Comparative Education in a Changing Europe

Abstract

Using the term 'Europe' in the title of this article requires a certain amount of caution. In the first place there are several 'Europes'. Sometimes the term 'Europe' denotes the 12 member states of the European Community. Sometimes it stands for the more than two dozen countries of the Council of Europe. Sometimes it even refers to UNESCO's 'Europe Region', with its 35 member states, encircling the Northern hemisphere from Vladivostok in the east to Vancouver in the west. There is also the group of states participating in the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), not to mention the European Political Union, the Western European Union, the European Monetary System, the European Economic and Monetary Union, or the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). And as Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia are now included as observers in some of the committees of the OECD, this exclusive 'rich man's club' is becoming more European. All the former Warsaw Treaty countries have expressed interest in becoming associated with NATO, which, in the long run, will mean a reinforcement of the European pillar of the Alliance. In consequence, the opposing terms 'Western Europe' and 'Eastern Europe' now seem outdated; they suggested homogeneity where it did not exist. Secondly, because the 'Europes' are clearly all in a stage of transition. -The number of member states of the Council of Europe is expanding. -The fact that internal boundaries within the European Community will be eliminated as from 31 December 1992 is well known. And already several other countries are more than eager to join the European Community as soon as possible after 1992. -The member states of UNESCO's Europe Region have agreed to strengthen their efforts in the field of educational and cultural questions. There is no question that all these events will have far-reaching consequences for education and training in the years to come. Thirdly, recent social, political and military events in several countries have thoroughly changed-or are still changing-the map of Europe. For many the vision of a democratic and peaceful 'United States of Europe' remains the ultimate objective in the process of European unification. For the time being we prefer to deal with the 'Europe of the Europeans', exactly as it was represented in our old school atlases: from Portugal to the Ural Mountains, and from Crete to the North Cape. It is a geographical entity of sovereign nations, inhabited by millions of people sharing many common cultural origins, while at the same time they are marked by an extremely rich diversity of nationalities, languages, religions, and educational systems.