in 1916 publication it is recommended during the walks with children in Kiev and inspecting the house of the governor-general to disclose his role in the management and compare this control system with Zemstvo, then in the later edition it is offered to consider the issues of trade in the south-western region instead.

Summary of Research Case 2 As the study shows a full understanding of the author’s ideas and beliefs is not guaranteed only by careful reading and subsequent interpretation of one of the available publication versions. The views of P. P. Blonsky who is rightly perceived as a scientist having passed a long way of professional evolution cannot be understood without determining the general and the particular in his outlook system. Text comparison conducted in the logic of the vertical comparison algorithm “‘a model a prototype” allows to reveal conceptually important moments that preserve the stability of his views. This is primarily the commitment to the genetic method retaining throughout his life that was based on the belief that the child is not a “little adult but a peculiar creature striving to become an adult.” On this basis according to P. P. Blonsky the tutor should gradually lead a child to the “adult” truths. The process of education should be a process of independent “discoveries” of the child who independently learns the origin of the rules, laws, and principles. The second position that defined the pedagogical concept was that social work should be practiced instead of manual child’s labor (“manualizm”) and the concept of polytechnic education had to be developed. Differences that allowed to reveal the method of vertical comparative analysis lie in the details relevant to the understanding of his creative work evolution in the context of the emergence of new ideological orientations and his personality on the whole. Comparative analysis showed that P. P. Blonsky being a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party was not at all

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a consistent supporter of the communist idea at the dawn of his scientific creativity. He admitted that his ideology “suffered inconsistency.” However long before the 1918 educational reform initiated by the Bolsheviks after coming to power, he refused of the positions forming the basis of the Russian mentality. At the first opportunity P. P. Blonsky easily rejected two out of three components of the famous Count Uvarov’s triad “Orthodoxy Autocracy Nationalism” which defined the ideological foundations of the educational system in prerevolutionary Russia. As the history has shown it was not the last refusal of own theoretical position.

CONCLUSION Reflecting on the role of comparative method in scientific cognition it is necessary to stress once again that the comparison is a multidimensional process implemented by researchers in several coordinate systems. Each of them is able to detect a specific group of its properties and use this cognitive tool for different purposes. Comparison as a cognitive operation underlying judgments about the similarities and differences allows metrically and reliably identify and organize the content of being and knowledge, reveal their possible correlations, discover new relationships and interdependences, increments and new formations as well as distinguish typological and qualitatively unique, general, and special, argumentatively characterize the occurred changes. Contemporary Russian pedagogical comparative science does not fully use the potential of the comparative method which is not only underdeveloped in theory but also is not maintained as a methodological frame implying strict operational steps of the method. However the use of comparative method has a considerable potential permitting to make judgments not only about the systems and educational structures but also to uncover ideological drivers that triggered the development of certain mental processes. In our opinion the context is a particular determinant allowing to achieve efficient characteristics of the comparison. In comparative pedagogical research the focus of researcher’s theoretical understanding is formed not only by the texts with easily comparable contents using a certain criteria and with a predetermined objective. For the researcher it is important to understand the micro and macro contexts

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of origination and functioning of the processes and phenomena. The circumstances of the author’s life and the specificity of the historical environment in which the text(s) was (were) created are particularly important. As practice shows the concept of comparative pedagogical research and its algorithm should include the procedures providing the opportunity not to be guided by the earlier developed scheme and comparative criteria but to produce these criteria within the context clarification. It seems to us that for this purpose comparative study should go beyond the operational component of the modern comparative method. It may be supplemented by the historical and genetic comparison that allows to explain the similarity of the phenomena unrelated by origin and their characteristics due to the similar or identical conditions of their genesis and development. Finding textual similarities and differences with the help of comparative method could become the starting point allowing to apply different kinds of contextualization to the data fragments to determine their context semantic potential. Thus comparative approach focusing at the study of historical and subjectively meaningful author’s contexts will expand its boundaries and result in not much systematized descriptions of the foreign educational issues made in the analytic and synthetic key.

NOTES 1. Here and further translation is done by the authors using the Russian source by B. L. Vul’fson. 2. Here and further translation is done by the authors using the Russian source by P. P. Blonsky.

REFERENCES Blonsky, P. P. (1916). Zadachi i metody novoj narodnoj shkoly. Vestnik vospitanija, 1, 1 36; 2, 1 35. Blonsky, P. P. (1979). Zadachi i metody novoj narodnoj shkoly (1917). V: P. P. Blonsky. Izbrannye pedagogicheskie i psihologicheskie sochinenija (S. 39 85). Moskva: Pedagogika, Tom 1. Borevskaja, N. E., Borisenkov V. P., & Chzhu Sjaoman’ (2007). Rossija Kitaj: Obrazovatel’nye reformy na rubezhe XX XXI vv. Sravnitel’nyj analiz. Moskva: Nauka. Dzhurinskij, A. N. (2013). Sravnitel’naja pedagogika. Moskva: Izdatel`stvo Jurajt.

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Fedotova, O. (2013). A paradigm ‘shift’ in modern applied philosophy and psychology. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 92, 328 333. Retrieved from http://www. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042813028115 Fedotova, O. D., & Chigisheva, O. P. (2008). Teoretiko-metodologicheskie osnovy sravnitel’noj pedagogiki FRG. Monografija. Moskva: APKiPRO. Gmurman, V. E., & Sundukov, N. A. (1983 1986). Beseda s rabochim aktivom na zavode ‘Sharikopodshipnik’. V: Makarenko, A. S. Sobranie sochinenij v 8 t. Tom 7. (S. 533). Moskva: Pedagogika. Klemm, U. Wir sind eben nicht immer so grossartige Ko¨nner!’ Makarenkos Ausfu¨hrungen vor Lesern des Pa¨dagogischen Poems in den Moskauer Kugellschlagwerken (October 25, 1936). (1987) Pa¨dagogik und Schule in Ost und West, 3, 88 102. Kumarin, V. V. (1991). Kto kogo obokral? Pedagogicheskij vestnik, 27(45), 2. Makarenko, A. S. (1936, October 24). Vystuplenie na zavode ‘Sharikopodshipnik’. V: Central’nyj gosudarstvennyj arhiv literatury i iskusstva (CGALI). Anton Semenovich Makarenko. Fond 613, opis’ 1, edinica hranenija 871. Makarenko, A. S. (1983 1986a). Beseda s rabochim aktivom na zavode ‘Sharikopodshipnik’. V: Makarenko, A. S. Sobranie sochinenij v 8 t. Tom 7. (S. 486 488). Moskva: Pedagogika. Makarenko, A. S. (1983 1986b). Vystuplenie na zavode ‘Sharikopodshipnik’. V: Makarenko, A. S. Sobranie sochinenij v 8 t Tom 7. S. 27 34. Moskva: Pedagogika. Nikol’skaja, A. A. (1979). Kommentarii. V: P. P. Blonsky, Izbrannye pedagogicheskie i psihologicheskie sochinenija. (S. 281 286). Tom 1. Moskva: Pedagogika. Petrovskij, A. V., & Danil’chenko, M. G. (1979). P. P. Blonskij kak pedagog i psiholog. V: P. P. Blonsky, Izbrannye pedagogicheskie i psihologicheskie sochinenija. (S. 8 29). Tom 1. Moskva: Pedagogika. Platon & Parmenid. (1999). V: Platon. Parmenid. Poln sobr. soch. v 4-h t. T. 2. S. 437. Moskva: Mysl’. Vul’fson, B. L. (2003). Sravnitel’naja pedagogika. Moskva: Izdatel’stvo Universiteta Rossijskoj akademii obrazovanija.

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APPENDIX Klemm, U. Wir sind eben nicht immer so grossartige Ko¨nner!’ Makarenkos Ausfu¨hrungen vor Lesern des Pa¨dagogischen Poems in den Moskauer Kugellschlagwerken (October 25, 1936). (1987). Pa¨dagogik und Schule in Ost und West, 3, 88 102.

Introduction

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EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER EDUCATION IN NAMIBIA AND CANADA Larry Prochner, Ailie Cleghorn, Anna Kirova and Christine Massing ABSTRACT This comparative and qualitative study-in-progress focuses on two early childhood teacher education (ECTE) programs in contexts where the participants are undergoing rapid social and personal change: a program in Namibia and a training program for immigrant childcare educators in Canada. The objective is to provide in-depth understanding of the ways in which differing ideas about ECTE are reflected in practice. It is important to ensure that ECTE programs prepare teachers to dovetail children’s preparation for school with meaningful connections to the culture and language of the home community, since more and more children spend their preschool years in early childhood (EC) centers that are becoming increasingly westernized in character. Without such connections, children in settings undergoing rapid change will continue to drop out of school before literacy and other skills are firmly established. The data will stem from analysis of early childhood care and education and ECTE curricula; policy and other documents; focused observations in

Comparative Sciences: Interdisciplinary Approaches International Perspectives on Education and Society, Volume 26, 83 94 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3679/doi:10.1108/S1479-367920140000026004

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ECTE classrooms and teaching practica; and interviews with teacher educators, education officers, teachers, parents, and community leaders. The results are expected to illuminate issues and strategies which are most likely to be effective for ECTE programs, with implications for teacher education in a range of settings in both the majority and minority worlds. Keywords: Early childhood education; comparative; international; teacher education; culture

OBJECTIVE AND CONTEXT OF THE PROBLEM This comparative and qualitative study-in-progress is carried out in early childhood teacher education (ECTE) programs in Namibia and in a worksite-embedded training program for immigrant childcare educators in Canada.1 For the purposes of this chapter, we will focus on outlining the conceptual framework of this study and its methodological approach, and on providing short descriptions of the research sites. The primary objective of the study is to provide in-depth understanding of the ways in which differing conceptions of what children need in the preschool years are played out in teacher training programs in social contexts where the participants are experiencing rapid social and personal change: In Canada, the 2006 census indicates that one in five people are foreign born; in Namibia, 35% of the population live on less than $1 a day and about 57,000 children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. The selection of two African sites will allow insights into historical, linguistic, and cultural differences that too often are ignored in loose generalizations about Africa. Previous studies suggest that, in such settings, Western and local cultural norms relating to the preschool years may conflict in ways that compromise the oft-stated aim of preparing children for school, thus putting children at increased risk for later school failure and dropout. It is of note that academic discourse confirms the need for the kind of up-to-date research on ECTE that we propose (Ball & Pence, 1999; Hatch et al., 2002; LeVine, 2003; Pence & Nsamenang, 2008). Trends in ECTE and in early childhood care and education (ECCE) seem to be moving in two directions at once. In an apparent move away from psychological theoretical assumptions about the universality of child

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development, there is increasing recognition of the validity of local ways of knowing and a greater value placed on linguistic and cultural diversity (Cannella, 1997; Dahlberg, Moss, & Pence, 2007; Vandenbroeck, 2004). At the same time, the legacy of colonialism in countries such as Namibia continues to discourage the inclusion of indigenous knowledge and activities in ECTE programs (Abdi & Cleghorn, 2005; Evans & Cleghorn, 2012; Goduka, 1997; Gonzales, 1999; Serpell, 1993; Shizha, 2006; Swadener, Kabiru, & Njenga, 1997). A comparable situation is found in Canada, where language barriers and a lack of recognition for foreign experience and qualifications (Statistics Canada, 2006) channel many newcomers into work with children which are not seen as professional. The percentage of immigrants (15%) employed as EC educators in Canada is higher than for any other occupation sector (Service Canada, 2012). In order for immigrant EC educators to be construed as professionals, they must detach themselves from their experiential, tacit, and intuitive ways of knowing (Jipson, 1991). Thus the privileged position of Western child development knowledge leaves no space for teachers to bring in their own understandings of the sociocultural contexts in which they, and the children with whom they work, live (Silin, 1995; Stott & Bowman, 1996). These apparently opposing patterns are thought to impede the establishment of ECTE programs that are broadly effective and locally adapted. In fact, it seems that, despite efforts to recognize local cultures as valuable resources for planning appropriate education programs, it is still the case that ECTE planners “are taking their cues from imported models that reinforce value shifts towards the individualistic, production oriented cultures of the west” (Myers, 1992, p. 29).2 We ask whether this is the most desirable direction for all.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK This research builds on preliminary studies in Zimbabwe, India, South Africa, and Canada, where a range of interpretations was observed among EC teachers and teacher educators about the meaning and application of key concepts such as best practice, child-centered approach, developmentally appropriate practice, and play-based curriculum (Cleghorn & Prochner, 1997, 2003, 2010; Dachyshyn, 2008; Kirova, 2010; Prochner, 2002). Cleghorn and Prochner (2003) used a conceptual framework drawn from LeVine et al. (1994) to provide insight into Western and non-Western

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visions of childhood via two distinct models of childcare, the pediatric and the pedagogical.3 Although the LeVine et al. models refer to the features of infant childcare in only two contexts one African and one middle-class North American they point to very different conceptualizations of early socialization that tend to persist into later teaching learning situations, whether formalized or not. We have found their respective features to be manifested in various ways in teachers’ attitudes and approaches in EC programs in India and in eastern and southern Africa; they also bring attention to shifts in practice that coincide with rural-to-urban migration, decrease in child mortality, increase in access to preschool and regular schooling, and increase in the formal training of EC teachers (LeVine, 2003). To elaborate, the foregoing can also be considered with regard to social change and development (Hsueh & Tobin, 2003). On the one hand, ECTE program planners may equate beliefs about universality in child development with trends in global development (Ball & Pence, 2001; Bekman, 1998; Dahlberg et al., 2007; Kaˆgitc¸ibasi, Sunar, & Bekman, 2001). On the other hand, ECTE and EC programs may be expected to reflect local community values and approved behaviors while responding to social change by, for example, educating teachers in the still dominant theories of child development, “best practice,” and the like (Lubek, 1996). However, while social, economic, and technological change can be rapid, culture tends to change slowly. It is in this regard that the pediatric pedagogical models may also be discussed in terms of the cultural values that tend to change over time; for example, interpersonal relatedness to independence, emotional interdependence to autonomy, material interdependence to material emancipation, and collective to individualistic identity (Kaˆgitc¸ibasi, 2007). Keeping in mind the seemingly dichotomized nature of the concepts under consideration, it is important for EC teacher educators to understand how each model may relate differently to a group’s needs for economic survival,4 the pediatric model to a rural, subsistence economy and the pedagogical model to the highly differentiated economy of urban North America, for example. That is, when the home environment is relatively impoverished, nonliterate, and non-Western, as in rural and semi-rural Namibia, the prevailing pediatric model of childcare will likely emphasize health and physical survival; the teaching of moral and other values may occur through oral storytelling, with little use of language between adults and children for encouraging or answering questions, reading stories, or vocabulary building the kinds of discourse patterns found in schools. Beyond infancy, one may observe a shift in focus to children’s mastery of specific skills through observation and imitation, via the respect-obedience

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model (LeVine et al., 1994), a model that suggests a culturally shared vision of the adult-to-be as one who can function within a hierarchical society where the authority of a parent or other adult (such as a teacher) is not to be questioned (Shumba, 1999). In contrast, the pedagogical model of early socialization is adapted to the social and economic structure of societies such as Canada, where the dominant group’s vision of the adult-to-be is of a person who values individual competition and achievement and is ideologically oriented toward democratic ways of doing things within families as well as in school and society at large. Typically, the child-rearing methods of middle-class educated parents dovetail with the kinds of interaction patterns that the child will encounter in school (LeVine, 2003), for example, extensive listening, speaking, reasoning, explaining, asking, answering, comparing, labeling, and counting. We ask to what extent this model fits with the experience of immigrant families and immigrant childcare educators. Does the immigrant child find school a familiar place, as would a middle-class Western child? What do EC teacher educators need to know about the borders such children cross between home and school? The researchers’ earlier studies thus suggest that, especially in social contexts undergoing rapid social change, an ECTE program may reflect a number of transitions and possible discontinuities: societal change in terms of economic and other aspects of development; conceptual change among ECTE students in terms of shifts in thought toward more Western or globalized notions of how children are to be socialized in the preschool years; home/school language and cultural differences, and so on. Similar transitions and discontinuities are also reflected in the history of immigrants’ experiences in Canada where accounts describe the effects of a sharp discontinuity between early socialization in the home community and the culture that is encountered at school (Kirk, 2004; Simpson, 2000). Thus, if it is the case that one of the main functions of preschools is to prepare children for formal schooling, then EC teacher educators may need explicit knowledge about the kinds of boundaries that they and young learners are expected to cross (Giroux, 1992). If some EC educators wonder about the meaning and application of such Western-generated concepts as childcentered approaches, developmentally appropriate practices, and playbased curriculum, it is not surprising then if the early school experience is also unfamiliar and seemingly irrelevant for the young children in their charge (Breton-Carbonneau, Cleghorn, Evans, & Pesco, 2012; Cleghorn & Prochner, 2010; Evans & Cleghorn, 2012; Jegede & Aikenhead, 1999; Morris, McLeod, & Danesi, 1993).

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METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH Research Questions Although Namibia and Canada share connections through their colonial histories, they differ in significant ways, not the least of which is Canada’s place as a “developed” (minority world) nation. Thus the central question of this research asks the extent to which, and in what ways, the abovedescribed dimensions and varied conceptions of young children’s preschool needs are played out in each ECTE setting in light of the economic, political, social, cultural, and linguistic differences between them. In this we also ask if the increasing globalization of thought in the field of early childhood education may be found to undermine sound, locally appropriate ECTE practice. To explore this multifaceted matter, the following sub-questions provide initial direction with emergent findings and tentative explanations providing more precise foci5: 1. What do policy documents and curriculum guides say about ECTE practice in each setting? What is the possible intersection/influence of both the pediatric and pedagogical models depending on the context and what is occurring at that particular time? 2. How is the stated philosophy reflected in the curricula, course lectures, assignments, assessment, etc.? 3. How are local ways of doing reflected in recommendations for the organization of space, the use of materials, and the scheduling of activities? 4. What theories of childcare and child development are EC student teachers exposed to? 5. What are student teachers’/teacher educators’ views about “best practice” in ECE, the use of a child-centered approach, developmentally appropriate practice, and the role of play in learning? 6. How does the ECTE program’s orientation to child learning dovetail with the experience to be encountered in primary school, as described in policy documents and by local teacher educators?

Brief Description of the Research Settings Namibia The first African site is the University of Namibia (UNAM), which offers a Bachelor of Education in Early Childhood Development and a Master of

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Education in Early Childhood Development (ECD). The four-year undergraduate program prepares teachers for preprimary and grades 1 4 (University of Namibia, 2012). This is a professional degree designed to meet the learners’ needs, potential, and abilities. Graduates will be able to teach in one Namibian language as well as in English, learning also how to ease the transition from an indigenous language to learning via English, the official language. A learner-centered approach is to be used which presupposes that teachers have a holistic view of learning, valuing the learner’s life experiences as a starting point for their studies (Sibuku, 1997). Canada The Canadian ECTE site is a worksite-embedded training program for immigrant childcare educators in a large city in western Canada. All 22 students in the program are currently working in childcare centers or familybased care and originate from Africa, Latin America, or Asia. They attend class for three hours a week during their regular workday. In contrast to conventional ECTE programs, which compartmentalize learning into discrete subjects and courses, this program has an emergent, integrated curriculum whereby discussions during one class determine the content for the next. Students are encouraged to incorporate their cultural practices, beliefs, and expectations into their weekly assignments. It is through these assignments and the discussions held in class that differences are identified along with some possible tensions between cultural beliefs and practices and the Western conceptualization of appropriate ECE practice.

Data Collection Methods Qualitative methods represent a growing trend in early childhood research (Hatch, 2007) due to the need for “more ethnographic research which can paint in the fine-grained reality of educational processes within early childhood settings” (Siraj-Blatchford & Siraj-Blatchford, 2001, p. 194; also see Cleghorn & Prochner, 2012). Qualitative methods permit in-depth understanding of already-identified broad issues and require a sustained time on site to bring the importance of culturally linked patterns of thought and practice into focus (Aubrey, David, Godfrey, & Thompson, 2000; LeCompte & Schensul, 1999; Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2001; O’Connor & Gibson, 2003; Pellegrini, 1998). Fieldwork in the two sites will take place over two years, following student teachers from the first day in their program. As in all ethnographic

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work, attention will be paid to repeated, regular events as well as to exceptional episodes, since these can bring to light matters that are out of the participants’ “line of vision” (Carrasco, 1981; Carspecken & Wolford, 2001). Data-gathering strategies include the following: • Analysis of documents pertaining to ECTE philosophy, curriculum, and policy. • Reconstruction of the cultural meaning of educational processes and related events via the perspectives of the study’s participants, gathered mainly through: • repeated observations6 along with selected video and audio recordings of practice in and out of teacher education classrooms in the light of data obtained through document analysis and formal and informal interviews with teacher educators and student teachers; • repeated formal and informal interviews linked to the analysis of documents and observations and conducted by research assistants fluent in the local language.

Organization of the Data and Data Analysis When working in geographically separated regions, it is critical to have a collaboration plan for training research assistants, coordinating with local EC teacher educators and experts, and monitoring the study particulars. Organization and analysis of qualitative data take place in overlapping steps that include: • setting up a web-based drop box for access to field notes and data by the research team; • identifying overarching themes and ideas in (a) documents, (b) the observational data, and (c) the interview data, then categorizing and coding; • raising tentative questions and comments and noting unexpected events; • using triangulation through ongoing regular discussions between team members and research assistants as well as through feedback from the study participants; • obtaining insider and outsider perspectives on the data, particularly through the collective study of video and audio recordings in each setting; • building in (a) validity (ensuring that the data accurately represent reality or realities) and (b) reliability (being consistent and systematic, checking for researcher effects);

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• summarizing and interpreting findings and arriving at tentative explanations; • building theoretical insights connected to the literature and theory that generated the study.

IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY It is increasingly important to ensure that ECTE programs prepare teachers to dovetail children’s preparation for school with meaningful connections to the culture and language of the home community, especially since more and more children spend their preschool years in EC centers that are becoming increasingly westernized in character. Without such connections, children who experience rapid social and personal change will continue to drop out of school. Current academic discourse points to the need for more qualitative/ethnographic research which describe the specifics of educational processes that foster learners’ engagement with schooling. Such in-depth knowledge can be incorporated into ECTE programs so that identifiable problems in the early years are less amenable to cultural bias and superficial remedial responses. The study will provide fieldwork experience and other training of research assistants. That is, the project will facilitate capacity building in research methodology and in awareness of relevant and appropriate ECTE approaches within diverse contexts. The academic community will benefit from published findings in national and international journals and in a book for which planning has already begun. The knowledge produced from this research stands to (a) increase understanding of how change in ECTE thought affects practice and how practice affects school readiness, variously defined as that may be; (b) inform teacher education policy; and (c) contribute to revisions that will enhance ECTE programs. The results will illuminate issues and strategies that are most likely to be effective for ECTE programs, with implications for the policy and practice of teacher education in a wide range of settings in both the majority and minority worlds.

NOTES 1. The programs have an integrated approach to childcare, development, and education led by adults who are variously called educators or teachers.

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2. Culture is here defined as the ways of thinking, speaking, seeing, believing, and behaving that characterize the members of a social group (Geertz, 1975). 3. These models are ideal types in the sociological sense, that is, seemingly dichotomized concepts made up of essential characteristics that are used in the social sciences for the purposes of analyzing and understanding social phenomena (Max Weber, 1946, cited by Babbie, 2002). 4. Social and economic change can bring a loss in cultural values along with a need for cultural survival or revival. 5. As the study progresses, local advisory committees will have an opportunity to suggest other or alternative questions. 6. Observations will be carried out by two research assistants or one assistant and one researcher in order to reduce bias and to increase the richness and reliability of the data.

REFERENCES Abdi, A., & Cleghorn, A. (Eds.). (2005). Issues in African education: Sociological perspectives. New York, NY: Palgrave-Macmillan. Aubrey, A., David, T., Godfrey, R., & Thompson, L. (2000). Early childhood educational research: Issues in methodology and ethics. New York, NY: Routledge Falmer. Babbie, E. (2002). The basics of social research. Toronto, ON: NelsonThomson. Ball, J., & Pence, A. (2001). A ‘generative curriculum model’ for supporting child care and development programs in first nations communities. Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, 25(2), 114 124. Ball, J., & Pence, A. R. (1999). Beyond developmentally appropriate practice: Developing community and culturally appropriate practice. Young Children, 54(2), 46 50. Bekman, S. (1998). A fair chance: An evaluation of the mother-child education program. Istanbul, Turkey: Mother-Child Education Foundation (MOCEF). Breton-Carbonneau, G., Cleghorn, A., Evans, R., & Pesco, D. (2012). Pedagogical and political encounters in linguistically and culturally diverse primary classrooms: Examples from Quebec, Canada and Gauteng, South Africa. Compare, 4(1), 1 19. Cannella, G. (1997). Deconstructing early childhood education: Social justice and revolution. New York, NY: Peter Lang. Carrasco, R. (1981). Expanded awareness of student performance: A case study in applied ethnographic monitoring in a bilingual classroom. In H. T. Trueba, G. P. Guthrie, & K. H-P. Au (Eds.), Culture and the bilingual classroom (pp. 153 177). Rowley, MA: Newbury House. Carspecken, P. F., & Wolford, G. (Eds.). (2001). Critical ethnography and education. Oxford, UK: Elsevier Science. Cleghorn, A., & Prochner, L. (1997). Early childhood education in Zimbabwe: Recent trends and prospects. Early Education and Development, 8(3), 337 350. Cleghorn, A., & Prochner, L. (2003). Contrasting visions of early childhood education: Examples from rural and urban settings in Zimbabwe and India. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 1(2), 131 153. Cleghorn, A., & Prochner, L. (2010). Shades of globalization in three early childhood settings: Views from India, South Africa and Canada. Rotterdam, NL: Sense.

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Cleghorn, A., & Prochner, L. (2012). Looking into ECE/D spaces: Visual ethnography’s contribution to thinking about quality. Global Studies in Childhood, 2(4), 277 286. Dachyshyn, D. M. (2008). Refugee families with preschool children: Transition to life in Canada. Saarbrucken, DE: VDM Verlag Dr. Muller. Dahlberg, G., Moss, P., & Pence, A. (2007). Beyond quality in early childhood education and care: Languages of evaluation (2nd ed.). London: Falmer. Evans, R., & Cleghorn, A. (2012). Complex classroom encounters: A South African perspective. Rotterdam, NL: Sense. Geertz, C. (1975). The interpretation of cultures. London: Hutchinson. Giroux, H. (1992). Border crossings: Cultural workers and the politics of education. New York, NY: Routledge. Goduka, I. (1997). Rethinking the status of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in rural and urban areas of South Africa. Early Education and Development, 8(3), 307 321. Gonzales, M. C. (1999). The World Bank and African primary education: Policies, practices and recommendations. Africa Today, 46(1), 119 134. Hatch, A., Bowman, B., Jor’dan, J., Morgan, C., Hart, C., Diaz Soto, L., … Hyson, M. (2002). Developmentally appropriate practice: Continuing the dialogue. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 3(3), 439 452. Hatch, J. A. (Ed.). (2007). Early childhood qualitative research. New York, NY: Routledge. Hsueh, Y., & Tobin, J. (2003). Chinese early childhood educators’ perspectives on dealing with a crying child. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 1(1), 73 94. Jegede, O. J., & Aikenhead, G. S. (1999). Transcending cultural borders: Implications for science teaching. Journal for Science and Technology Education, 17, 45 66. Jipson, J. (1991). Developmentally appropriate practice: Culture, curriculum, connections. Early Education and Development, 2(2), 120 136. Kaˆgitc¸ibasi, C¸. (2007). Family, self, and human development across cultures: Theory and applications (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Kaˆgitc¸ibasi, C¸., Sunar, D., & Bekman, S. (2001). Long-term effects of early intervention: Turkish low-income mothers and children. Applied Developmental Psychology, 22, 333 361. Kirk, D. (2004). Beyond the “academic” curriculum: The production and operation of biopower in the less-studied sites of schooling. In B. M. Baker & K. E. Heyning (Eds.), Dangerous coalitions? The uses of Foucault in the study of education (pp. 117 135). New York, NY: Peter Lang. Kirova, A. (2010). Children’s representations of cultural scripts in play: Facilitating transition from home to preschool in an intercultural early learning program for refugee children. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education: An International Journal, 4(2), 1 18. LeCompte, M. D., & Schensul, J. J. (1999). Designing and conducting ethnographic research. Thousand Oaks, CA: AltaMira. LeVine, R. A. (2003). Childhood socialization: Comparative studies of parenting, learning and educational change. Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Center, University of Hong Kong. LeVine, R. A., Dixon, S., LeVine, S., Richman, A., Leiderman, P. H., Keefer, C. H., & Brazelton, T. B. (1994). Child care and culture: Lessons from Africa. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Lubek, S. (1996). Deconstructing ‘child development knowledge’ and ‘teacher preparation’. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 11, 147 167.

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MacNaughton, G., Rolfe, S. A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (Eds.). (2001). Doing early childhood research: International perspectives on theory and practice. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. Morris, S., McLeod, K., & Danesi, M. (1993). Languages and learning: Aboriginal and heritage language education in Canada. Oakville, ON: Mosaic. Myers, R. G. (1992). The twelve who survive. New York, NY: Routledge. O’Connor, H., & Gibson, N. (2003). A step-by-step guide to qualitative data analysis. Pimatziwin, 1(1), 63 92. Pellegrini, A. D. (1998). Observational methods in early childhood educational research. In B. Spodek & O. M. Saracho (Eds.), Issues in early childhood educational research (pp. 76 92). New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Pence, A., & Nsamenang, B. (2008). A case for early childhood development in sub-Saharan Africa. Working Paper No. 51. Bernard van Leer Foundation, The Hague, Netherlands. Prochner, L. (2002). Preschool and playway in India. Childhood, 9(4), 435 453. Serpell, R. (1993). The significance of schooling: Life journeys in an African society. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Service Canada. (2012). Early childhood educators and assistants. Retrieved from http://www. servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/qc/job_futures/statistics/4214.shtml Shizha, E. (2006). Legitimizing indigenous knowledge in Zimbabwe: A theoretical analysis of postcolonial school knowledge and its colonial legacy. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education, 1(1), 20 35. Shumba, O. (1999). Critically interrogating the rationality of Western science vis-a`-vis scientific literacy in non-Western developing countries. Zambezia, 26(1), 55 75. Sibuku, C. M. (1997). Beginning teachers’ perceptions of a learner centred approach to teaching in Namibia. Unpublished master’s thesis. University of Alberta. Silin, J. G. (1995). Sex, death, and the education of children: Our passion for ignorance in the age of AIDS. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Simpson, B. (2000). Regulation and resistance: Children’s embodiment during the primarysecondary school transition. In A. Prout (Ed.), The body, childhood, and society (pp. 60 77). London: Macmillan. Siraj-Blatchford, I., & Siraj-Blatchford, J. (2001). An ethnographic approach to researching young children’s learning. In G. MacNaughton, S. A. Rolfe, & I. Siraj-Blatchford (Eds.), Doing early childhood research: International perspectives on theory and practice (pp. 193 207). Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. Statistics Canada. (2006). Immigration in Canada: A portrait of the foreign-born population. 2006 census: Immigration: Driver of population growth. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada. Retrieved from http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/as-sa/97557/p2-eng.cfm Stott, F., & Bowman, B. (1996). Child development knowledge: A slippery base for practice. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 11, 169 183. Swadener, E. B., Kabiru, M., & Njenga, A. (1997). Does the village still raise the child? A collaborative study of changing child-rearing and community mobilization in Kenya. Early Education and Development, 8(3), 285 306. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (2012). The state of the world’s children. New York, NY: UNICEF. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/sowc2012/fullreport.php Vandenbroeck, M. (2004). Reclaiming the children: Challenging early childhood’s educational constructions. In S. Dignan & S. Reijnhart (Eds.), Diversity and equity in early childhood training in Europe. Brussels, Belgium: DECET Network.

COMPARATIVE INTERPRETATION STANDARDS IN UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL LAW Maren Heidemann ABSTRACT In this chapter, the author offers a horizontal comparison of interpretation standards contained in international legal instruments of different origin. These legal instruments range from international treaties to model laws. They also originate from different law makers such as the United Nations or individual states as well as trade or academic organisations, mainly regulating civil and commercial matters. The author argues that this comparison can provide the basis for the development of a uniform standard in the application of such law, which is often referred to as uniform law because it provides a single source of law to regulate a multitude of situations spanning across national boundaries. The main point of reference is the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, also known as the VCLT. This UN treaty specifically provides a general interpretation standard. From there newer standards occurring in subsequent uniform laws can be integrated using the lex specialis doctrine.

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This, in turn, provides opportunities for comprehensive usable methods to be developed for uniform law both in a public and private law settings. These then facilitate transparency, fairness and reasonableness. The correct identification of object and purposes of any given instrument is crucial for the successful interpretation of its content. It is this point that needs further research, and this chapter offers a starting point by providing some detailed examples from a range of uniform laws of varying nature including international sales laws, arbitration laws and Double Taxation Conventions. Keywords: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties; uniform law; comparative law; interpretation; international law; UNIDROIT

INTERPRETATION STANDARDS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW One of the most important mechanisms in the successful use and application of international law are interpretation standards. These are contained partly in the individual rules themselves, partly in special international legislation on the matter and partly in the law, customs and practices of the country or institution where the uniform law is applied. So, while uniform law is specifically made by supranational legislatures or institutions to address cross-border affairs such as private and commercial contracts and their performance, its practical usefulness and success depends on the way this law is interpreted on its application. Will the interpretation give due consideration to the underlying purpose of the uniform law or will it provide an obstacle to the transaction performed under the law and its adjudication? Interpretation standards exist autonomously within many uniform instruments but they also form an important part of national legal doctrine in most domestic jurisdictions. From this simultaneous presence of potentially differing standards conflicts can arise. Such conflicts are often settled in a way indicating a weak position of the international law itself. Often, domestic legal positions are given preference over the intended solutions of the international legal instrument by way of the interpretation standard and method. In this way, the true purposes of the specialised uniform law cannot be realised and the international transaction lacks the legal protection that it was awarded by an international rule maker by way of

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the relevant international legal instrument. This chapter explains how interpretation standards have evolved in uniform law over the past decades, how they can be enforced and what a desirable continuation of this process and a desirable standard may look like.

COMPARATIVE METHOD Uniform international law poses a challenge in that a comprehensive description of available interpretation standards can only be effected by comparing the fragments contained in each instrument. By carrying out a horizontal comparison at international level in contrast to the more common comparison of laws across separate jurisdictions the fragments can be grouped both according to a timeline and according to the creator of each instrument, the respective law maker. This allows conclusions as to the intentions and the potential behind each of the different rules and a projection into the future based on these observations. A precondition for this horizontal comparison is the fact that the uniform instruments are legally separate from each other due their allocation to the supranational law making sphere. No legal link exists between them and none of them has any effect beyond its immediate scope and group of signatory states, that is materially and territorially. Therefore the fragments of interpretation standard can be looked at individually and compared due to the difference between these standards and the separateness of the legal instrument containing them. At the same time, the separateness of the instruments necessitates a comparative exercise in order to gain a comprehensive view of available forms of interpretation, application standards and methods in uniform international law allowing the development of a modern approach to the use of such tailor-made law. In this way the comparative method can be a basis for law reform and legal evolution.

UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL LAW

TERMINOLOGY

Uniform international law as the object of this chapter needs an introduction. With the European Union on the brink of enacting the first substantive law on contracts for all Member States (MS),1 a recapitulation of the

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nature of this law and the international setting into which it may be ‘born’ seems appropriate. The expression international law most commonly denotes public international law which traditionally consists of treaties between states and customary rules of law as well as case law addressed to and binding for states. The complementary expression ‘private international law’ however is traditionally domestic law directing issues arising from civil matters2 with a cross-border element within each country. Efforts to harmonise such rules among countries have led to international treaties establishing conflict rules.3 The underlying rules of private and contract law, however, have been the subject of international legal instruments of a varying legal nature only for a comparatively short time within legal history, hardly spanning a century. This particular type of legal instrument is the main focus of interest in this chapter. The expression ‘uniform law’ has been coined in connection with the earliest efforts to create substantive rules of private law, namely contract law which eventually manifested in the Hague Conventions of the 1st of July 1964 on International Sale of Goods and the Formation of the Contract of Sale.4 While it may appear to be a common place that such a law is uniform, this convention and its successors distinguish itself from traditional treaties by providing substantive rules of contract law directly addressed to and applicable by the private parties of a contract whereas the traditional treaties regulated the actions of states. At the same time of course ULIS is a convention, a traditional treaty, as is the 1980 Vienna Convention on the International Sale of Goods, CISG and a number of other modern conventions regulating private law issues relating to a range of international trade contracts and their performance, for example shipping, including air and road transport.5 Uniform legal instruments which have been adopted as treaties therefore also bind states and their actions. If they have not undergone the formal procedure of adoption and ratification they may not be binding on the signatory states in the same way as treaties but they are still uniform international instruments as they still have the quality of law.6 All these instruments seek to provide a uniform source of law to international private actors. The expression uniform law has therefore come to denote legal instruments providing substantive rules of private law in the form of a traditional instrument of international law. Uniform international law is therefore intended to formally govern matters of a civil or commercial nature with a varying degree of binding force on an international, non-domestic level.

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INTERPRETATION In the application of any law interpretation of its individual rules is an integral part. Domestic legal systems have developed their own methods and practices over long periods of time. These differ often quite substantially between the legal systems as they have arisen from various historic and political origins. As they form part of the legal identity of those different legal systems, not only are stipulations on interpretation needed in each uniform instrument, but these are also subject to dissent in drafting and adoption negotiations just as many other core provisions such as performance rules or remedies. At the same time, uniformity of international law requires a degree of uniform application in addition to a uniform source. In some areas this can be provided by a centralised adjudication system such as that of the European Union, the International Court of Justice in the Hague or the dispute settling mechanism of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). In many other areas such a system does not exist or is fragmented. The CISG relies solely on an informal database offering reference to domestic court decisions on international sales contracts using CISG.7 To guide the application of uniform law interpretation provisions have been included into each of them. These can be compared and a development observed over the years. Whether this has resulted into an international doctrine of interpreting and applying uniform law which could be called a method or whether it would be possible and desirable to use such a method is the subject of this chapter.

SOURCES OF INTERPRETATION RULES Treaties General rules for the interpretation of treaties are provided by the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT).8 Concluded under the auspices of the United Nations the VCLT is a treaty itself and contains in its Arts. 31 33 provisions about the application and interpretation of treaties. These govern the application of all those uniform laws which have amounted to treaties such as the CISG, the ULIS and many conventions created by UNIDROIT and UNCITRAL, for example the conventions on factoring and leasing concluded in Ottawa in the 1980s. Together with the

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individual provision contained on those treaties they might constitute the basis for an international method of interpretation. The next step would then be to ask if this amounts to a legal obligation for the lawyers and parties using the instruments and whether these extend to uniform international instruments which are not formal treaties, for example the UNIDROIT Principles of Commercial Contracts, UPICC,9 or indeed the proposed CESL10 which is meant to be an EU regulation and not a treaty.

Current Rules and Methods in Uniform International Law It is possible to discern three types of interpretation standards in uniform law instruments, having evolved during the decades of their successive creation. The first type was created in the course of the creation of ULIS in The Hague. The second type can be established in the 1980 Vienna Convention on the Law of International Sales, CISG, created by UNIDROIT and the UN. The third is a combination of both, where the interpretation rule is extended by reference to the ‘object and purpose’ of the convention and can be observed in the UNIDROIT conventions of the 1980s, namely the so-called ‘Ottawa’ conventions. The interpretation provisions of the VCLT apply generally to all of the aforementioned instruments and possibly beyond. They could be classed as a fourth or general standard. The interpretation standards generally consist of two components the actual interpretation of individual rules of a legal instrument and a method providing for how to proceed in case no answer can be derived from those rules for the matter in hand. I want to refer to these in the following as an interpretation rule and a method. The first type of standard in ULIS consists of only the method; the other two include both a method and an interpretation rule while the VCLT itself does not provide for a method. I want to look at these rules in detail now and compare them with each other. After that I want to discuss what this means for the development of a consistent and meaningful interpretation standard for current uniform international law.

The First Type

Art. 17 ULIS

ULIS was the instrument first adopted (in 1964) even before the VCLT in 1969.

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Art. 17 ULIS reads: Questions concerning matters governed by the present Law which are not expressly settled therein shall be settled in conformity with the general principles on which the present Law is based.

The absence of an actual interpretation rule providing how questions ought to be decided under the present law or guidelines of how to use the rules makes Art. 17 appear to move to the second step before the first. However, it has to be borne in mind that this type of legal instrument and with it any type of application standard was the first of its kind and the result of many years of academic work and diplomatic negotiation. Interpretation and application of the law is not often subject to express legislation in many domestic legal systems, so Art. 17 ULIS sets uniform law apart from domestic sales law. Art. 17 ULIS introduces ‘general principles on which the present Law is based’ as a reference point. This requires not only the identification and acceptance of those general principles, it also presupposes the prior exhaustion of meaning derived from the whole of the set of rules, conceiving of the rules as a comprehensive instrument, not as a ‘toolbox’ as is often advertised presently and practiced all too often.11 Art. 17 ULIS requires the user to establish whether or not a matter is expressly settled in the convention before he or she moves on to the ‘general principles’ on which ULIS is based. Leaving the question aside for a moment, of what these general principles might be, I want to look at the other available standards and compare to each other before evaluating the usability of each of the standards.

The Second Type

CISG

UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON CONTRACTS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS (1980) [CISG] Article 7 (1) In the interpretation of this Convention, regard is to be had to its international character and to the need to promote uniformity in its application and the observance of good faith in international trade. (2) Questions concerning matters governed by this Convention which are not expressly settled in it are to be settled in conformity with the general principles on which it is based or, in the absence of such principles, in conformity with the law applicable by virtue of the rules of private international law.

