The Place of International Education in the Comparative Education Review

Abstract

Shortly after the Comparative Education Society was organized in 1955, it set about to establish an “official organ,” which it named the Comparative Education Review (CER). In 1972, under the leadership of its president, Stewart E. Fraser, the Society changed its name to the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES), and the intent was clearly to extend the boundaries of the field beyond comparative education to include international efforts in education. However, CIES chose to retain the original name of its journal, the Comparative Education Review. The question might legitimately be raised as to the place of “international education” in CER. The answer to this question depends in part on the way that we distinguish between the two aspects of our field. It is inadvisable to draw a firm distinction, though scholars typically regard “comparative education” to include the more academic, analytic, and scientific aspects of the field, while international education is related to cooperation, understanding, and exchange elements. International education is usually seen as a more practice-oriented activity, particularly in terms of cross-cultural and crossnational relationships. Its training orientation is to prepare men and women to participate in a world where international cooperation and understanding are essential. It has rarely been conceived as a distinct field of study or even as a subdiscipline in education. Consequently, there is little discussion among those who identify themselves as international educators as to methodological or theoretical issues that might define their work. Rather, they are particularly concerned about administering programs that stress relationships, cooperation, and understanding across borders. A brief perusal of the articles appearing in reputable journals in international education, including International Educator, International Education, and Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, reinforces this general distinction, even though some important, theoretically based research studies can be found in these journals. Those of us on the current editorial board of CER express a strong commitment to the publication of international-education-oriented articles. Of course, we reiterate that all submissions ought to have an explicit theoretical or conceptual framework, reflect originality in analysis or method, have an appropriate methodological approach, and make a contribution to the advancement of knowledge. The spheres of international education include topics such as international development, peace studies, and international student exchange. These are all crucial to CIES, and many in our academic communities are professionally active in them. We laud their efforts