Comparative Perspectives and Paradigms

Abstract

This chapter shows why comparative analyses of education in plural societies came about so late, explores the different approaches and paradigms adopted by comparativists and examines some of the insights thrown up by comparative studies, especially as these apply to the place of teacher education in plural societies. International education was to a great extent rooted in organizations like UNESCO, concerned with improving international understanding and awareness and of encouraging academic interchange. Education in developing countries on the other hand, was largely concerned with the practical development of education systems in those countries which had gained their independence from colonial rule in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Policies in societies affected by large scale immigration of different groups, such as certain western European countries, Australia and Canada, have varied and developed considerably. Thus, while concern in Australia and England was initially to raise awareness of different groups and to prepare teachers to teach English as a Second/Foreign Language.