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The wording of this article displays a method article preceded by an interpretation rule in the above explained sense. The method article in the second para of all these articles commences identical to ULIS and then continues on to add another step to this method. In addition to referring to underlying principles these conventions point to private international law to establish the next point of reference to decide a question arising under the conventions. This point of reference is a national law under current private international law rules. There even seems to be a preferred hierarchy between the domestic law summoned by way of private international law rules and the underlying principles. Only in the absence of the underlying principles should domestic law be used. It is not, however, a clear progression of first exhausting possible answers from underlying principles and then proceeding to domestic law. It is only if no underlying principles can be found the applying lawyer or party is to resort to the national law pointed out by conflict rules. It is unclear if this is meant to be a choice of terminology equalling a lack of result from underlying principles with the absence of the same or the assumption that conventions can be drafted without underlying principles. Assuming underlying principles in the first place seems to forbid the assumption of their absence.

The Third Type

Ottawa

In 1988, UNIDROIT called a diplomatic conference in Ottawa where two conventions on international leasing and factoring were adopted. These contain both an interpretation rule and a method which are identical to the wording of CISG, but they also introduce the important additional reference to the ‘object and purpose’ of the convention. This component is looked at in more detail below. UNIDROIT Convention on International Factoring (Ottawa, 28 May 1988) Article 4 1. In the interpretation of this Convention, regard is to be had to its object and purpose as set forth in the preamble, to its international character and to the need to promote uniformity in its application and the observance of good faith in international trade. 2. Questions concerning matters governed by this Convention which are not expressly settled in it are to be settled in conformity with the general principles on which it is based or, in the absence of such principles, in conformity with the law applicable by virtue of the rules of private international law.

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UNIDROIT Convention on International Financial Leasing (Ottawa, 28 May 1988) Article 6 1. In the interpretation of this Convention, regard is to be had to its object and purpose as set forth in the preamble, to its international character and to the need to promote uniformity in its application and the observance of good faith in international trade. 2. Questions concerning matters governed by this Convention which are not expressly settled in it are to be settled in conformity with the general principles on which it is based or, in the absence of such principles, in conformity with the law applicable by virtue of the rules of private international law.

The 1969 VCLT For ease of reference the relevant text of the VCLT is also included here despite its greater length compared to the above cited convention articles. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 196912 SECTION 3. INTERPRETATION OF TREATIES Article 31 General rule of interpretation 1. A treaty shall be interpreted in good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning to be given to the terms of the treaty in their context and in the light of its object and purpose. 2. The context for the purpose of the interpretation of a treaty shall comprise, in addition to the text, including its preamble and annexes: (a) any agreement relating to the treaty which was made between all the parties in connection with the conclusion of the treaty; (b) any instrument which was made by one or more parties in connection with the conclusion of the treaty and accepted by the other parties as an instrument related to the treaty. 3. There shall be taken into account, together with the context: (a) any subsequent agreement between the parties regarding the interpretation of the treaty or the application of its provisions; (b) any subsequent practice in the application of the treaty which establishes the agreement of the parties regarding its interpretation; (c) any relevant rules of international law applicable in the relations between the parties. 4. A special meaning shall be given to a term if it is established that the parties so intended.

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Article 32

Supplementary means of interpretation

Recourse may be had to supplementary means of interpretation, including the preparatory work of the treaty and the circumstances of its conclusion, in order to confirm the meaning resulting from the application of article 31, or to determine the meaning when the interpretation according to article 31: (a) leaves the meaning ambiguous or obscure; or (b) leads to a result which is manifestly absurd or unreasonable. Article 33

Interpretation of treaties authenticated in two or more languages

1. When a treaty has been authenticated in two or more languages, the text is equally authoritative in each language, unless the treaty provides or the parties agree that, in case of divergence, a particular text shall prevail. 2. A version of the treaty in a language other than one of those in which the text was authenticated shall be considered an authentic text only if the treaty so provides or the parties so agree. 3. The terms of the treaty are presumed to have the same meaning in each authentic text. 4. Except where a particular text prevails in accordance with paragraph 1, when a comparison of the authentic texts discloses a difference of meaning which the application of articles 31 and 32 does not remove, the meaning which best reconciles the texts, having regard to the object and purpose of the treaty, shall be adopted.

It can be seen that the significance of the object and purpose of an international legal instrument, private or public, has been part of the general interpretation process introduced by the VCLT in its Art. 31, along with other elements of Art. 31, repeated in the later conventions. The fact that reference to object and purpose is not expressly included in ULIS does not mean that the standard was unknown or dismissed by the drafters at the time of drafting ULIS which of course coincided with or preceded that of the VCLT. Equally, while the VCLT codified a lot of customary law the contents of Art 31 should not be taken as an agreed standard of customary law without more. Too great are the differences in practices between different legal systems so that, eventually, the VCLT provided a common basis among the signatory states.13

LEGAL NATURE OF THE SOURCES The above listed examples of uniform international law belong to one category of source of law they are international treaties, conventions adopted at diplomatic conferences and ratified subsequently within each signatory

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state under national constitutional procedures. They therefore have the quality of formal law even though this may not lead to identical consequences within each signatory state as ratification is followed by varying types of implementation procedures.14 So, here we can now see the peculiarity of uniform international law as described here which starts its life as a treaty clearly assigned public law qualities and addressed to states but at the same time providing substantive rules of contract law to private parties. According to the varying implementation procedures, the treaties then may turn into directly applicable domestic rules of contract law15 applicable to international contracts while they simultaneously remain treaties at supranational level and continue to bind states. What is the role of interpretation rules in this situation? As far as the interpretation rules arise from treaty law as the VCLT provisions do they are clearly addressed to states and stipulate how they should interpret the provisions of conventions they conclude. But do they also bind private parties who conclude private contracts under the treaties? Do they bind judges when they adjudicate disputes arising out of such contracts? It is clear that uniform international law can appear in many shapes and forms depending on who is using and applying it. The VCLT rules do not distinguish, however, or specify to what situation they apply only when states apply the uniform laws, when private parties negotiate their contracts or when state judges apply the uniform law conventions? The first case, states applying uniform law conventions, is due to the subject matter of the conventions the least likely scenario. Uniform international law is indeed made by state parties under public international law including the VCLT to be applied by private parties and by domestic judges to their private albeit transnational contracts. Due to the inherent discrepancy between the motivations of those two distinct participants in the global trade and negotiations of uniform contract law regimes the object and purpose of any of these instruments as mentioned in the VCLT and in the 1988 Ottawa conventions in my view play the most crucial part in the interpretation and application of any uniform international law.16 The problem is exacerbated by the fact that there are uniform instruments that are not conventions. A number of so called Model Laws (UNCITRAL) and other ‘general principles’17 have been prepared and published by institutes and scholarly groups with different forms of mandates and authority. These sets of rules can be said to have the quality of law even if they are not formally enacted under any national legislative procedure. Some of them have served as a model for law reform such as

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the UNCITRAL Model Law on international arbitration. This does not confer the force of law directly onto the Model Law though, but all these uniform laws are available and applied as a legal framework for international contracts and aspects surrounding their performance. They play a role in international arbitration and sometimes even in state court procedures.18 All uniform international law can be made contractual content by the parties and would subsequently itself be subject to the national interpretation rules of the law applicable by virtue of the general conflict law. It is therefore clear that one standard for public international law treaties cannot fit all the various types of uniform international law. In addition, the VCLT as the only general standard applying to all treaties does not provide a method.19 Both treaty and non-treaty uniform laws, or non-state laws as they shall be called here, therefore require and incorporate individual interpretation rules. As can be seen from the above list, these rules are not identical across the board and may not even have any legal effect beyond each of the uniform international laws. It is for this reason that a comparison is carried out here in order to establish if and by what legal mechanism a general standard is effective for all types of uniform law and why one would be needed and if so which. Another quite different form of law is suggested by the Draft Proposal for a European Sales Law, CESL.20 Being a European regulation it is part of the internal secondary law of a supranational organisation. According to the established case law and the EU treaties regulations are directly applicable in the MS without needing a separate implementation process as treaties often do. CESL, however, introduces a novel form of legal structure to the regulation by offering the actual substantive rules of CESL in the form of an Annexe (I) and by declaring in the Explanatory Memorandum and Recital that this Annexe be part of the national contract laws of the MS thus avoiding the need for a choice of law in the classic sense even though CESL is ‘optional’, that is only operational upon a choice by the parties. There is much debate around how this choice may operate21 and especially how the ‘unchosen’ CESL will operate as part of that MS whose law is not ‘chosen’ by the parties to govern their contract but whose CESL is deemed to govern the contract in its capacity as the consumer’s habitual residence’s law.22 It remains to be seen whether or not CESL will be enacted and what the judgment of the judiciary in the MS will be about this point. CESL deserves a mention in this context, however, due to its

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interesting range of elements of interpretation standards contained in Recital 29 of the Preamble and Art. 4 of the Annexe I to the Regulation (see the text in the next section). The elaborate structure of the whole instrument may have been developed after the model of the ULF which also has the operative text in its Annexe, a method also used in UK legislation such as the Contracts Applicable Law Act 1980. But as CESL is neither intended to be an international convention nor a domestic act of parliament the choice of structure is certainly unusual and of doubtful legal effect.

NON-STATE UNIFORM LAW To complete the set of examples of interpretation standards, I want to look at three non-state uniform laws issued by three different sources, UNIDROIT in Rome,23 UNCITRAL24 and the EU Commission.

The UPICC The method article Art. 17 ULIS is almost repeated in the Art. 1.6. (2) of the UPICC25 which reads Article 1.6 (Interpretation and supplementation of the Principles) (1) In the interpretation of these Principles, regard is to be had to their international character and to their purposes including the need to promote uniformity in their application. (2) Issues within the scope of these Principles but not expressly settled by them are as far as possible to be settled in accordance with their underlying general principles.

The method is somewhat toned down by the addition of ‘as far as possible’ into the phrase. The article also introduces the actual interpretation standard including part of the ‘object and purpose’ element.

The UNCITRAL Model Law on International Arbitration (as Revised in 2006) Article 2 A. International origin and general principles (As adopted by the Commission at its thirtyninth session, in 2006)

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The interpretation rule is reminiscent of CISG, the method rule of ULIS. Interesting to note is the replacement of the reference to the ‘international character’ of rules by its ‘international origin’ to be observed. Due to its recent inclusion into the Model Law it is fair to conclude that this standard represents a modern take on the catalogue of rules on interpretation and method seen so far. It may even be representative of a desirable standard as discussed below.

The Draft Regulation on a Common European Sales Law, CESL Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on a Common European Sales Law, COM (2011) 635 final Preamble, Recital (29) Once there is a valid agreement to use the Common European Sales Law, only the Common European Sales Law should govern the matters falling within its scope. The rules of the Common European Sales Law should be interpreted autonomously in accordance with the well-established principles on the interpretation of Union legislation. Questions concerning matters falling within the scope of the Common European Sales Law which are not expressly settled by it should be resolved only by interpretation of its rules without recourse to any other law. The rules of the Common European Sales Law should be interpreted on the basis of the underlying principles and objectives and all its provisions. Regulation, Article 11 Consequences of the use of the Common European Sales Law Where the parties have validly agreed to use the Common European Sales Law for a contract, only the Common European Sales Law shall govern the matters addressed in its rules. Provided that the contract was actually concluded, the Common European Sales Law shall also govern the compliance with and remedies for failure to comply with the pre-contractual information duties. Annex I SECTION 2 APPLICATION Article 4 Interpretation

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1. The Common European Sales Law is to be interpreted autonomously and in accordance with its objectives and the principles underlying it. 2. Issues within the scope of the Common European Sales Law but not expressly settled by it are to be settled in accordance with the objectives and the principles underlying it and all its provisions, without recourse to the national law that would be applicable in the absence of an agreement to use the Common European Sales Law or to any other law. 3. Where there is a general rule and a special rule applying to a particular situation within the scope of the general rule, the special rule prevails in any case of conflict.

The rules in these three instruments have been drafted drawing upon experience with preceding uniform law. While the UPICC use only one article for the core interpretation provisions, the CESL displays a more expanded structure. In fact, it spreads out its rules on interpretation over all those components that are mentioned in Art. 31 (2) VCLT as possible sources of meaning in an individual rule, it consists of a preamble, the regulation itself and of two annexes, one of them containing the actual sales law. Whether or not the drafters had the VCLT in mind when designing the instrument is questionable however as CESL is not to be a treaty but secondary law within the EU.

COMPARISON OF THE INTERPRETATION RULES AND METHODS It is now time to look at the different standards displayed in this array of uniform laws in more detail and compare them to each other.

Method It is possible to derive the impression from the wording in each of the rules quoted above that there are two general types of rules, one that is created for the purposes of political agreement at diplomatic conferences and one that is created for informal use by the legal community without state sanctioning or formal approval by the legislative process. This does not apply to the first example of its kind, ULIS, which contains only a basic rule, or compared with subsequent models, almost a torso. The rule in ULIS was expanded in all subsequent treaties by the continuation of the phrase pointing the user to ‘the rules applicable by virtue of private international law’ which effectively de lege lata means national law.

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The other models that have not been formally adopted do not contain this prescription but limit themselves to stipulating the underlying principles of the instrument as a supplementary means of interpretation. They do not, however, comment on any further possible step to establish external sources of law in order to interpret a rule of a given uniform law. For example, the UPICC could stipulate that rules of ULIS or CISG can be consulted to find an answer to a problem under the UPICC if none can be found within UPICC themselves, or it could point to ‘general rules of international law’. This is not a chosen route, though, and it is not difficult to see that it would not be practical to specify such a course of action. Not only is the scope of UPICC different from the sales law conventions and therefore reference to them would be arbitrary but ‘general principles of international law’ might either be deemed to be too vague by a user or they may quite to the contrary be taken for granted and therefore not need specific inclusion in the uniform law in question. The question of where to turn upon encountering a ‘matter not expressly settled’ in a uniform international law is one of general doctrine at international level and currently therefore effectively left to be decided by the background of each individual applying the instrument. It is the purpose of this chapter to contribute to the formation of such a doctrine in order to decrease the uncertainty connected with this application process and increase the ease of use of uniform international law.

Example An example may illustrate the significance and functionality of the method article in uniform laws. When the UPICC were first published in 1994, UNIDROIT held a number of conferences in different countries to introduce and discuss the new set of rules. One item on the list was the rules on payment obligations. The payment rule in Art. 7.2.1. UPICC was heavily criticised by a scholar as providing for an overly rigid payment obligation and therefore for being incompatible with most European legal systems.26 The argument was derived from the fact that Art. 7.2.1. other than Art. 7.2.2. on nonmonetary obligations, does not contain any express limitations. (Performance of monetary obligation) Where a party who is obliged to pay money does not do so, the other party may require payment.

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(Performance of non-monetary obligation) Where a party who owes an obligation other than one to pay money does not perform, the other party may require performance, unless (a) performance is impossible in law or in fact; (b) performance or, where relevant, enforcement is unreasonably burdensome or expensive; (c) the party entitled to performance may reasonably obtain performance from another source; (d) performance is of an exclusively personal character; or (e) the party entitled to performance does not require performance within a reasonable time after it has, or ought to have, become aware of the non-performance.

This example provides an opportunity to apply the method article and examine the outcome. The critique expressed about the above mentioned article results from a comparison of this rule with domestic law and legal doctrine and a value judgment. This is of course exceeding a simple application to a given case. Has this been done in accordance with Art. 1.6 (2) UPICC? This would presuppose that a matter is not expressly settled in the convention. This matter would be the limitation to a payment obligation, effectively a defense against the monetary payment obligation or an excuse for non-payment. The wording of Art. 1.6 (2) already contains part of the answer it is the whole convention which can provide for the solution to a problem, not just the immediate rule on its own. The scholar is missing express limitations to the right to performance of monetary obligations in the way it is included in Art. 7.2.2. UPICC. Looking at those limitations, however, it becomes clear that some of those hardly ever apply to monetary obligations in most legal systems: payment cannot become impossible in law or fact or unreasonably burdensome. The rules in Art. 7.2.2. (a) (d) are not applicable to payment obligations according to most domestic legal viewpoints. On the contrary, payment obligations are often treated quite differently from non-monetary ones. The fact that the rule is worded differently should as such not be cause for alarm therefore. But how are the legitimate defenses and excuses supposed to operate then under the UPICC? First and foremost, the answer is in the wording of the rule itself. By reading the rule carefully, the user is actually following Art. 31 VCLT, referring to the wording of the rule and the ordinary meaning of its terms. The rule says ‘… a party, who is obliged to pay money’… . This means that Art. 7.2.1. UPICC does not actually create the obligation but refers to the remedy or right of the obligee. The first question to ask would therefore be

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if the payment obligation has arisen and if it is due. This in turn depends on the contractual terms but also on other provisions within the UPICC. To consider that Art. 7.2.1. provides for an unlimited right to performance works only when the article is read in total isolation. This, however unfortunate, is exactly the way most provisions in uniform laws are used, the above mentioned ‘toolbox approach’. The scholar in her article on payment obligations demonstrates a very common attitude maintained by many lawyers towards uniform international law. In essence, lawyers tend to use much lesser standards when dealing with uniform law than those they would apply when dealing with their own domestic law in which they are trained. This mechanism is what interpretation and method rules are designed to counteract.

Comprehensive Use of Uniform Law

Autonomous Method

As regards the UPICC we can see that the method provided for in Art. 1.6 (2) UPICC is imperfect in that it omits an important step in the application process it does not, neither incidenter nor expressly, instruct consultation of the whole of the instrument as a default method of application. Interestingly, this is now provided by the draft CESL. The interpretation rule in CESL as quoted above instructs the user to use ‘all its provisions’,27 but also only the CESL and no other law. So there is no method of how to progress if no answer can be found within CESL itself. There is also a comment on how to proceed with lacunae intra legem, external gaps which are matters outside CESL’s scope. Here, CESL instructs to use the method provided for internal gaps in international uniform instruments specifying and limiting the ‘law applicable by virtue of …’ to the EU legislation in use in the area of PIL. CESL further provides for the autonomous interpretation method which is to be understood as deriving meaning predominantly from the uniform instrument before referring to other law. At the same time, CESL astonishes by declaring that it is not to be conceived as international law (but domestic contract law) so that the value of this standard for other uniform instruments is questionable.28 A good illustration of the value of this method however can be derived from an observation of yet another category of uniform law although not commonly referred to as such Double Taxation Conventions (DTCs). These bilateral treaties have been concluded according to the OECD Model Tax Convention for the past four decades now but there are also a number still in use that preceded this Model. The key provision in

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the OECD Model is Art. 3 (2)29 establishing a rather confusing standard for the application and interpretation of these conventions which clearly disregards or even derogates from the standards established in the VCLT. Instead of advocating a shared understanding of each norm and in particular a method of arriving at a meaning specific to the uniform instrument, Art. 3 authorises the use of domestic law and interpretation standards in order to fill a term of the DTC with meaning. In practice this often leads to the use of this rule much in the way of a conflict norm authorising the use of national tax law instead of the international instrument which is after all purpose made for the underlying facts in question.30 The development or revelation of a meaning specific to an international instrument is what the autonomous interpretation method wants to achieve. This has been recognised by the British courts in Fothergill v Monarch Airlines31 where it was expressly conceded that the same term can be assigned different meaning depending on its context in national or international law.32 They went on further to elaborate on the way to arrive at such different meanings in Memec33 where a three-tier test was applied to the same term (dividends) depending on its ordinary meaning (as required by the VCLT), on its meaning in domestic tax law and its meaning in the context of the German UK DTC. There was even reference to German domestic decisions on the understanding of profits derived from limited liability companies even though the crucial difference in the understanding of the treatment of such profits under the common DTC remained undetected. This difference however stems precisely from the fact the German counterpart do not carry out the same diligence when deriving meaning from a term under the (same) DTC. The German courts and authorities rely all too readily on a very superficial reading of Art II (3) of the German UK DTC34 which is almost identical to the Model Tax article35 and classify the term according to domestic tax law only if in doubt. The resulting discrepancy is most obvious when looking at the Memec case series but has significance beyond this because it bars an appropriate treatment of cases arising under DTCs. There is a modern trend not only in German case law36 but also in the wording a recent new DTC between Sweden and Germany where a reformed wording37 reflects a more appropriate understanding of the underlying interests and the affected parties of DTCs. The new DTC emphasises more clearly the need for the users to derive meaning from the convention itself rather than from domestic tax law and it also introduces the idea that a taxpayer can have a self-standing and enforceable interest to have the convention applied in the proper way.38 This clearly shows the

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mechanism to be observed in the use of uniform law: the role of the objects and purposes and the contracting parties. In DTCs the two contracting parties are states and the object and purpose of the treaties can be derived from their titles and preambles of the conventions. They serve the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of ‘double non-taxation’ which is tax avoidance or even evasion. It is clear that the former of the two purposes is not benefitting the contracting parties but a third party, the taxpayer, who is not negotiating and not expressly protected by the wording of the resulting treaties. The second aim is not even expressly mentioned in the actual rules of the treaties but clearly directly serves the contracting parties. An assumption as to whether the interests of the taxpayer and the contracting parties are generally at odds presupposes a full discussion of state theory and other empirical data which is not the purpose of this chapter. Here it is sufficient to highlight the importance of identifying the object and the purposes of an international uniform instrument, again according to the VCLT. If these are not in line with the declared content of an instrument, be it express or in the underlying principles or implied in negotiations and subsequent behaviour (in the sense of the VCLT) the resulting interpretation and application methods of such an international treaty or other legal instrument is not likely to be consistent or easy for its users. Referring back to the contract law related uniform international law an observation of their objects and purposes reveals a similar potential conflict as in the DTCs. What is the purpose of CISG concluded by states and used by private contracting parties? Who benefits from its creation? The creators of CISG and its beneficiaries are potentially not identical and not necessarily co-ordinated regarding the outcome of CISG’s application. The relationship between the creators of CISG and the other uniform laws described above and its beneficiaries’ needs is not self-evident and can be subject to further discussion. Reference to the preamble often illumines these aims and objectives but often also reveals a multitude of objectives which again may be difficult to reconcile such as with CESL and therefore stand in the way of a successful and concise interpretation standard.

The Desirable Interpretation Standard

A Combination of the Fragments

The problems can be tackled using the VCLT as a starting point as this is an overarching standard which may allow extending value beyond its actual scope. This can then be complemented by fragments existing in other

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uniform instruments which have not found their way into the VCLT. As the VCLT does not contain a method in the above described sense it is necessary to expand a comprehensive desirable standard for a contemporary use of uniform international law. Components of such a comprehensive standard should include the observance of the international character of the uniform law as it is found in the instruments described above. However, it is important to expand the wording to include expressly the international character of its object. The object and purpose as a reference point in the VCLT is the second most important component. It can be noted from the list above that the wording in the various uniform laws is not identical. Sometimes only of one of the two is mentioned as in the UPICC. Both object (the subject matter to be regulated in the uniform law) and its purpose (objectives and aims of the legislation) are decisively prompted by the international character of the object. This is an element of uniform law which remains too often overlooked. On examining the objects and purposes of uniform international laws closely, one cannot help noticing that it is often the object itself which is met with a degree of ambiguity, sometimes even resistance and suspicion by the creators of the law. It is therefore not at all surprising to see that the purposes as they can be deciphered from the express content, the underlying principles and the materials referred to in the VCLT reveal a misalignment of object and purpose or sometimes several purposes which are incompatible with each other. Difficulties and inconsistencies in the interpretation efforts are an unavoidable result. Furthermore, the objects to be regulated have themselves often been created by the same legislators who then try to contain rather than foster them. This is apparent in the EU where a barrier free internal market and politically a borderless society have continuously been created and expanded in the form of the ‘four freedoms’ and the treaty of Schengen. Work on the draft CESL is the expression of an identified need to regulate cross-border contracts for the sale of goods.39 This is the object of the uniform law. However, the additional purposes of CESL hamper the attainment of the main purpose that would be aligned with the object the creation of a purpose made law for cross-border sales, a lex specialis. The purposes of the creators of CESL include staying within the limits of the TFEU,40 to preserve the status quo of EU PIL (no non-state law to govern he contract, no modification of Art. 6 of the Rome I Regulation), to require no involvement of PIL at all. They go as far as redefining the object from a generally understood concept of cross-border contract which

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necessarily contains an international element to an EU-specific concept with its international element subdued by way of a definition41 and explanations in the CESL regulations, the preamble and its Explanatory Memorandum.42 Similarly, it can be noted, even though less clearly stated, that states prefer to foster resistance and suspicion against cross-border tax matters and migration (the objects carrying the international element) rather than providing the infrastructure to facilitate such migration by way of the DTCs. The driving force for this attitude is fear of a loss of income and assets. To a degree this partly justified and partly irrational attitude also applies to the provision of international contract law and its free use at the international level where the actual transactions take place. It is therefore preferred to transform this tailor made law into domestic law and treat it as such. This is effected by implementation and the current prevailing views in the conflict of laws that no non-state law, and that includes law made at international level, that is outside the actual state, can ‘govern’ the contract, only domestic (municipal) law can do that. The states who create international law respond simultaneously to two countervailing impulses, that of providing infrastructure for international civil and commercial activity (because it is seen as a benefit) and that of restricting it (because it is seen as a threat). The drawback of this mechanism is that the law which is specifically made for the international object cannot function in the corresponding way, internationally. The argument to respond to the prevailing view is the lex specialis rule which says that the more specific rule always prevails over the more general. The creators of CESL have included this in their draft because it is a commonly practiced doctrine in the application of codified law. With only the internal relationship between rules within CESL in mind this general doctrine can support an argument in favour of the direct application of uniform international law to the exclusion of national laws. A second pillar of the prevailing doctrine in PIL is the doctrine of mandatory laws as incorporated in EU legislation.43 So-called mandatory laws overrule the rules of uniform law if they contradict each other. When and how this is the case is to be decided by the courts in each individual case and there are virtually no examples in commercial contract law44 so that the doctrine is purely academic and therefore ought to be reviewed. Third, the theory of gaps as it is formulated within the above described uniform instruments disallows a horizontal cross referencing between uniform laws at international level. On encountering an internal gap, there is either no instruction of how to proceed or there is the instruction to apply

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conflict law rules subsequently leading to a domestic system of law. This may be the method of choice given that there may not be a suitable uniform law to complement the question in hand. Another reason for this method is that ‘soft law’ and this includes treaties that are in force but not in the country from whose viewpoint the matter is viewed is neither recognised as domestic not as international law suitable to govern the contract, a reinforcement of the prevailing positivist doctrine of the unity of law and state in the conflict of laws. A desirable interpretation standard should also be the same across all uniform instruments with no distinction as to the object’s nature as public or private. It should also include all the three elements as discussed above. The rationale behind this is not purely academic but it is the only appropriate way of giving effect to the purpose of uniform international law which is to provide rules to govern its international object. Domestic law is ill suited to govern these objects due to the inherent territorial limitations of jurisdiction and to problems typically arising from international situations which are the reasons for the uniform law to be created in the first place.45

THE WAY FORWARD It has to be acknowledged that political compromise is an inherent element of treaty negotiations. This should not deter law makers from the quest for the best law. The controversial issues identified above ought to be reviewed and suggestions of a draft universal interpretation standard offered. These should not try to evoke the resistance of the prevailing views maintained by the state parties. Suggestions should rather be supported by legal arguments taken from accepted standards. These come from two sources above all, the VCLT and the lex specialis doctrine. Applying the VCLT may even make an interpretation standard enforceable before the courts. The lex specialis doctrine can also help to identify the object of the uniform law to be created correctly and this object should provide guidance as to the purposes to be pursued with any one instrument and its contents should remain aligned with these purposes. If the three components of object, purpose and content cannot be aligned the instrument may have to be abandoned rather than contribute to the cementation of double standards in international law which cannot be of help in an international community based on the rule of law.

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At present, de lege lata, we can only create the comprehensive method of interpreting and applying uniform international law by way of the comparison of the fragments of method and interpretation across uniform laws of different legal nature. This situation is the result of almost a century of continuous work in order to provide a functional infrastructure at supraor transnational level to the same degree as international trade and political accord was pursued and achieved. Building on these fragments of achievement now scholars, practitioners and law makers can make a step forward by gathering and evaluating the pieces and redraft them into a universal transnational interpretation standard according to the above discussed format. This should be pursued and supported by a more progressive legal doctrine in the conflict of laws in the interest of a successful integration of a global civil society.

NOTES 1. See the Draft Proposal for a Common European Sales Law, COM (2011) 635 final (CESL). 2. Civil matters traditionally covered by conflict law include contract law, matrimonial and parentage law, inheritance, property and tort law. 3. For example the 1980 Rome Convention on the law applicable to contractual obligations (consolidated version) (1998), and the 1968 Brussels and corresponding 1988 Lugano Conventions on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. 4. ULIS, Convention relating to a Uniform Law on the International Sale of Goods, and ULF, Convention relating to a Uniform Law on the Formation of Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, both concluded in the Hague on 1 July 1964 and prepared by UNIDROIT. 5. Examples are the Hague Visby Rules on sea carrier’s liability (1924/1968), the Hague Rules on Bills of Lading (1924), the Hamburg Rules (UN, 1968), the Warsaw Convention on air carrier liability (1929). 6. See Heidemann (2007, chapters 6 and 7) for further detail on this issue. 7. http://www.cisg.law.pace.edu/ 8. Text and materials available at http://untreaty.un.org/cod/avl/ha/vclt/vclt. html 9. Available at http://www.unidroit.org/english/principles/contracts/main.htm 10. See note 1. 11. The expression has been coined and elevated to quasi-official language in the course of the drafting project for the ‘Common Fame of Reference’ (DCFR) and the subsequently published Green Chapter consulting ‘stakeholders’ on their preferred option for the eventually proposed ‘Common European Sales Law’, see ‘Green Chapter from the Commission on Policy Options for Progress towards a European Contract Law for Consumers and Businesses’, COM (2010) 348 final (2010).

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12. Done at Vienna on 23 May 1969. Entered into force on 27 January 1980. United Nations, Treaty Series, Vol. 1155, p. 331. 13. See for example Ferrari (1998). 14. See for further details Ferrari (2008) (from IACL Comparative Law Congress, Mexico City 2008). 15. Depending on the method of implementation, see previous note. 16. See below for further discussion. 17. Examples are the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts, available at http://www.unidroit.org/english/principles/contracts/main. htm; the Principles of European Contract Law available at http://frontpage.cbs. dk/law/commission_on_european_contract_law/pecl_full_text.htm; and the Draft Common Frame of Reference, available at http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/civil/ docs/dcfr_outline_edition_en.pdf 18. A good illustration of this is provided by the Eurotunnel litigation Eurotunnel v Balfour Beatty [1992] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 7 (CA); [1993] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 291 (HL). 19. Art. 32 VCLT could be seen as supporting method articles in uniform instruments because it can provide guidance as to the identification of the underlying principles pointed to in the methods outlined above on encountering an internal gap. The article itself does not seem to be intended to establish a method in the above described sense. 20. See note 1. 21. See for example Sanchez-Lorenzo (2013) and Whittaker (2012). 22. Art. 6 (2) 2nd sentence Rome I Regulation; see Briggs (2008, p. 383) for general discussion of the role of ‘unchosen’ law in the context of the doctrine of mandatory rules of law. 23. Institute for the Unification of Private Law. 24. The United Nation’s Commission for International Trade Law. 25. UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts, 2010. 26. Schwenzer (1998/1999). 27. CESL Rec. 29 and Art. 4 (2) of the Annexe I read ‘… and all its provisions’. 28. The main purpose of this characterisation of CESL seems to be the avoidance of a choice of law in the traditional sense and in particular the avoidance of a necessity to modify Art. 6 of the Rome I Regulation which provides for consumer protection rules. 29. From the OECD Model Tax Convention On Income And Capital (text as it read on 22 July 2010). Article 3 General Definitions … 2. As regards the application of the Convention at any time by a Contracting State, any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning that it has at that time under the law of that State for the purposes of the taxes to which the Convention applies, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that State prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other laws of that State. 30. I have discussed this in detail elsewhere demonstrating this mechanism using the example of the terms enterprise and silent partner in the German-UK DTC (Heidemann & Knebel, 2010).

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31. [1981] AC 251; [1980] 2 All ER 696; [1980] 3 WLR 209; [1980] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 295, (33 ICLQ 797). 32. It can even have three different meanings in the case of DTCs, see the Memec case series. 33. Memec plc v Inland Revenue Commissioners (IRC) Simons Tax Cases Ch D [1996] STC, 1336 STC1336 (Chancery Division); Memec plc v Inland Revenue Commissioners (IRC) CA [1998] STC, 754. 34. Tellingly called ‘Oeffnungsklausel’, opening clause, in German doctrine. 35. The original German UK DTC was concluded before the OECD Model was published and this article was not amended by recent renegotiation. The original 1951 German US DTC mentioned here, too, was more recently amended, in 1989. 36. With a more recent German US case, judgment of 17 October 2007 by the German Federal Fiscal Court, BFH, Bundesfinanzhof, IR 5/06 confirming whether or not an ongoing (mal)practice of the German authorities could have amounted to a subsequent amendment of the German US DTC in the sense of Art. 31 (3) (b) VCLT. It was held the mere non-intervention of the US authorities could not be read as a consensus. 37. Doppelbesteuerungsabkommen mit Schweden (DBA 1992) (DTC Germany with Sweden, 1992). Artikel 3 Article 3 Allgemeine Begriffsbestimmungen (General definitions). (2) Dieses Abkommen ist bei seiner Anwendung durch beide Vertragsstaaten u¨bereinstimmend aus sich selbst heraus auszulegen. Ein in diesem Abkommen nicht definierter Ausdruck hat jedoch dann die Bedeutung, die ihm nach dem Recht des anwendenden Staates zukommt, wenn der Zusammenhang dies erfordert und die zusta¨ndigen Beho¨rden sich nicht auf eine gemeinsame Auslegung geeinigt haben (Artikel 39 Absatz 3, Artikel 40 Absatz 3). (An interpretation of this convention is to be derived from the convention itself when applied by both contracting states. A term which is not defined in this convention however, has the meaning which it has according to the law of the applying state if the context so requires and if the competent authorities have not reached an agreement on a joint interpretation) (Art. 39 (3) and Art. 40 (3)). 38. Artikel 39 Konsultation (General consultations between fiscal authorities) (1) (comprehensive consultation options) (2) Die zusta¨ndigen Beho¨rden der Vertragsstaaten ko¨nnen im Wege der Konsultation Vereinbarungen treffen, um (a) ku¨nftige Zweifel zu kla¨ren, fu¨r welche Steuern das Abkommen nach seinem Artikel 2 Absatz 3 gilt; (b) festzulegen, wie die Begrenzungsbestimmungen des Abkommens, insbesondere der Artikel 10 bis 12, durchzufu¨hren sind. (3) Die zusta¨ndigen Beho¨rden der Vertragsstaaten ko¨nnen gemeinsam u¨ber allgemeine Regelungen beraten, um auf der Grundlage des Abkommens den Anspruch der Steuerpflichtigen auf abgestimmte Anwendung des Abkommens in beiden Staaten durch gemeinsame Auslegungen oder durch besondere Verfahren zu sichern. (The … authorities … can conduct joint consultations in order to secure the taxpayer’s right to a co-ordinated application of the convention in both states by way of joint interpretation or special procedures.)

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Artikel 40 Versta¨ndigung taxpayer)

(Direct conciliation between fiscal authorities initiated by

(1) Ist eine Person der Auffassung, daß Maßnahmen eines Vertragsstaats oder beider Vertragsstaaten fu¨r sie zu einer Besteuerung fu¨hren oder fu¨hren werden, die diesem Abkommen nicht entspricht, so kann sie unbeschadet der nach dem innerstaatlichen Recht dieser Staaten vorgesehenen Rechtsbehelfe ihren Fall der zusta¨ndigen Beho¨rde des Vertragsstaats, in dem sie ansa¨ssig ist, oder, sofern ihr Fall von Artikel 38 Absatz 1 erfaßt wird, der zusta¨ndigen Beho¨rde des Vertragsstaats unterbreiten, dessen Staatsangeho¨riger sie ist. (A person is entitled to refer his or her case to the authorities of his or her state of residence or nationality irrespective of national procedure if they think that measures taken by one or both contracting states will lead to a taxation that does not comply with this convention.) (2) Ha¨lt die zusta¨ndige Beho¨rde die Einwendung fu¨r begru¨ndet und ist sie selbst nicht in der Lage, eine befriedigende Lo¨sung herbeizufu¨hren, so wird sie sich bemu¨hen, den Fall durch Versta¨ndigung mit der zusta¨ndigen Beho¨rde des anderen Vertragsstaats so zu regeln, daß eine dem Abkommen nicht entsprechende Besteuerung vermieden wird. Die Versta¨ndigungsregelung ist ungeachtet der Fristen des innerstaatlichen Rechts der Vertragsstaaten durchzufu¨hren. (If the competent authority considers the compliant justified … they can seek an understanding with … the other contracting state, in order to resolve the case in such a way that a taxation that does not comply with this convention is avoided.). (Note the ‘negative’ formulation.) 39. I do not mean this in the sense published in the EU Green Chapter which aimed at removing obstacles to the internal market in the form of differences among MS contract laws which represents the translation of the need for a cross-border sales law into the possibilities conveyed onto the creators of CESL by the TFEU. 40. Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the current legal framework for the EU. 41. Art. 4 CESL Regulation Article 4 Cross-border contracts 1. The Common European Sales Law may be used for cross-border contracts. 2. For the purposes of this Regulation, a contract between traders is a cross-border contract if the parties have their habitual residence in different countries of which at least one is a Member State. 3. For the purposes of this Regulation, a contract between a trader and a consumer is a cross-border contract if: (a) either the address indicated by the consumer, the delivery address for goods or the billing address are located in a country other than the country of the trader’s habitual residence; and (b) at least one of these countries is a Member State … . 42. According to CESL’s Explanatory Memorandum, sections 1 and 3. 43. It was first codified in the Rome Convention and is now included in the Rome I Regulation, for example in Arts. 3 (3) and (4) and 6 (2). 44. The doctrine seems to be predominantly the concern of consumer and labour law. 45. Examples are evidenced by the work of trade associations, international chambers of commerce and arbitration centres around the world providing

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infrastructure effectively for international trade. In the sphere of non-state dispute settlement uniform law has already received a more elaborate treatment than in state adjudication and prevailing doctrine.

REFERENCES Briggs, A. (2008). Agreements on jurisdiction and choice of law. Oxford: Oxford Private International Law Series, OUP. Ferrari, F. (1998). Das Verha¨ltnis zwischen den Unidroit-Grundsa¨tzen und den allgemeinen Grundsa¨tzen internationaler Einheitsprivatrechtskonventionen. Juristenzeitung, 1, 9. Ferrari, F. (Ed.). (2008). The CISG and its impact on national legal systems. Munich: Sellier. Heidemann, M. (2007). Methodology of uniform contract law The UNIDROIT principles in international legal doctrine and practice. Berlin: Springer. Heidemann, M., & Knebel, A. (2010). Double taxation treaties: The autonomous interpretation method in German and English law; as demonstrated by the case of the silent partnership. Intertax, 38, 136 152. Sanchez-Lorenzo, S. A. (2013). Common European Sales Law: Some critical remarks. Journal of Private International Law, 5, 191 217. Schwenzer, I. (1998/1999). Specific performance and damages according to the 1994 UNIDROIT principles of international commercial contracts. European Journal of Law Reform, 1, 289 303. Whittaker, S. (2012). The proposed ‘Common European Sales Law’: Legal framework and the agreement of the parties. Modern Law Review, 75(4), 578 605.

PART II EMPIRICAL COMPARATIVE STUDIES

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CROSSING THE NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS TO EMERGING NATIONS Karen L. Biraimah and Agreement L. Jotia ABSTRACT This critical analysis explores issues linked to the development of sustainable study abroad programs in emerging nations, and the challenge of developing true partnerships between universities in the North and South. To this end the analysis: (1) develops a framework for analyzing the opportunities, challenges, and dilemmas of expanding study abroad programs in emerging nations; (2) asks how study abroad programs might be redesigned to become more beneficial to host institutions and communities, while providing more responsive and transformative learning experiences for students; and (3) examines the challenges facing universities from the North and South who wish to create collaborative partnerships linked to grants, research, and publications. Keywords: Study abroad programs; partnerships; emerging nations; Botswana; transformational education; teacher education

Comparative Sciences: Interdisciplinary Approaches International Perspectives on Education and Society, Volume 26, 125 151 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3679/doi:10.1108/S1479-367920140000026006

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INTRODUCTION Study abroad programs are commonplace. The airports and immigration lines are littered with an array of participants returning from programs of varying quality and vision. Establishing a sustainable and reciprocal study abroad program designed to enhance collaborate capacity building between universities from the North and South is quite another matter. To explore these issues this chapter (1) develops a framework for analyzing the opportunities, challenges, and dilemmas of expanding study abroad programs into emerging nations; (2) asks how these programs might be redesigned to become more beneficial to host institutions and communities, while providing more responsive and transformative learning experiences for students; and (3) examines the challenges facing universities from the North and South who wish to create collaborative partnerships linked to grants, research, and publications. To achieve these goals the critical analysis presented below analyzes the development of a collaborative relationship between the University of Central Florida (UCF) and the University of Botswana (UB) during a three-year grant funded by the US Department of State (2012 2015) and a 2011 Fulbright-Hays Groups Project Abroad. The chapter analyzes the development of this partnership, including the struggles experienced by faculty at both campuses who continue to work toward a more equitable relationship capable of enhancing the mission of both institutions. The first phase of this project is particularly relevant as it focuses on the initial steps, dialogues, perspectives, and actions of both institutions as they work through a host of preconceived notions on neocolonialism, the search for exotica, and the challenges of successfully operating within another’s “rules of engagement.” Data from 2011 and 2013 study abroad programs in Botswana are discussed.

