This version of the course guide is provisional until the period for editing the new course guides ends.

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Comparative Education

Code: 103527 ECTS Credits: 6
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
2500261 Education Studies OB 3

Contact

Name:
Mauro Carlos Moschetti Plaul
Email:
mauro.moschetti@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

It is highly recommended to have passed the course "Socio-Political Foundations of Education." Its contents and competencies are taken for granted in this course.


Objectives and Contextualisation

This is a compulsory course taught at an advanced level of the Pedagogy degree. The knowledge and the ability to understand the educational systems of other countries, especially in Europe, is considered essential for the training of any pedagogue.

The international perspective on educational phenomena constitutes the central axis of this course. The training objectives are the following:

1.- To know and apply the theoretical foundations of Comparative Education.

2.- To know, analyze and understand the educational problems of today's world, from an international perspective, understanding the interrelationships between economic, political, historical and cultural factors.

3.- To know, analyze and understand the educational systems of certain countries of international relevance.

4.- To analyze and understand the Spanish educational system and education in Catalonia based on international references.


Competences

  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  • Analyse and understand the theoretical, historical, cultural, political, environmental and legal references and situations involved in education and training proposals.
  • Evaluate policies, institutions and educational systems.
  • Identify educational approaches and problems, inquire about them: obtain, record, process and interpret relevant information to issue supported judgments that enhance education and training.
  • Introduce changes in the methods and processes of the field of knowledge to provide innovative responses to the needs and demands of society.
  • Recognize and evaluate the social reality and the interrelation between factors involved as necessary anticipation of action.
  • Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
  • Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse a situation and identify its points for improvement.
  2. Analyse the sex- or gender-based inequalities and the gender biases present in one's own area of knowledge.
  3. Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
  4. Consider how gender stereotypes and roles impinge on the exercise of the profession.
  5. Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
  6. Evaluate education systems from a political, economic and international perspective.
  7. Identify situations in which a change or improvement is needed.
  8. Identify the principal forms of sex- or gender-based inequality and discrimination present in society.
  9. Identify the social, economic and environmental implications of academic and professional activities within one's own area of knowledge.
  10. Incorporating into their analyses the planning, economic and international references linked to specific problems and proposals about the educational system.
  11. Planning the educational system using existing data and including them in relation to the context.
  12. Propose new methods or well-founded alternative solutions.
  13. Propose projects and actions that are in accordance with the principles of ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and obligations, diversity and democratic values.
  14. Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
  15. Propose viable projects and actions to boost social, economic and environmental benefits.
  16. Understand the processes that occur in educational activities and their impact on training while accepting that the exercise of the educational function must be refined and adapted lifelong to scientific, educational and social changes.
  17. Weigh up the impact of any long- or short-term difficulty, harm or discrimination that could be caused to certain persons or groups by the actions or projects.

Content

Blocks

Contents

I. Introduction to Comparative Education and Essential Concepts

1.1. What is Comparative Education: concept, history, and purposes
1.2. Interdisciplinarity in the study of educational systems
1.3. The comparative method in education
1.4. The educational system as an object of study
1.5. The State and educational systems

II. Historical-Political Axis: Emergence and Evolution of Educational Systems

2.1. The emergence of national educational systems: educational models in Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia
2.2. Educational systems at the beginning of the 21st century: globalization and education

III. Changes in the Governance of Education: Analytical Models

3.1. World Society Theory
3.2. Political and cultural economy of educational reform
3.3. Global education policy studies
3.4. Policy borrowing and anthropological perspectives

IV. Current Educational Debates from a Comparative and International Perspective

4.1. Models of provision, financing, and regulation of educational systems: quasi-markets and quasi-monopolies
4.2. The case of low-cost private schools in Africa, Asia, and Latin America
4.3. Teachers and educational reforms. Autonomy and accountability
4.4. Diagnosis and evaluation of educational systems: the PISA study and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
4.5. Comparative education and gender
4.6. Decolonial critique, development, and non-Western pedagogies

Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Master class 30 1.2 2, 6, 9, 10, 11
Seminars (small groups) 15 0.6 2, 6, 9, 10, 11
Type: Supervised      
Tutored projects and activities 30 1.2 2, 6, 9, 10, 11
Type: Autonomous      
Reading articles, books and preparation of papers 75 3 2, 6, 9, 10

Directed activities are based on lectures and the joint analysis of readings and other materials.

Seminars are spaces to work in small groups and include different activities of in-depth analysis and discussion.

The course includes the completion of a research project, which will be supervised by the professor.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Individual task 20% 0 0 6, 10, 11
Supervised group work 30% 0 0 5, 2, 1, 6, 16, 3, 9, 8, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 4, 17
Written final exam 50% 0 0 2, 6, 16, 9, 10

The final exam will take place on January 16, 2025.

The group project will consist of a literature review on a topic of Comparative Education that is of interest to the team and must be presented orally on November 21 and 28, 2024, and in written format on December 12, 2024. This activity cannot be retaken.

The individual activity is based on the analysis of in-depth readings and/or participation in class debates. This activity cannot be retaken.

To pass the course, it is necessary to obtain at least a 5 in each of the evaluation activities. For students who have followed the course properly, failure to pass the final exam may result in a retake test at the end of the course. The maximum grade that can be obtained in this test is a 5. The retake test will take place on January 30, 2025.

Failure to submit any of the evaluation activities will result in a grade of "Not assessable."

Class attendance is highly recommended.

Plagiarism is grounds for failure and loss of the right to a retake test.

To pass this course, it is necessary for students to demonstrate a good general communicative competence, both orally and written, and a good command of the language or languages used in the course as stated in the syllabus. In all activities (individual and group), linguistic correctness, writing, and formal presentation aspects will be taken into account. Students must be able to express themselves fluently and correctly and must show a high level of comprehension of academic texts. An activity may be returned (not evaluated) or failed if the instructor considers that it does not meet these requirements.

Twenty days after the submission date of the evaluation activities, tutoring sessions will be organized with the students to provide feedback.

Single evaluation:

Students who wish to may opt for a single written and oral evaluation. This evaluation includes three parts: a) written analysis questions (50% of the grade), b) written questionsrelating to the texts studied in the course (20%), and c) a brief oral presentation on one of the course topics (30%). To pass the course, all three parts must be passed with a grade of 5 or higher. The single evaluation will take place on January 16, 2025. In case of failure in any part of the single evaluation, they may be retaken on January 30, 2025. The maximum grade that can be obtained in the retake test is a 5. The same retake system as forcontinuous assessment will be applied. The review of the final grade follows the same procedure as for continuous assessment.


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Software

If necessary, Microsoft Teams will be used for online teaching.


Language list

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(SEM) Seminars 311 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 312 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 3 Catalan first semester morning-mixed