IMPACTING EMERGING NATIONS AND THEIR UNIVERSITIES Chasing “Exotica” There has been a clarion call for the expansion of traditional study abroad programs to emerging nations. Moreover, it has been suggested that these initiatives be built upon concomitant programmatic growth on campus,

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rather than from a simplistic desire to boost enrollment by offering exotic study abroad opportunities. Clearly, few would negate the value of learning about, and experiencing life within emerging nations by expanding study abroad programs beyond the usual destinations of Paris, Madrid, or Rome. However, when contemplating the development of programs in emerging nations, it is critical to take into consideration the unique challenges these programs may have upon fragile economies, cultures, and ecosystems. While rich with potential rewards, travel to emerging nations can easily transition into “a kind of voyeurism in which privileged young Americans go to observe relative poverty in a developing country” (Woolf, 2006, p. 136). Woolf also posits that the current expansion of study abroad programs to nontraditional areas is not driven by an academic agenda (as these programs are not usually supported by academic courses focusing on developing nations or nontraditional language programs). Rather, Woolf believes that “The demand for growth in these areas and regions has been stimulated by a combination of the notion of the exotic as an attraction in itself with the missionary-like sense that … an American presence is an added value in developing nations. This is study abroad being constructed somewhere between the travel agency and the mission” (Woolf, 2006, p. 137).

Do No Harm Beyond the possibility that study abroad programs in emerging nations may be grounded in inappropriate or shallow philosophies are multiple potential consequences that may negatively impact fragile host communities. Not only is there the problem of participants flaunting their “first world” wealth and dominance over local communities (as well as students disrupting local classes with unacceptable demands and behaviors), but there are even greater threats to a host nation’s environment, economy, and cultures. To avoid these consequences, program directors should determine: (1) if the limited resources of universities in emerging nations will now be focused on the needs of study abroad students rather than on their own local students; (2) if demands on an emerging university’s infrastructure will create unnecessary challenges; and (3) if fees paid by first world students will temporarily benefit the host university financially, while encouraging these institutions to invest in human and physical resources based on an unreliable revenue source. Moreover, while “capacity building”

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is often taunted as a key outcome of study abroad programs in emerging nations, the “power relationships (based on inequitable wealth) may become a significant barrier to communication and immersion,” and may inhibit positive outcomes normally expected of these programs (Woolf, 2006, p. 142). Schroeder, Wood, Galiardi, and Koehn (2009) explored these challenges with their aptly named article, First, do no harm: Ideas for mitigating negative community impacts of short-term study abroad, and asked academics to consider the often “unexamined and unintended consequences for host communities” in emerging nations (p. 141). And, while these issues are often examined in literature critiquing tourism, study abroad programs may have the same, if not greater potential to negatively impact an emerging nation’s economy, society, and culture (see Archer, Cooper, & Ruhanen, 2005; McLaren, 2006). In particular, “It is possible that even more than most tourism, study abroad is ‘by its very nature … attracted to unique and fragile environments and societies and … in some cases the economic benefits [to host communities] may be offset by adverse and previously unmeasured environmental and social consequences’” (Archer et al., 2005, p. 79, quoted by Schroeder et al., 2009, p. 142).

Study Abroad Programs’ Potential Negative Impacts on Emerging Nations Therefore, before embarking on study abroad programs to nontraditional destinations, Schroeder et al. (2009) suggest that program designers examine potential problems including: (1) Limited Resource Allocation. Will the acquisition of students’ food, water, and housing impose shortages and hardships on the local inhabitants? (2) Extended Community Economic Inequalities. Does the economic impact of the program promote inequalities throughout the host community? For example, do only the “elites” benefit from homestays? (3) Increased Dependency. Does the proposed program contribute to the development of economic dependency on outsiders? (4) Displays of Conspicuous Consumption. Do patterns of student consumption contribute to local problems? For example, what is the effect of students bringing in expensive travel gear, laptops, and cell phones?

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(5) Culturally Offensive Behavior. Is student behavior culturally offensive to a host community, and can it produce anger, distress, or shock within that community? (6) Modeling Dangerous Addiction Behaviors. Does student smoking, drinking, or drug use negatively impact the community by introducing poor role models or addictions into the host community? (7) The Privileged Traveler. Do students promote a message of privilege and an obsession to do things “their way,” such as eating “our” food, or adhering to “our” personal schedules? (8) Stereotypical Notions. Are students prepared to understand the community they are visiting, or do they continue to internalize damaging stereotypes which include exotic images of the local population? Unfortunately, research suggests that few faculty leaders have considered these potential negative impacts on host communities. And, for those who did, preventative measures were usually limited to developing guidelines and penalties for excessive alcohol consumption. According to Schroeder et al. (2009), most program leaders assumed that any economic repercussions would be positive, and few had ever considered potential negative effects on their host communities. This chapter now focuses on the outcomes and impacts of two international programs on participants and their host nation, Botswana.

MODES OF INQUIRY/DATA SOURCES This study is built upon a systematic review of pertinent literature, and an analysis of experiences within a 2011 Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad in Botswana and a current three-year US Department of State Grant, Capacity Building Program for U.S. Undergraduate Study Abroad, awarded to UCF and UB in August 2012. Data were collected from agendas, meeting notes, and interviews designed to measure collaborative planning efforts, as well as multiple instruments completed by participants in both programs. The results of this study help program leadership more clearly understand factors that mediate the successful outcomes of this and future collaborative projects between the North and South. To assess the impact of study abroad programs in Botswana this study tapped participants’ knowledge of southern Africa, the Setswana language, and perspectives on cultural issues prior to orientation and at the conclusion of the programs. These two study abroad programs to Botswana

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included: (1) a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (June July 2011); and (2) a US Department of State study abroad program (May June 2013). There were 13 participants in the 2011 project: two faculty coordinators, six elementary, middle, and secondary teachers from high needs schools in the central Florida area, and five undergraduate and graduate education majors. There were 12 participants in the 2013 project: 2 faculty coordinators and 10 undergraduate education and sociology majors. (As coordinators administered the instruments, only teacher and student participants were included in this study.) The data were tested using univariate statistics such as frequency distributions and percentages; statistical procedures deemed appropriate for managing descriptive assumptions (one variable). In addition to these quantitative procedures a qualitative analysis of participant responses, highlighted by participant journal excerpts, was included to provide a clearer understanding of a program’s unique challenges and rewards. The results discussed below focus on the relationship between international experiences and participants’ knowledge base, professional growth, and perspectives regarding the rewards and challenges of their experience in Botswana. The chapter addresses the program’s attention to problematic issues including the potential negative impact on students and emerging nations and universities. It also assesses what might be done to ameliorate the negativity while encouraging positive and transformative study abroad programs in emerging nations.

Basic Knowledge Acquisition Perhaps the first benchmark for assessing the effects of a short-term international experience is an analysis of knowledge acquisition, which was captured through instruments designed to measure levels of participant knowledge of Botswana’s culture, history, and geography, and the Setswana language. The same questions were administered to project participants prior to orientation and at the end of each project. Results indicate that participants’ knowledge base increased after participation in the project, whether the result of individual study, organized group orientations, and/or in-country activities while in Botswana. The data in Table 1 indicate that participants nearly doubled their basic knowledge about Botswana and southern Africa in 2011 (from 54% correct prior to orientation to 93% correct after returning to the United States). Similar results were obtained in 2013 (from 48% correct prior to orientation to

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Table 1.

Basic Knowledge of Botswana and the Setswana Language. Knowledge of Botswana (%)

Setswana Language (%)

Botswana 2011 (N = 11) Pre-Departure Post-Project

54 93

15 55

Botswana 2013 (N = 10) Pre-Departure Post-Project

48 95

5 85

Note: Pre-Departure measures knowledge level prior to orientation; Post-Project measures knowledge level at the end of the study abroad program.

95% correct at the end of their program). A positive growth pattern also occurred with regard to participants’ basic knowledge of the Setswana language. In 2011 participants scored 15% correct on the Setswana exam prior to orientation and 55% correct after leaving Botswana. The 2013 participants scored 5% correct on the Setswana language test prior to orientation and 85% correct on their last day in Botswana. Certainly, if one were to measure the success of a study abroad experience by cognitive growth, then the investments of time, money, and energy in both Botswana programs appear to have been worthwhile. The data suggest participants improved their content knowledge and language skills in both Botswana programs when measured before departure and at the end of their program.

Participants’ Assessment of Cultural Awareness While a factual knowledge base is important, most of what was learned might have been acquired more cheaply through a few weekends of study. However, the greatest impact derived from study abroad programs may be the qualitative/affective aspects attained through extended immersion experiences within Botswana. To address this issue, participants were asked to respond to a series of statements regarding their attitudes and behaviors related to cultural awareness by indicating their level of agreement or disagreement. For example, participants were asked to indicate the level of agreement/ disagreement with the statement “I recognize my own cultural biases, and see issues from other viewpoints.” Participants completed this instrument prior to orientation and at the conclusion of the 2011 and 2013 programs.

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Though self-report has obvious limitations, a perusal of the data in Table 2 suggests that participants responded in a conscientious manner, with some items indicating significant positive growth over time, and others indicating a decline, which may suggest a new and more critical self-assessment of their cultural adaptation skills. The following discussion analyzes the percentage of participants who “Strongly Agreed” with various statements regarding cultural adaptation. Table 2 divides results into the following two groups: (1) strong positive agreement and/or increasingly positive agreement over time; and (2) weak positive responses and/or increasingly weak responses over time. (No item received a consistent pattern of disagreement or strong disagreement.) When the data are grouped by level of agreement, results highlight the impact of emerging nation study abroad programs on participants’ cultural perspectives. The statement receiving the strongest agreement from participants in both programs was “I have personal associations which reflect racial/ethnic openness,” with 82% of the 2011 participants in strong agreement after the program was completed (compared with 73% before orientation) and 70% Table 2. Statement

Participants’ Assessment of Their Cultural Awareness. Botswana 2011 (N = 11)

Botswana 2013 (N = 10)

Pre

Pre

Post

Strong positive response and/or increasingly positive 1. Personal associations reflect 73% (8) 82% (9) racial/ethnic openness 2. Encourage a diversity of values, 64% (7) 64% (7) lifestyles, and viewpoints 3. Prevent stereotypical thinking 73% (8) 64% (7) from influencing my expectations of students Category average 70% 70% Weak positive response and/or increasing weakness 4. I’m informed about international 46% (5) 46% (5) events 5. Recognize own cultural biases; see 64% (7) 45% (5) issues from other viewpoints 6. Comfortable speaking in language 18% (2) 18% (2) other than English Category average 42% 36%

Change

Post

Change

+9

50% (5) 70% (7)

+20

0

60% (6) 70% (7)

+10

−9

60% (6) 70% (7)

+10

57%

70%

0

60% (6) 30% (3)

−30

−19

80% (8) 50% (5)

−30

0

20% (2) 20% (2)

0

53%

33%

Note: Pre-Departure measures knowledge level prior to orientation; Post-Project measures knowledge level at the end of the study abroad program.

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of the 2013 participants in strong agreement at the completion of their program (compared with 50% before their orientation began). Conversely, it appears that study abroad programs were also linked to participants questioning the strength of previously held cultural attitudes. For participants in both Botswana study abroad programs, the issue causing the greatest concern focused on their ability to comfortably speak in the Setswana language. Though both groups experienced intensive, yet brief sessions on the Setswana language, their confidence did not increase over time. Only 18% of the 2011 group and 20% of the 2013 group “Strongly Agreed” with the notion that they were comfortable conversing in another’s language (both before and at the conclusion of their programs). While this result impacts future orientation content, it may also provide participants with greater empathy toward their future “English Language Learner” students. When each subgroup is averaged, the participants in both Botswana projects had similar perceptions regarding their level of cultural awareness. An average of 70% of participants who completed study abroad programs in Botswana “Strongly Agreed” with the perception that they exhibited dispositions supporting racial/ethnic openness, diversity, and the prevention of stereotyping activities. Conversely, after their experiences in Botswana, an average of 36% of the 2011 group and 33% of the 2013 group believed that they were informed regarding international events, were able to recognize their own cultural biases, and were comfortable speaking a language other than English.

Perspectives on the Quality of Participant Experiences Beyond these structured responses, participants also reflected upon their experience through an open-ended journaling format. Before orientation, and after completing their programs in Botswana, each participant in the 2011 and 2013 programs was asked to reflect upon the most rewarding and the most challenging experience(s). Results were tested using univariate statistics such as frequency distributions and percentages, and highlighted by participant journal excerpts designed to provide a clearer understanding of their program’s unique challenges and rewards. Participants’ Most Rewarding Experiences Participants’ responses regarding their most rewarding experiences were not surprising, though they did vary over time. At the conclusion of both programs, participants indicated that “Educators and Schools” provided the

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most rewarding experiences (73% in 2011 and 80% in 2013). The data in Table 3 also indicate that “Cross-Cultural Exchanges” remained one of their most rewarding experiences at the conclusion of their program for around half of all participants (45% of the 2011 participants and 50% of the 2013 participants). The following journal excerpts more clearly illustrate these perspectives. For example, before departure in 2011 one participant stated: “I believe the most rewarding experience will be to learn about the customs and culture of Botswana. Spending five weeks in a country that I know little about will be eye opening” (Pre-Departure, Participant #2, 2011). Another participant at the completion of the 2013 program said: “The most rewarding experience for me was meeting incredible students who are full of life and eager to learn. Their resilience is inspiring” (Post-Project, Participant #1, 2013). These results support the previously discussed conceptualizations regarding how study abroad programs help to enrich lives of participants, and suggest that these students no longer look upon the academic and intercultural world from a unidimensional perspective. The following section, while focusing on the most challenging situations experienced by participants in the two Botswana programs also suggests that participants perceived these challenges as valid preparation for future careers in diverse learning environments. Participants’ Most Challenging Experiences While research (Alfaro & Quezada, 2010; Merryfield, 1995; Phillion, Malewski, Sharma, & Wang, 2009) frequently touts the positive outcomes of study abroad, these programs, when based in emerging nations, can impact participants in significant and unintended negative ways, though Table 3. Most Rewarding Experience(s). Time Period

Cross-Cultural Exchanges

Geographic and Historical Sites

Educators and Schools

Group Friends

Botswana 2011 (N = 11) Pre-Departure 100% (11) Post-Project 45% (5)

9% (1) 9% (1)

82% (9) 73% (8)

9% (1) 9% (1)

Botswana 2013 (N = 10) Pre-Departure 50% (5) Post-Project 50% (5)

20% (2) 0% (0)

70% (7) 80% (8)

10% (1) 0% (0)

Note: Pre-Departure measures knowledge level prior to orientation; Post-Project measures knowledge level at the end of the study abroad program.

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past project reports may have omitted many of these concerns (see Schroeder et al., 2009). One study which did focus on the potentially negative impact was conducted by Koskinen and Tossavainen (2003) and suggested that some students participating in study abroad programs in emerging nations reported significant culture shock which could not be overcome, thus severely limiting the project’s potential for delivering a positive and transformative experience. This phenomenon was corroborated by Foronda and Belknap (2012) who believes that “The stress of language, culture, education, and housing inhibited students’ ability to participate and learn … Participants experienced an emotional journey comprised of fear, shock/surprise, frustration, and sympathy as opposed to empathy. No participant demonstrated transformation or a desire to take social action in the future” (p. 158). To assess the potential negative impact on participants of study abroad programs in emerging nations, students in both Botswana programs were asked to identify their most challenging experience. Before the 2011 group arrived in Botswana, 64% of the participants anticipated that “CrossCultural Exchanges” would be problematic, while 36% anticipated that overly ambitious “Lectures & Schedules” would be their greatest challenge (Table 4). For example, before departure in 2011 one participant commented that “I expect that the most difficult experience for me will be adjusting to the language … to be in an environment where I am totally immersed in this language will be a huge culture-shock for me” (Pre-Departure, Participant #11, 2011); while a pre-departure participant in 2013 said “I believe my most difficult experience will be learning and truly understanding the culture … My concern is doing something that may not be correct according to their culture” (Pre-Departure, Participant #5, 2013). At the Table 4. Time Period

Physical, Environment

Most Challenging Experience(s). Personal Relations

Cross-Cultural Exchanges

Lectures and Schedules

Educators and Schools

Botswana 2011 (N = 11) Pre-Departure 18% (2) Post-Project 36% (4)

18% (2) 55% (6)

64% (7) 18% (2)

36% (4) 45% (5)

0% (0) 0% (0)

Botswana 2013 (N = 10) Pre-Departure 30% (3) Post-Project 30% (3)

10% (1) 0% (0)

80% (8) 80% (8)

10% (1) 10% (1)

0% (0) 40% (4)

Note: Pre-Departure measures knowledge level prior to orientation; Post-Project measures knowledge level at the end of the study abroad program.

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conclusion of the project in 2011, tensions emanating between one project leader and participants persisted and appeared to increase over time. These concerns are reflected in the following participant comment: “The most difficult experience has been working with one co-coordinator who refused to engage in group activities (bonding) during car rides, dinners or down time” (Post-Project, Participant #3, 2011). Perceptions of the most challenging experience for participants in the 2013 program focused on “Cross-Cultural Exchanges,” with 80% of participants at orientation and at the conclusion of the program identifying this issue as being most problematic, while 30% indicated that “Physical/ Environment” issues were significant challenges both before and at the conclusion of the program in 2013. In addition to the concerns highlighted by both groups, it appears that the 2013 experiences in Remote Area Dweller (RAD) schools may have provided an additional challenge. Forty-percent of the 2013 participants at the conclusion of their program indicated that conditions within their assigned RAD school and village proved to be the most challenging. For example, excerpts from one participant’s journal in 2013 included the following statement: “The most difficult experience was witnessing the horrible conditions that some students must cope with in their boarding schools” (Post-Project, Participant #1, 2013). No participant during the 2011 or 2013 orientation anticipated that experiences in Botswana schools would become a significant challenge, nor did the 2011 participants at the conclusion of their program. This may have occurred because the 2011 and 2013 participants had markedly different school experiences. While the 2011 students only experienced brief visits to a variety of urban and suburban schools, the 2013 participants spent an extended period of time in RADs. Given these results, project leaders from both the United States and Botswana purposely included the more challenging experience in Botswana’s RAD schools and villages in the 2014 program. Finally, while many 2013 participants felt that their immersion in RAD schools were challenging, this factor did not keep participants from learning and growing from their experiences in Botswana (unlike earlier results reported by Koskinen & Tossavainen, 2003). Clearly, the 2013 participants faced multiple challenges, but those challenges helped to forge stronger individuals with a greater appreciation of the global village and a desire to help every child succeed. This spirit to build upon their experiences is reflected in the following student comment: “My most rewarding experience was being able to spend time in the RAD schools. Meeting those

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children has changed my life and how I perceive things. It has showed me how I need to be appreciative of what I have” (Post-Project, Participant #4, 2013).

FINDINGS: DEVELOPING MEANINGFUL STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS IN EMERGING NATIONS While it was not the purpose of this study to assign a value to international experiences, the results do suggest significant trends and outcomes that go beyond the parameters of most project reports. Quite clearly, participants’ knowledge increased, though much of the factual material might have been obtained without leaving home. However, it is within the qualitative/ affective domains that the most intriguing results occurred, and these may become key findings as we move toward the goal of creating globally minded individuals who are immersed in the histories, knowledge, values, language, and world views of diverse cultures. Such an exposure to complex and diverse communities enriches educators’ cross-cultural conceptualizations and the ability to reach and teach all students within diverse classrooms through culturally relevant methodologies and materials. Moreover, today’s global demographic changes compel academic institutions worldwide to train professionals to view education through perspectives that value multiple cultural experiences and ways of knowing and living. To this end, participants in both Botswana study abroad programs indicated that although they experienced numerous challenges, they also gained a greater understanding of educational realities that they expect will positively impact their professional careers. This reinforces Engstrom and Jones’ (2007) thesis that international education experiences not only expand students’ knowledge base through exposure to different cultures, but positively impact their roles as educators and their future propensity for problem solving. Study abroad programs also provide a controlled environment where participants can experience disempowerment through their minority status in another’s culture; a status which provides them with the skills and empathy needed to meet the challenges of diverse classrooms, while helping to diffuse stereotypical notions. Finally, the goal of study abroad programs in emerging nations should be to transform participants into engaged learners who may also serve as agents of positive social change when their service-learning activities reinforce and extend community goals. However, while these goals and

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perspectives are admirable, they are most likely to come to fruition as products of collaborative partnerships between institutions and communities in both home and host countries. The following discussion highlights factors that can either impede or sustain positive collaborative partnerships, with specific examples from the 2013 study abroad program in Botswana.

BUILDING UPON KNOWLEDGE OF EFFECTIVE STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS IN EMERGING NATIONS Directors of the 2011 and 2013 programs in Botswana reviewed programmatic outcomes with regard to their design and evolution, and have used these results to develop even more successful study abroad programs in the future.

Establishing a More Effective Study Abroad Programs Begins at Home The following suggestions are designed to guide the development of study abroad programs that have an increased capacity to provide a strong and transformational program for participants, while limiting the potential negative impact on emerging countries and universities: (1) Acknowledge Potential Problems. Institutions must seriously commit resources and personnel to evaluate and mitigate potential negative impacts of study abroad programs in emerging nations. Application: To this end, our 2013 planning team built upon the challenges experienced by participants in the 2011 program, and likewise, the 2014 and 2015 programs are building upon the experiences of former programs. For example, program directors for the 2013 and 2014 programs tried (not always successfully) to limit a day’s itinerary, to provide more extensive school experiences, and to prepare participants to engage in and value the cultural and educational aspects of Botswana. (2) Initiate Formal Institutional Review. Like an Institutional Review Board’s overview of contracts and grants, it is necessary to establish a mechanism for continual review of proposed, on-going, and completed study abroad programs. In particular, these institutional reviews should

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screen programmatic experiences for unintended negative impact on host communities, and include clear criteria to measure goal attainment, learning gains, and the quality of student involvement in nontraditional settings. Application: To facilitate this review process, UCF’s Office of International Studies has initiated a careful review of all study abroad programs, based on input from participants, and designed to provide an analysis of why problems occurred, and how to best resolve them in-country. In addition to this feedback, directors of the 2013, 2014, and 2015 programs have access to critical analyses of these study abroad programs from all stakeholders, including student participants and administrators and teachers from the three RAD school partners. (3) Promote Faculty Leaders’ Knowledge, Commitment, and Continuity. Study Abroad Program leaders should possess extensive knowledge of, and experience within the host community. They should also be aware of how their program may negatively impact host communities, and how to reduce or curtail such damage. Application: To achieve these ends, the current program includes a system for training faculty who are new to study abroad programs and/or to Botswana. Moreover, our program in Botswana continues to network with the same key UB and UCF faculty members that helped design our first program in 2011. We also continue to work together on Botswana’s “Adopt a School” initiative, with future study abroad programs slated to return annually to the same RAD schools visited during our first extended service-learning project in 2013. (4) Develop Meaningful Program Objectives and Activities in Collaboration with the Host Community. To develop study abroad programs with the greatest potential for success, it is imperative that programs infuse a comparative perspective that emphasizes commonalities and the shared human condition. Within each program objectives should also promote social responsibility while encouraging participants to become agents of positive social change. Application: UCF’s continuing partnership with the UB’s Faculty of Education facilitates productive involvement within the three RAD schools selected by UB in 2013. In short, UCF representatives are helping to ensure that their study abroad programs incorporate meaningful objectives and activities through continuous collaboration with local PTAs and Village Development Committees. (5) Provide Extensive Orientations that Build a Community of Learners. Orientations should ideally begin at least six months before

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departure, and should establish a community of learners with a shared commitment to respect their host communities. Participants must also clearly understand the purposes of the project while being informed about activities, experiences, and potential hardships. Application: Building upon our 2011 orientation scheme which included approximately 30 + hours of concentrated instruction and orientation activities, our 2013 orientation was spread over five months (January May) and included more direct participant involvement. This orientation was continued and expanded by our UB colleagues during participants’ first week in Botswana.

Developing Positive, Responsive, and Transformative Learning Experiences in Developing Nations Study abroad programs in emerging nations may provide a plethora of challenges, yet research and experience suggest a myriad of pathways that can transform them into more positive, responsive, and transformative experiences. This study now focuses on suggestions for developing meaningful study abroad programs in nontraditional locations, beginning with a discussion of the need for, and means to develop transformative experiences for participants, as well as for all stakeholders from the North and South. According to Foronda and Belknap (2012, p. 157), “Study abroad in low-income countries can be transformative because it has the potential to increase awareness of socioeconomic relations, structural oppression, and human connectedness.” However, opportunities often come with an equal share of potential negativity. To overcome these challenges, and to make the most of study abroad programs in emerging nations, some scholars (i.e., Foronda & Belknap, 2012; Schroeder et al., 2009) recommend various strategies to improve the quality of programs worldwide. These approaches are discussed below.

In-Country Actions to Create and Maintain Transformational Study Abroad Programs within Emerging Nations Once study abroad participants have arrived in-country, they should engage in positive learning activities designed to promote a more transformational perspective. To this end the authors suggest the following guidelines, with examples of their application in Botswana.

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(1) Emphasize Communication and Coping Skills. Not only should group leaders encourage an atmosphere of mutual trust, but they should also increase students’ connectivity by demonstrating ways to effectively communicate with host populations. Application: In the Botswana case, directors of the 2013 program provided homestay opportunities when possible within selected remote areas, and provided sustained service-learning experiences in all three RAD schools. As these locations provided a plethora of challenges, as well as opportunities, our UB “cultural interpreters” (mature UB students selected by the UB program directors) to assist program participants to better understand what they observed and experienced (particularly the challenging living conditions for RAD school students and a need to understand and cope with the many emotional and physical challenges program participants encountered). (2) Encourage Community Engagement, not Missionary Zeal. A real danger inherent within study abroad programs in emerging nations is misguided expectations linked to missionary zeal and a felt need to “do good.” Naı¨ ve students without proper orientation often see themselves in a role of saving a host culture from itself, a notion that impedes learning and positive growth for all stakeholders. Application: Working with our UB “cultural interpreters,” as well as each school’s PTA and Village Development Committee, participants engaged in activities managed by these committees. For example, 2013 participants brought over 500 pounds of donated clothing with them to their school sites. However, instead of assuming they knew best how to distribute this clothing, they deferred to their community and school leaders. One RAD school’s PTA clearly demonstrated a deep understanding of community needs and prioritized clothing distribution on the basis of multiple social, cultural, and economic factors, not necessarily understood by our students or group leaders. (3) Provide Opportunities for Meaningful Change in Small Doses. Participants of study abroad programs in emerging nations can be overwhelmed by the enormity of local challenges, such as high illiteracy rates or the lack of potable water. To move beyond feelings of helplessness, study abroad programs should be designed to allow participants to deal with a community issue or project in small, achievable segments. Application: While our participants could have been easily overcome and “swamped” by what they considered to be extremely difficult living and learning circumstances for students in their assigned RAD schools,

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they instead focused on a select number of students, getting to know them as individuals with dreams, challenges, and “stories to tell.” While our students had no power to transform a challenging education system or the harsh economic realities of many students in RAD schools, they did learn the value of sharing special moments with their students, whether it was helping them to read a book or joining them in a game of net ball. These small successes made all the difference to our participants, who otherwise might have been overcome with the enormity of conditions that most had never previously experienced. (4) Focus on Service-Learning Approaches. To be most effective and transformative, study abroad programs should focus on well-organized service-learning projects in appropriate community schools, institutions, or organizations. Application: Instead of dropping in and out of a multitude of schools (as experienced by participants in 2011), for example, the 2013 Botswana project had as its core a sustained service-learning project where students lived in one rural community and assisted within one school for an entire week. While program directors have expanded this experience in the 2014 and 2015 programs, even this brief immersion allowed our participants to become engaged in their students’ lives, to begin to understand the lived-cultures of their students, and to provide much needed tutoring, as opposed to simply engaging in multiple photo opportunities during brief school visits. (5) Provide Extensive Cultural Immersion Experiences. Moving beyond simplistic comparisons of “us versus them,” study abroad programs should encourage cultural immersion and homestays, incorporating the use of local languages whenever possible. Application: In Botswana, program participants studied the Setswana language and learned about the cultures of Botswana from faculty and “cultural informants” from UB, and from engaging in a “cultural village” experience located near the capital (a “cultural village” which has provided meaningful cross-cultural experiences for Government of Botswana guests and for US Peace Corps Volunteer Trainees). These steps helped prepare our students for their cultural immersion experience in three remote villages and schools. During this time they lived with teachers’ families whenever possible and engaged in community activities including Kgotlas (village meetings), funerals, feasts, and involvement in the daily life of village residents. Though their accommodations were better than the average living conditions within the villages (participants lived with teachers or in housing allocated for

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teachers), our students still learned about the benefits and challenges of solar power, gravity water tanks that periodically ran dry, and survival skills in communities without local grocery stores or fast-food restaurants. (6) Encourage Participant Reflections, Journaling, and Debriefings. Student participants must be given appropriate opportunities to “make meaning” of experiences within their host country, often through systematic and continuous journaling and debriefing sessions. Application: Even before departure for Botswana, participants began journaling and reflecting upon their anticipated experiences. This activity continued throughout the program, as students and program facilitators engaged in reflections and continuous debriefing sessions to help students better understand their experiences within Botswana.

EQUITABLE PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH UNIVERSITIES Unfortunately, even when universities from the North and South are cognizant of the challenges embedded within nontraditional study abroad programs, the path to developing a sustainable, quality program which positively impacts both partner universities is often obstructed by variable expectations and miscommunications. Adding to this conundrum are problems stemming from the host university’s need to meet increasing demands for access to higher education with limited infrastructure, insufficient funding, and a shortage of qualified faculty (Woolf, 2006). While opportunities from study abroad programs may provide a limited number of host institution faculty with extra income and opportunities to engage in research/publication activities with faculty from the home university in the North, it is questionable whether they provide a sustained, positive impact focused on the professional development of host university faculty or programs. Moreover, as discussed earlier, to attract hard currency revenues from abroad, emerging universities may find themselves functioning as little more than travel agents, requiring their academic and clerical staff to meet the needs of study abroad participants before attending to their own programmatic and student issues; all in hopes of attaining new, sustainable revenue sources. The following discussion provides a cautionary note to institutions considering a collaborative partnership. And while the authors of this chapter

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are convinced of the overall value of these partnerships, they are also cognizant of the significant challenges that impede progress toward this end.

EXTERNAL THREATS TO HOST UNIVERSITIES Strain on Infrastructure While short-term study abroad programs are normally scheduled during vacation periods at host institutions (which helps to reduce the strain on limited infrastructure such as dormitory and classroom space), greater consideration is needed when study abroad programs occur during normal academic sessions. For example: (1) Are the university’s broadband capabilities stressed by these added students; and (2) Are local students denied suitable accommodation if administrators prioritize housing for study abroad students in order to obtain higher fees?

Distracting Host University Faculty from Primary Academic Responsibilities Often the allure of additional salary for host institution faculty participating in study abroad programs can limit their engagement in normal and necessary teaching and academic duties, and given the usually high faculty/student ratios in many emerging universities, this can also negatively impact the quality of the host institution’s programs and instruction. And even when these study abroad programs occur during vacation periods, involved faculty have less time to devote to career advancement activities including research, publications, and grant proposal writing. Fortunately, these challenges can be mediated in two ways: (1) whenever possible, study abroad programs should be scheduled during a host university’s long vacation periods; and (2) programs should provide sustained opportunities for collaborative research and publication activities between home and host institution faculty. For example, the 2011 and 2013 projects in Botswana were scheduled during May, June, and July, months when most UB students were on vacation. Moreover, faculty from UCF and UB successfully engaged in numerous scholarly activities, resulting in joint paper presentations at the 2012 Comparative and International Society (CIES) annual conference in San Juan, the 2013 CIES conference in New

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Orleans, and a recently published journal article (Biraimah & Jotia, 2013) in the Journal of Studies in International Education.

MORE POTENTIAL STUMBLING BLOCKS TO RECIPROCITY AND COLLABORATION Beyond these logistical impediments however, remain numerous challenges to establishing a truly collegial, collaborative, and reciprocal partnership between institutions in the North and South. And while multiple grants and study abroad programs, such as the programs in Botswana, provide enticing possibilities for “capacity building” (as defined from a Northern perspective), the final impact may vary greatly from original expectations due to a plethora of issues linked to the “human condition,” which are discussed below.

The Challenges of Building a Consensus Document While grant Requests for Proposals (RFPs) may appear to provide clear direction and definition, proposal development and program implementation can produce an alternate reality. Due to heavy teaching and service loads, and a perceived lack of project ownership, faculty from the South may not identify initial proposal development as a key responsibility to the same degree as their colleagues from the North. For example, the UB faculty team did not engage in systematic critical editing of the grant narrative linked to our 2013 program, though they did provide succinct edits related to a description of their institution. Moreover, voiced disappointments regarding the lack of reciprocity once the proposal was funded (2012 2015) suggested that the UB team had envisioned a program which varied significantly from the final proposal, which strictly observed RFP guidelines. The Capacity Building Program for U.S. Undergraduate Study Abroad RFP clearly focused on the development of a study abroad program for American undergraduates, leaving no possibility for funding a reciprocal program for UB students. Though planning activities for a future reciprocal program were built into the final year of the grant, disappointment that UB students were not included in a significant and equitable manner remained. When UCF received notification from the US Department of

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State that the proposal was funded, it was necessary to resend the official RFP to the UB faculty to further clarify grant guidelines. It should be noted, however, that the UB team under the leadership of the Faculty of Education’s Dean agreed to fully honor the grant’s guidelines and their institutional responsibilities. Clearly, in hindsight it would have been advisable to remove the word “reciprocal” from the proposal’s title to avoid such misunderstandings. Moving beyond initial grant guidelines which focused on the development of study abroad programs for US students in Botswana, the UCF and UB teams amended the program to include two UB education majors (selected by the UB team), who would receive a stipend to serve as “cultural informants” for UCF program participants. These UB cultural informants were responsible for mediating the experiences of the UCF participants, both during orientation sessions held at UB, and later in extended service-learning experiences in RAD primary schools. To further ameliorate this lack of true reciprocity, one member of UCF’s team offered his home to two UB education majors once they arrive in the United States (assuming UCF’s student social service clubs could cover the cost of the students’ airline tickets through numerous fundraising events). While the UCF team realized that this arrangement did not reflect equitable reciprocity, they did hope that it would serve to demonstrate “good faith” with regard to a desire to develop a truly reciprocal program. It should be noted that both teams continue to search for grants and foundation funding opportunities that may help provide a more balanced, reciprocal study abroad program, though they acknowledge that most nationally funded grants focus on programs designed to enrich study abroad experiences for their own citizens/students.

Different Perceptions of “Adequate” Preplanning In October 2012 the UCF team arrived in Botswana with an extensive agenda for the first formal planning session (previously shared with UB faculty for editing and input). Nonetheless, conceptualizations regarding key issues to be discussed remained varied. While extensive planning time had been identified well before UCF faculty arrived in Botswana, the actually “time on task” shrunk from an anticipated week of detailed discussions to more infrequent and briefer sessions where only basic program implementation was addressed. While key program decisions were reached during these initial meetings, more “detail issues” such as orientation

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schedules, academic agendas, and the future development of a team-taught online course were neglected. Clearly, the “agenda,” as envisioned by UCF’s team had been transformed and minimalized, with only the most essential decisions reached during this on-sight planning trip. In reflection, however, UCF probably expected too much too soon, while the UB team seemed to believe that all necessary initial decisions had been reached. It should be added, however, that at times the UCF team simply did not understand the cultural ramifications and approaches necessary to secure a partnership with multiple RAD schools. As it was later explained to the UCF team, our Botswana counterparts (who were knowledgeable about Americans desire for rapid results) insisted that negotiations of this nature required the personal touch which translated into multiple, long, and relatively uncomfortable road trips to these remote sites by our UB colleagues in order to secure the desired agreements. A clear “lesson learned” by UCF team members was that cultural accommodations were necessary at all levels to make study abroad programs successful.

Varying Perspectives on Timeliness and Detailed Planning While a neutral middle-ground with regard to priorities and timeliness would have facilitated planning, this was perhaps an unattainable goal given the differing perspectives on what constituted prioritized issues and appropriate time lines. And even though many faculty members from emerging universities have extensive experiences in, and often terminal degrees from institutions in the North, their counterparts should not assume that faculty teams from the North and South “are on the same page.” Unfortunately, this difference in acceptable levels of detailed planning persisted after the UCF team returned to Florida, and continued to cause misunderstandings and angst on both sides of the Atlantic. A case in point was the development of extended immersion experiences in RAD communities which demonstrated the divergent perceptions and expectations of faculty from UCF and UB. From initial planning sessions held at UB in October 2012, it was agreed that students and faculty would be divided between two RAD schools. However, UB unilaterally expanded these two sites to three, without consultation with their American colleagues, with the UCF team finding out about this change through a brief email listing the names of three schools. When UCF’s project manager pressed for the schools’ locations, she was informed that the school’s name was also the

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community’s name (which turned out to be perfectly true, though UCF’s search engines could not locate two of the three communities). Pleas for additional information regarding the size of the communities and their capacity to house participants in homestays and/or public lodging (key data that would drive a final budget) remained unanswered well into the new year. Clearly, until all locations were identified, it would be impossible to develop a final budget which in turn would dictate the length of the final study abroad program, itineraries, and international airline reservations. Clearly, the high level of angst felt by UCF team members was not necessarily experienced by their UB counterparts, who seemed to feel that an acceptable level of progress and preplanning had been attained.

FINANCIAL HURDLES US Government Grants and Perceived Status Differentiation Though universities in the South may have a share of the budget, US federal grant requirements usually stipulate that an American institution controls the budget, clearly leaving their “partners” in dependent roles. In this case, UB was included in the development of grant narratives and budgets, but UCF remained the “lead institution.” Moreover, as substantial amounts of funding came directly from participant fees, financial controls fell even more solidly into UCF’s hands. While UB was allocated funds through a mutually agreed upon subcontract (covering local expenses such as dormitories, guides, and faculty honorariums), the reimbursable nature of this grant precluded UB from managing substantial portions of the grant’s budget (and from the benefits of lucrative overhead revenues). For example, our current grant from the US Department of State was initially designed for most expenditures, except international airfares, to occur within Botswana. Yet UB’s subcontract accounted for only 11% of total federal funds, as a lack of sufficient cash reserves kept them from a greater share of the grant’s 26% overhead rate; a significant revenue which then goes to UCF. The old adage, “it takes money to make money” appears to apply in this instance. Dueling Accountants Even when grant funds have been allocated in an equitable manner, other factors can keep “partner” universities on unequal terms, or mired in

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complex and competing accounting procedures. In most cases, universities from both the North and the South have well established, yet often very different accounting and auditing procedures, and are rarely allowed by their institutions to deviate from these established guidelines. For example, there are often significant differences regarding what constitutes sufficient “due diligence” with regard to receipts, currency conversions, and auditors’ expectations. And these varied accounting procedures can easily translate into thousands of US dollars gained or lost by the respective institutions. For example, the designation of exchange rates, as well as the official day for the exchange rate to be calculated, significantly impacted our budget’s “bottom line” by several thousand US dollars.

CONCLUDING COMMENTS Globalization dictates that institutions from the North and South forge harmonious and symbiotic socioeconomic and political relationships. It is not the purpose of this study to judge the quality and effectiveness of UCF’s partnership with UB. However, the study’s results do help identify imbedded critical attitudes and perspectives that, if left unresolved, have the potential to significantly weaken even the most promising collaborative projects designed to bridge the North-South divide. Thus, to develop productive relationships that last, there is a need to operationalize effective approaches able to analyze opportunities, challenges, and dilemmas affecting study abroad programs in emerging nations. Clearly, to develop a workable consensus, there is an absolute need to have continuous formal institutional reviews which involve all program stakeholders. It is also essential that mechanisms designed to reach out to communities involved in the project be enhanced. This helps nurture the development of longterm commitments between institutions and communities which leads to a more enriching and meaningful partnership where all parties benefit. North-South collaborative engagements could also be improved through the design of programs that are more beneficial to the host institutions and communities, as these provide the platform for transformative learning experiences. Clearly, effective study abroad programs should consider emphasizing improved communication and coping skills for all participants. There is also a need for institutions from the North to eradicate any “missionary zeal” embedded within their programs, as they are not messiahs who can liberate the South from its assumed miseries. Rather,

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effective programs should be created through the formulation of quality service-learning projects which also encompass meaningful cultural immersion experiences. Such service-learning initiatives should be continuously documented through participant journaling, daily reflections, and frequent debriefings. Finally, in order to avoid situations where institutions from the South appear as second class partners, there ought to be clear and mutually agreed upon guidelines regarding the development, management, and evaluation of project proposals, budgets, and MOUs. Unfortunately, in most cases, institutions from the North assume positions of control over their “partners” from the South because they are in control of most, if not all project funding. Such imbalances compromise the goal of capacity building, a key element in North-South collaborative relationships. The need to develop and improve human resources cannot be compromised if institutions from the North and South are to reap the rewards of a strong, equitable, and truly collaborative partnership. If globalization is to be harnessed and controlled for the greater good, then it may be necessary to reconceptualize the strategies and approaches within North-South partnerships. A perfect place to enhance this process may be with study abroad programs in emerging nations, conceived and controlled by collaborative partnerships which truly recognize the unique qualities and strengths of all stakeholders.

REFERENCES Alfaro, C., & Quezada, R. L. (2010). International teacher professional development: Teacher reflections of authentic teaching and learning experiences. Teaching Education, 21(1), 47 59. Archer, B., Cooper, C., & Ruhanen, L. (2005). The positive and negative impacts of tourism. In W. F. Theobald (Ed.), Global tourism (pp. 79 102). New York, NY: Elsevier. Biraimah, K. L., & Jotia, A. L. (2013). The longitudinal effects of study abroad programs on teachers’ content knowledge and perspectives: Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad in Botswana and Southeast Asia. Journal of Studies in International Education, 17(4), 433 454. Retrieved from http://jsi.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/11/06/102831531 2464378. Accessed on November 15, 2012. Engstrom, D., & Jones, L. (2007). A broadened horizon: The value of international social work internships. Social Work Education, 26(2), 136 150. Foronda, C., & Belknap, R. A. (2012). Transformative learning through study abroad in lowincome countries. Nurse Educator, 37(4), 157 161. Koskinen, L., & Tossavainen, K. (2003). Intercultural nursing. Benefits/problems of enhancing students’ intercultural competence. British Journal of Nursing, 12(6), 369 377. McLaren, D. (2006). Rethinking tourism and ecotravel. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press.

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Merryfield, M. M. (1995). Institutionalizing cross-cultural experiences and international expertise in teacher education: The development and potential of a global education PDS network. Journal of Teacher Education, 46(1), 19 27. Phillion, J., Malewski, E. L., Sharma, S., & Wang, Y. (2009). Reimagining the curriculum: Future teachers and study abroad. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 18, 323 339. Schroeder, K., Wood, C., Galiardi, S., & Koehn, J. (2009). First, do no harm: Ideas for mitigating negative community impacts of short-term study abroad. Journal of Geography, 108, 141 147. Woolf, M. (2006). Come and see the poor people: The pursuit of exotica. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 13, 135 146.

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HIGHER EDUCATION AND SOCIAL TRUST: A EUROPEAN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE Pepka A. Boyadjieva and Petya I. Ilieva-Trichkova ABSTRACT The chapter focuses on how higher education (HE) influences the construction of social trust. Social trust is defined as one of the most important subjective aspect of people’s well-being. The analysis refers to impersonal trust and institutional trust, and uses various indicators for measuring the two, such as generalized trust, generalized fairness, trust in parliament, and trust in the legal system. The study covers 19 European countries and explores the problem at both aggregate and individual level. It draws on data from the European Social Survey (2006 2010), applying descriptive statistics and multilevel modeling for the analysis of data. The chapter argues that the higher the educational level of people is, the more trustful they are. Our findings clearly show that, at the individual level, HE influences positively the degrees of both impersonal and institutional trust. The results also suggest that the relationship between HE and trust differs substantially across European countries. As regards impersonal trust, the impact of HE is stronger in countries where people without HE have lower average levels of

Comparative Sciences: Interdisciplinary Approaches International Perspectives on Education and Society, Volume 26, 153 187 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3679/doi:10.1108/S1479-367920140000026007

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impersonal trust. However, with respect to institutional trust, HE tends to have a strong positive impact in countries with high levels of institutional trust among people without HE. Furthermore, both impersonal and institutional trust among HE graduates is greater in countries with full democracy than in those with a flawed democracy. This fact raises once again the question whether social trust is a characteristic of individuals or of social systems. Keywords: Higher education; generalized trust; generalized fairness; institutional trust; well-being; democracy

INTRODUCTION At European level it is acknowledged that “the broad mission of education and training encompasses objectives such as active citizenship, personal development, and well-being” (European Commission, 2012). As far as higher education (HE) is concerned, within the Bologna Process framework it is recognized that HE “has a key role to play if we are to successfully meet the challenges we face and if we are to promote the cultural and social development of our societies” (Leuven Communique´, 2009). More specifically, HE has recently been defined as “an important part of the solution to our current difficulties” (Bucharest Communique´, 2012). In addition, there is no doubt that higher education institutions (HEIs) should remain future-oriented; this means that, regardless of the concrete social situation, they have to fulfill additional purposes, to go beyond “our current difficulties.” Since the beginning of the present century, human development and the well-being of nations have become widely discussed issues. As part of this research agenda, studies on the influence of HE on various dimensions of national and individual well-being have also gained attention. This chapter aims to contribute to the ongoing debate concerning the importance of HE for subjective national and individual well-being. In particular, it focuses on how HE influences the construction of social trust, at both aggregate and individual levels. More concretely, the chapter addresses the following research question: How does HE attainment influence the level of impersonal and institutional trust in different countries? This analysis follows a comparative perspective and is based on data from the European Social Survey (ESS, 2006 2010) for 19 countries.

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The chapter proceeds as follows. First, we present our theoretical understanding of trust and refer to relevant literature. Then, we describe the data, variables, and methods that we use. Next, we present our findings. The final section of the chapter offers some concluding remarks and discussion.

TRUST AS AN INDICATOR OF WELL-BEING From the beginning of 1990s, the concept of trust has been a heated topic and one of the leading paradigms used to explain the development of contemporary societies (Lane & Bachmann, 1998; Misztal, 1996; Moellering, 2001; Seligman, 1997; Sztompka, 1999). The literature on trust is not only quickly growing,1 but is characterized by an impressive diversity of theoretical perspectives and often by contradictory empirical data adduced to the topic. At the same time research on well-being has been characterized by the use of different approaches coming from a wide range of disciplines and leading to different definitions of well-being (Diener, 2009; Dodge, Daly, Huyton, & Sanders, 2012; Tilkidjiev, 2010, 2011). We share the view that well-being is a dynamic and complex phenomenon possessing both objective and subjective aspects. In this context we claim that trust is one of the most important subjective aspects of people’s well-being. It is the invisible axis of every society because without the general trust that people have in one another, society itself would disintegrate (Boyadjieva, 2009; Simmel, 1990, pp. 177 178). It is also seen as the key to making democracy work (Putnam, 1993) and crucial to overcoming the growing social vulnerability within societies, that is seen as resulting from social inequalities (Misztal, 2011). The levels of trust in a given society are socially constructed and could be regarded as an important component of its identity. We define trust as a strategy for dealing with insecurity, eventualities, and uncontrollability in social milieus. As a strategy, trust is based on positive expectations regarding the actions and attitudes of other people (Giddens, 1990, pp. 29 36; Luhmann, 1979, pp. 10 24; Sztompka, 1999, pp. 25 26). Thus, trust is the individual’s expectation that another individual or group is likely, at worst, not to do you harm, knowingly or willingly, and at best, to act in your interest (Delhey & Newton, 2005; Gambetta, 1990, p. 78; Hardin, 2002; Huang, Maassen van den Brink, & Groot, 2011; Misztal, 1996, p. 217; Warren, 1999).

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In our research, we focus on impersonal trust, trust in generalized others, that is, on impersonal trust between random people. This form of trust differs substantially from personal trust (trust in relatives and friends) insofar as it extends to people about whom the trusting party has no direct information (Delhey & Newton, 2005; Paxton, 2007). In addition, we differentiate between impersonal and institutional trust. Institutional trust captures trust in abstract social objects, such as the social institutions that are essential for the functioning of society and for establishing social order. The relevant literature contains various theories regarding the determinants of social trust and many conflicting empirical findings from crossnational research or even from within one and the same country. Delhey and Newton (2003) distinguish two broad schools of thought relevant to trust. The first of these argues that trust is a feature pertaining to individual persons and associated with individual characteristics, which are either core personality traits, or individual social and demographic features, such as class, education, income, age, and gender. According to the second view, social trust pertains not to individuals but to social systems. In this perspective, six theories of the origin of trust are tested empirically. One of these theories refers to individual success, well-being, and anxiety. Proponents of this approach argue that education is closely related to, and a major cause of, success and well-being in life, the latter being more closely associated with trust. Survey data from different countries show that there is a strong association between trust and education, and indicate that high levels of education result in high levels of generalized trust (Inglehart, 1999; Rothstein & Uslaner, 2005; You, 2012). A paper based on data pertaining to a British cohort from the National Child Development Study reveals that “a college education increases the probability of trusting generalized others by about 16 percent of its standard deviation” (Huang et al., 2011). Data from Russia show that, at the individual level, education is the main predictor of trust every additional year of education increases by 5 percent the probability that a positive answer would be given to the trust question (Natkhov, 2011). Huang, Maassen van den Brink, and Groot (2009) conducted a meta-analysis on 154 estimates of the education effects on social trust, drawn from 28 empirical studies; the authors found that one additional year of schooling increased individual social trust by 4.6 percent of its standard deviation. However, some other authors, surprisingly and contrary to expectation, find little support for the claim that the educated are more trusting. Data from Greece show that university students exhibit low

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levels of trust (Papanis & Roumeliotou, 2007). According to Delhey and Newton (2003, p. 111) education is a significant predictor of trust in only two (out of seven) countries studied (Hungary and Switzerland). This could indicate that the effect of education on the level of trust people express vary from country to country. Thus, the results from a recent study suggest that the strength of the association between education and levels of trust depends on the context of intergroup relations and, more specifically, that the “education gap” in levels of trust differs significantly across countries in Europe (Borgonovi, 2012, p. 163). The same study reveals that the association between education and levels of trust is stronger in cases of high income inequalities and religious diversity, and that this association does not differ according to ethnic diversity. It has been discussed in relevant literature that the countries with different levels of trust have particular characteristics. One explanation of the differences is related to the varying level of homogeneity of the population. Thus, high-trust countries are characterized by ethnic homogeneity, Protestant religious traditions, good government, wealth (measured by GDP per capita), and income equality (Delhey & Newton, 2005). However, the homogeneity explanation has been challenged by You (2012), who provides evidence that the cross-national variations in social trust can be better explained by fairness, that is, fair procedural rules (democracy), fair administration of rules (freedom from corruption), and fair income distribution (relatively equal but also unskewed). You’s study ascertains that trust tends to decline with partial democratization, but tends to increase in more fully consolidated democracies. Furthermore, this research shows that democracy has a negative effect on social trust in the short run but a positive one in the long run. Another study suggests that the relationship between social trust and democracy is a reciprocal one (Paxton, 2002). Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, no study has yet tested whether democracy mediates the association between education and social trust. The search for such a correlation would be in line with Delhey and Newton’s suggestion (2003, p. 114) “that future research on generalised social trust might do better to pay less attention to individual variations in trust within countries, and more to cross-national comparisons … (and) that the next step in research might deploy a range of national variables measuring income and income distribution, democratic development, social cleavages and conflict, and historical experience.” Taking into account these theoretical considerations and empirical results, our main hypothesis is that the higher people’s educational level is, the more trustful they are (H1). HE graduates will express higher levels of

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impersonal and institutional trust than people with a lower educational level. However, we also expect that the relative impact of HE on impersonal and institutional trust will vary across different societies that have low or high trust levels among the population which is without HE, being lower in high-trust societies (H2). According to a recent study carried out by The Economist Intelligence Unit (2012), countries worldwide fall into four types of democracy regimes: full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regimes, and authoritarian regimes. Based on this typology we attempt to ascertain to what extent the variation of trust among HE graduates may be due to differences between countries, and we seek to explain these differences. We hypothesize that the level of democratic development of the respective country in which HE graduates live is one of the main determinants in explaining trust level differences between different countries. More specifically, we expect that both impersonal and institutional trust of HE graduates will prove higher in countries with full democracy than in countries with a flawed democracy (H3).

DATA, VARIABLES, AND METHODS Data Our hypotheses are tested on the basis of data from the ESS. This choice of data source is appropriate for several reasons. First, the survey provides ample data specifically on the topic of trust. Second, it covers a wide range of European countries, and this allows exploring the question in a broader comparative perspective. Third, the data are representative for the populations of the surveyed countries. More specifically, they are representative for all persons aged 15 and over residing in private households, regardless of their nationality, citizenship, language, or legal status. Last but not least, the data are of very high quality and regularly collected every two years. The analysis is based on data for the following 19 countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. We include all countries which participated in the last three rounds of the ESS (2006 2010) and for which we found sufficient comparative data relevant to their characteristics. It was important to use data from at least three rounds of the survey, as this

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enabled obtaining robust estimates regarding the trust indicator among HE graduates. The countries that fall within our sample differ in several respects: (1) as regards democracy development: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland are stable (full) democracies, whereas postcommunist countries (Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia) are still on the way from totalitarian regimes to democracy and could be defined as flawed democracies (Democracy Index, 2012)2; (2) market regimes: some of the countries follow a dependent market economy model (Hungary, Poland, Slovakia); others, a coordinated market economy model (Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland), or liberal model (Slovenia) (No¨lke & Vliegenthart, 2009; Saar & Ure, 2013); (3) educational systems: among the countries studied, Switzerland and Slovenia have the most stratified educational systems (Allmendinger, 1989; Saar & Ure, 2013); (4) the fairness of HE systems: Denmark, Slovenia, Sweden, and Finland are defined as socially inclusive systems while Romania, Slovakia, and Bulgaria are placed among the socially exclusive systems (Eurydice network, 2012, p. 78). Last but not least, some of the countries are members of the European Union (EU) and others (Switzerland and Norway) are not. In seeking the origins of social trust, Delhey and Newton (2003) have used data for only seven countries, but in predicting global patterns in the cross-national levels of social trust, they have adduced data from 60 countries (Delhey & Newton, 2005). We believe that by covering approximately half of all European countries, we can explore the problem in a comparative European perspective that goes beyond the scope of the EU states.

Aggregate Levels of Trust To test our first hypothesis, we use two indicators for measuring impersonal trust. The first one is reflected in the question: “Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted, or that you can’t be too careful in dealing with people?” The answers are given on an 11-point scale, where 0 means you can’t be too careful and 10 means that most people can be trusted. We call this indicator “generalized trust” (Most people can be trusted or you can’t be too careful). The second indicator is based on the question: “Do you think that most people would try to take advantage of you if they got the chance, or would they try to be fair?” The answers are again given on an 11-point scale, where 0 means most people would take advantage of you and 10 means

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most people would be fair. We call this indicator “generalized fairness” (Most people try to take advantage of you, or try to be fair). We measure trust in social institutions (institutional trust) with the following question: “Please tell me on a score of 0 10 how much you personally trust each of the institutions, where 0 means you do not trust an institution at all, and 10 means you have complete trust.” We report data revealing trust in two institutions the parliament and the legal system. We have calculated the country means for all four indicators of trust by educational level for all 19 countries. For measuring the educational level we have used three categories, ranging from low to university-level education. More specifically, low education refers to levels 0 2 of the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 1997; medium to ISCED 3 4 and higher to ISCED 5 6.

Statistical Models and Variables We used multilevel models to test our second and third hypotheses. These models are useful in handling clustered data (see Rabe-Hesketh & Skrondal, 2012). The idea behind is that by taking into account the clustering we could obtain more correctly estimated standard errors. They also allow decomposing the total variance within the response variable (in our case different types of social trust) into variance components specifically, between-cluster variance and within-cluster variance. Furthermore, they allow simultaneous modelling of individual-level (level 1) and cluster-level (level 2) characteristics. Last but not least, they are more parsimonious in comparison to the ordinary least squares regressions. First, we estimated a simple random-coefficient model to see if the relative impact of HE on impersonal and institutional trust would vary across European societies. This type of model allows both random intercepts and random slopes for each cluster in the dataset. More specifically, the random slope allows the effect of the covariates (in our case a dummy variable indicating if the person has a tertiary degree or not) to vary between clusters (in our case, 19 countries). In other words, we allowed the influence of HE on the level of trust to vary across countries. Second, we estimated a random-intercept model with covariates for tertiary graduates alone, in order to see if impersonal and institutional types of trust of HE graduates are higher in countries with full democracy compared with countries with a flawed democracy. Our goal was to

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ascertain if the level of democracy of the country could be defined as one of the determinants for the level of trust of HE graduates. Our key explanatory variable was the type of democracy of the country. Following The Economist Intelligence Unit (2012) classification, we may group these 19 European countries within two democracy regimes: full and flawed democracy. Eight of the countries have flawed democracy features: Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, France Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The other 11 countries are in the group of full democracies. For the sake of robustness, we included a number of control variables at both individual and country levels. Specifically, we included more covariates on individual level such as gender, age, social background, if a person belongs to a minority/ethnic group, if the respondent was involved in paid work in the last 7 days, and if the respondent experiences any difficulty in copying with present income on household level. All individual-level covariates enter in the models as dummy variables. Delhey and Newton (2005) provide evidence that generalized trust is stronger in societies with lowerincome inequalities and with higher levels of wealth. Hence, we decided that it was worth including an indicator for income inequalities (Gini coefficient3) as a control variable at country level. The bivariate correlation between the Gini index and the type of democracy is very weak and insignificant. Thus, by including this index as a control variable, we do not violate the assumption for multicollinearity in regression analysis. Descriptive statistics of the individual- and country-level variables and their correlations with individual-level generalized trust are presented in the Appendix (Table A1).

RESULTS Do More Educated People Trust More? We begin testing our hypotheses with a detailed look at the mean scores on generalized trust of respondents aged 25 64 for all 19 countries. Fig. 1 shows the scores on generalized trust, which is our first indicator for impersonal trust, for all 19 countries. The analysis of the mean scores on generalized trust reveals that the countries differ tremendously on this indicator. Thus, among all countries, Bulgaria is the one with the lowest mean score of generalized trust, whereas the highest mean score is registered in Denmark.

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10 9 8 6,44 6,5

7 6

5,27 5,35 4,88 5,05 5,06

5 4

3,44

3,8

5,54

6,8

7,05

5,78 5,95

4,32 4,33 4,42 4,05 4,12

3 2 1 0 BG PT SI PL HU SK FR DE BE ES GB IE EE CH NL SE FI NO DK

Fig. 1. Generalized Trust in 19 Countries (Mean Values), All People Aged 25 64. Source: ESS (2006 2010, own calculations), weighted data (dweight). Scale: from 0 you can’t be too careful to 10 most people can be trusted; no. of observations: 70,125.

In general, countries from Central and Eastern Europe are low-trust societies, whereas North European countries could be defined as high-trust societies. Regarding the distribution of trust scores by educational level, we see that in all countries people with an HE degree are more trusting, at aggregate level, than people with lower levels of education (Fig. 2). However, the differences in the mean trust scores among groups with different levels of education vary across countries. Thus, the difference in the mean trust scores between low educated people and highly qualified people in Slovenia is very large whereas in other countries such as Bulgaria, it is very small. Regarding the second indicator of impersonal trust, generalized fairness, we observe that its levels are slightly higher than the levels of generalized trust. Once more, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe are among those with the lowest mean scores on generalized fairness. Bulgaria is the country with the lowest mean score of all on generalized fairness, whereas Denmark is the country with the highest. Similarly to the case of generalized trust, people with HE degrees have higher mean scores regarding generalized fairness in comparison with lower-educated people (Fig. 3). In contrast with impersonal trust, the differences in the levels of trust in institutions between countries are much bigger. Despite this, the results for trust in two institutions the country’s parliament and its legal system show that the mean scores of institutional trust follow the same patterns as

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Low

Medium

Higher

9 8 7 6 5 4 3

7,5 7,14 6,78 6,93 6,52 6,21 6,03 5,79 6,11 5,45

6,3

5,95 5,5 5,52 5,63 5,64 5,64 5,12 5,13 5,04 5,07 5,05 4,88 4,99 5,09 4,89 4,75 4,51 4,38 4,23 3,92 3,9 3,6 3,77 3,77 3,37 3,15 3,62

2 1 0 BG PT SK PL HU SI FR DE ES BE GB IE EE CH NL FI SE NO DK

Fig. 2. Generalized Trust in 19 Countries by Educational Level (Mean Values), People Aged 25 64. Source: ESS (2006 2010, own calculations), weighted data (dweight). Scale: from 0 you can’t be too careful to 10 most people can be trusted; no. of observations: 69,876.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Low

Medium

Higher

7,59 7,07 7,08 7,22 6,88 6,78 6,8 6,5 6,32 6,45 6,21 5,89 6,04 6,14 6,15 6,17 5,87 5,98 5,46 5,71 5,52 5,59 5,22 5,29 5,41 5,45 5,18 5,24 5,21 5,15 5,23 4,83 4,69 4,44 4,09 4,01 4,24 4,29

BG SK HU PL SI PT ES GB EE IE FR BE DE CH NL SE FI NO DK

Fig. 3. Generalized Fairness in 19 Countries, by Educational Level (Mean Values), People Aged 25 64. Source: ESS (2006 2010, own calculations), weighted data (dweight). Scale: from 0 most people try to take advantage of me to 10 most people try to be fair; no. of observations: 69,658.

those registered in respect to generalized trust and fairness. It seems that the Central and Eastern European countries not only have the lowest mean scores on impersonal trust but also the lowest mean scores of trust in the respective country’s parliament.

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Low

Medium

Higher

6,71 6,33 6,54 6,53 6,06 5,49 5,49 5,23 5,06 4,96 5,02 5,05 4,84 4,77 4,98 4,6 4,48 4,54 4,68 4,3 4 3,873,72 3,93 4,06 3,79 3,54 3,81 3,78 3,52 3,21 3,49 3,4 3,07 2,68 2,39 2,19 6

BG PL SK HU PT IE

SI EE GB DE FR ES BE NL CH FI NO SE DK

Fig. 4. Trust in Country’s Parliament in 19 Countries by Educational Level (Mean Values), People Aged 25 64. Source: ESS (2006 2010, own calculations), weighted data (dweight). Scale: from 0 no trust at all to 10 complete trust; no. of observations: 68,594.

The degree of trust in the country’s parliament also differs by educational level. Thus, in all countries but Slovakia, people with an HE degree have greater trust in their country’s parliament than people with a lesser education level (Fig. 4). Regarding the second indicator of trust in institutions, trust in the legal system, we also observe similarities to the trends identified for the other indicators of trust. Once more, people from Central and Eastern European countries are among those with low trust in the legal system. Quite to the contrary, people in Northern European countries are among those with the highest trust levels regarding their legal systems. Considering the differences between the trust in the legal system reported by people with different educational levels within countries, we see that people with HE have much higher mean scores on trust than people with lower levels of education in all studied countries except Bulgaria and Slovakia (Fig. 5). Generally, the data analysis shows that in countries with an overall low level of trust, the trust expressed by people with HE is also low.

Does the Effect of HE on the Level of Trust Differ by Country’s Level of Trust among People with No HE? Table 1 presents the results of the random-coefficient models. The likelihood-ratio test4 that we conducted for all four models confirmed that

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Low

Medium

Higher

9 8 7 6 5 4 3

7,75 7,25 7,44 6,86 6,45 6,1

6,78 6,8

6,25

6,66 6,08

5,43 5,43 5,5 5,55 5,28 5,18 5,26 4,87 3,93 4,61 4,57 4,64 4,48 4,544,33 4,53 4,12 4,17 3,9 3,923,93 3,68 3,65 3,38

5,8

2,77 2,5

2 1 0

BG SK PT SI PL ES HU IE EE BE FR GB DE NL CH SE NO FI DK

Fig. 5. Trust in the Legal System in 19 Countries by Educational Level (Mean Values), People Aged 25 64. Source: ESS (2006 2010, own calculations), weighted data (dweight). Scale: from 0 no trust at all to 10 complete trust; no. of observations: 68,837.

Table 1. Results of Random-Coefficient Models for Generalized Trust, Generalized Fairness, Trust in the Country’s Parliament and in the Legal System.

Fixed parameters Constant Having HE Random parameters SD (slope) SD (intercept) Corr (random intercept, random slope) SD (residual) Intraclass correlation −2 Log likelihood No. of observations No. of countries

Model 1: Gen. Trust

Model 2: Gen. Fairness

Model 3: Trust in the Parl.

Model 4: Trust in the Leg. System

4.892*** (0.229) 0.816*** (0.049)

5.492*** (0.192) 0.623*** (0.030)

4.176*** (0.240) 0.770*** (0.065)

4.851*** (0.278) 0.693*** (0.057)

0.270 (0.048) 1.046 (0.170) 0.243 (0.227) 2.237 (0.006) 0.247 152,665 68,594 19

0.231 (0.043) 1.211 (0.196) 0.309 (0.224) 2.278 (0.006) 0.267 154,464 68,837 19

0.199 (0.038) 0.997 (0.162) −0.468 (0.197) 2.174 (0.006) 0.071 153,493 69,876 19

0.104 (0.028) 0.833 (0.136) −0.690 (0.180) 2.063 (0.005) 0.041 149,344 69,658 19

Source: ESS (2006 2010, own calculations). Note: Standard errors in parentheses; ***p < 0.001.

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the random-coefficient model is more appropriate in these particular cases than the random-intercept model. This means that the effect of HE on the level of trust differs substantially across European countries. We demonstrate to what extent the relationship between higher education and our four forms of trust differs by country by looking at the differences in the country slopes. We used both the fixed and random parameters to calculate the intervals in which both the intercepts and slopes lie. As regards the fixed parameters, the mean intercept and slope of the population in all 19 countries for generalized trust are estimated as 4.892 and 0.816. For generalized fairness the mean intercept and slope are respectively 5.492 and 0.623; for trust in the parliament, they are 4.176 and 0.770; for trust in the legal system, 4.851 and 0.693. The random parameters for the first model show that the country generalized trust mean scores for people with no HE are in the range 2.94 6.85.5 For the slopes, we obtain 0.816 + /−1.96 × 0.199, giving an interval from 0.43 to 1.21. As regards the second model the country generalized fairness mean scores of people with no HE vary between 3.86 and 7.12. The countries’ slopes for the same model vary between 0.42 and 0.82. The Model 3 estimates show that the country mean scores on trust in the country’s parliament for people with no HE fall in the range 2.12 6.23. The countries’ slopes are between 0.24 and 1.30. As regards trust in the legal system, countries’ mean scores for people without HE are between 2.48 and 7.22. The countries have slopes between 0.24 and 1.15. The conditional intraclass correlation for Model 1 is 0.071. This shows that, even after controlling for HE, about 7 percent of the total variance of generalized trust is due to differences between countries. The conditional intraclass correlation for Model 2 is 0.041. This means that, after controlling for HE, about 4 percent of the total variance of generalized fairness is due to differences between countries. The intraclass correlation in Models 3 and 4 is considerably higher, respectively 0.247 and 0.267. This reveals that about a quarter of the variation in trust in the parliament and in the legal system stems from variation between countries. The estimated correlations between random intercepts and random slopes for the two types of impersonal trust are negative, while for the two types of institutional trust they are positive. This means that countries with a higher average impersonal trust score among people with no HE have a lower within-country effect of HE. In other words, in countries where people with no HE have on average low mean score for impersonal trust, HE tends to increase the level of impersonal trust to a greater extent than it does in countries with higher mean impersonal trust among people with

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no HE. As regards institutional trust, the correlation is the opposite. The positive correlations between the random intercepts and the random slopes suggest that in countries with higher mean scores for institutional trust among people with no HE, HE tends to have larger effect than in countries where people with no HE have lower mean institutional trust.

Does the Type of Democracy Explain Between-Country Differences in Trust among Tertiary Graduates? Although as we showed in the previous subsection the individual characteristics such as education significantly influence the level of trust, these 19 countries differ not only with respect to a country’s level of trust but also by other indicators, which in most cases are correlated to the society’s trust level. That is why we decided to use multilevel models also to see if we could explain the between-country differences in the levels of trust among HE graduates by including country level features such as if the country is a flawed or a full democracy. Given that our focus was on HE, we limited our scope to HE graduates alone. For all four forms of trust, we used a three-step procedure (see Tables A2 A5 in the Appendix). We started with an empty randomintercept model in order to assess the variance components at the individual and the country level. On a second step, we included democracy as an explanatory variable. For the sake of robustness, on a third step, we included control variables to check the effect of democracy on the level of trust among HE graduates across countries. The empty random-intercept model6 for generalized trust (Model 2.1) resulted in an unconditional intraclass correlation of 0.173. This means that about 17.3 percent of the total variance in trust levels among tertiary graduates is due to differences between countries. In the case of generalized fairness (Model 3.1), the intraclass correlation is 0.149; regarding institutional trust, approximately a quarter of the total variance in trust levels among tertiary graduates can be attributed to between-country differences, respectively 23.1 percent for trust in the parliament (Model 4.1) and 28.1 percent for trust in the legal system (Model 5.1). On the second step, we included in the models our main explanatory variable for democracy (Models 2.2 5.2). The results regarding the impact of the democracy regime match our expectations and confirm our third hypothesis. More specifically, graduates living in flawed democracies show significantly lower levels of social trust than graduates in countries

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characterized by full democracy. The estimates reveal that a graduate living in a flawed democracy reports, on average, a generalized trust score lower by −1.336 compared with the score of a graduate who live in a full democracy. The same trend is observed also regarding the generalized fairness. In the case of the institutional this difference in trust levels is even larger: respectively for trust in the country’s parliament about −1.692 and for the trust in the legal system −1.892. The variance components of these models indicate that the democracy explain a considerable amount (approximately half) of the variance at the second level for all forms of social trust and does not explain almost any of the variance at the first level. On the third step, we estimated models in which we included a set of control variables on both individual and country level to check the robustness of our results for the effect of democracy on the level of trust among HE graduates (Models 2.3 5.3). The coefficients in these models confirm that democracy is importantly associated with levels of trust on HE graduates. Consistent with previous research income inequalities influence negatively the level of generalized trust. However, our study identified such influence also for the other types of trust. Thus, an increase of one standard deviation of Gini index, decreases generalized trust by 0.314 points. It also decreases the generalized fairness, trust in the parliament, and trust in the legal system by 0.222, 0.435, and 0.449 points, respectively. As regards the level 1 control variables, Model 2.3 estimates show that females, graduates with high socioeconomic background, being in employment, and older graduates are, on average, significantly more trusting in generalized others, holding all other covariates constant. At the same time, belonging to a minority ethnic group and having difficulties in coping with income on household level have a negative impact on the level of generalized trust, given the other covariates. These results are consistent with the estimates from Model 3.3 that refer to generalized fairness. The estimates in Model 4.3 reveal that the high socioeconomic background and being in employment have a positive effect on the level of trust in the parliament among HE graduates. In addition graduates aged 35 44 have a small, but significantly higher level of trust in the parliament than graduates aged 25 34. This model also shows that being a woman, living in a village, experiencing income-related difficulties at household level influence negatively this type of trust, adjusting for the other covariates. To a great extent these trends are also true as regards trust in the legal system with only one exception related to the age of graduates. The Model

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5.3 estimates reveal that age has no positive influence on graduates’ level of trust. Quite to the contrary, graduates aged 45 64 are significantly less trusting in the legal system than the youngest graduates. Overall, the estimates reveal that the levels of impersonal trust are quite stable over time. However, the estimates show that there was deterioration in the trust in the national parliament in 2008 and 2010 compared with 2006, given the other covariates. By including the individual-level characteristics in addition to countrylevel characteristics, the full models explain higher percent of the variance at the country level but at the same time they explain below 2 percent of the variance at the individual level.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS The chapter discusses the role of HE for national and individual well-being by studying the influence of HE on the construction of impersonal and institutional trust. The influence of education on trust has been widely studied. However, as pointed out in the theoretical section of this text, some studies question the view that better-educated people (especially university graduates) are more trusting. The advantage of our analysis is that it is based on ESS data from 19 countries. To a great extent the obtained results corroborate our hypotheses. Looking at aggregate level, we find that in all countries studied, HE graduates express higher level of impersonal trust (both generalized trust and generalized fairness) compared with people with lower levels of education. As far as institutional trust is concerned, there are some exceptions from the general trend that people with higher levels of education are proportionately more trustful. Thus, in all countries but Slovakia, HE graduates have higher trust in their country’s parliament than people with lower levels of education. In all countries studied, except Bulgaria and Slovakia, people with an HE degree have higher mean scores of trust in the legal system than people with a lower level of education. As regards to the second hypothesis we find partial evidence corroborating it. More specifically, we find that not only do the levels of trust themselves differ across European countries, but also the relationship between HE and trust levels differs substantially among these countries. As regards the impersonal trust the impact of HE tends to be lower in countries with

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high levels of impersonal trust expressed by people with no HE, and is greater in countries where people with no HE have, on average, lower levels of impersonal trust. Thus, our results are consistent with the study of Borgonovi (2012, p. 161), which demonstrates that in countries where low levels of education are associated with particularly low levels of interpersonal trust (as implied by the low intercept), the marginal benefit of an additional year of education is greater (as implied by a higher slope). However, our results show a contrary picture in the case of institutional trust. HE tends to have a greater positive relative impact on institutional trust in the case of countries with high levels of institutional trust among people with no HE than in countries with corresponding lower levels. The level of both impersonal and institutional trust of HE graduates is higher in countries with a full democracy than in those with a flawed democracy. These results confirm our hypothesis that the level of the democratic development of the respective country in which HE graduates live is one of the main determinants in explaining trust level differences between different countries. Furthermore, our models explain quite a large part (approximately a half and above) of the variation in the level of social trust on a country level. Obviously, there are some other relevant factors as well, which we have not included in the analysis. The variation may also be due to the fact that, within certain boundaries, trust may be an elusive characteristic to capture. Nonetheless, our results clearly show that the democratic development of the country in which tertiary graduates live is one of the determinants of their level of social trust. Still, we should not underestimate the reciprocal nature of the relationship between social trust and democracy (Paxton, 2002). A recent study (Borgonovi, 2012, p. 149) which explores the relationship between education and levels of trust emphasizes three factors that explain why this relationship may differ across countries: (a) schooling differences between countries in terms of pedagogical approaches, curricula, and organization; (b) the relative education phenomenon, which suggests that the relationship between education and trust depends on how educated individuals are compared with those around them; (c) the environment social, institutional, political in which individuals operate. In particular, Borgonovi shows that the strength of the association between education and trust is influenced by the level of economic inequality and religious diversity in a country. Consistent with this study, our results show that the impact of income inequality on all four forms of social trust of HE graduates across countries is negative. Our other study (Boyadjieva & Ilieva-Trichkova, 2013) demonstrates that, to the social factors influencing

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the relationship between HE and trust, we should add the level of educational inequalities as a measurement of the distribution of educational opportunities. It seems that the strength of the impact of the acquired education, that is, of education as an individual’s characteristic, on the construction of social trust is nested in, and dependent on, the level of socioeconomic and cultural development of a given society. It is important to emphasize, however, that according to our findings, HE has a positive influence on the level of impersonal trust in all countries, irrespectively of their level of development. Not surprisingly, the construction of institutional trust is more sensitive to concrete social contexts. Our results clearly show that the differences in levels of trust in institutions (the country’s parliament and legal system) between countries are much bigger than cross-country differences with regard to impersonal trust. The data show that people from Central and Eastern European countries are the least trusting in their country’s parliament and legal system and, on the contrary, people in North European countries are among the Europeans with the highest trust in these two institutions. Thus, our conclusions are in line with the findings of other studies (Borgonovi, 2012; Delhey & Newton, 2003; Paxton, 2007; Tilkidjiev, 2011) and obviously reflect the fact that the postcommunist countries have recently experienced a revolutionary change, which has not been completed and has not yet led to democratic transformation of all societal spheres and institutions. Among the postcommunist countries though, the Bulgarian case definitely stands up. As pointed out by Tilkidjiev (2011, p. 16), “mistrust appears to be our country’s ‘trademark’ and ‘exceptionalism’ against the European backdrop.” The explanation of this empirical finding is beyond the scope of this chapter, but it is obvious that this “exceptionality” reflects the whole socioeconomic and cultural development of Bulgaria during its period of modernization (see Boyadjieva, 2009; Tilkidjiev, 2010, 2011). The results discussed above raise again the question whether social trust is a property of individuals or of social systems. Analyzing seven countries Delhey and Newton (2003, p. 113) find that “we cannot draw the conclusion that societal theories are more or less powerful than individual ones. Each seems to play a part.” Our study contributes to this discussion by demonstrating, that the strength of the impact of individual characteristics in our case, the level of acquired education and, in particular, HE on the construction of social trust is dependent on the wider socioeconomic and cultural context of a given society and is different in societies with different levels of trust and different levels of democratic development.

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Our results are also consistent with You (2012), who finds that full and mature democracy is positively associated to a significant degree with social trust across countries and that the level of economic development is an insignificant factor, controlling for inequality. To a great extent, however, You’s findings refer only to one of our indicators for social trust generalized trust. In our study we extend the analysis to four types of social trust; moreover, our data are much more recent. We show that our results for the other three types of social trust are consistent with You’s fairness explanation. Our analysis also poses several theoretical and empirical questions which outline directions for further research. One possible route which we think is worth pursuing in future research would be to go beyond the mere fact that HE influences social trust positively, and to try to ascertain “channels in the causal linkage between college education and social trust” (Huang et al., 2011). Huang et al. show that college education promotes social trust via its power in shaping individual perceptions of cultural/social structures. They argue that in a democratic society college institutions have a civil mission to perform: educating their students to be effective and responsible citizens. A college education increases individual knowledge of the cultural environment, economic environment, and legal environment. Thus, “high educated people are more likely to share a social consensus on normative values that create an incentive to honor trust, and they are more affirmative of the competence and willingness of social arrangements” (Huang et al., 2011, p. 11). The research path outlined in the valuable study by Huang et al. needs to be further strengthened and expanded. For example, it is worth analyzing whether and how the principles of functioning of a given university (its level of autonomy, academic freedom, composition of the student body and faculty, etc.) or various elements of academic life (e.g. students’ extracurricular experience) influence the construction of social trust. Another direction for further research which we see is to go beyond the understanding that HE is a homogenous good and to study what is the impact of the diversification of HE on the level of social trust, that is, to investigate the influence of different HEIs and different types of tertiary degrees and fields of studies on the levels of impersonal and institutional trust. Last, but not least, there is a need for elaboration of a full-fledged theoretical understanding of the social role of HE and, in particular, of its impact on human well-being, that would recognize the vital importance of the aspects of freedom and opportunity in human life. Thus, for instance,

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due to its reflexive nature, trust may be conceptualized using the capability approach and thereby viewed as an “internal capability,” perceived as a space that can be developed “in the interaction with the social, economic, familial and political environment” (Nussbaum, 2011). This would also provide a well-grounded and reliable basis for elaboration of concrete policy recommendations for HE development.

NOTES 1. For example, the number of articles published in social science journals in which the word “trust” appears as a key word has increased from 68 in 1990 to 903 in 2003 (Rothstein & Uslaner, 2005, p. 7). 2. The classification of countries into different democracy regimes is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. 3. The source of data for Gini coefficient is Eurostat (see http://epp.eurostat.ec. europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&plugin=0&language=en&pcode=tessi190). The data were extracted on December 9, 2013. We used the average value of the index from 2006, 2008, and 2010. The only exception is Switzerland. There was no data for 2006 and that is why we used the coefficient for 2007. The Gini index ranges between 0 and 100. The higher is the index the higher the inequalities are. We used it in the analysis in a standardized form having mean of 0 and standard deviation of 1. 4. This test is used for testing whether the random-coefficient model is better than the random-intercept model (Rabe-Hesketh & Skrondal, 2012). 5. The intervals for the intercepts are obtained through the formula 4.892 + / −1.96 × 0.997. Specifically, these intervals represent ranges within which 95 percent of the realizations of a random variable (such as a random intercept or a random slope) are expected to lie (Rabe-Hesketh & Skrondal, 2012). 6. The likelihood-ratio test for all four null models is significant which means that there are random intercepts in these models. It confirms that we can use random-intercept model instead of an ordinary regression.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The work on this chapter benefited from the involvement of the authors in two projects: “Social disparities and regional differences in school-to-work transitions in Bulgaria,” funded by the Bulgarian-Swiss Research Programme (BSRP), and “Education as Welfare,” the FP7 funded Marie Curie ITN.

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Lane, C., & Bachmann, R. (Eds.). (1998). Trust within and between organizations. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Leuven Communique´. (2009). The Bologna Process 2020 The European Higher Education Area in the new decade. Luhmann, N. (1979). Trust and power. New York, NY: Wiley. Misztal, B. A. (1996). Trust in modern societies. Cambridge: Polity Press. Misztal, B. A. (2011). The challenges of vulnerability: In search of strategies for a less vulnerable social life. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. Moellering, G. (2001). The nature of trust: From Georg Simmel to a theory of expectation, interpretation and suspension. Sociology, 35(2), 403 420. doi:10.1177/S00380385010 00190 Natkhov, T. (2011). Does education affects trust? Evidence from Russia. Retrieved from http:// papers.isnie.org/paper/588.html. Accessed on June 18, 2013. No¨lke, A., & Vliegenthart, A. (2009). Enlarging the varieties of capitalism. The emergence of dependent market economies in East Central Europe. World Politics, 61(4), 670 702. doi:10.1017/S0043887109990098 Nussbaum, M. (2011). Creating capabilities. The human development approach. London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Papanis, E., & Roumeliotou, M. (2007). Can social trust and participation be reinforced through education? Empirical data from Greece. Journal of Education and Human Development, 1(2). Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/891488/Can_Social_trust_ and_participation_be_reinforced_througtthe_education_Empirical_data_from_Greece. Accessed on June 18, 2013. Paxton, P. (2002). Social capital and democracy: An interdependent relationship. American Sociological Review, 67(2), 254 277. Paxton, P. (2007). Association memberships and generalized trust: A multilevel model across 31 countries. Social Forces, 86(1), 47 76. doi:10.1353/sof.2007.0107 Putnam, R. (1993). Making democracy work: Civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton, NJ: University Press. Rabe-Hesketh, S., & Skrondal, A. (2012). Multilevel and longitudinal modeling using Stata. Volume 1: Continuous responses (3rd ed.). College Station, TX: A Stata Press Publication. StataCorp LP. Rothstein, B., & Uslaner, E. M. (2005). All for all: Equality and social trust. LSC Health and Social Care Discussion Paper No. 15. Retrieved from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/ papers.cfm?abstract_id=824506 Saar, E., & Ure, O. B. (2013). Lifelong learning systems: Overview and extension of different typologies. In E. Saar, O. B. Ure, & I. Holford (Eds.), Building European lifelong learning society: The enduring role of national characteristics (pp. 46 81). London: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. Seligman, A. (1997). The problem of trust. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Simmel, G. (1990). In D. Frisby (Ed.), The philosophy of money (T. Bottomore & D. Frisby, Trans., 3rd enlarged ed.). London: Routledge. Sztompka, P. (1999). Trust. A sociological theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tilkidjiev, N. (2010). Доверие и благополучие. [Trust and well-being]. In N. Tilkidjiev & L. Dimova (Eds.), Well-being and trust: Bulgaria in Europe? (pp. 33 61). Sofia: Iztok-Zapad.

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Tilkidjiev, N. (2011). Trust and well-being: Bulgarian in a comparative perspective. Slovak Journal of Political Science (Slovenska´ politologicka´ revue), (1), 7 24. Retrieved from www.ceeol.com Warren, M. E. (Ed.). (1999). Democracy and trust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. You, J. (2012). Social trust: Fairness matters more than homogeneity. Political Psychology, 33(5), 701 721. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9221.2012.00893.x

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APPENDIX Table A1. Descriptive Statistics of the (in)Dependent Variables and Simple Correlations with Generalized Trust (HE Graduates Only). Variable

Description

Min.

Max.

22,784 5.881 2.213

0

10

1

Impersonal trust: generalized fairness

Most people try to 22,748 6.280 1.976 take advantage of you, or try to be fair

0

10

0.6150***

Institutional trust: parliament

Trust in country’s parliament

22,540 5.141 2.384

0

10

0.3793***

Institutional trust: legal system

Trust in the legal system

22,618 5.819 2.450

0

10

0.3994***

22,816 0.549 0.498

0

1

−0.0089

22,828 0.272 0.445

0

1

−0.0356***

22,828 0.290 0.454 22,828 0.240 0.427 22,828 0.197 0.398

0 0 0

1 1 1

0.0099 0.0338*** −0.0078

Dependent variables Impersonal Most people can be trust: trusted or you can’t be generalized too careful trust

Individual characteristics Gender Whether the respondent is female, base: male Age

Age of the graduates, base: 25 34 years 35 44 45 54 55 64

N

Mean

Std. Dev.

Correlation with Generalized Trust

Minority

Belonging to a minority ethnic group in the country, base: no

22,668 0.050 0.219

0

1

−0.0350***

Socioeconomic background

Whether at least one of 21,775 0.391 0.488 the respondent’s parents has attained tertiary education, base: none of the

0

1

0.0645***

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Table A1. Variable

Min.

Max.

22,796 0.297 0.457

0

1

0.0034

Employment

Doing last 7 days: paid 22,828 0.831 0.375 work, base: not in paid work

0

1

0.0820***

Subjective assessment of income

22,751 0.118 0.323 Whether the respondent live comfortably with the household income or has difficulty in coping with the present income, base: coping on present income

0

1

−0.1432***

Round 3 Round 4 Round 5

0 0 0

1 1 1

0.0258*** −0.0097 −0.0156*

Domicile

Time variables ESS 3 ESS 4 ESS 5

Description

(Continued )

parents attained tertiary education Whether the respondent’s domicile is a city/town or in a village, base: city/town

Country characteristics Income Gini coefficient inequality Democracy Whether it is a full or flawed democracy, base: full

N

Mean

Std. Dev.

22,828 0.316 0.465 22,828 0.347 0.476 22,828 0.337 0.473 19 0

1

19 0.421 0.507

Note: Significant at *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

−1.520 0

Correlation with Generalized Trust

1.915 −0.2426*** 1

−0.2576***

Results of Multilevel Analysis of Generalized Trust. Model 2.1

Model 2.3

Coef.

SE

Coef.

SE

Coef.

SE

5.734***

(.211)

6.295***

(.193)

5.894***

(0.172)

−1.336***

(.299)

−1.126***

(0.255)

0.0720**

(0.028)

0.106** 0.203*** 0.092*

(0.037) (0.039) (0.042)

−0.276***

(0.065)

0.168***

(0.029)

.

Fixed parameters Constant Democracy, ref. Full Flawed Gender, ref. Male Female Age, ref. age group 25 34 35 44 45 54 55 64 Minority, ref. does not belong to a minority ethnic group Belongs to a minority ethnic group Socioeconomic background, ref. none of the parents with a HE degree At least one of the parents with a HE degree Domicile, ref. city/town Village Employment, ref. not in employment Being employed

Model 2.2

Higher Education and Social Trust

Table A2.

−0.050 0.256***

(0.031) (0.039)

179

(Continued )

Model 2.1 Coef.

.8422*** 4.0348***

.1727 45,542 21,494 19

Model 2.2 SE

Coef.

.4084*** 4.0348*** 51.50% 1.991e-06 .0890 .0919 45,535 21,494 19

Source: ESS (2006 2010, own calculations). Note: Standard errors in parentheses; Significant at *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Model 2.3 SE

Coef.

SE

−0.422***

(0.045)

−0.050 −0.048 −0.314*

(0.034) (0.034) (0.124)

.2813*** 3.9876*** 66.60% 1.17% .1247 .0659 45,405 21,494 19

PEPKA A. BOYADJIEVA AND PETYA I. ILIEVA-TRICHKOVA

Subjective income, ref. coping with income on household level Difficulty in coping with income on household level Round, ref. ESS 3 ESS 4 ESS 5 Income inequality (Gini coefficient) Random parameters Level 2 variance (countries) Level 1 variance (individuals) Explained country level variance Explained individual level variance R2 Intraclass correlation (rho) −2 Log likelihood No. of observations No. of countries

180

Table A2.

Results of Multilevel Analysis of Generalized Fairness. Model 3.1

Model 3.3

Coef.

SE

Coef.

SE

Coef.

SE

6.137***

(0.175)

6.618***

(0.155)

6.204***

(0.144)

−1.143***

(0.239)

−0.995***

(0.212)

0.270***

(0.025)

0.0795* 0.130*** 0.169***

(0.033) (0.035) (0.038)

−0.459***

(0.058)

0.129***

(0.026)

0.0296

(0.028)

0.161***

(0.035)

181

Fixed parameters Constant Democracy, ref. full Flawed Gender, ref. male Female Age, ref. age group 25 34 35 44 45 54 55 64 Minority, ref. does not belong to a minority ethnic group Belongs to a minority ethnic group Social background, ref. none of the parents with a HE degree At least one of the parents with a HE degree Domicile, ref. city/town Village Employment, ref. not in employment Being employed

Model 3.2

Higher Education and Social Trust

Table A3.

(Continued ) Model 3.1

Coef.

Model 3.2 SE

.5789*** 3.3056*** − − − 0.149 43,335 21,463 19

Source: ESS (2006 2010, own calculations). Note: Standard errors in parentheses; Significant at *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Coef.

.2616*** 3.3055*** 54.82% 2.200e-06 .0817 .0733 43,327 21,463 19

Model 3.3 SE

Coef.

SE

−0.419***

(0.041)

−0.027 −0.011 −0.222*

(0.030) (0.031) (0.103)

.1929*** 3.2507*** 66.68% 1.66% .1135 .0560 43,145 21,463 19

PEPKA A. BOYADJIEVA AND PETYA I. ILIEVA-TRICHKOVA

Subjective income, ref. coping with income on household level Difficulty in coping with income on household level Round, ref. ESS 3 ESS 4 ESS 5 Income inequality (Gini coefficient) Random parameters Level 2 variance (countries) Level 1 variance (individuals) Explained country level variance Explained individual level variance R2 Intraclass correlation (rho) −2 Log likelihood No. of observations No. of countries

182

Table A3.

Results of Multilevel Analysis of Trust in the National Parliament. Model 4.1

Model 4.3

Coef.

SE

Coef.

SE

Coef.

SE

4.956***

(0.264)

5.667***

(0.239)

5.677***

(0.196)

−1.692***

(0.369)

−1.401***

(0.293)

−0.193***

(0.029)

0.124** 0.003 0.026

(0.039) (0.041) (0.044)

−0.028

(0.069)

0.072*

(0.030)

−0.120***

(0.032)

0.117**

(0.041)

183

Fixed parameters Constant Democracy, ref. full Flawed Gender, ref. male Female Age, ref. age group 25 34 35 44 45 54 55 64 Minority, ref. does not belong to a minority ethnic group Belongs to a minority ethnic group Social background, ref. none of the parents with a HE degree At least one of the parents with a HE degree Domicile, ref. city/town Village Employment, ref. not in employment Being employed

Model 4.2

Higher Education and Social Trust

Table A4.

(Continued ) Model 4.1

Coef.

Model 4.2 SE

1.3233*** 4.4146*** − − − .2306 46,058 21,284 19

Source: ESS (2006 2010, own calculations). Note: Standard errors in parentheses; Significant at *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Coef.

.6270*** 4.4146*** 52.62% 9.519e-07 .1214 .1244 46,051 21,284 19

Model 4.3 SE

Coef.

SE

−0.629***

(0.048)

−0.100** −0.201*** −0.435**

(0.035) (0.036) (0.142)

.3722*** 4.3472*** 71.87% 1.53% .1775 .0789 45,882 21,284 19

PEPKA A. BOYADJIEVA AND PETYA I. ILIEVA-TRICHKOVA

Subjective income, ref. coping with income on household level Difficulty in coping with income on household level Round, ref. ESS 3 ESS 4 ESS 5 Income inequality (Gini coefficient) Random parameters Level 2 variance (countries) Level 1 variance (individuals) Explained country level variance Explained individual level variance R2 Intraclass correlation (rho) −2 Log likelihood No. of observations No. of countries

184

Table A4.

Results of Multilevel Analysis of Trust in the Legal System. Model 5.1

Model 5.3

Coef.

SE

Coef.

SE

Coef.

SE

5.562***

(0.301)

6.358***

(0.278)

6.284***

(0.242)

−1.892***

(0.429)

−1.610***

(0.368)

−0.143***

(0.029)

0.0133 −0.106** −0.228***

(0.038) (0.041) (0.044)

−0.0222

(0.068)

0.131***

(0.030)

−0.113***

(0.032)

0.140***

(0.041)

185

Fixed parameters Constant Democracy, ref. full Flawed Gender, ref. male Female Age, ref. age group 25 34 35 44 45 54 55 64 Minority, ref. does not belong to a minority ethnic group Belongs to a minority ethnic group Social background, ref. none of the parents with a HE degree At least one of the parents with a HE degree Domicile, ref. city/town Village Employment, ref. not in employment Being employed

Model 5.2

Higher Education and Social Trust

Table A5.

(Continued ) Model 5.1

Coef.

Model 5.2 SE

1.7203*** 4.3956*** − − − .2813 46,150 21,347 19

Source: ESS (2006 2010, own calculations). Note: Standard errors in parentheses; Significant at *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Coef.

.8485*** 4.3956*** 50.68% 0% .1426 .1618 46,144 21,347 19

Model 5.3 SE

Coef.

SE

−0.633***

(0.048)

−0.001 0.054 −0.449*

(0.035) (0.036) (0.179)

.5904*** 4.3263*** 65.68% 1.58% .1961 .1201 45,971 21,347 19

PEPKA A. BOYADJIEVA AND PETYA I. ILIEVA-TRICHKOVA

Subjective income, ref. coping with income on household level Difficulty in coping with income on household level Round, ref. ESS 3 ESS 4 ESS 5 Income inequality (Gini coefficient) Random parameters Level 2 variance (countries) Level 1 variance (individuals) Explained country level variance Explained individual level variance R2 Intraclass correlation (rho) −2 Log likelihood No. of observations No. of countries

186

Table A5.

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187

DATABASES European Social Survey (accessed on December 22, 2013) http://www. europeansocialsurvey.org/ ESS Round 5: European Social Survey Round 5 Data (2010). Data file edition 3.0. ESS Round 4: European Social Survey Round 4 Data (2008). Data file edition 4.1. ESS Round 3: European Social Survey Round 3 Data (2006). Data file edition 3.4. Norwegian Social Science Data Services, Norway Data Archive and distributor of ESS data.

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DEMOCRATIC SCHOOL GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF TWO SCHOOLS IN SOUTH AFRICA Vusi Mncube, Lynn Davies and Renuka Naidoo ABSTRACT This chapter reports on a qualitative study that investigated the functioning of school governing bodies as a tool for promoting democracy in two schools. Data was gathered through interviews, observations and document reviews. Findings revealed that democracy was in existence and practiced at both schools and that it was characterized by shared decision-making and acknowledged rights of individuals, representation, participation and equality. Two structures for promoting democracy were found to be in existence in both schools, and these are school governing bodies and representative councils for learners. Such structures were found to be functioning effectively and contributing to the democracy in schools. However, although the learner voice was represented at both schools, learner participation in crucial issues in both the schools was limited. The study recommends that all teachers, learners and parent representatives on the SGBs be trained in skills such as deliberation,

Comparative Sciences: Interdisciplinary Approaches International Perspectives on Education and Society, Volume 26, 189 213 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3679/doi:10.1108/S1479-367920140000026011

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debate, dialogue and managing differences. Furthermore, training or capacity building related to advocacy skills and leadership development should be provided for all members of the SGB including teachers. The more learners, parents and staff are involved in school policy and decision-making, the more there is a genuine community involvement in schools, and the more effective a school becomes. Also, schools need to move towards learner-initiated decision-making where learners initiate the process and invite adults to join them in decision-making. Also, there is need for teachers to be trained in democratic ways of operating in the school and classroom, which will possibly help them learn ways of working democratically in both the whole school and the classroom. Keywords: School governing bodies; representative council for learners; leadership and management

INTRODUCTION Democracy is a continual process and never achieved. Dewey (1937, p. 235) asserts that, ‘The very idea of democracy, the meaning of democracy, must be continually explored afresh; it has to be constantly discovered, and rediscovered, remade and reorganized’. In short, democracy is not static and neither is it a perfect state that can be attained. Instead, it is an ideal that people can work towards. In South Africa, as in any other affirmed democratic country, it is essential to monitor the progress of democracy, including how this is played out in schools. Vigilance is needed on understandings of democracy by those in power as well as those less powerful. President Zuma recently said that minority groups have ‘less rights’ than majority groups, and that the majority prevailed ‘that’s how democracy works’ (Guardian Express, 13 July 2013). There was an understandable outcry from the Opposition benches, particularly as this goes against the Constitutional affirmation of equality for all and constitutional prohibitions on discrimination. The questions for this chapter are how democracy is currently understood by different stakeholders in schools principals, parents, teachers and learners. Two core educational concepts can be distinguished schooling for democracy and schools as democracies (O’Hair, McLaughlin, & Reitzug, 2000). The former involves preparing learners for living in a democratic society, while the latter is concerned with creating schools that are

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organized, governed and practised as democracies. Clearly these two are inextricably linked: students cannot learn in the abstract about democracy, but need to experience it on a daily basis for the principles to be ingrained. Yet the concept of democracy is hugely complex and contested. After outlining the democratic values in the South African Constitution, this chapter briefly discusses the conventional features of democracy as appearing in the literature. It then looks at how such ideals of democracy have been applied to the school level. This is often in theory rather than practice. Authoritarian forms of organization are evident in most schools internationally. Maitles and Deuchar (2007) assert that in Scotland and across much of Europe, schools are still decidedly authoritarian. Similarly, Trafford (2008, p. 411) refers to the ‘widespread and persistent authoritarian tradition in schooling’. In Africa, too, hierarchical organization within schools still prevails. Karlsson and Mbokazi (2005, p. 11) in a case study of the ethos in two schools refer to leadership of school management at one of the sample schools in KwaZulu-Natal as ‘characterized by formality and authoritarianism’. Similarly, Grant (2006, p. 525) referred to the continued existence of a ‘hierarchical school organization controlled by autocratic principals’ at some South African schools. During the apartheid era South African schools operated around a system of authoritarianism emphasizing a rigid, top-down or hierarchical approach to management. Principals were compelled to follow instructions from the DoE. The advent of democracy prompted the democratization of the education system and this is captured in the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996 (SASA). In its preamble the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (RSA) emphasizes a new set of values and a move away from the past so as to: ‘establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights; lay the foundations for a democratic and open society ….’ (RSA, 1996a, p. 1). It follows that the Constitution of the RSA has to be supported by democratic institutions. This argument is expounded by Nkomo, Chisholm, and McKinney (2004), who posit that it is essential for all social institutions working within the parameters of the Constitution to advance a society that reflects the values and principles contained therein. The specific democratic values espoused in the Constitution are adult suffrage, with elections and a multiparty system; equity and non-racialism, non-sexism and non-discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation; advancement of human rights and freedoms, including freedom from violence, freedom of religion and freedom of expression; a co-operative government, with agreed procedures and amicable dispute resolution; and

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accountability, responsiveness and openness. All these features and values can be translated into the school level, and a truly democratic school would be expected to demonstrate all of them, suitably adapted (such as representation and participation in decision-making rather than adult suffrage). The chapter therefore reports on a study stakeholder views of democracy in two secondary schools in KwaZulu-Natal. The chapter is from a larger study in these schools of experiences and practices of the principals in creating democratic schools (Naidoo, 2011). The schools were selected for study as having reportedly democratic attributes, where participants would be likely to have some understandings of what democracy in society and school should look like, and which should be mirroring the Constitutional values.

CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF DEMOCRACY Yilmaz (2009) contends the various conceptualizations of democracy can be reflected on a continuum. At one end is formal, procedural democracy and at the other end a social conception of democracy. This relates to the distinction often made between ‘thick’ democracy and ‘thin’ democracy. Carr (2008a) explains that the thick notion of democracy is concerned with power relations, identity and social change, whereas the thin interpretation essentially involves electoral processes, political parties and structures related to formal democracy. Green (1999) adds that the thick notion of democracy focuses on the characteristics and skills that are essential for individuals to become fully participatory members of their democratic society. The nomenclature of ‘thin’ sounds negative, but Young (2000) cautions against assuming that representative democracy is incompatible with deep (thick) democracy. They are not alternatives, but perhaps different levels of operation. Ideally, everyone should be able to participate yet in practice this is rarely possible. Representative democracy is a compromise that allows some stake in society in the choosing of representatives, and in ensuring that these representatives do represent the views of constituents, and that they are accountable and transparent in their actions. Participatory democracy emphasizes involvement of individuals; however, meaningful inclusion will only be achieved when all stakeholders are able to influence the outcome of the decisions. This would imply that

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deliberation between stakeholders is essential, and is the heart of democracy itself (Ross, 2004). Deliberative democracy then refers to a process in which individuals voluntarily engage in open discussion to share knowledge, exchange views and understand the perspectives of others, which contributes to agree upon policies (McDevitt & Kiousis, 2004). Sometimes decentralization is linked to democracy, but it is not necessarily more democratic than centralized control. It depends how far governance is decentralized to different levels, and what sorts of powers are given to whom, and how they use it. There can be decentralization of budgets, for example, right down to the school level, but if the principal is still autocratic, democracy does not flourish in that school. Participatory democracy therefore can include the notion of subsidiarity that a matter ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized authority capable of addressing that matter effectively. An interesting exercise done with students and teachers in work on Student Councils (Yamashita & Davies, 2010) is to ask who can, should or does make decisions on various aspects of school life uniform, discipline, teaching methods, school dinners, homework, appointment of staff. It enables discussion of when a top-down decision or rule is necessary and when a matter can be devolved or be part of a joint decision. At a small scale, school level, it is possible to combine representative and deliberative democracy. In South Africa, Representative Councils for Learners (RCLs) and the School Governing Bodies (SGBs) are clearly both representative and deliberative structures that can work towards what Lefranc¸ois and Ethier (2010) see as the idealized conditions of deliberative democracy. As with Dewey’s (1939) ideals of humanism and belief in the inherent capabilities of people, O’Hair et al. (2000) capture the notion of democracy being associated with humanism, and add that democracy as a way of living involves the open flow and critique of ideas, with an authentic concern for others as well as the common good. Based on this conception, Print, Ørnstrøm, and Nielsen (2002) add that democracy is about tolerance, compromise, willingness to listen to the views of others, willingness to be influenced by the arguments put forth by others and to accept the attitudes and opinions of others. Hence even thick democracy is not just about deliberation but espouses ethics and empathy. The key educational point about thick, participative democracy is that it requires skills of deliberation itself and of collective decision-making. These skills have to be learned and practised. We turn then to democratic education.

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DEMOCRATIC EDUCATION Much has been written on the principles of democratic education, contrasting this with authoritarian, hierarchical and teacher-centred institutions. Kelly (1995) refers to the basic principles of education in a democratic society that are of significance to democratic schools, which include human rights, equality to entitlement, openness in the face of knowledge, individual autonomy and empowerment as well as faith in individuals. Mncube and Harber (2010) state that democratic schools generally exhibit the following characteristics of democracy: rights of individuals, equity, participation and informed choice. Kensler (2010) refers to 10 democratic principles within schools: purpose and vision, dialogue and listening, integrity, accountability, choice, individual and collective, decentralization, transparency, fairness and dignity, reflection and evaluation. Gore (2002) also included inclusive consultation and collaboration, equality of opportunity in representation, freedom for critical reflection and a focus on the common good. Beane and Apple (1999, p. 10) explain that, ‘Democratic schools, like democracy itself do not happen by chance. They result from explicit attempts … to put in place arrangements and opportunities that will bring democracy to life’. These arrangements and opportunities incorporate two lines of work. The first involves creating democratic structures and processes by which life in the school is carried out; and the second involves creating a curriculum that will give young people democratic experiences (Beane & Apple, 1999). They add that the conditions on which democracy is dependent are also fundamental concerns of democratic schools. These conditions include an open flow of ideas so that individuals are informed, faith in the potential of individuals to find solutions to problems, being able to critically reflect on issues, and being concerned about the dignity, welfare and rights of others as well as the common good. One question is whether ‘being concerned’ is enough. Davies (2004, p. 212) proposes the notion of ‘interruptive democracy’ in schools, defined as ‘the process by which people are enabled to intervene in practices which continue injustice’. This is the disposition to challenge, to find spaces for dissent, resilience and action. A rights-based school does not simply accord rights to learners and teachers, but fosters habits in learners to stand up for the rights of others of course through democratic means, not violence. Critical thinking and critical political or social education involves practice in the different ways to create social change in addition to the

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representative process whether community work, campaigns, lobbying, petitions or peaceful demonstrations. It is preparation for active, democratic citizenship.

METHODOLOGY FOR EXPLORING STAKEHOLDER VIEWS OF DEMOCRACY Given all these different dimensions of democracy, what do people inside the schools see as democracy? Which are the most salient for them? Where on the spectrum between thin or procedural democracy and thick, direct or active participative democracy do they stand? Is there congruence between what they say and what the actual practice is in the school? This chapter reports on illustrative qualitative work in two South African secondary schools conducted in 2011. Secondary schools were targeted because at the heart of democratic schools are the voices of the learners; the SASA (RSA, 1996b) makes provision for the RCL only in schools that have learners in grades 8 12. The particular schools were chosen because they had some democratic features, already known to one of the researchers (Naidoo, 2011). These included structural components of a functioning SGB and an RCL, known work involving the community and a reputation for a learnercentred approach to teaching and learning. These large schools were coeducational, public schools and were characterized by a growing number of Black teachers. At both the schools there were teacher liaison officers and the RCL was elected through a voting system. For confidentiality, the schools are given the fictitious names of Red Star Secondary and Excell Secondary. Three main research instruments allowed for some triangulation of data: observations (of the principal at their work, of SGB meetings, of staff meetings and staff briefing sessions); document analysis (of the agendas and minutes of staff and SGB meetings, discipline records, the incident book and notices to parents); and semi-structured interviews (with the principal, three parents, three teachers and three learners). At each school these interviewees included a teacher representative, a parent representative and a learner representative from the SGB. The questions in the interviews were relatively open-ended, in the sense of asking people about their understandings of democracy, whether it was practised in the school, what structures there were, what the role of the

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principal was in developing it and how or whether democracy was promoted in curriculum and teaching methods. Hence no particular indicators or components of democracy were given to respondents (such as rights, or equity, or collaboration, or dignity, or non-discrimination, or representation, as outlined earlier); instead the aim was to see what people understood by the term, and what their priorities seemed to be. It was also to identify the gaps, and whether the conceptualization and practice of democracy was broad or narrow, thick or thin, direct or indirect.

FINDINGS ON THE DEMOCRATIC SCHOOL The findings revealed four main areas that people identified as democratic: collective decision-making and shared vision; structures for voice and representation; respect, rights and diversity; and critical thinking and openness. From the outset it must be acknowledged that much of what people say is prescriptive, that is saying that a democracy school ‘should’ have various features, rather than ‘our school does this, and it is democratic’. Presumably this conceptual understanding of democracy does come from experiencing it in practice, but it cannot be guaranteed.

Decision-Making A common thread running through all the responses was the idea of all stakeholders being involved in decision-making. For example, teacher 2 from Excell Secondary School stated that In a democratic school there is shared and collective decision-making by all stakeholders. All stakeholders are consulted … when it comes to decision-making everyone participates and everybody’s open and included in decision-making …

Thus the teacher acknowledged the idea of shared decision-making but also emphasized the need to get all stakeholders involved in the process. This also suggests the need for inclusion. Such inclusivity was echoed by the principal of Red Star Secondary School, who explained that My understanding of making a school democratic is that learners, parents, staff and other relevant stakeholders be given the opportunity and space to contribute meaningfully to decision-making for the continued progress of the school.

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The response from learner 1 at Red Star Secondary School was similarly that Decision-making should be shared; everyone involved should be allowed to make a contribution and should share their own thoughts. I don’t believe that every decision should be made solely by one person. Involvement of people from outside of the school environment can help a school grow and develop.

At the same school, parent 1 echoed the notion of shared decisionmaking: I believe that the key component of an expressly democratic school is the opportunity for all the members of the school governing body to air their views and in so doing take part in decision-making as regularly as possible. But what is even more important is the consideration these views are given. One cannot rhapsodize the merits of collective decision-making without reflecting upon whether the views of teachers, or even learners, are considered in as unprejudiced manner as possible.

The above response accentuates the point that although we can enthuse about collective decision-making, there is a need to consider the way in which the views of the stakeholders are received. The respondent believes that the views of all, ‘even’ learners, should be received with an open mind. This is a crucial point. This notion of shared decision-making which all the respondents felt strongly about is corroborated by Goodlad, Mantle-Bromley, and Goodlad (2004, p. 93), who aptly state that democracy is based on the idea that, ‘we each have a voice and that voice counts’. The idea of shared decision-making is accentuated within the ‘every voice counts’ framework that is clearly articulated in the SASA. The platform for collective decisionmaking manifests itself in the SASA 84 of 1996 via the formation of the SGB. Kensler (2010) argues that in a democracy it is assumed that each individual is worthy of participation; hence, we would suppose, every voice does count. The question is how to operationalize this ideal. In voting, every vote does count. But in deliberative or consultative democracy, it is more difficult to make the calculation. In the collection Children as Decision-Makers in Education (Cox, Robinson-Pant, Dyer, & Schweisfurth, 2010) many examples were found across different countries of children’s participation in school life, but it was also found that institutional norms could also restrict this, specifying arenas where such participation was not seen as appropriate for example curriculum, or teacher recruitment. The ‘voice’ may be confined to ‘tame areas’ such as lunches or sports days rather than the central rationale for school which is teaching and learning.

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The same empirical question applies to ‘listening’. A culture of listening is indeed a prerequisite for democracy. The principal at Excell Secondary School believed that, ‘… it’s that listening ear that’s critical in a democratic school’. Steyn, de Klerk, and du Plessis (2004) elaborate that listening is an important element in communication, and a willingness to hear is essential. Yet the next obvious question is whether that listening actually influences decisions and actions, and, going back to bias, what happens when there are competing views and competitions for the listening ear. This research was not always able to establish whose voice would take precedence, on what criteria and whether there were patterns. However, the principals at the sample schools appeared to embrace the notion of shared decision-making, dialogue and discussion as advocated by Bennis and Graves (2007) and Steyn et al. (2004) and this became evident during observations of meetings. At an School Management Team (SMT) meeting at Red Star Secondary School where postprovisioning (PPN) norms were discussed, the principal sought input from all management members. PPN refers to “the total number of state paid educator posts allocated to an institution regardless of their post level” (Naicker, 2005, p. 8). It was possible to witness first-hand how the principal, who trusted his SMT, was asked to provide statistics. They also deliberated on the actual document received from the DoE. The management members were free to make inputs and regularly analysed the statistics and the document. The principal as well as the other management members often used the words ‘we’ and ‘us’, suggesting that they were part of a team, which could also imply a feeling of togetherness. In other words, the principal tried to create a sense of unity or oneness. In his attempts to get inputs from other individuals, the principal often asked, ‘Tell us what you are thinking’. He appeared to be overtly attempting to get others involved in decision-making. At one point he stated, ‘We need to sort this issue out’. These utterances also suggest the notion of shared responsibility with regard to decision-making, hinting towards local participatory democracy. The principal appeared to be trying to get everyone to talk so that they could reach some decision. This links to November, Alexander, and van Wyk’s (2010) ideal for principal-educators of opening up channels of communication for dialogue. At the same time, there was also useful understanding from respondents that a democratic culture is not about everyone participating in every decision at every moment. There are times when an authoritarian, instant or top-down response is necessary if a fire broke out, or if a learner’s safety was threatened. Confidential information about a learner or a family is

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also rarely to be shared. Although it was clear from the responses that in democratic schools there is a move away from individual decision-making, teacher 1 at Red Star Secondary School commented: You can’t on every single issue be democratic but at least wherever you can if the relevant role players can be identified and their opinions and their comments sought as to what they have to say … I think there are times when maybe the principal would have to make a decision in a kind of autocratic way for the running of the school, for the wheels to turn. You cannot for every single issue be democratic. There are times when the principal will have to take a stand although it should be more the exception rather than the rule.

Excell Secondary School teacher 3 had a similar response: So the leader has to lead and the leader has to be led at times. I’m just saying then that as the leader the principal has at times to make decisions all by himself and most times as a leader you have to listen to other people.

The respondent also appears to accept the idea of the principal occasionally engaging in decision-making without consulting others. In line with the aforementioned argument was the response from the principal at Excell Secondary School: (Err) so sometimes if somebody has to come into my school and tell me I’m being undemocratic I mean there may be certain cases, instances, I’m not saying no. It wasn’t done intentionally but I can tell you there were more instances I was democratic than undemocratic.

It is a question of balance and appropriateness. In like vein, Harris and Chapman (2002) in their study of democratic leadership for school improvement found that at critical times principals adopted more autocratic leadership practices. In these two South African schools there seemed to be good understanding of the limits as well as benefits of democracy. Linked to shared decision-making was the notion of a shared vision and purpose. While a feature on Kensler’s list, there would not be agreement that this is necessarily a precondition for democracy. Democracy is arguably more about the provision for dissent and change than about the notion that all must share the same purpose. Shared vision was unsurprisingly mentioned only by principals, teachers and parents, not learners, and may relate more to management training and wanting a sense of ownership than to anything in the Constitution. However, the Red Star principal made an interesting remark. He reiterated that the school’s vision should be a shared one and therefore emphasized that,

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It … is not (err) an individual’s vision but a collective vision … people need to understand that this is a vision for the school and we are not working here for individual glory. We are not working here for our egos.

The key point would be of collective responsibility: in democratic terms it is less the vision itself as the processes by which it was achieved and crucially how it can be operationalized in daily practice as well as how it can be revised if necessary.

Structures for Voice and Representation In a large organization such as a secondary school, the question is of the structures in place whereby views are canvassed and decision-making can be collaborative. The document review at Red Star Secondary School revealed the School Management Plan 2000 stating: It is imperative that we move away from the farce of ‘democratic management’ to the tremendous potentialities inherent in a structure where there is democratic participatory management. For this to occur it is vitally important that the whole staff be represented in the processes of decision-making …‘Traditional staff meetings’ should essentially become ‘Management Council Meetings’ in which members of staff represent themselves and contribute directly to decision-making. (Red Star School Management Plan, 2000, p. 2)

The above plan also referred to breaking up of traditional hierarchies in decision-making and a move towards collaborative participation in organizational decision-making. Thus it is evident that the principal at Red Star Secondary School, as early as 12 years previously, aimed at promoting shared decision-making. Furthermore, from observations at the school it was noted that the offices of the SMT and the staff room were moved closer to the principal’s office. This close physical proximity of the offices and the staff room was aimed at increasing interaction, collaboration, consultation and communication between the teachers and SMT of which the principal was part. The principal at Red Star Secondary School commented, ‘In this way management will get closer to the staff’. Parent 3 at Red Star Secondary School went on to add another dimension: This collective decision-making should involve the voices of all those concerned. You can’t have collective decision making if individuals representing a particular group are not present. So representativeness is essential.

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The interviewee alluded to the need for representation of the various stakeholders on the SGB. This idea was also captured in the response by Excell Secondary School parent 2 who aptly stated, ‘democratic schools will see to it that individuals representing the various groups like the teachers, parents and learners are fully represented’. Representation of stakeholders is clearly spelt out in the SASA. Observations, interviews and document review indicated that all stakeholders were officially represented on the SGBs at both of the schools. Yet while parents were encouraged to contribute to shared decisionmaking, during observation of the SGB meetings minimal participation by the learners was noted. This suggests that learners’ voices are still silenced. Mncube and Harber (2009) and Mabovula (2008) had similar findings with regard to the learner voice in South African schools. They found that learners were often used for tokenism and decoration referring to Hart’s (1992) well known ladder of participation, where Level Two represents decoration and Level Three denotes tokenism and where only higher levels mean real participation. In addressing stakeholder participation, Botha (2010) maintains that principals should create spaces for debate and dialogue so that there is adequate involvement of learner and parent representatives on the SGB. Interestingly Adams and Waghid (2005) in a study in schools in the Western Cape found that despite the existence of SASA, SGBs do not seem to be conclusively democratic. Findings from their study show that although parent and learner representatives on the SGBs participate, their ‘voices are seldom heard. They participate without having the opportunity to influence decisions’ (Adams & Waghid, 2005, p. 31). This research also was not able to discern real inclusion of learners in decisionmaking at SGB level. Finally all the teacher representatives, parent representatives, principals and one of the learner representatives referred to parent apathy. The principal at Red Star Secondary School claimed, ‘the idea that parents should take ownership of the school is not as widespread as it should be.’ The teacher representative at Excell Secondary School stated, From my experience in this school here I feel the parent involvement is a major problem. I find this link between the school and home has been broken. When we talk in terms of parent involvement we expect more. (Excell Secondary School teacher)

The question is whether the expectations are too high, or whether more can be done to involve parents. Involvement may be the responsibility of those with greater power. With regard to the learner participation in the SGB meetings at Red Star

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Secondary School, both the learner governors were present. These learners presented a report on the events they would be hosting for the year. However there was only one learner representative present at the meeting at Excell Secondary School. At both the schools it was felt that there was not enough effort, if any, on the part of the parent or teacher representatives to include the learners in the discussion. It was only the principal at Excell Secondary School who asked the learner for her input just once during the meeting. Discussions at SGB meetings gave an impression that the learner representatives were not consulted frequently. It is hard for those without experience or training to make an unsolicited intervention. This finding is similar to that of Mabovula’s (2009) study where learner participation in school governance in five secondary schools in the Eastern Cape was investigated. It was found that although the democratization of school governance has given all stakeholders a powerful voice in school issues through the RCLs, ‘learners voices are, seemingly, being silenced’ (Mabovula, 2009, p. 219). Rubin and Silva (2003) advise that inclusion of learner voice in school governance requires offering learners realistic space and time to be included in the process of decision-making. However it was felt that perhaps this was not given much attention at the SGB meetings observed at both schools. At Red Star Secondary School the teacher representative claimed, … in terms of the learner voice I would say that it is not well incorporated … I must emphasise that the learners are represented on the SGB and issues are often discussed with them. Maybe we should be including them more. I don’t think we actually consult them on many issues. We tend more to tell them what’s going on. Major issues are sorted out by us the teachers, principal, management and parents.

Two significant points can be noted from this: that learners are often ‘told’ rather than consulted, and that ‘major’ issues are sorted out by adults. The minutes of SGB meetings revealed inputs from learners on issues like change in the school uniform (which was implemented at Excell Secondary School), the need for cutting of the grass after school and conduct of learners after school. These refer to less central issues for the school. Is training the key? The principal at Excell Secondary School felt that, We as a school can do a little bit more in terms of training of those learners. Although we’ve done boot camps, leadership courses, etc. there’s still room to get to that level or stage. A lot of it is about exposure. I mean it’s always about improving things.

The notion of ‘exposure’ as well as training is interesting. Perhaps giving learners time and space to articulate their inputs will be a better way to

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address the issue. However, training in deliberation skills and leadership skills will always be beneficial. It may also be that the standard representative structures are not always the best place for real deliberation and inclusion. The parent representative of Red Star Secondary School gave a significant example of involvement outside such structures: X is a strong person with an impeccable character and despite the severe lack of time [after the three week long teachers’ strike] and pressing worries felt by learners and teachers he decided to consult the learners. And so, in a forum of the grade twelve-learner body and their teachers he discussed the pros and cons of various solutions and facilitated a discussion between the learners and teachers. Learners were given a chance to decide whether they were equipped to write the departmental exam or felt unprepared. They were allowed to air their worries and vote on dates on which examinations would take place. The days following this discussion were filled with ingenious strategies to target key subjects, teaching, and more meetings during which the entire process of planning was explained to the learners and their minds put at ease.

Temporary forums can be useful places to address a pressing concern. The other forums for voice and representation are the more permanent committees and councils. Grille (2003) explains that democratic processes in the classroom include voting and the forming of committees. From observations and document review at both the schools, it was clear that there were various committees in place. Some of these included different learning area committees, committees for various codes of sport, a finance committee and discipline committee. The principal at Excell Secondary School maintained: So as leaders we must also be mindful of empowering others. But not only empowering but giving respect … You do not create committees and undermine it. It’s a very undemocratic practice …

This implies that he delegates power and has faith and trust in these committees such that he will not undermine the decisions made. Our key question with regard to whether schools prepare students for democracy is how many are able to participate in committees, councils and forums, and what they learn from such participation. At both the schools the peer mediators replaced the prefect system. The grade 11 learners were allowed to apply for the positions of peer mediators. These learners formed various committees which included sports, environment and learner welfare. Learners then organized activities and events for other learners of the school with guidance from other teachers. These learners were not only provided with opportunities for leadership roles but they were able to link the school with wider community projects like drug awareness. Yet it has

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to be acknowledged that it was the teachers who selected the learners for mediators according to set criteria, rather than any direct democracy on the part of learners themselves. Key committees such as subject committees concerning the curriculum did not have any learner representation, or even any observation by the RCL, and a recommendation would be that such involvement should happen. It was interesting that while the principal at Red Star Secondary School in his response regarding democracy included the ‘committees set up by learners for numerous projects such as the school’s feeding scheme and the eco project’, none of the learner respondents made reference to these committees in their responses to this specific question. Perhaps they were unaware that such activity can contribute towards making the school democratic; or they felt the committees did not give participants much leverage. As has been found with pupil councils and committees in Europe (Davies & Kirkpatrick, 2000), so much depends on how learners are chosen, how representatives use their role, whether they provide regular feedback to those not on councils or committees and whether they are able to take part in major decision-making. Tokenistic committees may be fun to be on and give skills to those few people on them, but may not really foster a whole school democratic culture which prepares all pupils for active citizenship.

Respect, Rights and Diversity One aspect which was frequently mentioned in relation to these structures was however respect respecting the decisions made by committees. In respecting the decisions of others, the notion of trust is created. The belief that individuals have a right to be treated respectfully was common characteristics acknowledged by respondents in both schools. This is evident in the explanation provided by parent 2 at Excell Secondary School: Respect as I said is also important. Not only is it important to respect the opinion of others but it is important to also respect the individual. In a democratic school respecting the rights and dignity of others is necessary. There should be respect between teachers, learners and parents.

Here, respect is linked to rights and dignity as outlined in the Constitution. Snauwaert (2002) posits that democracies advance the idea that all individuals possess an equal inherent dignity or worth. Dworkin, Saha, and Hill (2003) emphasize the need for mutual respect between teachers and parents as well as mutual respect between teachers and learners.

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The South African Constitution (RSA, 1996a) reflects universal democratic principles like equality, respect and accountability. Moreover it includes a well-established Bill of Rights that outlines the rights of South African citizens. Democratic schools recognize the value and rights of each individual (Nugent & Mooney, 2008). Kelly (1995) refers to human rights as a basic principle of education in a democratic society that is of significance to democratic schools. In our schools, the participants referred to the rights of the various stakeholders. For example, parent 1 at Red Star Secondary School maintained ‘To our principal the rights and views of everyone must be taken into account, and the dignity of all parties preserved’. Both the principals emphasized respect for others as well as the need to respect the rights of others. Such rights were recognized as relating to diversity. The Constitution of the RSA recognizes diversity of culture, religion and language and, most importantly, promotes respect for such diversity. Discrimination is forbidden. Parent 2 at Red Star Secondary School included the point that all individuals should be treated equally irrespective of the socio-economic background, race or gender. Another respondent (teacher 1 at Excell Secondary School) mentioned that democratic schools embrace diversity. Learner 1 at Red Star Secondary School commented that, In making a school democratic a principal should be open to talk and interact with anyone of any race group, gender, or religious preference.

The learner’s response accentuates the notion of the principal in a democratic school promoting fair and non-discriminatory practices (as of course should all members of the school). Similar thoughts are put forth by MacBeath (2004), who explains that in a democratic school the emphasis is on the equal value of all people, irrespective of gender and background. Interestingly, the various stakeholders at both the sample schools claimed that their principal embraced diversity. One example might be that at both these schools Muslim male learners sought permission to be excused from school on specific days, so that they could memorize the holy book and both these principals consented. One might raise a query about why Muslim female learners were not accorded the same privilege, but that is perhaps a different issue. An Excell Secondary School teacher representative commented: Well I must emphasize that our interactions are based not only on trust but there is respect for the rights and dignity of those involved. The interests of all learners always take precedence. He [the principal] reminds us that we as classroom managers are

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ultimately responsible for our actions in the classroom. Our principal ensures that we are all treated equitably. His belief is that we all should be treated fairly. There are equal opportunities for all members of staff to get involved in the running of the school. Even with gender equity one of his deputy principals is a female. Issues of gender bias or gender discrimination have not been an issue at our school. I would say that our principal recognizes our diversity and embraces our differences. He strives to create an environment that is free of discrimination. He embraces cultural diversity with regard to our learners and educators.

The parent representative at Excell Secondary School extended the idea of the principal embracing diversity: He [the principal] is making every effort to ensure that the staff for example is made up of people from the different racial groups. Bearing in mind that this school was previously a so-called Indian school, he played a pivotal role in ensuring that learners of colour are enrolled from the neighbouring areas. Many African staff members have been recruited and there are also white educators who are members of staff. (Excell Secondary School parent)

Admissions policies and staff recruitment are good indicators of attempts at equity, which is one of the foundations of democracy for many writers, as seen earlier.

Critical Thinking and Openness Naicker (2006) elaborates how the South African apartheid education doctrine emphasized control and an authoritarian approach to teaching and learning. Thus unlike education during the apartheid years that perpetuated separateness, was teacher centred and content driven, OBE, according to Van der Horst and McDonald (1997), aims at developing learners into critical thinkers who would analyse, engage in problem solving and contribute to a democratic society. An important part of participating in a democracy is the skill and habit of critical thinking. This provides the ‘informed choice’ which is another of the four cornerstones of democracy for Mncube and Harber (2010). Choosing representatives, voting in elections, participating in committees, all require access to good information for that choice to be a real one, for alternatives to be weighed up critically. The respondents at both of the schools also referred to critical thinking as being necessary in a democratic school. Learner 3 at Red Star Secondary School was of the opinion that democratic schools promote critical thinking. Learners should ‘question things and not just accept things the way they are …. be open to the ideas

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and views that others have’. The learner is suggesting that critical thinking involves considering alternative views. Learner 2 at the same school expounded: Basically democratic schools encourage critical thinking as this is a good way to solve problems and everyone looks at the best way to solve a problem. They look at it from different angles and in that way you cover possible ways of solving the problem.

This learner is associating critical thinking with problem solving, as it involves everyone reflecting on an issue. This matches Frank and Huddleston’s (2009) contention that critical thinking is a precondition for participating in democratic processes. Frank and Huddleston argue that critical thinking involves the skills of discussion and debate, including advocacy, argument and negotiation. Thinking critically exposes individuals to the views and varied perspectives held by others. This is underscored by many writers on democracy in education (Beane & Apple, 1999; Inman & Burke, 2002; Mncube & Harber, 2010). At Excell Secondary School teacher 1 acknowledged that a democratic school promotes critical thinking but also emphasized the need for the development of logical argument. Furthermore the teacher stated that, ‘To critical thinking I would add openness and again individuals should appreciate and respect the views of others’. The respondent suggests that critical thinking encourages open-mindedness, and the notion of respecting others’ views emerges again. Furthermore this teacher maintained that, … trust, transparency and openness feature in a democratic school. All role players must trust each other and hence have faith in each other. Transparency is vital so that all partners are aware of what is going on as well as no-one will feel prejudiced. Transparency and openness lends itself to all individuals being treated equally … All stakeholders must be able to share opinions, which can be debated, and outcomes accepted.

Significantly, this teacher puts together a large mix of ingredients for a democratic school: trust, integrity, faith in others, transparency and openness. In keeping with this view, Bryk and Schneider (2003) contend that integrity is an important component of trust and is bedrock of collaboration. Integrity contributes to trust and both are vital to teamwork and collaboration. Apple and Beane (2007) point out that collaboration is the foundation of democracy itself, but elaborate that democratic schools emphasize faith in the potential of individuals to find solutions to problems (Beane & Apple, 1999). Exposure to different, alternative ideas is also seen as crucial in the challenge to extremism (Davies, 2008). ‘Respect’ here does not mean unquestioningly respecting the sole voice of authority (whether

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political, religious or educational), but giving critical attention to diverse voices and solutions. This in turn entails the opportunity to hear and be exposed to these hence transparency and the free flow of information, as McQuoid-Mason, Mchunu, Govender, O’ Brien, and Larkin (1994) and Kensler (2010) point out. This means broadening out the scope of learning and interaction. Teacher 1 at Excell Secondary School included community involvement. He felt that, There should be an interaction between the community and the school because the school is an important part of the community. What is also important to note is that the school cannot function on its own as a separate entity. It has to be connected to the community in which it is located. (Excell Secondary School teacher 1)

Ultimately in a democratic school the interrelatedness between the school and the community is accentuated and the school and the community work in tandem. However, Red Star Secondary School teacher 2 suggested that it is essential for the community in which the school is located to promote democratic practices as well. Schools need to see themselves as ‘part of a larger community with the emphasis on cooperation and collaboration’ (Mncube & Harber, 2010, p. 617). Kluth (2005) elaborates how in democratic schools learners are not only connected to each other, but to the immediate neighbourhood and wider community. We would argue that schools can model democracy and non-violent solutions to problems for the community, as well as, in turn, draw on community resources.

Gaps and Constraints in Democracy This leads to the final question of what was not mentioned much in responses about democracy. While conventional definitions of democracy include making progress through consent rather than violence, and violence is an ever-present threat in South Africa, it was not mentioned as such by participants. One might have expected something on this with regard to codes of conduct, or the discipline committee. The teacher representative at Excell Secondary School corroborated the comment about minimal learner participation at the SGB meetings by explaining: … learners do not make input on all policy issues. When it came to uniform, when it came to matters that deals with the learners we had to get input from them as well so it

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was taken into account. When it comes to the school code of conduct for learners I must say that this is not always done …. in consultation with both parents and learners. Perhaps we need to focus on all stakeholders getting involved in formulating this document.

This might explain why behaviour is not seen by learners as part of democracy. One learner at Red Star Secondary School explained, … the school code of conduct and the school rules are also guided by the constitution of our country. But from my knowledge I don’t think the learners really have a say in the code of conduct or school rules.

Even at Excell Secondary School the learner representative stated, ‘Like school rules, we don’t have a choice … We give input only on class rules’. It would seem vital however that learners participate in understanding and formulating how rights and respect translate into behaviour towards others, and understand their own responsibility in conduct, rather than be subject to top-down rules. Research across different countries on learners being involved in school codes of conduct, or setting up their own behaviour panels, or tackling violence by peers (or teachers) shows conclusively that behaviour improves and that rights to dignity for all are more likely to be upheld (Save The Children, 2012; Yamashita & Davies, 2010). Also, surprisingly, within the notion of democratic schools very little emphasis was placed on the voting process. Perhaps this is because the respondents view democracy as more than just a political system, or not much voting occurred in the schools with regard to positions of power, by learners or teachers. What mentioned there was related to the notion of learner-centred learning: one learner at Red Star recounted: There is a lot of interaction, speaking, demonstrating and having an all-round constructive lesson. We go above and beyond thinking outside of the box. We are allowed to voice our opinions in having constructive debates and talks … During class time when a decision is needed to be made, teachers allow us to take a vote and they do not decide for us.

Admittedly at both the case study schools there were mixed responses with regard to the learner-centred teaching. One parent talked about ‘regurgitation’ with regard to teaching. At Red Star Secondary School the principal emphasized the need to complete the syllabus and assessments and he was of the opinion that these issues placed a strain on learner-centred teaching. The principal at Excell Secondary School reiterated similar feelings by explaining that the notion of learner centeredness was difficult to put into practice. Most respondents felt strongly that the current curriculum was

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prescriptive and the principal at Red Star Secondary School referred to the ‘lack of a consultative process into curriculum design.’ In other words he was suggesting that the various stakeholders, namely the parents, learners and teachers did not engage in the design of the curriculum. The learner representative at Red Star Secondary School also added ‘Like the curriculum is already set many of our projects and assignments are already set for us’. It is clear that outside constraints of curriculum and examinations do place limits on democratic decision-making in schools for teachers as well as learners. Yet this does not mean giving up. The principal of Excell Secondary School commented: Democracy is an ideology that contributes to a culture … A democracy is only as thriving as its people … You nurture democracy and you protect it because if you don’t protect it somebody is going to abuse it.

The protection of democracy in a school, and acknowledging that it is a constantly ongoing project, is perhaps the key principle.

CONCLUSION In summary, the responses have revealed many similarities between the two schools. With reference to the participants’ espoused notion of democratic schooling at both schools various democratic principles were alluded to. These were seen at many points to emphasize and implement the democratic principles as mirrored in the Constitution of the RSA. From the responses, it is evident that the respondents have moved away from a narrow conceptualization of a democratic school that focuses predominantly on electoral processes and instead included aspects like collective decision-making, consultation, rights, respect and equity the thick or social conception. Constraints on democracy would still be the traditional conceptions of the child/learner not being suitable to participate in the major decision areas of the school, for example around teaching and learning, or behavioural codes. Constraints would also include how to gain experience in democracy that for learners in particular, there needs to be skills training, and time given to learning how to do democracy in different spaces. Yet the potentialities are there, both in the structures of representation and committee participation, and in the emphasis given to critical thinking in the classroom. The latter is important in being able to reach

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every learner, not just those on official bodies. These schools have shown that to understand what democracy means, we need to move beyond the abstract and practice democracy, which will imply everyone living it.

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SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS OF EDUCATION FOR INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING IN THAILAND Chanita Rukspollmuang ABSTRACT Promoting a “Culture of Peace” has always been one of the ultimate goals in the provision of education around the world, including Thailand. The concept of Education for International Understanding (EIU) has thus been developed since the “Peace Movements” following the 20th century’s world wars. Initially, the field encompassed peace education, international education, human rights education, citizenship education, and development education. Gradually, it has become an interdisciplinary, and multidimensional field of study encompassing other related themes including disarmament education, nonviolence education, education for conflict resolution, antidiscrimination education, gender equity education, multicultural education, global education, education for international cooperation, education for dialogue of civilizations, education for interfaith dialogue, values education, environmental education, education for sustainable development, and education for inner or personal

Comparative Sciences: Interdisciplinary Approaches International Perspectives on Education and Society, Volume 26, 215 242 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3679/doi:10.1108/S1479-367920140000026009

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peace. Moreover EIU, which formerly focused on the “international” dimension, is now concerned just as much with issues and problems “within” (intra) societies. This chapter examines the development of the concept and the implementation of EIU-related themes in Thai policies and curriculum. Survey research was conducted before and after the major political crisis starting in 2008. Survey questions include ability to identify national policy relating to EIU, perceptions concerning the objectives in implementing EIU and values highlighted within an EIU framework, teaching methods, experiences in studying/participating in EIU-related courses/activities, and problems in studying/participating in EIU activities. Some results from the study in 2007 are presented and compared with findings from following studies in 2010, 2012, and 2014. Keywords: Education for International Understanding; peace education; Thailand; higher education

INTRODUCTION “Learning to live together” in peace and harmony has become increasingly important in the globalized societies. In doing so, we need a dynamic, holistic, and lifelong educational process through which mutual respect, understanding, caring and sharing, compassion, social responsibility, solidarity, acceptance, and tolerance of diversity among individuals and groups (ethnic, social, cultural, religious, national, and regional) are internalized and practiced together to solve problems and to work toward a just and free, peaceful, and democratic society. UNESCO has, in fact, recognized the imperatives of “Peace Movements” since after the world wars. The scope of this movement has expanded overtime and later the “Framework of the Survey Recommendation concerning Education for International Understanding, Co-operation and Peace and Education relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms” was declared in November 1974. This recommendation applies to all stages and forms of education. As a member of UNESCO, Thailand has integrated the above framework in the national policy and curriculum as well as applied for membership of the UNESCO Associated Schools Project (ASP) in 1958. The project aims to involve world’s youth in World Concerns and the United Nations system, Human Rights and Democracy, Intercultural Learning, and Environmental Issues. However, it is noteworthy that in the beginning, the idea of peace

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education and related theme of Education for International Understanding (EIU) are not strongly emphasized in educational institutions since Thailand has not had major political uprising for a long time until political demonstrations began in 2008 and continued until 2015. In order to understand the situation, the researcher surveyed the opinions of teachers, educators, and scholars concerning the state and problems of teaching and learning EIU-related themes in 2007, before the political protests. Afterwards, questionnaires were sent to the undergraduate and graduate students in 2010, 2012, and 2014 in order to compare their perceptions. Many interesting differences were found. For example, in 2007 survey, it was reported that, among the eight objectives in implementing EIU-related themes, resolving conflicts nonviolently was perceived to be the least important. Interestingly, the students recognized that this objective was the most important in the last three surveys.

PURPOSES OF THE STUDY AND METHODOLOGY This chapter summarizes some interesting findings from studies on the state and problems in providing EIU and its related themes in Thailand. “Comparing times” (Sweeting, 2007) was applied as unit of comparison. Mix-methods were employed including document analysis and survey study. The researcher used documentary research to study the concept and development of EIU and its implementation in the Thai curriculum, focusing on formal education sector. Series of questionnaires concerning situation of EIU were sent to respondents before and after political uprisings. In 2007, the researcher was asked by the Asia-Pacific Center of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) to study the opinions of teachers in ASP schools and of educators and scholars in higher educational institutions. Since then, there were ongoing political crisis in Thailand besides the conflict in three southernmost provinces: Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala. The major ones were the resumption of People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) or the “Yellow Shirt” protests during May December 2008, the 2009 and 2010 “Red Shirt” supporter protests, and the present People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) protest which started from October 31, 2013. It would thus be interesting to analyze and compare changes in the situations on EIU during these political unrests. Questionnaires were then utilized to collect data from undergraduate and

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graduate students in the Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University in 2010, 2012, and 2014. The survey questions included ability to identify national policy relating to EIU, perceptions concerning the objectives in implementing EIU and values highlighted within EIU framework, teaching methods, experiences in studying/participating in EIU-related courses/ activities, and problems in studying/participating in EIU activities. Purposive sampling was utilized in the studies. In the 2007 study, 47 teachers in ASP schools, educators and scholars in higher educational institutions were selected while the fifth year undergraduate students and graduate students were targeted in the 2010, 2012, and 2014 studies. Using Taro Yamane’s formula of sample size with an error of 5% and with confidence coefficient of 95%, the calculation from the population of approximately 750 yearly came up with 261 students in each surveyed years (Yamane, 1967). The number of respondents was 157, 214, and 254 respectively. Even though the returning rates were lower than expected, due to many reasons, it was acceptable considering the numbers were within the range of 7% error. Collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, using frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Selected findings of the survey are presented in this chapter after examining the meaning and scope of EIU which was used as the framework of this study.

FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY The concept of EIU is not new although the APCEIU, a UNESCO category II institute, was recently established in 2000, in Seoul, with the mission to promote and develop EIU toward a Culture of Peace in the Asia-Pacific region. In fact, EIU, as a discipline, has a long history. We can trace back to the “Peace Movements” after world wars and the field has evolved gradually since. “A River Metaphor” presented by Swee-Hin (2006) might be one of the best descriptions of the concept and development of EIU (see Fig. 1). The paper presented a diagrammatic outline of some of the major “sources” and “tributaries” flowing into a “river,” which reaches the sea or ocean as a “multi-dimensional” or “multicurrent” and increasingly “convergent” body of concepts, ideas, practices, and experiences. It could be summarized that the expansion of modern nation states in early 20th century promoted the ideal of “international understanding” to improve relationships between/among nations and cultures. Later,

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A “River” Metaphor for ESD/EIU and Interrelated Fields. Source: Swee-Hin (2006).

disarmament and demilitarization as well as peace education expanded through the decades after the growing concern over the consequences of militarization and world wars (including some others such as the Vietnam

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War). After the announcement of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, the field also gave emphasis to “human rights education.” In the 1960s, criticism of “international development” strategies of modernization and the North South inequalities encouraged the growth of another related field called “development education.” The field emphasizes study and analysis of problems of the so-called “third world countries” such as social, economic, political, and cultural inequalities and its impacts arose from westernization and the country’s development plans which followed the modernization theory. Recently, the formulation of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals at the beginning of this new century further highlighted the urgency of meeting the basic needs of all peoples worldwide. Along the river of educational transformation, significant contributions have also been made by the tributaries identified by such terms as multicultural education, intercultural education, and education for tolerance. Discriminations, including racism, need to be overcome at both individual and systemic levels. As shown in Fig. 1, the river has also been enriched in recent years with the campaigns to promote a Dialogue among Civilizations as well as interfaith dialogue that seek to enhance understanding, respect, and harmony among all faiths and religions. The revision of EIU took place during International Development Decades. The field shifted its interest from “country” or “society” level to the internal and local problems which might affect international relationships, analyzes the question of inequality more critically, and seeks ways to promote “peaceful international relations,” as well as aiming to construct theory and practices for global issues. The most important movement occurred when UNESCO announced its “Recommendation on International Understanding, Cooperation and Peace, and Education Relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom,” which was adopted by the General Conference at its eighteenth session in Paris on November 19, 1974. According to this recommendation, the terms international understanding, cooperation, and peace are to be considered as an indivisible whole based on the principle of friendly relations between peoples and states having different social and political systems and on the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Education (including school, informal, and nonformal agencies) is recognized as the most potential instrument for maintaining international peace and understanding and it is the responsibility of the educational institution to generate a suitable atmosphere in which children can develop the feelings of oneness and world unity. Moreover, it was stated that each member

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states should formulate and apply national policies aimed at increasing the efficacy of education in all its forms and strengthening its contribution to international understanding and cooperation, to the maintenance and development of a just peace, to the establishment of social justice, to respect for and application of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and to the eradication of the prejudices, misconceptions, inequalities, and all forms of injustice which hinder the achievement of these aims. Moreover, throughout the 1970s, the growth of public and official awareness of environmental problems, culminating in the 1992 Rio World Summit on Environment and Development, responded in the establishment of the field of environmental education which was referred later as education for “sustainable development” or ESD (especially since the start of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) in 2005). The flowing of the river of educational transformation becomes a more holistic perspective on environmental education that encompasses the complex interrelationships between the environment and the social, economic, cultural, and political dimensions of life and societies. In the 1980s, focus of peace education which was formerly on peace as the absence of war was replaced by a holistic framework of peace which nowadays is referred to as education for a culture of peace. In this framework, all forms of violence (physical, social, cultural, economic, political, psychological, structural) now had to be fully considered, while peace was also to be promoted in its inner as well as outer dimensions. Thus the six themes of a holistic EIU for a culture of peace are clearly linked to dismantling the culture of war, living with justice and compassion, building cultural respect, reconciliation and solidarity, promoting human rights and responsibilities, living in harmony with the earth, and cultivating inner peace (Swee-Hin, 2002). And it should be noted that in 1995 UNESCO followed up on the 1974 Recommendation through its Declaration and Integrated Framework of Action on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy. Besides, one specific activity of UNESCO in encouraging peace education is the Associated Schools Project Network (ASPnet), founded in 1953. As of June 2011, more than 9,900 educational institutions, ranging from preschools, primary, secondary, and vocational schools to teacher training institutions across 180 countries have become members of this global network. These school networks run many projects relating to the four UNESCO basic fields, namely, intercultural learning, peace and human rights, education for sustainable development, and the United Nations priorities (UNESCO, 2013).

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Another factor effecting the advancement of EIU was the Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century or the “Delors Report” which emphasized the four pillars of education (learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together, and learning to be) (UNESCO, 1996). This well-known report similarly advocated education for cultural diversity, respect for human rights, nondiscrimination, and nonviolent conflict resolution. Interestingly, after the establishment of APCEIU in 2000, EIU as envisaged in the vision and mission of APCEIU is a multidimensional and holistic framework encompassing such interrelated fields and movements as peace education, human rights education, development education, intercultural education, antiracist education, nonsexist education, education for tolerance, environmental education/education for sustainable development, disarmament education, global education, values education, media literacy, citizenship education, education for democracy, and international education. This in turn means that EIU is concerned just as much with issues and problems “within” (intra) societies as their interrelationships with other societies or nations. Nowadays EIU is offered as interdisciplinary courses in basic education and higher education institutions as well as other informal or nonformal education centers. Also, EIU has become multidimensional, holistic, and interrelated field of which the scope of study included such themes as education for disarmament; education for nonviolence and conflict resolution; education for a culture of peace or peace education; development education; education for social justice; human rights education; gender-equity or nonsexist education; multicultural or intercultural education; education for sustainable development or sustainability; indigenous education and education for inner peace or spiritual development. After reviewing the evolving concept of EIU, it is noteworthy that the concept of EIU has evolved gradually and integrated many related fields of study. This chapter included the following as the EIU-related themes: • • • • • • • •

Human Rights Education Disarmament Education Nonviolence Education Education for Sustainable Development Environmental Education Citizenship Education Multicultural Education Gender Equity Education

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• • • • • • • • •

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Antidiscrimination Education Values Education Peace Education Education for Conflict Resolution Education for Interfaith Dialogue Education for Dialogue of Civilizations Global Education Education for International Cooperation Education for Inner or Personal Peace

The above conceptual framework was also used by APCEIU when they launched their situational analysis of EIU in the Asia-Pacific region covering five subregions in Asia and the Pacific region for three years from 2006 to 2008. It aimed to set the groundwork for the educational programs of international understanding in a regional context. The project seeks to achieve the following objectives: to survey and assess the current situations of EIU in the member states of the region; to set agendas for a balanced and contextualized promotion of EIU in the region; and to formulate medium-term strategies and develop well-grounded programs to promote EIU effectively in Asia and the Pacific region. The survey questions focus on issues of “what,” “why,” and “how” EIU may be provided through educational agencies and institutions. The questions are placed under seven categories: (1) background of respondent; (2) the objective of EIU programs; (3) the subject area including EIU and extra-curricular activities implementing EIU; (4) teaching methods and pedagogy of EIU; (5) values highlighted within EIU framework; (6) major achievements and barriers; and (7) needs for further development of EIU activities. The studies showed that the unclear understanding of EIU was found on the part of the member states in South Asia. Challenges in promoting EIU that were found commonly across the groups were commitment gaps between political and bureaucratic levels, lack of cooperation and coordination, a low level of awareness of EIU, and capacity-building of the member states. In particular, poor coordination between organizations engaged in the field of EIU was viewed as a principal obstacle in the effective promotion of EIU as it often led to the duplication of work, thus preventing the maximization of the impact. Also the lack of awareness of EIU in general in the region is also perceived to be a hindrance in the effective promotion of EIU (APCEIU, 2008). In Southeast Asia, national coordinators reported that the importance of EIU or EIU-related themes were included in the Constitution and/or education law. However, the survey result shows that

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the respondents, most of who were school teachers in primary and secondary schools, did not well recognize it. In general, Environment Education was the most highly covered in the formal education sector in the region regarding the educational programs related to EIU (APCEIU, 2007). On the other hand, in some countries like Indonesia and the Philippines, Democracy/Citizenship Education and Values Education were very well covered and in Malaysia, the Education for International Cooperation was quite well covered. Social studies was the subject which mostly dealt well with EIU topics in Thailand and the Philippines. On the other hand, Moral Education included EIU topics very well in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Laos. The respondents revealed that inadequate educational budget is the most seriously regarded obstacle to implement EIU and lack of educators with adequate knowledge and pedagogical skills and lack of resource materials also get high consideration. Yet, it is also important to consider that the respondents of Laos and Malaysia answered that the “inadequate integration of EIU and related fields in national school curriculum” was the most serious obstacle to implement EIU. Furthermore, more opportunities of teacher training and international and local networking are shown as the most important component for effective implementation of EIU. Especially the respondents voiced that training of EIU should be provided for all teachers, no matter what subjects they taught and socialization of EIU could set the groundwork for school education as well as community-based education (APCEIU, 2007). In the Asia-Pacific Policy Meeting for EIU in Higher Education on October 12 14, 2010 at Seoul, Republic of Korea, increased involvement of higher education institutions with elementary and secondary schools was recommended by the meeting participants as an essential component of an improvement strategy (APCEIU, 2010).

RESULTS OF THE STUDY Integrating EIU-Related Themes in Thai Policy and Curriculum With consideration to the framework of the study, it should be noted that the Thai first educational reform during the reign of King Rama V or King Chulalongkorn (1853 1910) included many EIU-related themes such as human rights, citizenship, and inner peace. His Majesty, who was perhaps best known for his abolition of slavery, set one of the top priorities of the

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reform to provide school education to all children of the commoners. The 1871 decree of King Chulalongkorn recognized that human resource development is critical to a nation’s economic success and prosperity; that school education needed to have not only academic knowledge but also morality and religion an important moral dimension; and finally that creativity and aesthetics are also as an important element in education. Central to his major reforms was the creation of a modern educational system in Siam or Thailand with the capability to serve the entire Kingdom (Fry, 2002). In the reign of King Rama VII (1893 1941), who was the first constitutional monarch of the country after the Revolution of 1932, the concept of citizenship in democratic society was also an integral part of the Thai curriculum. In the present day, many EIU-related themes are inculcated in the Thai national policies, educational laws, and school curriculum. For example, environmental education was emphasized in the 1977 National Education Plan as well as the 1978 primary school and 1981 secondary school curriculum. Regarding the national economic and social development plan, the 8th National Economic and Social Development Plan (1997 2001) had placed H.M. the King’s philosophy on “Sufficiency Economy” as its foundation. Also, the plan aimed at three main objectives: people-centered development; balancing between economic, social, natural resources, and environment capitals; and leading to “Green and Happiness Society.” The Ninth (2002 2006) and Tenth (2007 2011) plans adhered to this longterm goal. Transforming the country to “Creative and Green Economy” and “Happiness and Harmonious Society” was discussed during the planning of the 11th Plan (2012 2016). Moreover, it should also be pointed out that after the political unrests in 2008, educational policies at all level adhered to the guidelines given in the “Second Decade Educational Reform (2009 2018)” which aims to provide Thai people with life-long quality education in which the promotion of civic education is one of its strategies. Also, the government at that time announced the “National Reconciliation Plan” with a hope to restore peace and harmony in the Thai society. In accordance with this latter plan, it is suggested that the university offers civic education as a required course in general education curriculum, the Office of National Education Standard and Quality Assurance (ONESQA) develop an indicator based on civic education activities, and that citizenship should be included in the Thai Qualifications Framework for Higher Education (TQF: HE). The Thai Constitutions in the year 2007 and 2010 stated clearly that education should be a major tool for developing the Thai people, protecting one’s rights, and establishing equity as well as guaranteeing their rights

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as the Thai citizen. The enactment of the master legislation, the National Education Act B.E. 2542 (1999) and Amendments (2000, 2010) ensured these goals. Later, the Ministry of Education announced implementation of the Basic Education Core Curriculum 2001, which served as the core curriculum for national education at the basic level (Grades 1 12) for harmonization with the objectives of the National Education Act 1999 and its amendments. The substance of the curriculum was assembled into eight subject groups of learning processes: (1) Thai Language; (2) Mathematics; (3) Science; (4) Social Studies, Religion, and Culture; (5) Health and Physical Education; (6) Art; (7) Career and Technology; and (8) Foreign Languages (Ministry of Education, 2001). EIU-related themes were included as topics in the aforementioned subject groups of learning processes, especially in the “Social Studies, Religion, and Culture” subject group which was comprised of five subjects: (1) Religion, Moral, and Ethics; (2) Civic Responsibilities, Culture, and Social Life; (3) Economics; (4) History; and (5) Geography. Some related themes are also included in “Science” and “Foreign Language” subject groups (Rukspollmuang, 2007). The national basic core curriculum was revised in 2008 in order to prepare Thai children and youths toward the 21st century. Emphases have been placed on morality, preference for Thai-ness, skills in analytical and creative thinking, technological knowhow, capacity for teamwork, and ability to live in peace and harmony in the world community (Ministry of Education, 2008). This latest curriculum applied the idea of learning areas instead of subject groups of learning processes (see Fig. 2). EIU-related themes are included as topics in the subject groups of learning processes in the basic education core curriculum in the same way as the previous 2001 curriculum, that is, mainly integrated in the “Social Studies, Religion, and Culture” subject group which was developed on interdisciplinary approach. The main strands in this subject group are (1) Religion, Morality, and Ethics; (2) Civics, Culture, and Living; (3) Economics; (4) History; and (5) Geography. • Religion, Morality, and Ethics: fundamental concepts about religion, morality, ethics, and principles of Buddhism or those of learners’ religions; application of religions, principles, and teachings for selfdevelopment and peaceful and harmonious coexistence; ability to do good deeds; acquisition of desirable values; continuous self-development as well as provision of services for social and common interests and concerns.

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Fig. 2.

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Learning Areas of 2008 Thai Basic Education Core Curriculum. Source: Ministry of Education (2008).

• Civics, Culture, and Living: political and administrative systems of the present society; democratic form of government under constitutional monarchy; characteristics and importance of good citizenship; cultural differences and diversity; values under constitutional monarchy; rights, duties, and freedoms in peaceful existence in Thai society and the world community. • Economics: production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services; management of limited resources available; lifestyle of equilibrium and application of the principles of Sufficiency Economy in daily life. • History: historical times and periods; historical methodology; development of mankind from the past to the present; relationships and changes of various events; effects of important events in the past; personalities that influenced various changes in the past; historical development of the

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Thai nation; culture and Thai wisdom; origins of important civilizations of the world. • Geography: physical characteristics of the Earth; physical characteristics, resources, and climate of Thailand and various other regions of the world; utilization of maps and geographical instruments; interrelationship of various things in the natural system; relationship between man and natural environment and man-made objects; presentation of geodata and information; preservation of the environment for sustainable development. After comparing the 2001and 2008 core curriculum, it is interesting to see that the concept of EIU and related themes are clearer in the former curriculum (see Table 1). The provision of EIU-related themes at tertiary level is different from the basic education level since there is no national core curriculum. The Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC) set national policy guidelines and qualifications framework while each university has the authority to formulate its own curriculum compliance to those guidelines and framework. With regards to EIU, it is interesting to see that after the 2008 political crisis, the Second 15-Year Long Range Plan on Higher Education (2008 2022) was launched as one of the national strategic policy framework. The plan foresees “Peaceful Conflicts Resolution” and “Violence” as one of new challenges and threats to the country. Thus, a special higher education plan, which calls for creation of cultural understanding and tolerance, recognition and cultivation of values among Thais, will be needed to assuage the situation in Southern Thailand in the long run. After analyzing the curriculum of public universities, it was found that EIU-related themes were offered either as programs of study, separate courses, or topics in the subject courses. Many universities organized student activities and some set up research and development centers in relation to EIU. It seems that peace education, citizenship education, and environmental education were provided in the early days. In order to cope with political unrests in Bangkok and increasing conflicts in the Southern borders, the government encouraged higher educational institutions to establish Peace Education Centers. For instance, the Office of Peace and Governance, King Prajadhipok’s Institute was set up to undertake academic activities relating to public participation and peaceful conflicts resolution and build national and international network to promote democracy. With cooperation of the Office of National Education Council, this office helped organize a project to enhance peace culture in schools in

Comparing the Integration of EIU-Related Themes in the 2001 and 2008 Basic Education Core Curriculum.

2001 Basic Education Core Curriculum Subject Group: Social studies, religion, and culture Substance 1: Religion, morality, righteousness Standard So 1.1 Understanding history, importance, and teachings of Buddhism and other religions, ability to apply religious doctrine in living together. Standard So 1.2

Standard So 1.3

To strictly adhere to moral codes, good deeds, right value, and faith in Buddhism or religion which oneself has faith in. To observe and behave in accordance with moral teaching and religious rites of Buddhism or religion which oneself has faith in, and right value, ability to apply religious teaching for self-development, for society welfare, for preservation of environment, and for peaceful living in society.

Substance 2: Civil responsibility, culture, and life in society Standard So 2.1 To behave in accordance with good citizen’s responsibilities, laws, customs and Thai culture, peaceful living in Thai and world society.

Standard So 2.2

Substance 3: Economics

Learning area of social studies, religion, and culture Strand 1: Religion, morality, and ethics Standard So1.1 Knowledge and understanding of the history, moral principles of Buddhism or of one’s faith and other religions; having the right faith; adherence to and observance of moral principles for peaceful coexistence. Standard So 1.2 Understanding, awareness, and self-conduct of devout believers; and observance and furtherance of Buddhism or one’s faith.

Strand 2: Civics, culture, and living in society Standard So 2.1 Understanding and self-conduct in accordance with duties and responsibilities of good citizens; observance and preservation of Thai tradition and culture; and enjoying peaceful coexistence in Thai society and the world community. Standard So 2.2 Understanding of political and administrative systems of the present society; adherence to, faith in, and upholding of the democratic form of government under constitutional monarchy. Strand 3: Economics

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To understand current politics, firmly believe in, and uphold democratic system of government under a constitutional monarchy.

2008 Basic Education Core Curriculum

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Table 1.

2001 Basic Education Core Curriculum

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Table 1. (Continued ) 2008 Basic Education Core Curriculum

Standard So 3.1

Understanding and to be capable to efficiently and cost-effectively administer and manage resource production and consumption, utilization of limited resources available, sufficient economy for well-balanced living.

Standard So 3.1

Standard So 3.2

Understanding various economic systems and their relationship, necessity to cooperate for economic stability at international level.

Standard So 3.2

Substance 4: History Standard So 4.3 Understanding historical development of Thai national, culture, local wisdom, be proud of being a Thai and maintaining Thai identity.

Understanding and capability of managing resources for production and consumption; efficiency and cost-effective utilization of limited resources available; and understanding principles of Sufficiency Economy for leading a life of equilibrium. Understanding of various economic systems and institutions, economic relations, and necessity for economic cooperation in the world community.

Strand 4: History Standard So 4.3 Knowledge of historical development of Thailand as a nation and culture; Thai wisdom; cherishing, pride in, and preservation of Thai-ness.

Subject Group: Science Substance 2: Life and environment Standard Sc 2.2 Understanding importance of natural resources, utilization of resources at local, national, and international spheres, application of knowledge in sustainable management of natural resources and local environment.

Learning Area of Science Strand 2: Life and the environment Standard Sc 2.1 Understanding of local environment; relationship between the environment and living things; relationship between living things in the ecosystem; investigative process for seeking knowledge and scientific mind; and

CHANITA RUKSPOLLMUANG

Substance 5: Geography Strand 5: Geography Standard So 5.2 Understanding interrelationship between human Standard So 5.2 Understanding of interrelationship between man beings and physical environment which lead to and physical environment leading to cultural cultural creation, and consciousness of resource creativity; awareness of and participation in and environment preservation for sustainable conservation of resources and the environment development. for sustainable development.

Subject Group: Foreign Languages Learning Area of Foreign Languages Substance 2: Language and culture Strand 2: Language and culture Standard F 2.2 Appreciation of similarities and differences Standard F 2.2 Understanding the similarity and difference between the language and own culture and those between language and culture of native and Thai speakers, and capacity for accurate and of Thai; utilizing language intelligently and with consideration. appropriate use of language. Substance 4: Language, community and world relationship Standard F 4.2 Processing skills in the use of foreign languages to acquire knowledge, to work, to earn living, to stimulate cooperation, and to live together in society.

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Standard Sc 2.2

communicating acquired knowledge that could be applied for useful purposes. Appreciating the importance of natural resources; utilization of natural resources at local, national, and global levels; and application of knowledge for management of natural resources and local environment on a sustainable basis.

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2007 in which 80 basic educational institutions participated. Also in recent years, a commitment to implement Agenda 21 and the adoption of United Nations DESD (2005 2014), courses and activities relating to education for sustainable development are widely emphasized (see details in Rukspollmuang, 2010). Chulalongkorn University, which is the oldest (founded in 1917) and is regarded as the top quality institution of Thailand, takes a leading role not only in academic arena but also is committed to take part in corporate social responsibility on the grounds of high values and morality. At the undergraduate level, the university required all students to take at least 30 credit hours under five categories in the general education courses, namely, language, sciences, social sciences, humanities, and interdisciplinary. Analysis of these requirements found 11 EIU-related courses. The students may take courses in “Cross Cultural Management,” “Sufficiency Economy and Buddhist Economy,” “Peace Psychology and Conflict Resolution,” “Man and Nature,” “Literature and Human Rights,” “Environmental Ethics,” “Man and Environment,” “Management in Different Culture,” “Happiness for Sustainable Development,” “Community Development Based on Sufficiency Economy,” and “Man and Peace.” The Faculty of Education may be taken as a good practice in providing EIU-related themes. In 2007, the faculty set up R&D Center on Education for Sustainable Development Innovations (or R&D Center on ESDI) and R&D Center in Educational Policy, Law, Administration, and Higher Education Management (the latter undertakes academic activities and research projects including EIU). Activities of student clubs are also encouraged. EIU-related clubs include Environmental Education Club and Business Education Club for Sufficient Economy (BASE), which was founded on June 3, 2010. In terms of academic curriculum, the five-year Bachelor of Education Program, 2009 revised version, requires undergraduate students to take 30 credits from the university general education curriculum, 130 credits in specialized fields (teaching profession 54 credits, major area of study 76 credits), and 10 credits of free electives. EIU-related themes are integrated in 11 general education courses as indicated above and 6 teaching professional courses (required course for fifth-year students in “Education and Sustainable Social Development,” elective courses in “Environmental Education,” “Environmental Education for Environmental Conservation and Development,” “Dharma, Nature and Education,” “Field Study for Environmental Conservation,” and “Peace Education”). As for courses in specialized fields of study, 3 majors,

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namely, Teaching Social Studies, Nonformal Education, and Business Education, open either required or elective courses in EIU-related themes. The first major offers “Man and Environment” and “Society and Education for Sustainability” as elective courses. “Non-Formal Education for Personal Empowerment” and “Community Education” were electives in the second major. The last major requires all students to take courses in “Business Ethics” and “Consumer Education” which emphasizes the “Smart consumer” idea and offers electives in “Business Education for Grass Root Economy Development.” Moreover, all undergraduate students must participate in 12 professional development activities such as Dharma (religious) practices for mental and intellectual development, public service or student camp or voluntary social activities before their graduation. At the graduate level, the Faculty revised its master’s and doctoral degree programs in 2008. Graduate students, either master’s or PhD candidates, were required to take a course in “Education and Sustainable Social Development”. Another required course in doctoral degree level is “Critical Analysis in Education and Sustainable Development.” Three programs in master degree level, that is, MA programs in Teaching Social Studies, Development Education, and Non-formal Education offer EIU-related courses. The first program requires the students to take a course in “Social Studies for Sustainability” and offers electives in “Environmental Education for Social Development.” The second one opens a required course in “Comparative Development Education” and offers such courses as “Legal and Ethical Dimensions in Development Education” and “Development of Education according to Royal Initiatives” as electives. The Non-formal Education program offers elective course in “Non-Formal Learning Based on Contemplative Education.” At the doctoral degree level, Development Education program offers EIU-related courses such as “Theory of Development Education” as a required course and “Community, Culture and Development” as elective. In summary, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Environmental Education (EE), and Comparative and International Education or Education for International and Cultural Understanding as well as Development Education are main EIU themes integrated in the curriculum. ESD is emphasized as it is offered as both faculty core courses and program required/elective courses. Recently, the Development Education program has signed an MOU with Hokkaido University, Japan in order to promote activities in the ESD Campus Asia Project.

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State and Problems in Implementing EIU-Related Themes Data in the first study in 2007 was collected from 47 samples comprised of 16 ASP school teachers, 18 faculty members in universities, and 13 educators/scholars in EIU-related fields. Respondents of the 2010, 2012, and 2014 studies were the fifth-year undergraduate students and the graduate students in the Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University. The 2010 project collected data from 157 undergraduate and graduate students (43 undergraduates, 94 master degree students, 20 PhD candidates). In 2012, respondents were 214 undergraduate and graduate students (159 undergraduates, 15 master degree students, 40 PhD candidates). As for the 2014 study, 161 undergraduate students, 53 master degree students, and 40 PhD candidates answered the questionnaire (Table 2). Findings from the 2007 study showed many interesting viewpoints which were used in the discussion of APCEIU situational analysis research project. For instance, promoting sustainable development was perceived as the top priority in providing EIU-related themes, followed by strengthening political democracy, promoting social justice and equity, building peace in society/world, fostering intercultural harmony, upholding human rights, and cultivating inner peace. Interestingly, resolving conflicts nonviolently was perceived as the least important objective (see Table 3). Most of these teachers and educators had experience in teaching or participating in activities relating to Citizenship Education, Education for Sustainable Development, Environmental Education, Values Education, and Peace Education. Moreover, when asked about problems in providing EIU-related courses, they indicated that lack of educators with expertise in EIU and related fields, and insufficient pedagogical skills were the main obstructions. With regards to the 2010, 2012, and 2014 studies, it was interesting to see that only about half of the students were able to identify national policy relating to EIU (Table 4). Concerning the objectives in implementing EIU, the 2010, 2012, and 2014 studies, which were undertaken after major political unrests showed quite similar trends. In contrast to the 2007 report, resolving conflicts nonviolently, which was ranked the least important, was perceived as the most important objective. The 2010 and 2014 studies showed that building peace in society/world was ranked second. Interestingly, this objective was the least important in the 2012 study. On the contrary, in the 2012 study which took place few years after the first “democratic” protest,

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Table 2. Background of the Respondents in the 2010, 2012, and 2014 Studies. Respondents’ Background

Sex

Age

Educational level

Years of working experience

Male Female Total Less than 20 20 30 31 40 More than 40 Total BA MA PhD Total 1 5 6 10 More than 10 No experience Total

2010 (N = 157)

2012 (N = 214)

2014 (N = 254)

N

%

N

%

N

%

42 115 157 6 124 21 6 157 43 94 20 157 59 14 16 68 157

26.75 73.25 100.00 3.82 78.98 13.38 3.82 100.00 27.39 59.87 12.74 100.00 37.58 8.90 10.91 43.31 100.00

42 172 214 47 112 33 22 214 159 15 40 214 11 27 28 148 214

19.63 80.37 100.00 21.96 52.34 15.42 10.28 100.00 74.30 7.01 18.69 100.00 5.14 12.62 13.08 69.16 100.00

82 172 254 35 163 40 16 254 161 53 40 254 72 31 31 120 254

32.28 67.72 100.00 13.78 64.17 15.75 6.30 100.00 63.39 20.87 15.74 100.00 28.35 12.20 12.20 47.25 100.00

Table 3. Important Goals/Objectives in Implementing EIU as Perceived by ASP School Teachers, Faculty Members, and Scholars in 2007. 2007 (N = 47)

EIU Objectives

Build peace in society/world Resolve conflicts nonviolently Foster intercultural harmony Promote social justice and equity Uphold human rights Promote sustainable development Strengthen political democracy Cultivate inner peace

x

SD

Rank

2.43 2.20 2.38 2.44 2.29 2.68 2.47 2.22

0.62 0.75 0.65 0.62 0.59 0.47 0.59 0.76

4 8 5 3 6 1 2 7

Note: 1.00 1.40: least important; 1.41 1.81: less important; 1.82 2.22: moderately important; 2.23 2.63: highly important; 2.64 3.00: most important.

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Table 4.

Comparing the Students’ Ability to Identify National Policy relating to EIU.

National Policy Relating to EIU

2010 (N = 157) N

%

98 59

62.42 37.58

157

100.00

Aware Not aware Total

Table 5.

2012 (N = 214)

2014 (N = 254)

%

N

%

97 117

45.33 54.67

123 131

48.40 51.60

214

100.00

254

100.00

N

Comparing Important Objectives in Implementing EIU as Perceived by Students.

EIU Goals/Objectives

Build peace in society/world Resolve conflicts nonviolently Foster intercultural harmony Promote social justice and equity Uphold human rights Promote sustainable development Strengthen political democracy Cultivate inner peace

2010 (N = 157)

2012 (N = 214)

2014 (N = 254)

x

SD

Rank

x

SD

Rank

x

SD

Rank

2.69 2.76 2.56 2.55 2.64 2.62 2.50 2.53

0.53 0.50 0.57 0.60 0.54 0.57 0.67 0.59

2 1 5 6 3 4 8 7

2.61 2.87 2.68 2.72 2.63 2.73 2.79 2.74

0.51 0.50 0.57 0.60 0.54 0.57 0.53 0.52

8 1 6 5 7 4 2 3

2.71 2.75 2.62 2.68 2.68 2.65 2.55 2.66

0.52 0.49 0.53 0.56 0.51 0.55 0.64 0.55

2 1 7 3 4 6 8 5

Note: 1.00 1.40: least important; 1.41 1.81: less important; 1.82 2.22: moderately important; 2.23 2.63: highly important; 2.64 3.00: most important.

strengthening political democracy was ranked second in 2012, while it was identified as the least important objective in the other two reports (Table 5). Comparison of the students’ perceptions about the important values which should be inculcated in studying EIU-related courses showed different results. In 2010, the students identified harmony, justice, equity, solidarity, reconciliation, and nonviolence as some of the top priorities. In 2012, nonviolence, compassion, harmony, solidarity, and reconciliation were identified. Responsible, harmony, justice, honesty, and equity were chosen in the 2014 report. It was noteworthy to see that harmony was always ranked in the top priorities in all three studies (Table 6). As indicated earlier, EIU-related themes were integrated in the basic education core curriculum and higher education institutions including

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Table 6. Comparing Important EIU Values as Perceived by Students. 2010 (N = 157)

EIU Values

Responsible Compassion Reconciliation Nonviolence Forgiveness Harmony Freedom Honesty Trustworthiness Tolerance Justice Caring Humility Sharing Love Equity Solidarity Hope Kindness

2012 (N = 214)

2014 (N = 254)

x

SD

Rank

x

SD

Rank

x

SD

Rank

2.81 2.63 2.83 2.82 2.76 2.89 2.62 2.73 2.74 2.65 2.87 2.55 2.64 2.81 2.72 2.87 2.85 2.46 2.73

0.44 0.48 0.40 0.44 0.43 0.31 0.50 0.50 0.47 0.52 0.35 0.52 0.52 0.39 0.48 0.34 0.37 0.63 0.47

7 16 5 6 9 1 17 12 10 14 2 18 15 7 13 2 4 19 11

2.85 2.89 2.88 2.94 2.76 2.89 2.50 2.83 2.77 2.69 2.73 2.24 2.75 2.73 2.70 2.87 2.89 2.46 2.81

0.54 0.48 0.50 0.54 0.53 0.41 0.46 0.51 0.47 0.52 0.51 0.50 0.53 0.44 0.43 0.51 0.55 0.63 0.47

7 2 5 1 10 2 17 8 11 16 13 19 12 13 15 6 2 18 9

2.81 2.76 2.90 2.57 2.88 2.69 2.71 2.88 2.56 2.74 2.80 2.71 2.86 2.83 2.51 2.78 2.81 2.76 2.90

0.41 0.44 0.31 0.51 0.34 0.47 0.47 0.34 0.51 0.49 0.43 0.50 0.37 0.41 0.56 0.43 0.41 0.44 0.31

1 16 7 8 11 2 17 4 15 14 3 18 12 9 13 5 6 19 10

Note: 1.00 1.40: least important; 1.41 1.81: less important; 1.82 2.22: moderately important; 2.23 2.63: highly important; 2.64 3.00: most important.

Chulalongkorn University and the Faculty of Education had offered many courses relating to EIU, with recent emphasis on education for sustainable development and citizenship education. The results of the studies thus reflected the experiences of the students in the field as “Education for Sustainable Development,” “Environmental Education,” and “Citizenship Education” were ranked as the top three. More interestingly, “Peace Education” which is the origin of the field and “Education for Conflict Resolution” was not ranked high. Moreover, the students indicated that they have the least experience about “Disarmament Education” (Table 7). Concerning instruction methods, findings showed that there were almost no changes during the three consecutive years. EIU-related courses were taught mainly in the classroom as it was reported that the students studied EIU in the class lecture, and small group discussion in class was in the top three. However, IT and media were utilized in the instruction (Table 8).

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Table 7.

CHANITA RUKSPOLLMUANG

Comparing Students’ Experiences in Studying/Participating in EIU-Related Courses/Activities.

EIU-Related Courses

Human Rights Education Disarmament Education Nonviolence Education Education for Sustainable Development Environmental Education Citizenship Education Multicultural Education Gender Equity Education Antidiscrimination Education Values Education Peace Education Education for Conflict Resolution Education for Interfaith Dialogue Education for Dialogue of Civilizations Global Education Education for International Cooperation Education for Inner or Personal Peace

2010 (N = 157)

2012 (N = 214)

2014 (N = 254)

x

x

x

SD Rank

SD Rank

SD Rank

1.69 1.25 1.56 2.48

0.65 0.49 0.65 0.56

8 17 14 1

1.72 1.37 1.67 2.55

0.72 0.66 0.58 0.50

5 17 6 1

1.72 1.27 1.52 2.37

0.63 0.50 0.63 0.64

6 17 14 1

2.44 2.06 1.63 1.70 1.55 1.71 1.68 1.64 1.81 1.90

0.64 0.70 0.65 0.72 0.66 0.76 0.69 0.71 0.72 0.73

2 3 13 7 15 6 10 12 5 4

2.13 2.06 1.58 1.67 1.61 1.57 1.62 1.60 1.64 1.60

0.66 0.62 0.59 0.52 0.76 0.63 0.59 0.71 0.67 0.66

2 3 14 6 11 14 10 12 8 12

2.18 2.04 1.65 1.67 1.53 1.63 1.65 1.64 1.52 1.75

0.69 0.72 0.64 0.67 0.63 0.66 0.70 0.70 0.64 0.72

2 3 9 7 13 12 8 10 15 5

1.67 0.69 1.54 0.58

11 16

1.80 0.42 1.63 0.53

4 9

1.85 0.71 1.64 0.70

4 11

1.69 0.79

8

1.57 0.74

16

1.50 0.64

16

Note: 1.00 1.40: had least experience; 1.41 1.81: had lesser experience; 1.82 2.22: had moderate experience; 2.23 2.63: had high experience; 2.64 3.00: had most experience.

Table 8.

Comparing Instruction Methods in Providing EIU-Related Courses.

Instructing Methods of EIU

Class lecture Small group discussion in class Field trip Community work IT-based learning Media analysis Participation in students’ clubs

2010 (N = 157)

2012 (N = 214)

2014 (N = 254)

x

SD

Rank

x

SD

Rank

x

SD

Rank

2.25 2.02 1.76 1.73 2.20 1.91 1.63

0.64 0.57 0.70 0.62 0.65 0.67 0.66

1 3 5 6 2 4 7

2.67 2.12 1.87 1.85 2.56 1.92 1.80

0.67 0.58 0.70 0.68 0.62 0.68 0.66

1 3 5 6 2 4 7

2.28 2.03 1.77 1.83 2.15 1.88 1.80

0.65 0.67 0.69 0.65 0.64 0.65 0.70

1 3 7 5 2 4 6

Note: 1.00 1.40: least used; 1.41 1.81: lesser used; 1.82 2.22: moderately used; 2.23 2.63: frequently used; 2.64 3.00: most frequently used.

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Table 9. Comparing Problems in Studying/Participating in EIU Activities as Perceived by Students. Problems in Studying EIU

Inadequate EIU-related courses Inadequate integration of EIUrelated in courses Lack of teachers/educators with adequate knowledge Lack of curriculum resource materials Lack of student activities, e.g., student clubs Insufficient budget for instruction/ activities Insufficient support from university/ faculty Lack of opportunity to participate in related network

2010 (N = 157)

2012 (N = 214)

2014 (N = 254)

x

x

x

SD Rank

SD Rank

SD Rank

2.08 0.61 2.20 0.61

6 3

2.22 0.65 2.20 0.68

1 3

2.16 0.64 2.17 0.64

7 6

2.17 0.66

4

2.16 0.66

4

2.33 0.70

1

2.06 0.65

7

2.06 0.62

7

2.27 0.65

2

1.99 0.69

8

2.15 0.64

5

2.10 0.65

8

2.12 0.66

5

2.12 0.66

6

2.25 0.65

3

2.21 0.59

2

2.04 0.73

8

2.24 0.63

4

2.24 0.65

1

2.22 0.67

1

2.22 0.65

5

Note: 1.00 1.40: least problematic; 1.41 1.81: less problematic; 1.82 2.22: moderately problematic; 2.23 2.63: highly problematic; 2.64 3.00: most problematic.

Problems in studying/participating in EIU activities were also reported by the students and there were differences in the studied years. In 2010, they perceived that lack of opportunity to participate in related network, insufficient support from university/faculty, and inadequate integration of EIU-related courses were the most problematic. The 2014 showed that lack of teachers/educators with adequate knowledge and lack of curriculum resource materials were the main obstructions. It was interesting to note that lack of student activities such as student clubs was ranked the least problematic in both 2010 and 2014 studies (Table 9).

CONCLUSIONS OF THE STUDY Interdisciplinary approaches are the integral characteristics and nature of EIU. This chapter reviewed many related themes which were integrated in this field of study. It was shown that initially, EIU was closely related to themes such as Peace Education, Human Rights Education, International Education, and Development Education. Gradually, it has become more

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multidimensional and encompassed many other related fields as shown in the Toh Swee-Hin’s “River Metaphor” and summarization of APCEIU. To date, EIU is closely related to Human Rights Education, Values Education, Disarmament Education, Antidiscrimination Education, Peace Education, Nonviolence Education, Education for Conflict Resolution, Education for Interfaith Dialogue, Education for Dialogue of Civilizations, Citizenship Education, Global Education, Multicultural Education, Education for International Cooperation, Gender Equity Education, Education for Inner or Personal Peace, Environmental Education, and Education for Sustainable Development. UNESCO has been the strong advocate of this field of study ever since the world wars; however, it seems that EIU still has identity crisis. Some of the related themes such as Peace Education, Citizenship Education, Environmental Education, and lately, Education for Sustainable Development are more recognized in the academic arena than EIU itself. This causes confusion and misunderstanding about the nature and scope of EIU. Therefore, the studies showed that about half of the students were not able to identify national policy related to EIU. Maybe it was because the term “Education for International Understanding” was not used in the policies even though its related themes were integrated in the stated policies and plans. Similarly, the concept and related themes of EIU were integrated in the Thai curriculum especially in the Social “Studies, Religion, and Culture” learning area or subject group but the term EIU was not familiar to the students or even the scholars who organized the curriculum and textbooks. Hence, we could not find courses with the title “EIU” in higher education institutions but there were many academic, research, and activities relating to the field. Another interesting point is that EIU, which formerly was interested in “international” dimension or the interrelationship with other societies or nations, is now concerned just as much with issues and problems “within” (intra) societies. Internationally, it could be noted that the UN and UNESCO have quite a strong impact in the revision of the Thai educational policies, plans, and curriculum. This could be exampled by the implementation of ESD after the announcement of the UN DESD (2005 2014) and Agenda 21. At the same time, providing EIU-related themes in Thailand seemed to be relevant with the situations within the country especially political incidents and major educational reforms since the first one in the “modernization period” during the reign of King Rama V, the changing constitutional monarchy in the reign of King Rama VII, as well as modern day political protests which started with student-led uprisings in October 1973 and 1976 that led to a new vision of liberating the country from

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military government, the 1992 Black May uprising which led to more reform when promulgating the 1997 constitution, or “The People’s Constitution,” until the present major ones which started in 2008. Therefore, the 2007 study revealed that resolving conflicts nonviolently should be the least important in providing EIU. However, after series of antigovernment protests, this objective has become the most important for EIU. In the same way, harmony was always ranked in the top two as indicated in the 2010, 2012, and 2014 studies. The instruction of EIU-related themes still had some problems. Implementation of the field often occurred in the classroom, mainly class lecture even though the advantage of technology has been taken with the use of IT and media-based instruction. Lack of opportunity to participate in related network was perceived as the main obstruction for students but the situation became better as reported in the 2014 study. However, it was indicated that lack of teachers/educators with adequate knowledge and curriculum resource materials was still problematic. This situation might be related to the fact that not many school teachers or university faculty members had participated in EIU training courses or study programs. Finally, it can be concluded that because we all are hoping for a more peaceful and harmonious world, EIU will continue to play an important role in promoting “Living Together” in both inter and intra societies despite its ambiguity and identity crisis. However, more advocates and strong actions are needed in implementing the field of EIU.

REFERENCES Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU). (2007). Situational analysis on education for international understanding in South-East Asia. Retrieved from http://cfile239.uf.daum.net/attach/130CAF144BC6F86D17C111. Accessed on May 6, 2013. Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU). (2008). Situational analysis on education for international understanding in South Asia. Retrieved from http://www.unescoapceiu.org/board/bbs/download.php?bo_table=m43&wr_id= 60&no=2. Accessed on May 6, 2013. Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU). (2010). Annual report. Retrieved from http://www.unescoapceiu.org/board/bbs/download.php?bo_ table=m23&wr_id=12&no=2. Accessed on September 3, 2014. Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU). (n.d.). Two concepts, one goal: Education for international understanding and education for sustainable development. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001507/ 150703e.pdf. Accessed on May 6, 2013.

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Fry, G. W. (2002). The evolution of educational reform in Thailand. Paper presented at the Second International Forum on Education Reform: Key factors in effective implementation, September 2 5. Organized by the Office of the National Education Commission, Office of the Prime Minister, Kingdom of Thailand. Ministry of Education. (2001). The Basic Education Core Curriculum B.E. 2544 (A.D. 2001) (English version). Ministry of Education. (2008). The Basic Education Core Curriculum B.E. 2551 (A.D. 2008) (English version). Office of the National Education Commission. (2003). National Education Act B.E. 2542 (1999); Amendments (2000, 2010). Bangkok: Pimdeekarnpim Co., Ltd. Rukspollmuang, C. (2007). EIU in Thailand. In APCEIU, Situational Analysis on Education for International Understanding in South-East Asia (pp. 122 144). Rukspollmuang, C. (2010). EIU in Thai higher education: A case study of Chulalongkorn university. Paper presented at the Asia-Pacific Policy Meeting for EIU in Higher Education, October 12 14, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Swee-Hin, T. (2002). Education for international understanding: A river flowing from the mountains. In SangSaeng (Vol. 5). Teaching and learning for a sustainable future. Retrieved from http://www.unescoapceiu.org/. Accessed on February 12, 2014. Swee-Hin, T. (2006). Integrating education for sustainable development & education for international understanding: Conceptual issues and pedagogical principles for Teacher Education to address sustainability. APEID, UNESCO Bangkok Occasional Paper Series Paper No. 6, December. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001529/ 152967e.pdf. Accessed on April 26, 2013. Sweeting, A. (2007). Comparing times. In M. Bray, B. Adamson, & M. Mason (Eds.), Comparative education research: Approaches and methods (pp. 145 163). Hong Kong: Springer. UNESCO. (1996). Learning: The treasure within. Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century, Presses Universitaires de France, Vendoˆme. UNESCO Associated Schools. (2013). Guides for national coordinators. Retrieved from http:// www.slideshare.net/javsk/unesco-associated-schools-guide-for-national-coordinators. Accessed on November 3, 2014. Yamane, T. (1967). Statistics: An introductory analysis (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Harper and Row.

FAMILY NEEDS AND FEMALE WORK: A COMPARATIVE SURVEY OF PUBLIC POLICIES AND PRIVATE CHOICES ON EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES Alessandra Pera and Marina Nicolosi ABSTRACT Recent studies show that Italian women’s education and skills are high and that they have access to the job market, but, at the same time, there are many difficulties in maintaining a job in certain periods of their lives. Exactly, the critic period is connected to the choice of having children or a “traditional family” and, in general, with family duties. To explain the different percentage of women participation to job market in different countries, recent studies have looked to peculiar institutional structure of “municipal” job market and to social support services. The public offer of childcare and family support explains lots of the differences among different countries, but it is a complex datum, really hard to detect, collect, and interpret. Other relevant data are statute provisions on parental leave (mother or father oriented). A systematic analysis has shown

Comparative Sciences: Interdisciplinary Approaches International Perspectives on Education and Society, Volume 26, 243 266 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1479-3679/doi:10.1108/S1479-367920140000026010

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that we have, both at a national and at a European level, legal rules and models which should promote equal opportunities, but that we miss cultural promises going in the direction of supporting families and encouraging the preservation of female job place. This study also investigates two different kinds of answers, analyzing and comparing microchoices (technical and juridical instruments) and macrochoices (legal policies) that different legal systems, have adopted in the European context to promote an effective integration between lifetime and job time, to support families in terms of public services, and suggest possible new instruments connected with partnership of public and private programs.1 Keywords: Female work; family needs; welfare; equal opportunity; parental leave

WORK AND COMPETITIVENESS The World Economic Forum stated in its research on the global gender gap index,2 “the long term competitiveness of a nation depends significantly on if and how women are educated and employed.” According to Tyson, coauthor of the report, “a country such as Italy which does not exploit efficaciously 50 per cent of its human resources undergoes the risk of compromising its own competitive potential.”3 In the 2012 global gender gap index ranking, Italy was given a particularly discouraging position. It was ranked 80th (it was 84th in 2007), just before Hungary and after Cyprus. Botswana, Honduras, Kenya, Ghana, and China were ranked before Italy. The above-mentioned link between the economic success of a country and female work has also been proven in the US system where, according to the research carried out by the Pew Research Center in Washington, women are the engine of its competitiveness: 40% of the female population with children aged under 18 is, today, the main or only income source for their family; inside this group there are two categories: 37%, 5.1 million people, are women who are over 40, married, mostly white, with a degree and earn much more than their husbands; 63%, 8.6 million people, are younger single mothers, Hispanic and African American, less educated and with low income.4

This research “portrays the new American family, which is deeply different compared to fifty years ago … when the rate of the so-called

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breadwinner stopped at one per cent.”5 In fact, in the United States, women represent 47% of the workforce, working in 10 of the 15 sectors which are expected to expand even more in the future and have been spared by the economic crisis in a considerable way compared with their male colleagues.6 The authors of the research themselves carried out a survey that shows how the social and cultural perception of the model family drawn from the statistic datum is not always fully positive, and that sometimes the model itself is not always appreciated. In fact, 79% of the respondents reject the hypothesis that women should return to traditional roles; 21% consider this to be a positive trend for society; 51% think that when children are very young they are better if their mother does not work; 8% think this latter consideration applies also if it is the father who does not work. Therefore, the sociological cultural datum confirms that traditional gender roles are deeply characterized, even though they do not correspond exactly to the social reality. The study also shows the importance of the absence of both pro-childhood facilities, such as kindergartens, and of a European standards-based regulation on paid maternity leave (in the United States there is no such policy on parental leave as in Europe).

STATE OF FEMALE WORK IN ITALY Given the expectation that economically stronger (i.e., higher GDP) countries have female work levels that exceed certain standards, it is understandable how in Italy the issue of the presence of women in the labor market still plays a central role in the scientific debate on labor law. Moreover, the statistical data collected show a complex situation, which is hard to work out. First of all, Italy has a strikingly positive position in one ranking,7 which includes 135 countries, where it occupies the 65th position for “education,” but falls to 101 for “participation to the economic life and job opportunities.”8 As far as the level of education is concerned, in Italy there are more women than men who graduate and acquire post-graduate qualifications and specializations, which leads one to question the reasons why those same women not only find it hard to enter labor (more than their male colleagues), but also why they find so many obstacles in maintaining their employment, once they obtain it, and in reaching top positions in their careers. Economic studies have shown that an important interpretative key

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of the difference in rate of female participation to labor in different countries is represented by the peculiar structure of “local” labor markets and by the measures of social support provided, always on a local basis. From this perspective, Italy’s situation in particular is significant, and as far as the analysis carried out by the researchers of Harvard and Berkeley Universities are concerned those data have to be compared with other data showing that there are two situations occurring in Italy: Southern Italy, with a 31% rate of female employment, and Northern Italy almost reaching 57%.9 In 2010, ISTAT (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica) data confirmed higher rates of female unemployment in southern regions, in the 15/24 age group (nearly 50%). Such circumstances can be interpreted from a dual perspective.10 From one point of view, as far as the Southern European labor market is concerned, some scholars have pointed out that this area is characterized by hyper-regulation, especially regarding hiring, firing, and contractual models. These elements together with high hiring costs could make the entry of women into the labor market more difficult.11 From another perspective, those are areas where there are persisting cultural heritages and social models which potentially orient individual choices toward more traditional courses. The research on the 2011 2012 period carried out by ISTAT within its sample survey on births is more complex to understand. The results show that once they entered the world of labor, those female workers who have had a child are required to leave their job for the following reasons and in the following rates: firing 23.8%; cessation of activities 19.6%; resignation 56.1%. A particularly important piece of evidence is that resulting from the 2012 Save The Children12 report, which confirms that 800,000 Italian mothers were required to leave their job between 2010 and 2012.13 According to this same research, the relation between employment and number of children is also revealing: 50.6% of employed women have no children; 45.5% have one child; 35.9% have two children; 31% have three or more children. The framework is more clearly articulated from two other points of view. The first one is represented by the different treatment “in the paycheck,” especially if related to the issue of the personal choice of universitylevel studies and, consequently, of career.14 The research carried out by Fondazione De Benedetti15 shows how “hard to die” the theme of a gender pay gap is, which in Italy records a medium hiatus of 37%. This, though, has to be explained on the basis of several complex factors. In fact, research investigating the role of both family background and gender discrimination in access to the labor market in Italy is based on a collection of data which

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follow the career of a group of individuals starting from secondary high school.16 According to the resulting data, women do not choose to enroll in those university faculties which grant jobs with higher incomes, such as engineering, economics, and mathematics. As a matter of fact, besides medicine, where the rate of women enrolled equals that of men, those faculties that lead toward more remunerative careers were chosen by 65% of the males and only 20% of the females, the majority of which (35%, against 10% of males) chose educational science, arts faculties, architecture, and design instead; that is, courses of study leading to less remunerative job opportunities. Besides being good students (they graduate on average three months in advance, with better marks, and in a greater number compared to their male colleagues), women are less competitive, they accept 37% lower wages compared to their male colleagues for equal work, they do not tend to negotiate, and do not generally complain about the unequal pay treatment. According to the research there are two reasons for these choices, which are hardly measurable since they are related to individual inclinations. First, women are less competitive than men (competitiveness is assessed through the predisposition toward certain sport activities instead of others); women are more concerned about neighbors (such an attitude has been pointed out by reporting the participation in voluntary activities); and women are less inclined to look for a well-paid job. The role women feel they should play in their future family certainly has its influence, so the issue of the lack of facilities and welfare, which would allow women to build their own future work without having to worry about the care of children and elderly members of their family, rises again. However, the so-called structural and individual inclinations are those same factors that according to Manager Italia17 would justify the turnaround caused by the 3.3% decrease in the presence of male managers who may have been fired or marginalized, and the simultaneous 15.4% increase in the presence of women managers. Basically, from 2009 to 2011, during the economic crisis in Europe, the labor market expelled 1% of the managers, with a simultaneous increase in the number of women occupying a managerial position, with an overall result that tends toward a balance between the two genders. The regional datum is also interesting, since it points out that southern regions have been characterized by such a turnaround to a greater extent (Calabria and Molise, followed by Valle D’Aosta and Lombardia). As mentioned before, the explanation of the “turnaround” in apical positions is significant too, and is supported by a qualitative survey

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conducted by Zenger and Folkman.18 Their survey was based on an interview of 3,000 employees, and showed how women managers are particularly appreciated for 11 of the 12 skills acknowledged by employees to characterize a top leader (taking initiatives, improving themselves, integrity and honesty, motivating their subordinates, networking, team working, fixing flexible goals, supporting changes, achieving results, communicating effectively, solving problems, connecting the group with the outside world). Compared to their female colleagues, male managers are first only in the development of strategic visions.19 However, the overall evidence related to the feminine presence in apical positions in Italy remains discouraging, since only 13.8% of management positions in Italy are occupied by women, against a European average of 33%. In Latvia (first ranked in Europe) women occupy 44.6%, 37.4% in France, and 34.9% in the United Kingdom. Greece has a lower rate at 14.9%.20 In such a framework, contradictory evidence comes from the lived experience of women who have touched the “glass ceiling,” but have given up assignments of great prestige and well-paid positions in both the private and public sectors in several Western countries, due to the difficulty in reconciling both family and working times and responsibilities. This trend exploded, on a public opinion level, after Anne Marie Slaughter’s resignation from the role of US Secretary of State and the publication of her article on The Atlantic with the title “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All”21 (a paraphrase of the motto of the American feminist movement), which was followed by an intense exchange of personal experiences, not only by women. This trend has been confirmed also by Manning’s22 research, which shows that among those woman born between 1985 and 1994 in the United Kingdom and the United States the mother’s role inside the family is fundamental and not exchangeable with the father’s role. This suggests that for many women in the United States and the United Kingdom a place in the labor market is of secondary relevance or no relevance at all. Therefore, the so-called tempo macho is a trap for both women and men, who are the main actors of solidarity with Anne Marie Slaughter’s outing.23 A search for alternative solutions followed, which in the non-juridical debate were identified in tele-working, coworking, part-time, and more generally in the idea of measuring productivity more through the results rather than the hours of work. The most common systematic reading of the data not only statistical readings summarized here, suggests that when facing both national and communitarian regulatory models that sufficiently grant equal opportunities, one should act on cultural levers and through family assistance in

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order to encourage both the access and the persistence of women in labor, even in apical positions. Therefore, the crucial point is to plan instruments to avoid an exit from labor during those critical years when a female worker desires to both create her family and accomplish her career, in any given field she may work. In fact, according to Brewster and Rindfuss,24 social security for infancy and support to families give other numbers which show the differences between various countries. These data are complex to collect, investigate, and understand, which is why the majority of economic and statistical studies do not claim to understand and explain them, but use them only to illustrate the analyzed phenomenon. If faced with such a framework, normally the task of the jurist is to carry out a critical analysis of the legal instruments adopted by the legal system in concern, to assess what other measures are needed to correct the still unsolved critical points. Therefore, in the following paragraphs a synthetic analysis is presented of both the national and supranational normative data concerning female work, and also includes a comparison with other regulatory models adopted by different legal systems in the European area.

EU POLICIES ON EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND LEGISLATION ON PARENTAL LEAVE IN ITALY The aim of affecting the distribution of roles within the family in an attempt to relieve the position of women from those weights that culture and tradition have established has been pursued almost exclusively at the EU level through the legislation on “parental leave.” With a view to full implementation of equal opportunities, the EU legislator promoted a policy aiming at equalizing both the role and responsibilities of men and women within the family and in the professional circle. With Directive no. 96/34/CE, which regulates this matter specifically, the European legislature intervened for the first time with measures aimed at supporting motherhood and at the same time the implementation of equality policies. As a matter of fact, the previous Directive no. 92/85/CEE on “granting security and health to female workers who are pregnant, have just given birth to a child or are breastfeeding” had a more restricted field of action. Therefore, the regulation deals more carefully with the issue of equalization of working mothers and fathers, also due to the ever-growing presence of women in the labor market and the consequent need, for the latter, to reconcile working times and spaces with family needs.

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Directive no. 96/34/CE, which concerns parental leave, in acknowledging the Accordo Quadro (Framework Agreement) signed in December 1995 between the inter-branch general organization (UNICE-CEEP and CES), clarifies the terms of implementation and scope of such legislation within the State members (arts. 1 and 2) and entrusts the latter and their national social partners with the power to determine the conditions of access and the mode of application of the protection afforded in the light of the provisions of the above-mentioned Framework Agreement. According to the provisions in the Agreement, parental leave consists in the right for parents (both of them, unlike what happens in the case of maternity leave) to refrain from work for an extended period for the care of children, both adoptive or natural, in their first eight years of life, upon notice. Such right is granted to “all workers, of both sexes, having signed a contract or being employed as defined by the law, collective agreements or the practices in force in each State member” (clause 1.2) and the period of leave for each parent has to have a minimum total duration of three months. Therefore, the community legislation lays down the mandatory minimum requirements and the scope of parental leave, allowing the possibility for the state legislatures to introduce provisions that would modify such regulation.25 Indeed, pursuant to clause 2.3 national laws and collective agreements can regulate various aspects, such as the duration of the leave; its subjective requirements; timing and mode of notice; conditions and rules of the leave in case of adoption or of other peculiar forms of entry of a child in a family, such as temporary or pre-adoptive fostering for instance. Besides, the Framework Agreement and the directive provide state members and national social partners with the obligation to adopt all necessary measures to protect workers who make use of their leave entitlements from a possible dismissal and from any other form of penalization or deskilling which could result from the application or enjoyment of parental leave. To this end, clause 2.5 provides for the right of the worker, who finished the leave, to return to the same job, and hopefully, if this is not possible, to an equivalent or similar job consistent with its contract and its employer employee relationship, as it existed prior to the use of the leave. This is to prevent, on the one hand, the return to work from resulting in an unfair penalization for the working parent (whether male or female) and, second, that in case the return to work involves a transfer to another production unit, the transfer is turned in an instrument of “forced” sacking from the family. It is necessary to point out, though, that the exercise of

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this right is subject to the actual business needs and cannot therefore be considered as absolute. Clause 2.6 of the Accordo Quadro (Framework Agreement) aims at protecting the “acquired or being acquired rights” and the economic and normative position of the parent who decides to take leave, as well as granting its eventual continuation and update. For the foregoing reasons, therefore, at the end of the leave period the rights in relation to pay accrued during that same time should be considered in the light of any changes made by the law, collective agreements, or national practice. Such a system, then, has the advantage of allowing a “constant adjustment” of protection within the minimum common standards shared by all state members. The community legislature has intervened again on the regulation concerning parental leave, on March 8, 2010 (Directive no. 2010/18/UE) with the same formula provided by the 1996 Directive, preceded by a framework agreement, which improved some aspects of it yet without overcoming the most critical issues raised by different Member States. In particular, the new directive has affected the minimum duration of the leave to which each parent is entitled raising it to four months, one of which, however, cannot be transferred to the other parent for any reason, with the obvious aim to involve the father in the birth of the child; other measures deal with the return to work after the leave and the provision of rules which make work more flexible in light of the needs of families, among which the maintenance of contacts between the worker and the company during the period of leave is the most important.26 In relation to the different regulations in force in several legal systems,27 it is interesting to note that the Italian legislature has proved more indulgent than others, providing for a right for leave in addition to parental leave, when particular specific events and causes occur,28 but also establishing longer periods of leave and expanding the sphere of the protected subjects as much as possible. Moreover, even other states, including the United Kingdom29 (which only follows Directive no. 97/75/EC and the 1999 Employment Relation Act), have complied with their obligations under community law, putting the measures provided for in Directive no. 96/34/ EC into practice. Parental leave today makes for a valid instrument for the implementation of the principle of equality between men and women with respect to family and professional responsibilities, because it aims to promote the contribution of both parents in the care and education of children, without any distinction or separation of roles but rather, if anything, according to an idea of mutual integration of man and woman in the family as well as in extra-familiar activities.

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LEGISLATION ON PARENTAL LEAVE IN ITALY The drafting of the Consolidation Act (D. Lgs. no. 151/2001) “for the protection and support of motherhood and fatherhood” is out as an important outcome in the field of social policies and is certainly a milestone in the long journey for the protection of women, because, also in line with the latest community guidelines, it coordinates a number of provisions previously in force to reconcile the role of the woman-mother and the woman-worker. In fact, as we have seen above, it is however the Constitution (art. 37) itself that establishes equality between male and female workers, while recognizing the need to ensure women with working conditions which enable women to fulfill their “essential” role in the family. Indeed, the laws approved during the first republican phase had taken the idea that childcare and related family activities were exclusive duties of women as a starting point and, therefore, had to provide for a limited number of economic welfare remedies. This was in order to avoid the fact that the accomplishment of these duties could affect the mother-worker, her income, and the ability to continue working in a period following the child’s birth. The Constitutional Court has played a propulsive role in the evolution of the regulations concerning motherhood. This is also made evident by the jurisprudential analysis of the provisions contained in the Laws no. 1204/ 71, no. 903/77, and no. 53/2000, as combined and coordinated in the Consolidation Act no. 151/2001, some of which seem to have acknowledged principles sanctioned by the Court in its verdicts. The extension of some forms of protection, which were traditionally reserved for the mother, also to the father certainly has a “constitutional” matrix aimed at the protection of the interests of the child and at the co-responsibleness of the fatherly figure. Another innovation that shares a jurisprudential matrix and has been later acknowledged by the legislator is represented by the extension of the safeguard of motherhood to adoptive and foster parents. Therefore, thanks also to the contribution of the Constitutional Court the standards of protection in the field result being particularly high compared to both the indications contained in Directive no. 96/34/EC, and the solutions adopted by other European countries. With specific regard to the forming of legislation, however, the key idea of the Consolidation Act and of the legislation of the last years has been to provide instruments to support motherhood and fatherhood in an integration of roles in both the family and work dimension. Therefore, the underlying intention seems clear: to promote both equal opportunities and equal

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treatment between men and women. Art. 3, comma 1, in fact, forbids “any gender-based discrimination in access to employment, regardless of the mode of application and whatever the sector or branch of activity […] carried out by making reference to the marital or family status or to pregnancy” (“qualsiasi discriminazione fondata sul sesso per quanto riguarda l’accesso al lavoro indipendentemente dalle modalita` di assunzione e qualunque sia il settore o il ramo di attivita` […] attuata attraverso il riferimento allo stato matrimoniale o di famiglia o di gravidanza”). The same prohibition is provided for the matter of treatment in terms of pay and regulatory work tasks, career progression, and professional qualification (art. 3, comma 3). As far as motherhood protection is concerned, the Consolidation Act continues in considering the employee as the sole entity entitled, primarily, to the use of “compulsory leave” (art. 16 et seq.) yet still aiming at a general equalization. Compulsory leave has to be taken for the two months before and the three months after childbirth, but flexibility correctives are allowed in special circumstances, such as in the case of premature birth. And in fact, in this case, the days of leave which have not been taken before the birth will be counted among those to enjoy post-partum.30 Art. 25 of the already mentioned Consolidation Act provides the right for compulsory leave also for the father worker in case of death or serious insanity of the mother or in case of abandonment, as well as in the case of sole custody of the child to the father.31 In any case, the person who takes compulsory leave is granted the right for the benefit provided by art. 22 of the Consolidation Act, as well as the right to have this period of time computed toward the length of service.32 Also, the prohibition of dismissal for the entire period of compulsory leave and until the completion of one year of age of the child is applicable to both men and women. As far as the regulation on optional leave (i.e., parental leave) is concerned, the Consolidation Act contains a fundamental innovation (yet already provided in L. no. 53/2000) compared to the previous legislation, since it grants the right for such leave to each parent (art. 32, comma 1). Specifically, while L. no. 903/1977 provided the father with the right for optional leave only if the mother had expressly waived it, the new regulation gives each parent a 6-month period of leave, provided that added together they do not exceed the maximum of 10 months. In this regard, it is interesting to observe how the father has the possibility to increase the period of optional leave up to 7 months, with the consequent increase in the overall length of the leave to 11 months, “if he exercises his

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right to be absent from work for a period of no less than three months” (art. 32, comma 2). This rule serves the main function of promoting a greater participation of male workers in the care of children and in managing the family. Such a provision not only has no correspondence with the systems of protection prepared by the other countries considered by this analysis, but it certainly goes far beyond the measures contained in the Community legislature which though provides for it as an optional measure. The scope of this incentive seemed so innovative that someone even concluded that with this rule some “kind of positive action provided ex lege” had been imposed, to promote equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women.33 Another important innovation is represented by the acknowledgment of the right to be absent from work in favor of one of the parents even when the other does not have that right due to the fact that he/she is not an employee or is unemployed. And moreover, the idea failed according to which the holder of the right for optional leave would mainly be the mother, any different solution does not appear feasible. In fact, once the father is recognized as the holder iure proprio of the right for leave it would not make sense to deny him that same right if the woman is unemployed or is self-employed. The new legislation on maternity benefit and parental leave, however, is also applicable with regard to the self-employed and freelancers (respectively art. 66 et seq., and art. 70 et seq.), even if they have a reduced period of abstention and different conditions of remuneration compared to female employees. The policy of extending protection to such persons had begun with L. no. 546/1987 and the subsequent L. no. 379/1990. The Consolidation Act, in particular, regulates this matter by distinguishing the different existing systems, in full compliance with the principles laid down in a series of decisions of the Constitutional Court. In fact, according to the Court the principle stated in art. 37 Const. relates only to a dependent’s job and aims at granting “the protection of employees against the employer and not of the way how self-employed workers self-manage the performance of their freelance activity.”34 It appears clear, then, that given the structural differences between selfemployment and dependent job, the same pension scheme for both would not be justifiable. Therefore, in relation to the same event of motherhood, different economic and regulatory treatments are needed for self-employed and subordinate female workers, depending on the different situations in which they operate, as well as for the different contributory systems. In particular, relating to the issue of maternity benefit for female notaries, the Court has confirmed the inapplicability of art. 37 Const., pointing out how

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the self-management of their activity allows self-employed women to choose times and modality of work in order to reconcile professional needs with the prevailing interest of taking care of the child. Also, according to the Court, the maternity benefit has the main aim of “granting the mother worker the possibility to live this phase of her existence without a radical reduction in the standard of living her job has allowed and to avoid, therefore, linking motherhood with a state of economic need.” In the case of the freelancer “the probable decrease in income due to the suspension or reduction of the working activity is compensated by the economic support from the solidarity of the category to which the woman belongs” and such protection seems to be adequate for the peculiar characteristics of the category in concern.35 As already pointed out before, the Consolidation Act did not fail to grasp the warning of the Constitutional Court, developing a discipline that seems to ensure increased and adequate protection of the value of motherhood also in favor of the self-employed. This is not on the basis of a comparison, pursuant to art. 3 of the Constitution, through the rules provided for female employees, but rather takes into account the need to protect the health of the mother and the child (art. 32 Const.), and the value of maternity (art. 37 Const.), while always respecting diversity. As far as the right for daily rest is concerned, it is provided for both parents in the cases and with the modalities regulated by art. 39 and 35 of the Consolidation Act (respectively for the mother and for the father); the right for “leave because of sickness of the child” (art. 47) is also granted to both parents. In line with Directive no. 96/34/EC, the legislature also took care in providing for measures to prevent all forms of criminalization of either male or female workers, linked to the application for leave or its use.36 In particular, at the end of the period of compulsory leave both female and male workers have the right to retain their job and to return back to the same production unit where they were occupied at the beginning of the abstention or otherwise located in the same municipality, as well as the right to remain there until the child is one year old. Both are also given the right to be assigned to the last covered duty or to duties of equivalent value. Moreover the law provides for the nullity of the “dismissal caused by the application or the taking of leave.” According to the analysis carried out, the Italian law in force is, therefore, not only in harmony with community law, but also more rigorous than the latter in the protection of working mothers and working fathers.37 Lastly, in fact, in the implementation of Directive no. 2010/18/EU, the L. no. 92/2012 (aka “Legge Fornero” “Fornero Act”) introduced a

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statutory period of leave for the father, which cannot be transferred to the other parent, and that will therefore be lost if the father does not use it. It must be said that the community policy on the subject is inspired by a concept of equal treatment between men and women which sometimes reduces the space to a minimum in order to better consider the specific needs of working mothers. Such a perspective may, perhaps, appear markedly “egalitarian” to an Italian observer and, in some respects, even in contrast with the rigidly protective mark of our legislation, but in a careful analysis the importance of an intervention aimed at creating those common minimum standards necessary to the concrete realization of equal treatment between men and women in respect to the different solutions prepared by the various EU countries cannot be overemphasized.

SOLUTIONS: BETWEEN FAMILY SUPPORT AND WELFARE POLICIES A systematic approach and analysis of the collected data lead us to consider that both at an Italian national and European level, the rules and legal models adopted seem more than adequate to promote the goals of equal opportunity and of a redistribution of family and work responsibilities within families, albeit with different nuances highlighted by the comparative analysis.38 However, what is weaker are the cultural premises which lead in the direction of assisting and supporting families in a perspective which is functional to the presence of women in the labor market (by broadening the scope of this formula in terms of both the sphere of the access to it, as well as that of employment maintenance and career progression). Looking to all feminist revolutions, the educational one is basically almost completed, the one dealing with work is at a stalemate39; while the third, the cultural one, is still dawning.40 To complete the objectives related to the revolution in the education sector, one of the viable solutions involves the need for women to be directed toward scientific studies, supported by dedicated scholarships; a phenomenon which is already present, moreover, in the US university system. In terms of employment, traditionally, several measures supporting gender equality in the workplace include the following: • Companies that hire women should be favored from the taxation point of view, in order to encourage the phenomenon, or by giving a quality mark to those companies that effectively apply gender equality.

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• Part-time work, a secure instrument identified at European level as an institute of flexibility that fosters women’s employment, should be stripped of all those elements capable of transforming it into a way to limit the female worker to marginal roles and arresting her career progression.41 To this end, relevant proposals consist in a reversible transformation on a voluntary basis of full-time work into part-time, regardless of this request being made by the mother or the father worker. • Introduction of a tax credit for the lowest wages, statistically most common among female employees,42 or else the deductibility of medical expenses only for female workers, regardless of the type of contract with which they are employed; such measure would also contribute to the emergence of irregular and informal work, also called “black labor,” making it more convenient to regularize all working services. • Introduction of another tax credit, but in favor of large families.43 • Expand the protection for mother workers to the maximum in the event of resignation in white, without the duty to motivate it, without any justified or legitimate reason, that should be indicated by the womanemployee (whose regulations in Italy has been recently revised by L. no. 92/2012). • Provision of incentives for women entrepreneurs. • Provision of incentives for people who start or restart their working activity after spending a period of time taking care of the family. • Establishment and enforcement of gender quotas at the top managerial position in the companies. • Establishment of a rule on compulsory paternal leave effective,44 perhaps through the provision of economic incentives depending on the actual use of the period of leave by the father. From the cultural revolution standpoint it would be appropriate: • as far as the working relationship is concerned, and therefore with regard to the private law dimension of the possible measures, to study corporate reconciliation policies, leading the company and the worker to a fruitful dialogue also through the use of qualified internal or external personnel in order to arrange physical and non-physical spaces (nurseries and playrooms or other instrument provided by the company such as breastfeeding room, babysitting, canteens) and working time (shifts, breaks, telecommuting, part-time, leave …); • as far as the public dimension is concerned, that is, concerning social and economic policies, to invest and do not cut back on childcare (nurseries45 and playrooms, caregivers, co-share babysitting for example, through a

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system that would allow two different families to hire the same person by a combination of two compatible part-time jobs and share the economic burden, both in terms of pay and of social security): a concrete proposal, named “Women and Work.” Ideas and proposals to support women’s employment had been formulated in the 2008 Program of the “Partito Democratico” (the Italian Democratic Party), providing an incentive to the regions in order to achieve targeted services to support mothers in situations of social economic hardship (special maternity assistants from childbirth and up to the child’s access to nursery), as well as extended and flexible opening hours for kindergartens, schools, and public offices that provide key services to citizens; • at both private and public levels, spread among firms the idea that motherhood is not an incisive cost for the company and that, therefore, to have female employees does not constitute a danger; instead, not employing her would surely expose to the risk of anti-discrimination actions. These are some of the technical legal solutions (microchoices) which respond to different models of legal policies (public macrochoices), some of which have been adopted in several countries of the European Union to promote an effective integration between lifetime and working time to support families. An emblematic example is offered by the French and German legal systems, which have introduced a model of social insurance to support the costs of care and family support, as well as the services to children, elderly, and disabled, with the possibility for the insured to modulate premiums, requiring specific benefits in terms of services or economic support to address the peculiar family needs.46 This model allows the family to choose the right mix of care and support of a public or private nature and avoids the “social sanction” reserved for those who rely on care services acquired on the market, rather than providing for them in person, yet giving up something else.47 The system requires the insurance market to provide for sophisticated and comprehensive services, which results in the creation of job opportunities for traditional and new skills, such as caregivers, babysitters, housekeepers, psychologists, and doctors using a formula which moreover is appropriate to help reduce the creation of additional undeclared work.48 It is now an accepted fact that the employment of foreigners is increasing, and among other things, in 8 cases out of 10, this increase involves women employed in household services. This is explained by the need to

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secure the help of a caregiver for elderly care at home, in the context of a population that registers an increasingly older average age. “The number of immigrant women employed in household services is growing throughout the crisis period, a sign that this is a more and more incompressible need, something of which you cannot do without. In the face of family expenses containment strategies, it’s obvious that you give up other things but you cannot do without the caregiver.”49 The above-mentioned situation suggests that public services or private choices are then needed, and also instruments which combine the provision of public services with private programs.50 It is true that these solutions are not always harbingers of an effective intervention of welfare policies since their costs rest on the shoulders of families or entrepreneurs-employers. In fact, the need to coordinate work and family results in an excessive load for the woman-mother-worker or in an obligation for the employer to reorganize the company in accordance with the needs of flexibility. Therefore, public intervention in support of private choices (careers, house nurseries, babysitters in co-share51 and female entrepreneurship), which are more easily adaptable to different needs related to the individual career and the peculiar family context (private microchoices), but also to the different cultural, educational, and social contexts (private macrochoices), are the most appropriate and less damaging to the private autonomy of the two parts in the employment contract (employer and employee, man or woman it may be).52 Not even the pure and simple intergenerational pact can be considered a solution, since it does not provide for any public intervention, apart from a mere statement of great symbolic value such as the one contained in the model proposed by the last Berlusconi Government.53 It is a program that just took note of an existing social situation that is widespread in all social strata,54 so the generational pact within families sees the grandparents contributing to the care, growth, and education of grandchildren while the parents try to find a job or keep the professional position they have acquired. This generates almost naturally a moral, but also practical obligation, for daughters and daughters-in-law, to take care of their grandparents at the time of non-self-sufficiency. In effect, all this creates a system of both formal and informal mutual obligations which, on the one hand, is devoid of public support and is based on the intergenerational and endofamiliar pact, yet this way betrays the idea of a social pact and welfare state. On the other hand, on a cultural level, it inhibits and restricts the circulation of alternative and competitive models aiming at reconciling family and work.55

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NOTES 1. For a deeper comparative analysis on the legislative and case law rules in some EU countries, we can refer to the complete version of the study by Nicolosi and Pera (2013). 2. Available at www.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2012.pdf. The research reports the major gender-based unequal treatments and traces the evolution on such an issue in many different countries all over the world. The index employed to measure the “national gender gaps” is based on economic, political, educational, and healthcare criteria, through which countries are ranked, by comparing those same index, and divided into groups. In particular, the four “pillars” to examine the gap between men and women are represented by as many fundamental categories: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. In order to measure these gender-based gaps the access to certain resources and opportunities in the single countries are evaluated, but also and most importantly the current levels of availability of resources and the opportunities in these same countries are taken into account, so as to ensure that the Global gender gap index is an independent measure for the level of development of each country, making variables such as the African countries and the so-called developed ones commensurable. According to these variables such as female and male labor force participation; wage equality survey; estimated earn income; enrollment of primary, secondary, and tertiary education; and many others, that we don’t think it’s useful to list here the other countries that we examine in the comparative section of this study have been ranked: United Kingdom as 18th; Spain as 26th; France as 57th. 3. “Un Paese che come l’Italia non sfrutta efficacemente il 50 per cento delle proprie risorse umane corre il rischio di compromettere il proprio potenziale competitivo”: see the interview contained in the article Italia, le donne senza parita` in Europa nessuno peggio di noi, in La Repubblica, November 9, 2007. 4. The source of this data is the Pew Research Center in Washington, available at www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/05/29/breadwinner-moms/ 5. These words are part of the comment to the research mentioned in note 3, available at www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/05/29/breadwinner-moms/ 6. Again, the source of this data is the Pew Research Center in Washington, available at www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/05/29/breadwinner-moms/ 7. See www.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2012.pdf 8. Besides the ones cited in the text (education and participation to the economic life and job opportunities), there are two more parameters which were singled out as descriptors of the phenomenon: “healthcare and health” (76th position for Italy); “participation to the political life” (71st position for Italy). 9. The data collected date back to 2007, as reported in Italia, le donne senza parita` in Europa nessuno peggio di noi, in La Repubblica, November 9, 2007 already quoted in note 3. 10. Available at www.istat.it/it/files/2011/06/16_Occupazione-eDisoccupazioneper-regione.pdf; and see also Carlini and Pavone (2013), available at http://www. ingenere.it/articoli/listat-italia-allingi-le-donne-corrono-al-lavoro

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11. This is the usual interpretation according to which an excessive protection of the position of the employee would slow down the competitiveness of enterprises, thus raising unemployment rates. Yet the relation between the legal regulation in support of the weak part of the employment relationship and unemployment is questioned by the majority labor law doctrine. In fact, according to the prevailing opinion the persistence of the gap between north and south in a country, even when at national level strong doses of flexibility are introduced in favor of the enterprises, explains why the hyper-regulation of the employment relationship cannot be considered the only variable of unemployment having to deal with. 12. The title of the report, which was commissioned by Save The Children Italia, is “Mamme nella crisi” (“Mothers in the Crisis”) and it can be consulted at www. lavoro.gov.it/ConsiglieraNazionale/Documents/Documentazione/20120920Rapport osavethechildren.pdf, accessed on 9.3.2015. 13. This, with an unexpected intensification of the phenomenon more in the northern regions of Italy than in the southern ones. See, Saraceno (2010), as well as the document Italia 2020, written by both the Minister for Equal Opportunities and the Minister of Labour themselves. 14. See Bell and Waddington (2003) and also Pissarides, Garibaldi, Olivetti, Petrongolo, and Wasmer (2004); for a summary on the recent evolution of male and female occupation in Italy see Sabbadini (2004). 15. Available at www.frdb.org/language/eng/topic/highlights/scheda/conferenceunexplored-dimension-of-discrimination. The study Il gap salariale nella transizione tra scuola e lavoro, coordinated by Giovanni Peri, University of California, has been presented on June 9, 2012 at the XIV European Conference held by the Rodolfo De Benedetti Foundation, which dealt with all the different dimensions of discrimination. 16. It has to be made clear that since the data collection involved 30,000 graduates from 13 “licei classici” and “licei scientifici” (respectively classical and scientific studies high schools) in Milan between 1985 and 2005, who then continued their studies in the five city universities, the sample is strongly characterized at the identity level. 17. Available at www.manageritalia.it/chi_siamo/associazioni/milano/gruppi_ lavoro/g_donne_manager/eventi_iniziative.html 18. Available at www.zengerfolkman.com/joe.html. The method and the ideological premises followed in carrying out the research can be found in nuce in Zenger, Folkman, Monopoli, Demichelis, and Padova (2010). 19. According to a recent study, for every 100 workplaces occupied by a woman a virtuous circle would activate, capable of creating 15 new workplaces in the tertiary industry; see D. Del Boca and Mencarini-S. Pasqua, Valorizzare le donne conviene, quoted above in note 3. 20. See also the research commissioned by Banca d’Italia in collaboration with Consob (the Italian supervisory authority on the Stock Exchange) monitoring the increasing in the presence of women in board of directors pursuant L. no. 120/2011 on the rate of female managers in listed companies and in those controlled by public shareholders, which was followed by Consob Regulation no. 18098/2012. 21. Available at www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-womenstill-cant-have-it-all/309020/ 22. Manning (2013b); see also Manning (2013a).

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23. See A. M. Slaughter’s testimony reported in the article by Ginori (2012). 24. Brewster and Rindfuss (2000). 25. See clauses 4.2 and 4.3 of the above-mentioned Agreement. 26. As it was with the 1996 Directive, also this provision does not lead to particularly stringent obligations on the States, which are left with wide discretion in the implementation phase, whereby the level of harmonization can only be said to be minimal. See also Torelli (2010). 27. For a detailed analysis see the sections of the present chapter dealing with the single EU legal systems. 28. Significant provisions on the issue are contained in L. no. 53/2000. 29. In the first phase the United Kingdom was not even bound by the minimum regulation contained in the Agreement due to the “exemption clause” from Social Policies contained in the Treaty of Maastricht. 30. Moreover, such need had already been pointed out by the Constitutional Court, which hoped for a modification of the preexisting regulation in order to grant “terms suitable to ensure an adequate protection for both the mother and the child.” See Corte Cost., 7 luglio 1999, no. 270, in G.U., prima serie speciale no. 27. 31. See the verdict of the Constitutional Court, January 19, 1987, no. 1, in Dir. fam. pers., 1987, I, 507 et seq., where such right was acknowledged to the father in case of “impossibility” for the mother to benefit from it. 32. See Art. 25, D. Lgs. no. 151/2001. 33. See Calafa` (2004) and also Del Punta and Gottardi (2001). 34. See Corte Cost., February 12, 1996, no. 31, in Giur. Cost., 1996, 293 et seq. 35. See Corte Cost., January 29, 1998, no. 3, at www.giurcost.org/decisioni/1998/ 0003s-98.html 36. Art. 17 and 18 L. no. 53/2000 (already embodied in the Consolidation Act) containing “Provisions for the support of motherhood and fatherhood, the right to care and education, and for the coordination of the timing of the cities.” 37. Anyway, it is good to remember that the Community directives in the field of support for motherhood and fatherhood only provide minimum levels of protection, with the aim of improving the most underdeveloped national situations. Therefore, the indications of the Community legislator are the result of a sort of weighted average of the protective measures provided for by the laws of the various Member States. See Ballestrero (1993). 38. See Bettio et al. (2012) and also European Commission (2011). 39. It is worth to note that according to Istat (i.e., the Italian Institute for Statistics) (Rapporto, 2013 available at www.istat.it/it/files/2013/05/Rapporto_ annual_2013.pdf), in 2012 female workers increased by 110,000 units compared to 2011. In addition to the occupied ones, the number of women willing to work and the share of those who pass to the potential labor force or to unemployment grew from 16.5% to about 24%. Three factors emerge from this data: the increase in female foreign workers, increased by 76,000 (+7.9%); the 148,000 over-50 women who, as a result of the pension reform, have remained in their jobs (+6.8%), a datum which has moreover offset the decline in employment of young women; and the growth of women induced by the period of economic hardship to enter the labor market (even under conditions previously considered not acceptable) to replace the loss of male revenue. For a further in-depth understanding, see Carlini and Pavone.

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40. In particular, the idea of a Pink New Deal has been launched, which could succeed in carrying out the above-mentioned revolutions (D. Del Boca and Mencarini-S. Pasqua, Valorizzare le donne conviene, cited above). 41. According to the already quoted Rapporto Istat 2013, 2012 saw an increase in the number of female workers, but this increase occurred mainly in the involuntary part-time and was segregated in low-skilled jobs: since 2008 the growth in unskilled occupations is in fact more than double compared to men (+24.9% compared to 10.4%), so that to explain half of male employment 51 professions need to be mentioned, and only 18 for women. The presentation of the report states: “retail trade shop assistant, domestic worker and secretary are the professions that are receiving the greatest number of occupied.” For an account on scholarly writings about the purpose and the use of part-time, see Rustichelli (2005); Bombelli and Cuomo (2003); and Brollo (2007). 42. Also tax law has an important weight in woman decision to enter or remain in the job market, considering also the distinction between individual and familiar taxation, which meant a different and higher tax pressure in front of a second earner in the same family. A concrete proposal on the point was put forward in Italy by Alesina and Ichino (2007). 43. A role model in this regard could be accounted for by the 2013 Working Family Tax Credit Act and the 2003 Child Tax Credit Act, with coverage up to a top rate for the actually incurred and documented expenses for the care of children and family dependent, up to a predetermined maximum limit. 44. Coltrane (1996); for a complete study on parental leave legislation in Europe, the United States, and Japan, see Tanaka (2005). 45. The deterioration of the socioeconomic conditions of families in Italy in 2013 also covers almost one-fifth of children who live in households below the poverty line. In this context, access to day-care is essential. The economic crisis, from 2008 onwards, has exacerbated the difficulties of families, aggravating the structural problems both in terms of income and employment opportunities and savings. The most recent data shows that it’s the women from southern regions, living in families with lower incomes and education, who increase their participation in the labor market despite the worst conditions of the services they are offered. Moreover, the increase in the importance of childcare services in the context of the economic crisis was not enough to prevent the revenue of the municipalities from undergoing a drastic decrease because of the cuts and the reduction of regional funds distributed throughout the provinces. In most cases there is an on-going rationalization in the offer of nursery places, but unfortunately their number is lower than their demand. Given that each reality, for the purpose of access to the service, adopts peculiar selection criteria, the types of families who are “entitled” for those services change depending on the criteria employed. For example, in some Municipalities discomforted, unemployed, and large families are privileged; elsewhere, families where both parents work are privileged instead. On this point, see Del Boca, Pronzato, and Sorrenti (2013). 46. This seems to be the direction of the government programs. Actually, at the moment we have only legislative drafts and proposals, but nothing is certain. 47. See Boeri and Del Boca (2007). 48. See Bellavista (2002).

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49. In this sense, the presentation of Rapporto Istat 2013, as reported by Carlini and Pavone, of Istat manager Linda Laura Sabbadini. 50. This model seems to be the one that the Italian legislative has implemented in the already cited D. M. December 22, 2012, arts. 4 8. 51. Pasquinelli (2006); and many other interventions on the newsletter, available at www.qualificare.info. See Mesini, Pasquinelli, and Rusmini (2006) and also http://www.qualificare.info/index.php?id=92 52. See Calafa` (2007); for an interesting comparison between European and US policies on motherhood and work, see Ruhm (2004), Lalive and Zweimuller (2005), Baker and Milligan (2005), Klerman and Leibowitz (1999), and Baum (2003). 53. According to the last joint document by the Minister of social and employment policies and the Minister of equal opportunity of the Italian Government, Italia 2020: “The number of elderly people, cohabitants or not, who offer their support to family care and needs is surprisingly increasing. They give help by accompanying and assisting minor children, giving women the possibility to remain in the job market. In other cases they use their retirement pension for family needs and at the same time they find an answer to their loneliness and fears. This is the intergenerational pact that we intend to promote.” 54. Which has already been portrayed in many studies, for detail, see Alesina and Ichino (2009). 55. See Bernard (2003) and also Barnard and Deakin (2003).

REFERENCES Alesina, A., & Ichino, A. (2007). Tasse piu` leggere per le donne. Il Sole 24 Ore (an Italian business newspaper), April 15. Alesina, A., & Ichino, A. (2009). L’Italia fatta in casa. Mondadori, Milan. Baker, M., & Milligan, K. (2005). How does job-protected maternity leave affect mothers’ employment and infant health? Working Paper No. 11135, National Bureau of Economic Research. Available at www.nber.org/papers/w11135 Ballestrero, M. V. (1993). Maternita`, voice in Dig. Disc. Priv. Sez.com, IV ed., IX, Turin, 325. Barnard, C., & Deakin, S. (2003). Corporate governance, European governance and social rights. In B. Hepple (Ed.), Social and labour rights in a global context: International and comparative perspectives (p. 122). Cambridge. Baum, C. L. (2003). The effect of state maternity leave legislation and the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act on employment and wages. Labour Economics, 10, 573 596. Bell, M., & Waddington, L. (2003). Diversi eppure eguali. Riflessioni sul diverso trattamento delle discriminazioni nella normativa europea in materia di eguaglianza. Giorn. dir. lav. rel. ind., p. 373. Bellavista, A. (2002). Il lavoro sommerso. Torino: Giappichelli. Bernard, N. (2003). A new governance. Approach to economic, social and cultural rights in the EU. In B. Hepple (Ed.), Social and labour rights in a global context: International and comparative perspectives (p. 247). Cambridge: University Press, Cambridge.

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Bettio, F., Corsi, M., D’Ippoliti, C., Lyberaki, A., Samek Lodovici, M., & Verashchagina, A. (2012). The impact of the economic crisis on the situation of women and men and on gender equality policies. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/justice/genderequality/files/ documents/enege_crisis_report__dec_2012_final_en.pdf Bombelli, M. C., & Cuomo, S. (2003). Il tempo al femminile: l’organizzazione temporale tra esigenze produttive e bisogni personali. Etas. Brewster, K., & Rindfuss, R. (2000). Fertility and women’s employment in industrialized nations. Annual Review of Sociology, 26, 271 296. Brollo, M. (2007). Il lavoro a tempo parziale. In C. Cester (Ed.), Il rapporto di lavoro subordinato: Costituzione e svolgimento, diritto del lavoro, Commentario directed by F. Carinci, Utet, Torino, 1301 et seq. Boeri, T., & Del Boca, D. (2007). Chi lavora in famiglia? Retrieved from www.lavoce.info/ news/view.php?id=10&cms_pk=2713 Calafa`, L. (2007). Paternita` e lavoro. Bologna: Il Mulino. Calafa`, V. L. (2004). Congedi e rapporto di lavoro. Padova: Cedam. Carlini, R., & Pavone, G. (2013). L’Istat: Italia all’ingiu`, le donne corrono al lavoro. Retrieved from www.ingenere.it/articoli/list-at-italia-allingiu-le-donne-corrono-al-lavoro Coltrane, S. (1996). Family man. Fatherhood, housework and gender equity. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Del Boca, D., Pronzato, C., & Sorrenti, G. (2013). Criteri di accesso, tariffe, orari e assegnazione dei posti-nido. Torino: Compagnia di San Paolo. Del Punta, R., & Gottardi, D. (Eds.). (2001). I nuovi congedi. Milano: il Sole 24 ore. European Commission. (2011). Labour market developments in Europe, 2011. DirectorateGeneral for Economic and Financial Affairs. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/ economy_finance/publications/european_economy/2011/pdf/ee-2011-2_en.pdf Ginori, A. (2012). Donne fuga dalla carrier. La Repubblica, October 24, p. 32. Klerman, J., & Leibowitz, A. (1999). Job continuity among new mothers. Demography, 36(2), 145 155. Lalive, R., & Zweimuller, J. (2005). Does parental leave affect fertility and return-to-work? Evidence from a true natural experiment. Working Paper No. 242, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, University of Zurich. Manning, A. (2013a). One nation under a groove? Understanding national identity. Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization, 93, 166 185. Manning, A. (2013b). Minimum wages: A view from the UK. Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, 14(1 2), 57 66. Mesini, D., Pasquinelli, S., & Rusmini, G. (2006). Il lavoro privato di cura in Lombardia. Milano: Istituto per la Ricerca Sociale. Nicolosi, M., & Pera, A. (2013). Female work, family needs and equal opportunities. A comparative analysis among some EU legal systems. Sinossi internet di diritto del lavoro e della sicurezza sociale, 5(2). Retrieved from www.temilavoro.it Pasquinelli, S. (2006). Assistenti familiari: le questioni aperte. Prospettive Sociali e Sanitarie, 14. Pissarides, C., Garibaldi, P., Olivetti, C., Petrongolo, C., & Wasmer, E. (2004). Women in the labour force: How well is Europe doing? In T. Boeri, D. Del Boca, & C. Pissarides (Eds.), Women at work: An economic perspective. Oxford University Press. Ruhm, C. J. (2004). How well do parents with young children combine work and family life? Working Paper No. 10247, National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved from www.nber.org/papers/w10247

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Rustichelli, E. (2005). Il nuovo part-time: la concertazione della flessibilita`, Monografia Isfol Mercato del lavoro 7/05. Retrieved from www.isfol.it Sabbadini, L. (2004). Come cambia la vita delle donne. Ministero per le Pari opportunita`. Saraceno, C. (2010). Il lavoro e` rosa. La Repubblica, January 8. Tanaka, S. (2005). Parental leave and child health across OECD countries. The Economic Journal, 115(501), 7 28. Torelli, F. (2010). La difficile condivisione del lavoro di cura. Spunti sui congedi parentali. Lav. dir. 463 et seq. Zenger, J. H., Folkman, J. R., Monopoli, F., Demichelis, B., & Padova, A. (2010). Il leader straordinario. Trasformare buoni manager in leader eccellenti. Franco Angeli, Rome.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS Karen L. Biraimah, PhD, a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana, conducts research on the longitudinal effects of study abroad programs on educators’ content knowledge and cultural perspectives. She served as the president of the U.S. Comparative and International Education Society and currently serves as Chair of the Special Projects Standing Committee of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies. She received her PhD in Comparative and International Education from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and a Master’s Degree in African Area Studies from the University of California at Los Angeles. Dr. Biraimah is a Professor in the College of Education and Human Performance at the University of Central Florida and currently serves as Director of International and a Special Projects for the college. Pepka A. Boyadjieva, PhD, is Professor at the Institute for the Study of Societies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and Honorary Professor of Sociology of Education, University of Nottingham. She is member of the editorial board of the ISA’s SSIS series Sage Studies in International Sociology Books and of the editorial boards of the International Journal of Lifelong Education and the Journal of Social Science Education. In 2007, Boyadjieva was selected for Fulbright’s New Century Scholar Program. Her research areas are university models and social modernization, higher education and social inequalities, lifelong learning. Among her latest articles are: ‘Admission Policies as a Mechanism for Social Engineering: The Case of the Bulgarian Communist Regime’, Comparative Education Review, 2013, 57(3), 503 526; ‘Conceptualizing Overlapping Modernities: A View from Post-Communist Eastern Europe’ (co-authored), In: Arjomand, S. A. and E. Reis (Eds.), Worlds of Difference, SAGE, SSIS SERIES, 2013, 73 93. Oksana Chigisheva works at the Department of Education and Pedagogical Sciences of the Academy of Psychology and Pedagogics at Southern Federal University (Rostov-on-Don, Russia) and simultaneously heads the International Research Centre ‘Scientific Cooperation’ being extensively involved into the sphere of international and comparative education and educational tourism. She is an external reviewer for the ESF, Member of 267

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the International Advisory and Editorial Board of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society Annual International Conference, Editorin-Chief of the International Journal of Economics and Education (Russia). Her research interests lie mainly in pedagogy and international and comparative education, pedagogical prognostics, lifelong learning and education of adults, transition and transformation processes in science and education, pedagogically significant forms of international interaction and intercultural communication. The outcomes of her research are reflected in more than 100 publications edited both in key Russian sources and in the UK, Bulgaria, Germany and Sweden. Ailie Cleghorn, PhD, received her doctoral degree from McGill University in the Comparative Sociology of Education. Since the late 1980s she has been a full-time faculty member in Educational Studies, in the Department of Education at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. Her teaching has included undergraduate courses in Sociology of Education and in Comparative/International Education. Her graduate courses include Literacy and Development: Cross Cultural Perspectives, and Research Methods in Education. Dr. Cleghorn’s research in Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa and currently Namibia has focused on language issues in primary schooling, and early childhood practice in diverse cultural settings. Her recent publications include Shades of globalization: Views from India, South Africa and Canada (with Larry Prochner) and Complex classroom encounters: A South African perspective (with Rinelle Evans). Lynn Davies, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of International Education at the University of Birmingham, UK. She has taught at primary, secondary and higher education levels in Mauritius and Malaysia as well as UK. Her professional interests are in education and conflict, education and extremism and education in fragile contexts, and she has done research and consultancy in a number of conflict-affected states such as Afghanistan, Bosnia, Angola and Sri Lanka. Current work is on democracy in teacher education, on education and transitional justice, and on radicalisation and deradicalisation. Her books include Education and Conflict: Complexity and Chaos (2004) and Educating Against Extremism (2008). She has just completed a book called Unsafe Gods: Security, Secularism and Schooling (2014) and is co-editor of a recent book on Gender, Religion and Education. She is a Research Associate at the University of South Africa and a Visiting Professor at the British University of Dubai, as well as serving as a Board member of the Africa Educational Trust.

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Klara Skubic Ermenc, PhD, is Associate Professor of Comparative Pedagogy at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Her fields of research are: intercultural education and education of students with immigrant background, concepts of knowledge in pedagogical science, European trends in vocational education, and the development of comparative pedagogy in the region. She published more than 50 articles and chapters in books. She has participated in 10 research or professional projects. She is a member of Comparative Education Society Europe. She works as a consultant for the development of vocational education and training in Slovenia. She teaches several undergraduate and graduate courses: Comparative Pedagogy, Educational Systems, European Education Policy, Intercultural Pedagogy. Olga Fedotova is the Head of the Department of Education and Pedagogical Sciences of the Academy of Psychology and Pedagogics and Director of the Scientific and Research Centre ‘Lifelong Learning’ at Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia. She is the founder and leader of the Master Degree Programs ‘Comparative and International Education’ and ‘Ethno-Psychology’ that have been successfully delivered at Southern Federal University since 2010. Her special spheres of scientific and research interests are history, theory and methodology of foreign pedagogy; technologies of the educational process; comparative education and education for sustainable development. Professor Fedotova is the author of more than 300 scientific and methodological works published in Russia and Europe. Maren Heidemann, PhD, LLM, teaches commercial law at the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom. With a legal practice background in Germany, she is interested in cross border transactions and the difficulties that arise for traders and persons when moving across borders in today’s globalised world. In her research she explores the integration of modern political aspirations to achieve a borderless society into the traditional legal order and the ways to resolve clashes arising therefrom. Her publications include ‘Methodology of Uniform Law’ (2007), ‘Does International Trade need a Doctrine of Transnational Law?’ (2012) and the German edition of the monograph by Alpa and Andenas on the Foundations of European Private Law (‘Grundlagen des Europaeischen Privatrechts’, 2010). Maren Heidemann has also written journal articles and book chapters on the application of double taxation conventions, harmonisation of laws and the use of non-state law in national courts.

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Petya I. Ilieva-Trichkova is Assistant at the Institute for the Study of Societies and Knowledge, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In the period between 2010 and 2014, she was a Marie Curie fellow in the FP7 Marie Curie ITN “Education as Welfare-Enhancing Opportunities for Socially Vulnerable Youth in Europe” programme. Her host institution was the Center for Public Policy at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan where she is a PhD student in Philosophy. Her research interests are in the area of higher education, graduate employability and social justice. Among her latest articles are: ‘Dynamics of inequalities in access to higher education: Bulgaria in a comparative perspective’, European Journal of Higher Education, 2014, 4(2), 97 117 (in co-authorship) and ‘A Capability Perspective on Employability of Higher Education Graduates in Bulgaria’, Social Work and Society International Online Journal, 2014, 12(2), 1 18. Agreement L. Jotia, PhD, has taught in Botswana and the United States. He conducts research on education and has published widely in the area of Democracy and Education. His research interests span multiculturalism, deep democratic theory, transformative culturally responsive pedagogy, education and globalization, and politics of developing areas. He served as in-country program coordinator for a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad in Botswana and has initiated MOUs between the University of Botswana and multiple institutions in North America. He received his PhD in Educational Studies (cultural studies in education focusing on democracy and education) from Ohio University. Dr. Jotia is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Botswana. Anna Kirova, PhD, is a professor of early childhood education in the Faculty of Education, University of Alberta. Her research focuses on the need for understanding culturally and linguistically diverse families with young children’s experiences in school, and the possibility such an understanding offers for culturally responsive pedagogy. She developed and implemented innovative collaborative research approaches that engage children, communities and not-for-profit organizations as co-researchers. Her wide-ranging repertoire of research methods includes hermeneutic phenomenology, arts-based methodologies, and community-based participatory action research aimed at gaining insights into human phenomena by including vulnerable populations such as visible and religious minority immigrants and refugees in research that is both meaningful and empowering. Her international work in this area resulted in the book, Global migration and education: Schools, children and families.

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Christine Massing is a former teacher who has worked in schools in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Canada. Currently, she is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Elementary Education at the University of Alberta, specializing in Early Childhood Education, and a part-time instructor in the Early Learning and Child Care Program at Grant MacEwan University. For her doctoral research, she conducted an ethnographic study focused on the experiences and professional identity construction of immigrant and refugee women enrolled in an early childhood teacher education program. Her work is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Killam Trust. Vusi Mncube, PhD, is Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Management in the College of Education. His main academic and research interests concern education for and in democracy. He has carried out research and published on various aspects of school governing bodies in South Africa in relation to education for a more democratic society. He led a research team on violence in schools and has researched issues of violence in schools. He is a member of the editorial board of the Southern African Society of Educators and is an active member of the British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE); the Southern African Society of Educators (SASE) and the Education Association of South Africa (EASA). Renuka Naidoo, PhD, is currently an educator at a primary school in South Africa. Her professional interest is on democracy and education and she has worked as a teacher for 21 years (Foundation Phase: Mathematics, English and Life Skills). She completed her PhD with the University of KwaZulu Natal in 2013. Marina Nicolosi is PhD Dr. in Comparative Law. She is Aggregate Professor of Labour Law and Lecturer of European Labour Law at Palermo University in Italy. Her major research interests are on outsourcing of production activities, transfer of business companies and of company’s units, outsourcing and farming out contracts, seconded employee/ worker, temporary worker and worker hired by temporary employment agencies, work in public administrations. She has been member of the Palermo University anti-mobbing Committee in 2007 and 2008, as expert on discrimination and harassment in workplaces. She has been also Consultant of the Regional Administration on Care Health for what concern job affaires, public workers and stabilisation of temporary employee and occasional worker in hospitals. At present, she is consultant of the

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University for the management and administration of issues connected with public staff and employees. Since 2011 she is member of Comitato dei Garanti (d.lgs. n. 517/1999) at Policlinico Hospital Paolo Giaccone of Palermo University. She is author of a monographic book and of many articles and essays published in Italian reviews and books. Alessandra Pera is PhD Dr. in Comparative Law and Aggregate Professor at Palermo University, where she is lecturer at the European Studies Department and teaches Comparative Law and European Private Law. Her main research interests are on comparative law, family law, social change and legal tools to protect weak individuals in modern societies. She is an active member of the International Society of Family Law (ISFL), the Italian Association of Comparative Law (AIDC), Juris Diversitas. She is author of many articles in books and reviews and of two monographic books. She is member of the Scientific board of the Italian Review “Diritto Civile e Comparato.” She has been involved in one European Project already funded by the EU Commission in the Program Civil Justice 2012. She has completed six national research project and two international ones about different themes, concerning social inclusion, new forms of slavery, collective interests and consumer law, and ADR system. Nikolay Popov, PhD, graduated from Sofia University, Bulgaria, in Education and Philosophy in 1986. He obtained two doctorates in Comparative Education PhD (1990) and Dr. habil (2002). All of his teaching and research have been focused on the history, theory, and practice of comparative education. He has conducted comparative studies on management, finance, structures, teacher training, education laws, and school curricula at Sofia University. He is currently Professor of Comparative Education at Sofia University. He is author of 21 books and 105 articles and chapters on Education in Bulgaria and Comparative Education. Larry Prochner, PhD, is professor of early childhood education and chair of the Department of Elementary Education at the University of Alberta. His research involves the comparative, international, and historical investigation of issues in early childhood education. He is principal investigator of an ongoing 3-country study of ECE teacher education (Namibia, Canada, Colombia) funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Recent publications include Shades of globalization in four early childhood settings: Views from India, South Africa, Canada, and Colombia with Ailie Cleghorn, Empire, education, and indigenous

About the Authors

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childhoods: Nineteenth century missionary infant schools in three British colonies, Resituating Canadian early childhood education, and Recent perspectives on early childhood care and education in Canada. Chanita Rukspollmuang, PhD, is an associate professor at the Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. She received her bachelor degree in Law (with honor) from Thammasat University and graduated from Michigan State University with a Doctorate in Socio-Philosophical Foundations of Education. Her areas of specialization include Sociology of Education, Development Education, Comparative Education, Education Law, as well as Education for Sustainable Development. Before joining the Faculty of Education, she worked at the Center of Educational Policy, the National Commission of Education. She served as Dean of the Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University during 2012-2014. At present, she is Director of the System Assessment Research and Development (SARD), Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University and elected President of Comparative Education Society of Asia (CESA). Alexander W. Wiseman, PhD, is Associate Professor of Comparative and International Education in the College of Education at Lehigh University. He has more than 19 years of professional experience working with government education departments, university-based teacher education programs, community-based professional development for teachers and as a classroom teacher in both the United States and East Asia. Dr. Wiseman conducts internationally comparative educational research using large-scale education datasets on math and science education, information and communication technology (ICT), teacher preparation, professional development and curriculum as well as school principal’s instructional leadership activity, and is the author of many research-to-practice articles and books. He serves as Series Editor for the International Perspectives on Education and Society volume series (Emerald Publishing), and has recently published in the journals Compare: A Journal of International and Comparative Education, Prospects: Quarterly Review of Comparative Education, Research in Comparative and International Education, Journal of Supranational Policies of Education, and Computers & Education. C. C. Wolhuter, PhD, studied at the University of Johannesburg, the University of Pretoria, the University of South Africa and the University of Stellenbosch. His doctorate was awarded in Comparative Education at the University of Stellenbosch. He was a junior lecturer in History of Education at the University of Pretoria and a Senior Lecturer in History of

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Education and Comparative Education at the University of Zululand. Currently he is Comparative and International Education professor at North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa. He is the author of various articles and books in the fields of History of Education and Comparative and International Education. He is a fellow of the Faculty of Education, University of South Africa, and he has been guest professor at Driestar Pedagogical University, Gouda, the Netherlands; Brock University, Canada; Bowling Green State University, Ohio; University of Mount Union, Ohio, USA; the University of Canterbury, UK, and the University of Crete, Greece.

INDEX Anglophone, 38 39, 47 49, 50, 52 Basic education, 222, 225 230, 236 Botswana, 126, 129 148, 244 Canada, 84 85, 87 89 Capacity, 6, 10, 91, 106, 126 127, 138, 145, 148, 150, 223, 226, 231 Case study, 22, 191, 209 CESL, 100, 106 109, 112, 114 116, 118 119, 121 China, 8, 244 Collaboration, 6, 10, 90, 139, 145, 194, 196, 200, 207 208 Comparative education research, 4, 7, 21, 50, 59 Comparative education, 3 7, 15 32, 37 52, 59 60 Comparative interpretation standards, 95 118 Comparative law, 4 Comparative legal studies, 96 101, 104 107, 111, 164 169, 171 172, 251 Comparative method, 1 10, 17 18, 21, 49, 59 60, 79 80, 97 Comparative pedagogy, 37 52, 59 60, 79 80 Comparative perspective, 17, 21, 32, 48, 139, 153 173 Comparative reflection, 5 6

Comparative research, 1 2, 4 10, 46 47, 50 51, 60, 69, 73 Comparative sciences, 3 4, 8 10, 16, 32, 60, 79 Comparative studies, 3 6, 8 10, 15 32, 59 Comparative survey, 243 259 Comparative, 1 10, 15 32, 37 52, 57 80, 84, 95 118, 139, 153 173, 243 259, 260 Comparison, 2 10, 15 32, 45 49, 51, 58, 60, 63 64, 66 67, 69, 71 72, 74, 76 80, 97, 106, 109 117, 118, 142, 157, 160, 162, 217, 234, 249, 255 Contextualization, 3, 80 Cultural immersion, 142, 150 Culture, 7, 28, 50, 75, 85 87, 91 92, 127 128, 130, 134 135, 137, 141 142, 173, 198, 204 205, 218, 221 222, 225 231, 249 Curriculum, 74, 85, 87 90, 194, 196 197, 204, 209 210, 216 217, 224 230, 232 233, 236 237, 240 241 Cyprus, 244 Democracy, 155, 157 161, 167 168, 170, 172 173, 190, 203 204, 206 211, 222, 228, 234

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Democratic school governance, 189 211 Determinant, 79, 156, 158, 161, 170 Early childhood education, 88 Early childhood teacher education (ECTE), 83 91 Education for International Understanding (EIU), 215 241 Emerging nations, 125 150 Equal opportunity, 243 259, 264 Europe, 38 40, 44, 50, 157, 162, 191, 204, 245, 247 248, 263 European Social Survey, 154 European, 24, 38 41, 45 48, 50 51, 108 110, 153 173, 245 246, 248 249, 252, 256 257 Family needs, 243 259 Female work, 243 259, 262 263 Former Yugoslavia, 39, 43, 45, 46 Generalized fairness, 160, 162 163, 165 169, 181 Generalized trust, 156, 159, 161 163, 165 169, 172 German, 39, 41 42, 44 46, 52, 62 68, 113, 120, 258 Germany, 39 41, 45 46, 113, 120, 158 159 Ghana, 244 Globalization, 3, 9, 24 26, 88, 149 150 Higher education, 23, 26, 30, 75, 143, 153 172, 217 218, 222, 224, 228, 236, 240

INDEX

Honduras, 244 Host universities, 127, 143, 144 Hungary, 157 159, 161, 244 Ideology, 40, 60, 67, 69, 79 India, 8, 85 86 Infrastructure, 10, 29, 32, 116, 118, 122, 127, 143, 144 Institutional trust, 156, 158, 160, 162, 166 167, 169 172 Institutional, 2, 24, 138, 146, 149, 156, 158, 160, 162, 166 172, 197 International Education, 26, 32, 137, 145, 222, 233, 239 International law, 95 107, 109 118 International understanding, 27, 218, 220 221, 223, 240 International, 3, 8, 17 18, 22, 24, 26 27, 32, 46, 52, 91, 95 119, 121 122, 129 130, 132 133, 137, 139, 144 145, 148, 160, 220 224, 228, 230, 233, 238 240 Interpretation, 7, 20 21, 59, 61, 65, 70 71, 78, 96 97, 99 115, 117 121, 192, 261 Kenya, 244 Leadership and management, 189 211 Leadership, 68, 129, 146, 189 211 Macro context, 79 Management, 17, 78, 150, 189 211, 226, 230 232, 248, 255 Methodological nationalism, 8

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Index

Methodology, 8, 10, 21, 52, 61, 70, 75, 91, 195, 217, 227 Micro context, 8 Namibia, 83 92 Neo-institutional, 28 North-South Divide, 125 150 Parental leave, 249 254, 263 Partnerships, 138, 143 144, 150 Peace Education, 219, 221 222, 228, 232, 234, 236, 238 240 Pedagogy, 27, 37 53, 59 62, 70 71, 74 76, 223 Policy, 20, 24, 27, 30, 40, 46, 51, 59, 88, 90 91, 118, 173, 208, 218, 224, 228, 232, 234, 236, 240, 245, 249, 254, 256 Private choice, 243 264 Public policies, 243 264 Public policy, 243 259 Reciprocity, 145 148 Representative councils for learners, 193 Russia, 62, 68, 73, 75, 77, 79, 156 Russian Federation, 59 School governing bodies, 193 Service learning, 137, 139, 141, 142, 146, 150 Situational analysis, 215 241 Slovenia, 39, 41, 43, 45, 158 159, 161 162 Social trust, 153 173

South Africa, 27 28, 30, 85, 189 211 Soviet Union, 30, 39 40 Soviet, 30, 59, 61, 64, 66 70 Study abroad programs, 125 150 Sustainability, 222, 233 Taxonomy, 22 24 Teacher education, 83 91 Thailand, 215 241 Transformational education, 138, 140 Translation, 39 40, 52, 68, 76, 121 UNIDROIT, 99 100, 102 103, 107, 110, 118 119 Uniform international law, 95 118 Uniform law, 96 101, 105 107, 109 110, 112, 114 118, 122 United Nations, 99, 101, 119, 216, 221, 228 United States, 26 27, 30, 46, 130, 136, 146, 245, 248, 263 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 99, 103 Vzgoja, 41 43, 45, 47, 50 52 Welfare, 194, 203, 229, 247, 252, 256, 259 Well-being, 154 156, 169, 172 World culture, 28 World society, 229 Zimbabwe, 85